Bruce MacGregor

Bruce MacGregor and friends 

Eden Court Theatre Saturday January 15th. 2022

 

  

 

“The road to tyranny” album launch - Twenty years in the making! 

 

Bruce MacGregor has been one of the most influential traditional musicians in Scotland over the last two decades. Forming the multi-award winning Highland fiddle super group “Blazin’ Fiddles” in 1998, Bruce is also the voice of Scottish folk, as long term presenter of  BBC Radio Scotland’s “Travelling Folk”, which he has now been presenting for over a decade. 

 

A pupil of the legendary fiddle teacher, Donald Riddell MBE, Bruce has taken Highland fiddle music to a new level across the world, featuring on TV, theatre and video game (Assassins Creed III) and his compositions have been recorded across the planet. 

 

MacGregor’s book, “The Highlander’s Revenge – tunes and tales from a Blazin’ Fiddler” was published in 2019 and this new recording, “The road to tyranny”, to be launched at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness on Saturday 15th January 2022, will feature music from the collection. 

 

“The tunes have been inspired by the people, the places and the adventures I’ve been lucky enough to experience over the years. There’s airs, jigs, strathspeys, reels and marches as you’d expect bu then there’s other tunes like “The Big Yin’s” composed after a magical trip to Billy Connolly’s house and ‘Doddie’s Dream’ which don’t really fit into any of the usual categories – they’re just catchy tunes!” 

 

“Doddie’s Dream” was composed on Hogmanay 2020, and dedicated to the former Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir who is suffering from MND. The tune was recorded by Blazin Fiddles with the help of such notable musical friends as Nicola Benedetti, Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham, Julie Fowlis and Sharon Shannon. The single hit no 9 in the UK charts and has helped raise thousands of pounds for the My Name5 Doddie Foundation.  

 

“I’m so delighted with the way this album has turned out, each track sounds unique thanks to the amazing musicians who joined me. Anna Massie and Angus Lyon helped with the production and Jenna Reid also from the Blazers helped me with string parts. We were then treated to the musical magic dust that Tim Edey (guitar and box) and Ali Levack (whistles) and Su-a Lee (cello) added. We then added to the swinging rhythm section with Duncan Lyall on bass and Iain Sandilands on percussion. Iain even had to go out and buy a washboard to get the right vibe for the Big Yins! We also added in something a little different for a Scottish fiddle album with Tom Oats on clarinet and Iain Sloan on lap steel guitar giving us a completely different vibe for each set.”   

 

The road to tyranny 

The title track was inspired came from a quote from Lord Neuberger, a former president of the Supreme Court who had grave warnings for us all when the internal market bill was forced through allowing the government to breach its obligations under international treaties. It also deprived the individual citizen the right to take the government to court

“Once you deprive individuals, people have the right to go to challenge the government, you are in a dictatorship; you are in a tyranny.”