Bandicoots Show Chicago What Traditional Scottish Music Means To Them

We met through a mutual friend - Rachel Barton Pine. She'd been helping me improve my playing and also introduced me to the world of 18th Century music. As I got more involved with that I told her I wanted to play with a cool cellist, and she pointed out that she'd introduced me to Jeremy for exactly that reason several months previously! So I got Jeremy to play a couple local gigs, then we flew to Scotland to play together for the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship (effectively the world championships of Scottish fiddling). We hit it off, and have been playing together ever since!

Separately I'd met Meg and Jonathan through folk dancing, and at some point we realised that we like playing tunes together. A while back I was asked to put together a ceilidh band for a one-off gig, asked them to do it, the Ceilidh Bandicoots were formed, and we've kept it up!

Jeremy and I approached it from different sides. I grew up steeped in traditional Scottish music, and my questions about where the tradition came from led to learning rather a lot about 18th Century music making. I started playing on a period-correct violin and more aggressively pursuing a historically-informed sound - not out of a devotion to history for the sake of it, but because the philosophy of 18th Century fiddlers really resonates with me: it's all about personal experience with the general field of early music than I do. He got properly introduced to the Scottish side of things by me, and now plays Scottish and American old-time music with several bands.

There's a real thrill to seeing how the audience responds and using their energy to drive the music forward. A good audience can really help the tunes sound good!

When Jeremy and I play with a duo we look through old books of tunes, pick out the ones we like, and then figure out which of the tunes we like in what order would make for a well-balanced and emotionally-satisfying concert. I guess my approach with the Bandicoots is similar, but with them experimentation is much more important: I can usually imagine how a tune will sound when Jeremy and I play it as a duo, but when the piano and percussion get thrown in anything could happen!

It's always a great event, with so many different things going on - the athletes and the pipe bands and the dancers and so much more. It's particularly fun to be performing again this year since it's the introduction of the Bandicoots to the Games. Always fun to rock out at a new venue!

Depp-fried Mars bars! More seriously, I'm always amazed at how much depth came out of such a tiny half-island. There's such an incredible richness in the music, the dance, the history.

I am (and I think I am the only one in the band) - my father's the 17th Chieftain of Kingsburgh (Kingsburgh's a township in the North of Skye... and the title is just honorary!), and I'm the five-great grandson of Flora MacDonald. But heritage only takes you so far. I like the music because it's enjoyable, not because my however many greats grandparents were Scottish, and I appreciate that anyone can play it and anyone can listen to it. It's a very welcoming community!