Box and Fiddle
Balloch A & F Club Reports
Year 1 No 4 January 1978
The Balloch A&F Club was formed in 1972 and held its first meeting in the Balloch Hotel on the third Sunday of September with Jimmy Lindsay as the guest.
The original Committee was Tom Lynn (Secretary), Bert Gordon, Sandy Smith, Duncan Gillespie (accordion), Neil McLeod (accordion) and Jimmy Yeaman (fiddle). In 1974 Neil returned to his native Isle of Lewis and there is no truth in the rumour that he is trying to form a Club in one of the notorious ‘bothans’ (illicit drinking dens). Since then Hugh Ferguson (Kelvin C.B. drummer) and Adam Rennie (Glasgow Skye Pipe Band drummer) have joined the Committee.
Normal club night is the third Sunday of the month and the usual venue is the friendly Balloch Hotel. Seating capacity in the function room is limited to approximately 120 persons but there is always standing room at the back, in the diningroom, for the lads who like a chat, swop tunes, or arrange gig deputies.
On occasions when a larger location is required we are fortunate to have the Riverside Hotel close at hand where more than 200 people can be accommodated comfortably.
There is a very high standard of musicianship among players supporting the Club and each season the Committee invite a regular attender to be guest artiste. So far we have had the Tommy Walker BSDB, Duncan McCallum SDB, the Currie Brothers from Bearsden, Alan Roy, John Renton SDB, and in the month of Decenber fiddler Gordon Simpson was in the top spot. Gordon was expertly backed by Colin Finlayson (piano), Neil McMillan (bass), Gus Millar (drums) and Duncan Gillespie (accordion), all well-known musicians and regular players at the Balloch Club. This was the first time the group had played together and their outstanding performance must mean the forerunner to many more engagements. These well-known players appear as guest artistes all over the country and also manage to find time to come along to Balloch on our Sunday night meetings.
This year’s All-Ireland Champion, Paddy Neary, is appearing at Balloch for the first time on Sunday, 19th February, and Billy Anderson’s Trio from St Andrews fill the guest artiste’s spot on 19th March.
The Balloch Club Committee appreciate the support received from local players and members and also from neighbouring A&F Clubs such as Fintry, Milngavie, Beith and Renfrew.
Jimmy Yeaman
The Balloch A&F Club was formed in 1972 and held its first meeting in the Balloch Hotel on the third Sunday of September with Jimmy Lindsay as the guest.
The original Committee was Tom Lynn (Secretary), Bert Gordon, Sandy Smith, Duncan Gillespie (accordion), Neil McLeod (accordion) and Jimmy Yeaman (fiddle). In 1974 Neil returned to his native Isle of Lewis and there is no truth in the rumour that he is trying to form a Club in one of the notorious ‘bothans’ (illicit drinking dens). Since then Hugh Ferguson (Kelvin C.B. drummer) and Adam Rennie (Glasgow Skye Pipe Band drummer) have joined the Committee.
Normal club night is the third Sunday of the month and the usual venue is the friendly Balloch Hotel. Seating capacity in the function room is limited to approximately 120 persons but there is always standing room at the back, in the diningroom, for the lads who like a chat, swop tunes, or arrange gig deputies.
On occasions when a larger location is required we are fortunate to have the Riverside Hotel close at hand where more than 200 people can be accommodated comfortably.
There is a very high standard of musicianship among players supporting the Club and each season the Committee invite a regular attender to be guest artiste. So far we have had the Tommy Walker BSDB, Duncan McCallum SDB, the Currie Brothers from Bearsden, Alan Roy, John Renton SDB, and in the month of Decenber fiddler Gordon Simpson was in the top spot. Gordon was expertly backed by Colin Finlayson (piano), Neil McMillan (bass), Gus Millar (drums) and Duncan Gillespie (accordion), all well-known musicians and regular players at the Balloch Club. This was the first time the group had played together and their outstanding performance must mean the forerunner to many more engagements. These well-known players appear as guest artistes all over the country and also manage to find time to come along to Balloch on our Sunday night meetings.
This year’s All-Ireland Champion, Paddy Neary, is appearing at Balloch for the first time on Sunday, 19th February, and Billy Anderson’s Trio from St Andrews fill the guest artiste’s spot on 19th March.
The Balloch Club Committee appreciate the support received from local players and members and also from neighbouring A&F Clubs such as Fintry, Milngavie, Beith and Renfrew.
Jimmy Yeaman