Scottish Country Dance Bands 6
The Cameron Kerr Began in the Boys’ Brigade
Angus Cameron Kerr showed an interest in Scottish Country Dance music at an early age, and at 15 he formed his first band to play on B.B.C. Children’s Hour.
This interest was so marked, that his friends stopped using his first name and took to using his middle name, Cameron, the name of one of his favourite bands at the time. Remembering this, he decided to call his band by that name.
Ten-Year-Old
The first band was a family affair. All five players were members of the 13th company (Clepington) Boys’ Brigade.
Cameron was the oldest at 15 and his brother Ronald, who played the fiddle, was the youngest at 10. The other members were Willie Westwater (12) accordion, Alec Cooper (13) fiddle, and Harry Morrison (12) drums. The biggest obstacle, a kit of drums for Harry, was surmounted when he was given a kit by the 13th Company.
While Cameron was doing his National Service, the band carried on under the leadership of his brother Ronald.
Triple Role
Cameron, who is a process engraver, has a triple role in the band. As well as being leader and pianisthe chooses and arranges all the music. Others in the present band are –
Ronald Gonella (violin) a clerk.
Tom Clark (accordion) an engineer
Norrie Gray (bass) a reporter.
Norrie S. Qwer (drums) a motor mechanic.
Norrie Ower is a modern jazz enthusiast. Cameron believes that a Scottish Country Dance band is all the better for the swing or lift given to it by a modern sounding rhythm section.
Cameron and the two Norries are enthusiast about modern music as well as Scottish Country, and they try to bring something of it into their playing.
The present Cameron Kerr band made its first broadcast in February and will have made eleven broadcasts by the time their first anniversary comes round.
Near and Far
Like others in the area the band is popular in the north-west of Scotland. They leave straight from work to play in such places as Oban, Inverness, Beauly and Strathpeffer.
Engagements in Friockheim, Laurencekirk, Brechin and Letham come as welcome breaks from the long journeys.
The Cameron Kerr band’s longest journey was to Aultbea in Wester Ross, 224 miles from Dundee.
Realising that the band would not arrive by starting time, the people who were running the dance arranged for another band from Lochcarron to stand in until the Dundee players arrived.
Since Schooldays
To the surprise of violinist Ron Gonella, he found that the pianist of the stand-in band was Sinclair Burnett, who had been in his class at Harris Academy. Sinclair, who is a forester in Wester Ross, had not seen Ron since their schooldays.
The Cameron Kerr Band can be heard on the Home Service this evening and again at noon on Wednesday, January 4.
The Cameron Kerr Began in the Boys’ Brigade
Angus Cameron Kerr showed an interest in Scottish Country Dance music at an early age, and at 15 he formed his first band to play on B.B.C. Children’s Hour.
This interest was so marked, that his friends stopped using his first name and took to using his middle name, Cameron, the name of one of his favourite bands at the time. Remembering this, he decided to call his band by that name.
Ten-Year-Old
The first band was a family affair. All five players were members of the 13th company (Clepington) Boys’ Brigade.
Cameron was the oldest at 15 and his brother Ronald, who played the fiddle, was the youngest at 10. The other members were Willie Westwater (12) accordion, Alec Cooper (13) fiddle, and Harry Morrison (12) drums. The biggest obstacle, a kit of drums for Harry, was surmounted when he was given a kit by the 13th Company.
While Cameron was doing his National Service, the band carried on under the leadership of his brother Ronald.
Triple Role
Cameron, who is a process engraver, has a triple role in the band. As well as being leader and pianisthe chooses and arranges all the music. Others in the present band are –
Ronald Gonella (violin) a clerk.
Tom Clark (accordion) an engineer
Norrie Gray (bass) a reporter.
Norrie S. Qwer (drums) a motor mechanic.
Norrie Ower is a modern jazz enthusiast. Cameron believes that a Scottish Country Dance band is all the better for the swing or lift given to it by a modern sounding rhythm section.
Cameron and the two Norries are enthusiast about modern music as well as Scottish Country, and they try to bring something of it into their playing.
The present Cameron Kerr band made its first broadcast in February and will have made eleven broadcasts by the time their first anniversary comes round.
Near and Far
Like others in the area the band is popular in the north-west of Scotland. They leave straight from work to play in such places as Oban, Inverness, Beauly and Strathpeffer.
Engagements in Friockheim, Laurencekirk, Brechin and Letham come as welcome breaks from the long journeys.
The Cameron Kerr band’s longest journey was to Aultbea in Wester Ross, 224 miles from Dundee.
Realising that the band would not arrive by starting time, the people who were running the dance arranged for another band from Lochcarron to stand in until the Dundee players arrived.
Since Schooldays
To the surprise of violinist Ron Gonella, he found that the pianist of the stand-in band was Sinclair Burnett, who had been in his class at Harris Academy. Sinclair, who is a forester in Wester Ross, had not seen Ron since their schooldays.
The Cameron Kerr Band can be heard on the Home Service this evening and again at noon on Wednesday, January 4.