Year 30 No 02 October 2006
Sunday, 17th September, saw the opening night of the Biggar A&F club in the Municipal Hall with local guest artiste Tom Orr and his Band. Tom, from Hyndfordbridge, on lead accordion was accompanied by Marie fielding from Falkirk on fiddle, Gordon Middler from Aberdeen on keyboard and Fraser MacInnes from Tobermory on drums. Together they gave a very polished performance of contemporary Scottish dance music to an appreciative audience. Although only 19, Tom already has a couple of broadcasts under his belt, with a third scheduled for November this year.
Other local players supporting us on the night were :-
On accordion – Duncan Hutchison (Moffat), Gavin Jackson (Thankerton), Andrew Gibb (Biggar), Robbie Paterson, Scott Nichol (Loanhead), David Miller (Forth), Jim Gold (Douglas) and Charlie Todd (Thankerton).
On fiddle was Tom Gold (Douglas), on concertina and then fiddle, David Corner (Edinburgh) and on drums Lisa Coupland (Pathhead), Tom Hope (Coulter), Bob Henderson (Penicuik) and Andrew Barrie (Elsrickle) and on keyboard Scott Nichol.
Year 30 No 03 November 2006
The Club’s meeting on Sunday, October 8th saw an appreciative audience turn out in Biggar’s Municipal Hall for a great night’s entertainment.
The night kicked off with the 5-piece Jim Gold Band, followed by a wealth of young musicians performing a variety of music. A number of excellent bands then entertained the audience before compere for the night, Keith Dickson, introduced guest artistes Wayne Robertson and Malcolm Ross from Arbroath, Angus.
After some tea another variety of talented musicians took to the stage, bringing the total to 29 Club musicians performing.
On accordion – Gemma Coupland, Emma Dickson, Matt Ferguson, Blair Gardiner, Andrew Gibb, Jim Gold, Duncan Hutchison, Gavin Jackson, David Kennedy, ErinMcGinley, Robert Menzies, Calum Muir, Scott Nichol, Claire Noble, Euan Orr, Tom Orr, James Paterson, Robbie Paterson, Adele Queen, Katie Todd, Steven Todd and Jamie Young.
On fiddle – Hannah Dickson, Tom Gold and Robert Menzies.
On keyboard – Keith Dickson, Jim Nichol, Scott Nichol and George (Club supporter of the Year) Walker.
Our guest artistes then returned and thrilled the audience with their superb musicianship. Wayne, performing on a Bugari accordion attached via midi to a Solton sound module was supported rhythmically by Malcolm performing on a small 4-piece Pearl drum kit. May I recommend if any organisation is looking for entertainment of the highest quality then look no further than these two musicians. Not only did they flawlessly perform favourite traditional Scottish tunes like Jean’s Reel and Moving Cloud, but were equally at ease performing French musette (Pistonnette – M. Larcange), light music (The Typewriter – L. Anderson) and Robertson’s own Variations on a Theme – based on the tune The Auld Meal Mill.
An enthusiastic listened requested the duo to perform Charles Camilleri’s Magic fingers as an encore, to which Wayne replied, “Whatever’s happened to easy requests….like The High Level?”! However, the duo responded with an excellent rendition bringing a fantastic night’s entertainment to a close.
Year 30 No 06 February 2007
Our December meeting turned out to be on a dreich, wet Sunday evening but despite our initial fears it was a full house to hear our guests The Lomond Ceilidh Band. However, before they took to the stage Chairman and MC for the evening, Alan Gardiner, welcomed a wealth og local talent.
On accordions were Megan Bell, Andrew & Adam Gibb, Jim Gold, Duncan Hutchison, Hannah Jamieson, Erin McGinlay, Robert Menzies, Calum Muir, Duncan Muir, Scott Nichol, Euan Orr, Tom Orr, Robbie Paterson, Emily Short, Katie Todd, Steven Todd and Jamir Young; 18 accordionists in all (probably with an average age of about 15) playing well-rehearsed pieces and sets of tunes.
On fiddle were Tom Gold and Ashleigh Short with David Corner performing on concertina.
Accompanists on keyboard were Alan Gardiner, Robert Menzies, Jim Nichol, Scott Nichol, Tom Orr and George Walker.
On drums – Andrew Barrie, Tom Hope, George Shiels and Charlie Todd.
Our guests, The Lomond Ceilidh Band consisting of ‘the usual suspects’ Alan Small (accordion), Ewan Stark (fiddle) and Calum Wallace (drums) (intended guest Karen Hannah having been previously involved in a road accident) provided us with two excellent sessions of music and banter. The band covered everything from sedate waltz tempo to the liveliest of jigs and reels with the odd Continental and modern piece thrown in for good measure. Many thanks to the lads for their fine performance – and I hope Calum’s drum was still in the car at Kinross where he left it!!
The January meeting took place on Subday 14th in the usual venue of The Municipal Hall in Biggar. Guest artistes for the evening were The Iain Anderson Trio. Iain id based in Gartocharn and is one of the most popular Scottish danceband leaders on the scene today. Joining him on stage were Tom Orr (keyboard) and Andrew Barrie (drums). They provided a bery appreciative audience with a fine selection of music, all expertly executed in steady but swingy tempos. A joy to listen to.
The Biggar Club enjoys a great mix of young and not-so-young musicians ranging from seven to seventy-something. Supporting musicians on the night were :-
On accordion – Calum Muir, Steven Todd, Katie Todd, Andrew Gibb, Jamie Young, Duncan Hutchison, Euan Orr, Robbie Paterson, Scott Nichol, Gemma Coupland, Claire Noble, Blair Gardiner and Alan Gardiner.
On fiddle – Tom gold, Robert Menzies, Emma Gardiner and David Corner.
On keyboard – Scott Nichol, Keith Dickson and Alan Gardiner.
On drums – George Shiels and Tom Hope.
All-in-all a great start to the New Year.
Year 30 No 07 March 2007
Our February meeting on Sunday 11th saw the first 5-piece guest artiste band to appear here for many a year. Gordon Shand and his Broadcasting Band, namely Tom Hamilton of fiddle, Jim Lindsay on second accordion, Gordon Smith on drums and Graham Berry on keyboard gave us two marvelous sessions in their own unique style. With very modern and captivating arrangements and great musicianship all round, their programme provided something for everyone with many more recent compositions, some by the band members, but a sprinkling of older tunes including a great rendering of an old classic The Happy Go Lucky Polka played by Gordon and Jim. In fact Gordon gave special mention to Jim who apparently spent most of the evening ‘winging it’ – creating interesting harmonies off the top of his head while reading only the lead copies. Well done Jim.
Supporting players on the night were :-
Accordionists – John Murray (who joined us all the way from Alnwick), Duncan Muir, Katie and Steven Todd, Adele Queen, Andrew and Adam Gibb, Tom Orr, Jim Paterson, Roy Anderson, Emma Dickson, Alan Gardiner and Duncan Hutchison.
Fiddlers – Emma Gardiner, Tom Gold and Hannah Dickson.
On keyboard – Keith Dickson, Tom Orr, Dorothy Lawson, Mike Anderson and Steven Todd.
Drummers – Bob Henderson, George Shiels, Andrew Barrie and Ian Graham.
Year 30 No 08 April 2007
Sunday 11th March saw an excellent turnout of local listeners and players to hear The Ian Hutson SDB. Several of our regular young players were recuperating in the aftermath of the competitions at Dumfries the previous day but their places were taken up by a host of visitors.
On accordion – Gordon Brown from Kelso, Jim Paterson, Euan Orr, Fiona Sinclair, Calum Muir, Robbie Paterson, Andrew and Adam Gibb, Scott Nichol, Tom Orr, Katie and Steven Todd, Duncan Hutchison, Alan Gardiner, Ian Graham, Blair Gardiner, Neil Hardie, Donald MacLeod, Jim Gold and Willie McFarlane.
On fiddle – Emma Gardiner, Caroline Hardie and Vaila Tait.
On drums – Bill Gillie from Kelso, Geordie Shiels, Ross Anderson, Tom Hope and Andrew Barrie.
On keyboard – Keith Dickson, Alan Gardiner, Tom Orr and Stevie Todd.
Our guests were initially delayed due to an accident on the Edinburgh By-pass but they proceeded to give us two excellent sessions of fine traditional music. Ian was accompanied by Alistair MacLeod on second box, Gordon Smith on drums and Jim Nichol on keyboard. Ian interspersed the playing with a number of humorous stories – mostly at the expense of the recently married Gordon Smith – and, to reinforce the fact that the audience had thoroughly enjoyed the band, sales at the door of their new CD Let’s Celebrate really took off.
Thanks again lads.
Year 30 No 09 May 2007
The season ended on a definite high note in April when 102 listeners came through ‘the turnstiles’ at Biggar Municipal on Easter Sunday to hear a host of local artistes and The Jim Gold Band from Douglas. Jim had his regular line up in the shape of brother Tom on fiddle, Gavin Jackson from Thankerton on second box, Ross Anderson from Rosewell on drums and David Ilgunas from Symington on kaybaord. It’s becoming a fairly rare thing these days to meet a band with a steady line-up but they have successfully built on their win in the Band Section at Musselburgh in March 2006 to create a mixed and entertaining programme. In addition to many fine Scottish sets we had a fiddle solo from Tom and a great semi-classical number, Perles de Cristal from the whole band. All credit to the lads for a well rehearsed programme.
Supporting the Club were visiting players from a wide area, namely
Accordionists – Fiona Sinclair, Jennifer Cowie, Calum Muir, Jamie Young, Euan Orr, John Elliott, James Paterson, Blair Gardiner, Emma Dickson, Robbie Paterson, Duncan Hutchison, Tom Orr, Alan Gardiner, Gemma Coupland (who played a stunning Continental piece entitled Top Musette), Claire Noble and Robert Menzies.
On concertina/fiddle we had David Corner and on fiddle Emma Gardiner.
On keyboard – Alan Gardiner, Tom Orr, Emily Short and Keith Dickson.
On drums – George Shiels, Tom Hope, James Dickson and Andrew Barrie (and thanks to Andrew for acting as barman for the evening).
Special thanks to Joan Gold who organised an Easter Hamper Raffle that raised £202 for Club funds, to Keith Dickson who mans the sound desk most evenings and to Alan Gardiner, who has just completed his first year as Chairman and MC, for all his efforts and guidance.
The Club will be holding an open meeting in Biggar Municipal Hall at 3.30pm on Sunday 13th May 2007 to which everyone is invited to air their views on any aspect of its running.
Sunday, 17th September, saw the opening night of the Biggar A&F club in the Municipal Hall with local guest artiste Tom Orr and his Band. Tom, from Hyndfordbridge, on lead accordion was accompanied by Marie fielding from Falkirk on fiddle, Gordon Middler from Aberdeen on keyboard and Fraser MacInnes from Tobermory on drums. Together they gave a very polished performance of contemporary Scottish dance music to an appreciative audience. Although only 19, Tom already has a couple of broadcasts under his belt, with a third scheduled for November this year.
Other local players supporting us on the night were :-
On accordion – Duncan Hutchison (Moffat), Gavin Jackson (Thankerton), Andrew Gibb (Biggar), Robbie Paterson, Scott Nichol (Loanhead), David Miller (Forth), Jim Gold (Douglas) and Charlie Todd (Thankerton).
On fiddle was Tom Gold (Douglas), on concertina and then fiddle, David Corner (Edinburgh) and on drums Lisa Coupland (Pathhead), Tom Hope (Coulter), Bob Henderson (Penicuik) and Andrew Barrie (Elsrickle) and on keyboard Scott Nichol.
Year 30 No 03 November 2006
The Club’s meeting on Sunday, October 8th saw an appreciative audience turn out in Biggar’s Municipal Hall for a great night’s entertainment.
The night kicked off with the 5-piece Jim Gold Band, followed by a wealth of young musicians performing a variety of music. A number of excellent bands then entertained the audience before compere for the night, Keith Dickson, introduced guest artistes Wayne Robertson and Malcolm Ross from Arbroath, Angus.
After some tea another variety of talented musicians took to the stage, bringing the total to 29 Club musicians performing.
On accordion – Gemma Coupland, Emma Dickson, Matt Ferguson, Blair Gardiner, Andrew Gibb, Jim Gold, Duncan Hutchison, Gavin Jackson, David Kennedy, ErinMcGinley, Robert Menzies, Calum Muir, Scott Nichol, Claire Noble, Euan Orr, Tom Orr, James Paterson, Robbie Paterson, Adele Queen, Katie Todd, Steven Todd and Jamie Young.
On fiddle – Hannah Dickson, Tom Gold and Robert Menzies.
On keyboard – Keith Dickson, Jim Nichol, Scott Nichol and George (Club supporter of the Year) Walker.
Our guest artistes then returned and thrilled the audience with their superb musicianship. Wayne, performing on a Bugari accordion attached via midi to a Solton sound module was supported rhythmically by Malcolm performing on a small 4-piece Pearl drum kit. May I recommend if any organisation is looking for entertainment of the highest quality then look no further than these two musicians. Not only did they flawlessly perform favourite traditional Scottish tunes like Jean’s Reel and Moving Cloud, but were equally at ease performing French musette (Pistonnette – M. Larcange), light music (The Typewriter – L. Anderson) and Robertson’s own Variations on a Theme – based on the tune The Auld Meal Mill.
An enthusiastic listened requested the duo to perform Charles Camilleri’s Magic fingers as an encore, to which Wayne replied, “Whatever’s happened to easy requests….like The High Level?”! However, the duo responded with an excellent rendition bringing a fantastic night’s entertainment to a close.
Year 30 No 06 February 2007
Our December meeting turned out to be on a dreich, wet Sunday evening but despite our initial fears it was a full house to hear our guests The Lomond Ceilidh Band. However, before they took to the stage Chairman and MC for the evening, Alan Gardiner, welcomed a wealth og local talent.
On accordions were Megan Bell, Andrew & Adam Gibb, Jim Gold, Duncan Hutchison, Hannah Jamieson, Erin McGinlay, Robert Menzies, Calum Muir, Duncan Muir, Scott Nichol, Euan Orr, Tom Orr, Robbie Paterson, Emily Short, Katie Todd, Steven Todd and Jamir Young; 18 accordionists in all (probably with an average age of about 15) playing well-rehearsed pieces and sets of tunes.
On fiddle were Tom Gold and Ashleigh Short with David Corner performing on concertina.
Accompanists on keyboard were Alan Gardiner, Robert Menzies, Jim Nichol, Scott Nichol, Tom Orr and George Walker.
On drums – Andrew Barrie, Tom Hope, George Shiels and Charlie Todd.
Our guests, The Lomond Ceilidh Band consisting of ‘the usual suspects’ Alan Small (accordion), Ewan Stark (fiddle) and Calum Wallace (drums) (intended guest Karen Hannah having been previously involved in a road accident) provided us with two excellent sessions of music and banter. The band covered everything from sedate waltz tempo to the liveliest of jigs and reels with the odd Continental and modern piece thrown in for good measure. Many thanks to the lads for their fine performance – and I hope Calum’s drum was still in the car at Kinross where he left it!!
The January meeting took place on Subday 14th in the usual venue of The Municipal Hall in Biggar. Guest artistes for the evening were The Iain Anderson Trio. Iain id based in Gartocharn and is one of the most popular Scottish danceband leaders on the scene today. Joining him on stage were Tom Orr (keyboard) and Andrew Barrie (drums). They provided a bery appreciative audience with a fine selection of music, all expertly executed in steady but swingy tempos. A joy to listen to.
The Biggar Club enjoys a great mix of young and not-so-young musicians ranging from seven to seventy-something. Supporting musicians on the night were :-
On accordion – Calum Muir, Steven Todd, Katie Todd, Andrew Gibb, Jamie Young, Duncan Hutchison, Euan Orr, Robbie Paterson, Scott Nichol, Gemma Coupland, Claire Noble, Blair Gardiner and Alan Gardiner.
On fiddle – Tom gold, Robert Menzies, Emma Gardiner and David Corner.
On keyboard – Scott Nichol, Keith Dickson and Alan Gardiner.
On drums – George Shiels and Tom Hope.
All-in-all a great start to the New Year.
Year 30 No 07 March 2007
Our February meeting on Sunday 11th saw the first 5-piece guest artiste band to appear here for many a year. Gordon Shand and his Broadcasting Band, namely Tom Hamilton of fiddle, Jim Lindsay on second accordion, Gordon Smith on drums and Graham Berry on keyboard gave us two marvelous sessions in their own unique style. With very modern and captivating arrangements and great musicianship all round, their programme provided something for everyone with many more recent compositions, some by the band members, but a sprinkling of older tunes including a great rendering of an old classic The Happy Go Lucky Polka played by Gordon and Jim. In fact Gordon gave special mention to Jim who apparently spent most of the evening ‘winging it’ – creating interesting harmonies off the top of his head while reading only the lead copies. Well done Jim.
Supporting players on the night were :-
Accordionists – John Murray (who joined us all the way from Alnwick), Duncan Muir, Katie and Steven Todd, Adele Queen, Andrew and Adam Gibb, Tom Orr, Jim Paterson, Roy Anderson, Emma Dickson, Alan Gardiner and Duncan Hutchison.
Fiddlers – Emma Gardiner, Tom Gold and Hannah Dickson.
On keyboard – Keith Dickson, Tom Orr, Dorothy Lawson, Mike Anderson and Steven Todd.
Drummers – Bob Henderson, George Shiels, Andrew Barrie and Ian Graham.
Year 30 No 08 April 2007
Sunday 11th March saw an excellent turnout of local listeners and players to hear The Ian Hutson SDB. Several of our regular young players were recuperating in the aftermath of the competitions at Dumfries the previous day but their places were taken up by a host of visitors.
On accordion – Gordon Brown from Kelso, Jim Paterson, Euan Orr, Fiona Sinclair, Calum Muir, Robbie Paterson, Andrew and Adam Gibb, Scott Nichol, Tom Orr, Katie and Steven Todd, Duncan Hutchison, Alan Gardiner, Ian Graham, Blair Gardiner, Neil Hardie, Donald MacLeod, Jim Gold and Willie McFarlane.
On fiddle – Emma Gardiner, Caroline Hardie and Vaila Tait.
On drums – Bill Gillie from Kelso, Geordie Shiels, Ross Anderson, Tom Hope and Andrew Barrie.
On keyboard – Keith Dickson, Alan Gardiner, Tom Orr and Stevie Todd.
Our guests were initially delayed due to an accident on the Edinburgh By-pass but they proceeded to give us two excellent sessions of fine traditional music. Ian was accompanied by Alistair MacLeod on second box, Gordon Smith on drums and Jim Nichol on keyboard. Ian interspersed the playing with a number of humorous stories – mostly at the expense of the recently married Gordon Smith – and, to reinforce the fact that the audience had thoroughly enjoyed the band, sales at the door of their new CD Let’s Celebrate really took off.
Thanks again lads.
Year 30 No 09 May 2007
The season ended on a definite high note in April when 102 listeners came through ‘the turnstiles’ at Biggar Municipal on Easter Sunday to hear a host of local artistes and The Jim Gold Band from Douglas. Jim had his regular line up in the shape of brother Tom on fiddle, Gavin Jackson from Thankerton on second box, Ross Anderson from Rosewell on drums and David Ilgunas from Symington on kaybaord. It’s becoming a fairly rare thing these days to meet a band with a steady line-up but they have successfully built on their win in the Band Section at Musselburgh in March 2006 to create a mixed and entertaining programme. In addition to many fine Scottish sets we had a fiddle solo from Tom and a great semi-classical number, Perles de Cristal from the whole band. All credit to the lads for a well rehearsed programme.
Supporting the Club were visiting players from a wide area, namely
Accordionists – Fiona Sinclair, Jennifer Cowie, Calum Muir, Jamie Young, Euan Orr, John Elliott, James Paterson, Blair Gardiner, Emma Dickson, Robbie Paterson, Duncan Hutchison, Tom Orr, Alan Gardiner, Gemma Coupland (who played a stunning Continental piece entitled Top Musette), Claire Noble and Robert Menzies.
On concertina/fiddle we had David Corner and on fiddle Emma Gardiner.
On keyboard – Alan Gardiner, Tom Orr, Emily Short and Keith Dickson.
On drums – George Shiels, Tom Hope, James Dickson and Andrew Barrie (and thanks to Andrew for acting as barman for the evening).
Special thanks to Joan Gold who organised an Easter Hamper Raffle that raised £202 for Club funds, to Keith Dickson who mans the sound desk most evenings and to Alan Gardiner, who has just completed his first year as Chairman and MC, for all his efforts and guidance.
The Club will be holding an open meeting in Biggar Municipal Hall at 3.30pm on Sunday 13th May 2007 to which everyone is invited to air their views on any aspect of its running.