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The Tannahil Weavers playing at the West Theatre. Photos by Jill Fisher.

After nearly 15 years the Tannahill Weavers, the notable Scottish quartet, returned to Duluth and were welcomed by a full house at the West Theatre. 

It was Wednesday, Sept. 4, and what a reunion it was since it seemed like half the audience had personal ties to the band and the other half were long-time fans. 

To wit, members of our local Celtic group Willowgreen were in attendance, among bagpipers and Scots of all stripes.

The four Scotsmen who comprise the Celtic quartet are Roy Gullane (guitar, lead vocals), Malcolm Bushby (fiddle), Phil Smillie (bodhrán, flute, penny whistle) and Iain MacGilliveray (bagpipes, fiddle, penny whistle). All four members sang, providing exhilarating harmonies along with the eerie tones of bagpipes and indecipherable Scottish brogues. Who needs to understand the lyrics when the tunes are so enjoyable?

This group has released 18 albums since its founding in 1976 and the performance included tunes cherry-picked from several. 

One of the first was “When The Kye Come Hame” (When the cows come home) from their 1998 album Epona. It was followed by “The Brewer Laddie” off the earlier Capernaum album released in 1994. Another included “The Trooper and the Maid.” At the end of the first set, the Scotsmen treated us to the title track of their 50-year anniversary recording, Órach, meaning gold.

Founding member of the group, Gullane, retains a strong on-key voice with wonderful nuances. He was also something of a comic, interspersing their numbers with jokes and polite descriptions of shady ladies (“purveyors of horizontal refreshment”!). 

In hawking the band’s merch, he reminded us of what often happens the day before Christmas when we’ve forgotten a gift for someone, saying that this is an opportune time to ensure that doesn’t happen, spinning a tale of the forgotten recipient’s resulting job loss, homelessness and ultimate suicide when the expected Christmas gift wasn’t forthcoming. 

Another was Gullane’s assertion that, although some think the phrase “romantic Scotsman” is an oxymoron, he knew a Scotsman who loved his wife so much he nearly told her.

Iain MacGilliveray

Iain who was decked out in a classic kilt, a must for bagpipers, is the third generation of his family to perform with bagpipes. Both his grandfather, Donald, and father, Duncan MacGillivray, are former world champion bagpipers, so there’s no wonder where he got his musical chops, along with some pretty talented genes in that hunk of a body. And this man has strong connections to Duluth that go back to 2008 when he undertook international relations and business management studies at St. Scholastica. 

That same year he won the school’s talent show playing his pipes. It was clear that many in the audience knew him from the four years he spent there. He acknowledged many of these folks by name as mentors and supporters, along with the Duluth Scottish Heritage Association. 

 The newest member of the group is Malcolm Bushby who sings, plays fiddle and bouzouki (though not the latter during this concert), and teaches these instruments. He hails from Tasmania, where he grew up in a musical family who ran festivals in Australia. His family’s Scottish roots drew him back to the old country, however, where he now resides in Glasgow.

The Tannahill Weavers’ sound was full, especially with the heart-pounding, rhythmic drumming of the bodhrán by Phil Smillie, who was the other founder of TW. When he wasn’t singing or drumming, his flutes and whistles provided sharp piercing notes to punctuate most songs. 

After an “interval” (intermission) during which folks crowded the merch table to get their backup Christmas presents, the group performed the “Gordon Duncan Set” dedicated to a former member of the band, Dougie MacLean. This was a medley of traditional tunes (I’m guessing here) that you might have thought would inspire some dancing, but the audience was content to just listen.

To prove that bagpipes can be played on something other than battle dirges and marches, TW performed the ballad “Sunset Over the Somme.” It is a searing and somber piece that commemorates the WW I battle fought by British and French forces with Germans near the Somme River in France. 

What was most spellbinding was the story behind the bagpipes played by MacGilliveray. This amazing wind instrument was owned by Iain’s great uncle, Donald Patterson, who died at the Battle of the Somme as part of the Cameron Highlanders unit. When recovered, the bagpipes were soaked with blood and had bullet holes from German machine gun fire. Having been restored and sporting long tassels, it’s also been mic’d to bring it up to 21st century concert standards. 

MacGilliveray has been filmed playing it in such notable TV programs as the Outlander. Best of all he’s the musician in residence at the Glenmorangie Distillery in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland. (I’ll drink to that!)

The crowd enthusiastically called for an encore and TW returned to the stage for two more enjoyable tunes. One was a “Scottish Rap”—a tongue twisting Celtic take on hip hop that was amazing to hear. The second was a thrilling rendition of “Heartbeat of Scotland” that featured Smillie’s dramatic drumming. 

To summarize, the Tannahill Weavers performed an engaging and lively show that was everything I could have wished for, though I had no previous experience of this group. The only more perfect thing I could imagine is seeing them live in Scotland with Highland dancers doing the Scottish Fling and jigs. 

Martin Zellar and the Hardways

Friday, Sept. 6, it was off to Silver Bay for the last of Rocky Wall’s (Nelson French) 2024 Music in the Park productions with Martin Zellar and the Hardways, a group unknown to me. 

Although it was a clear day, it was also quite chilly with temperatures in the mid-50s, which led to the concert being moved from the city park inside to Reunion Hall at the request of the band. (What wimps!) 

The Minneapolis-based group has been described musically as alt-country and Americana and Zellar touted as an amazing songwriter. Based on the turnout for this event, they are indeed very popular. They were energetic and the capacity crowd didn’t take long to start dancing to the more upbeat numbers (there were some slower ballads too). 

I am sorry to say that the sound was such that I couldn’t discern the lyrics to Zellar’s original songs, so I will need another hearing before I can concur with the prevailing sentiments about the group.

Saturday evening, Sept. 7, I was curious to see that Andy Lipke was playing at the Thirsty Pagan in Superior so the Curmudgeon and I stopped by for the first hour of his set. 

Surprisingly he was playing an acoustic rather than electric guitar and singing! While I’ve seen him play with the bands Box Car and Theory of Light, I’ve not heard him sing before. He played covers of the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers and other well-known songs. I especially liked hearing him sing the Statler Brothers’ hit, “Counting Flowers on the Wall.” 

A benefit concert at Sacred Heart Music Center by Felgemaker and Friends on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 8, was a real treat. A roster of seven organists (Brian Kapp, Charles Sundquist, Thomas Hamilton, Rachael Kresha, Karen Hanson Sande, Velda Graham Bell and David Tryggestad) played the historic instrument for our pleasure. 

The wide variety of pieces that spanned more than three centuries showcased the versatility of the instrument as it accompanied musicians of various stripes—from soaring soprano (Tasha Kapp) and lilting flute (Paula Gudmundson) to classic violin (Kristin Sande) and jazzy saxophone (Randy Lee). 

Lyz Jaakola

In addition there was a French horn duet (James Pospisil and Deborah Rausch) and a fine trumpet finale (Earl Salemink). All were quite wonderful but the most compelling performance, in my estimation, was the fusion of the organ (composition by North Shore composer William Beckstrand) with Native American song and drumming by Lyz Jaakola. This was real boundary-expanding work with sounds that resonated superbly in Sacred Heart. I can’t help but think that hearing more Native American music will make us more open to the different sensibilities of minority cultures.

Michael Barone, host of American Public Media’s radio program, Pipe Dreams, was in attendance and apparently taping the concert for future broadcast. 

The turnout for the concert could have been greater and hopefully the audience for these organ concerts will grow since all proceeds support the fund to maintain the historic Felgemaker pipe organ housed at SHMC. 

Here’s one event that may further this aim: the silent film Phantom of the Opera will be shown at SHMC with organ accompaniment by Aaron David Miller on Friday, Oct. 25. Now that sounds like a must see performance. 

See you there!