Site last updated 28/07/2010
BlackRock Craic
2009
Hooray 2009!!, & after a 6 week battle, the computer viruses have been eliminated and we have regained control of the site again.
The Adventure has started already this year at the Hoots sessions and Alladale.
Jim Kennedy has joined the BlackRock Bandwagon bringing more rock to the ceilidh
-
We’ll start on updating the site now as promised too.
If you want to book the Band this season for your event ,festival, wedding or ceilidh, book early as the dates are filling up fast throughout the year already.
Contact the Skipper ( see home page )
HEB/ ROSS 2 is in the process of being finalised with musicians from Easter Ross / West coast / Lewis / Orkney / Sutherland and Glen Albainn being represented this time and if Davie Tait and Pam can make it, Fife will be given a shout.
Check YOUTUBE for the 19 entries from HEBROSS 1, last Nov !!
It was immense and the sequel is gonna be bigger !
SEE YOU OUT THERE !!
Fri 27th Feb -
A welcome return to the scene of a great gig last year and it was remembered by many. We started with the customary E.minor blast and the musicians kept appearing. It wasn’t long before the place was packed with players and regulars alike and the place & the “Arms “ was buzzing.
Jim was belting out some great songs in his first gig with BRC .
All the practicing paid off as we tried out some new sets .
It was great to see and hear Willie Doig ,Stuart, Big Dave, Bobby the fiddler, That
girl on the flyin’ whistle , the Canadian bouzouki guy and many others, cajon girl
, bodrain girl in stookie, djembe bloke, other fiddlers, guitarists, mandola men
. Sorry didn’t catch your names but what a great night !! It was hard to stop but
we had to before melting at 1am -
A swift drive home to drop Jim off and get back home for another 2hrs at the music with a\ wee victory dance. We can never sleep after a great gig..
Fri 28th the venue -
We negotiated the winding roads to Glencalvie and the final 2miles off road to Alladale( deer dodging the whole way) on a lovely mild night which was a change from the beginning of the month when ploughed through a foot and a half of snow in the trusty Landy to get there, and lost the estate road on the way home, stopping at the verge of a precipice into the forest!!
This gig was a lovely family wedding with some excellent people who were up for a good time. We called dances for them and gradually eased up from one third speed to breakneck to let everyone get the hang of things.
Just to keep the heat up Ol’ Jim from Berriedale kept throwing logs on the fire despite all the windows being open in an attempt to cool us down. Our Jim got everyone singing with some great Dougie Maclean songs and managed to cool the proceedings whilst the Creel of logs was hidden outside and away from Jim ( Berriedale’s) hands. After four hours of dancing on the thick carpets had taken their toll on the guests we closed with some requests . Thanks to Charles & Lynn for letting us share your big day and also to Nicky & Monk from Alladale for their hospitality and assistance with the dancing.
Alladale gigs are always different and challenging -
Big snacks once home and another late /early one listening to music.
Monday 16th March -
We were looking forward to this one as we had both Jim Kennedy at his first Hoots session and Martin Russell, belting out the songs !! It was great to welcome in Jasmine from the Strath with her fiddle , who knew a lot of the set we did. Nice one, hope to see you again ( tunes on their way to you Jasmine )
Hoots was quiet but enthusiastic as the hard core party animals were probably saving themselves for Paddy’s night , the next day. We tried out some new sets and songs which went down well as did Jim’s new toy.... A logarhythm stomp box.
Basically a short four by two with a pick up.... Not a bad sound at all ....
As usual we got home home wide awake and pumped up so played some more ‘til
The wee smalls for the craic. No victory dance , no snacks -
HEB/ROSS 2 the venue Friday 27th March-
Friday was about the shipping forecast the Stornoway ferries made it the Orkney one didn’t. The weather didn’t dampen the spirits of of all the Mainland and Lewis
Musicians at the Invershin Hotel. A great night was had with tune following song
following tunes-
Ian was the first to crash out
Saturday dawned without us seeing it , but we were roused by one of Graham’s legendary full Scottish brekkies. Oh Yeesssss !!
We hit the road in convoy to go see the Falls of shin in spate from the storm -
At about half seven we de-
Sunday-
At 2 BlackRock Ceilidh had a plugged in rehearsal for the Ardross gig next weekend which went well .
The convoy then heaed to Ullapool Ian and Finlay thought they’d get a quick getaway
and dumped Mandy in Dingwall for Us to pick up a couple of textx had them returning
from Garve, as we said we’d no room for her ha ha -
The session at the Argyll was another great one and Nigel put up some beers and pizza’s and tolerated our marathon session ‘til the early hours but Claire crashed first !
Thanks to Mandy, Finlay, Iain, Aky, Kenny, Stacey, Graham, Mike, Sarah, Phil and us who made all three venues and suvived
The lighweights award went to Iain on Friday, Finlay on Saturday and Claireheld out weel but fell asleep mid tune on Sunday
Check out You Tube again for more entries under HEBROSS2
L E G E N D A R Y ! !
Monday 30th Hootananny’s , Inverness-
There were a heap of Italian backpackers in , up for a party and a dance .
And there was BlackRock Ceilidh and Martin Russell ready to oblige-
Cromarty Arms -
Just a brilliant night from start to finish that’s all !!
The Place was Packed, we were right on form , a stack of muso’s came to play in with us, including Finlay from Stornoway . Kenny and Helen were happy , we were happy , the pub was happy, I was happy when the Drambuie came out.
Does you good gigs like that. It certainly was a Good Friday !!
Ardross Hall -
There will be photos to come out of this one for the gallery . It all kicked off at eight once the sound people had tested all the acts’ levels.
There was a wealth of talent and varied material from the singer / songwriters there. We played in with Willie Doig’s set and Martin Russell’s too. These were strong sets from oor pals and it was great to play something completely different to our own stuff.
Karrie Marshall, Syd Lark , Donald Forbes & Martin Stephenson all gave great performances and we closed the night with new sets and songs. Which got a great reception.
Davie was presented with a commemorative book and momento for all his hard work to organise the event and continued expertise since years in the studio and on the bass, guitar, banjo, keyboard.............
The man does everything !!
Cheers Davie , great night!! Thanks also to the imaginitive lighting guys and Ally for their work on the backdrops.
April 27th -
Great craic tonight !! There was Jim ’n’ me ‘n’ Claire ‘n’ Robin ‘n’ Martin and the place was pretty well full . The tourists are back! The new set went down well with a lot of positive response to the songs and tunes.
We were joined by Nick and his mate on the fiddles which gave us another lift.
All in all a great night to play and we left buzzin’ again . Good times !!
May 02nd -
This was Robin’s first trip up to TBOB ( The back of beyond ) and his first bona fide gig with us.
If there were any nerves they didn’t show and weren’t needed as The band sounded tight as... All the practice having paid off.
This was a great laugh as there were 3 professional dancers and some who had never danced a step at this ceilidh.
Craic through chaos might have been the motto but everyone got the hang of it in the end.
We played a four hour set and rounded of with some songs when the company were tired out dancing on the deep pile carpet !!
God it was good to have a drummer again -
May 11th -
We tried out some new wee amps for Hoots tonight to cut through the usual buzz of the bar. The Place was full again and we had a great time trying out some new arrangements and songs. Hi to Nicky and Chef from Alladale who came down for the craic. And to the guy from Glasgow who joined s to sing his song. Nice one !!
We had an appreciative crowd and some rather complimentary Americans too. Good gig..
Sat May 16th -
When we got a call from Graeme to play for his Dad’s 80th birthday.
We thought we’d brush up on the waltzes and slow airs to give due deference to age.
Needn’t have bothered...Jackie was the most active man on the floor. Up for all the Jigs, reels, Levellers and our own songs. I wouldn’t have placed him at more than 50 !!
This gig was great craic !! We got some excellent feedback and good laughs with the
80 or so people there. The dancing was full on once we called the steps on a few
of them and then watch out -
Jackie was presented with his cake and a confession was made after 35 years.... And a grape in a box was handed to him as a result !!?
You’ll know if you were there.
Quote of the Night -
We finished around midnight with calls for more. Good Party !!
Victory Dance at home before unpacking the gear and Zzzzzzzzzzz !
Sat May 23rd the venue The King Haakon Bar , Kyleakin.
It was great to be invited back to this buzzin’ nightspot , which is our first stop in Skye every time.
The new trailer made it over after it’s major reconstruction in steel and fibreglass. Muuuuuuuch Better !! Look out for the tow a van with the Fyrish logo on the back and give us a hoot.
Anyways it was fine to see Tam back up the road and the two Roberts.
We got set up after a great dinner ( thanks guys ) and started fast and got the pace moving really quickly, before shouting some dances for the great crowd of backpackers , tourists and locals alike.
We really had a great time here again and the songs and sets went over really well, with the floor always full and bouncin’
A big hi to Annette again and to the Eastern girls who sang in with us and held my banjo for a while ‘til I needed it. Our first roadies?
We finished with a huge Strip the willow, some levellers tracks and a BIG set of tunes to end , totally boiling , knackered and happy.
It didn’t take long to br4eak down the gear and pack it with all that adrenalin pumpin’ through us.
We had a great drive back between half one and three a.m. As it never really got dark and I could see the damn fool neo suicidal deer in their attempts to dice with death. Managed to miss them all and deposit the snoring majority at their cars before I got a go myself.
Hootananny’s Mon 25th.
Another hot night , both temperature and music wise. The place was busy from the off and we set a cracking pace which all there seemed to like. Claire was trying to play whilst some guy tried to chat her up, but she managed to stay with us with one ear whilst the other was getting bent big style. We tried another couple of new songs out which were well received until Jim took the opportunity to sing a song by those well known Scottish Performers MCFLY !!!! I was at the bog and almost bust a gut as I heard “All about you “ when I returned down the stairs. Got my own back at the end after a great night. Told Jim that Hoot’s had docked the fee because of the McFly stunt as it wasn’t trad... Took us two days to tell him . Evil eh !!
Heh heh heh..
Wed 03rd Jun the venue -
This was a last minute booking, & a quick phone call round as we’d been requested to play for Mr X. Owner of the world’s second largest vodka brand and his party. The car was on jacks as I was changin’ the tyres. It was a case of drop the jack throw in the gear and go !! We got over the Struie and noticed the handling suffering a bit on the corners. Jumped out to check the car ....
Oops ! Forgot to tighten the wheel nuts !!! Don’t tell the guys ....
We got to Alladale and started playing outside at 10.30pm round a huge fire pit under the trees . We were joined by all the Russian guests
Who loved the Trad sets and songs and had the great taste to go wild dancing to our own stuff and the Levellers numbers we did for the craic. Needless to say there was “special “ frozen vodka on stream from the very attentive butler. Now we got to get one of those !!
Gillian Sutherland and Julie did a stint on the pipes and danced. Then we carried on into the early hours of the “simmer dim “ where it never got dark at all. The fire got higher the dancing faster and the tunes hotter. Great fun. Another early am. trip home to greet the dawn and the working day. Brilliant !!
All the Best Nicky -
Heb Celt Fest Week & Sail Hebrides
Wed July 15th -
& immediately bumped into our Heb/Ross pals on Cromwell Street.
We didn’t even make the hotel and dragged the bags and instruments into MacNeils to start a session. We left at closing time and the place was packed & jumpin’ all night. A true baptism of fore !!
Thursday -
Friday -
We piled the instruments and ourselves into Zodiacs and went ashore to play for the crews of the Sail Heb armada. What a pleasure to play outsidein the sun and breeze ( Nae midgies ) with other muso’s and lots of great food fired our way.
We sailed back to Stornoway in the late aft.and all headed to Mandy’s for a hilarious few hours at dinner. Here the Sunday ferry song was born....
A few txts and we headed to The Whalers for some tunes and then to the Caley.
Euan , Mandy and Claire headed to the harbour to play for the crew and passengersof a Dutch tall ship and were rewarded with some beers and a tour below decks of this beautiful ship.
Saturday -
Sunday -
Mon 20th July -
Fri / Sat 24th /25th July The King Haakon Bar .
A 2 night booking for us at the liveliest nightspot on Skye.
We tried out a new P.a. Set up & happily it sounded great. We got the crowd going early with some fiery sets and dances. The new songs went down well too. We finished @ 1am boiling but happy at the new set up and got the craic for a while with Steve and the guys at KHB.
We got up late on Saturday and headed to Portree to see what was going on there. Euan bought a heron , Claire a key that doesn’t fit and Rob was tempted by a fishing boat !!
We got back to Kyleakin for some dinner& set up again for an even better night. Well
done to the Italian backpackers , hi to Budgie again ,and to Jamie ( where’s the
photo’s pal? ) and all the usual suspects amongst the locals -
Aug 01st -
Everyone was up for a good time and there were some chaotic 8 some’s , & flying Strip the willows, G.Gordons on the lawn.
Lizzie’s wee Caitlin and Andrea were the Star dancers it has to be said.
This gig was a real pleasure to do.
Mon 03rd Aug -
It was a goodnight again and the revised set list and new songs went down a storm. We‘ve been asked to play on stage in a fortnight so that’ll be a blast.
Tartan Heart Festival , Belladrum .6/7 Aug
We were chosen to play the Charity Sessions at Bella & had immense fun both days for 3 hours stints each day.in the glorious heat & sun.
We got a great reception and were played on MFR on Saturday !
Thanks to all who gave, sang ,dance, banged a drum or tambourine... Hey Fudge , how’s the dancin’ technique. The result was Over £300 raised for the Music Therapy Dept. Of St Clement’s School Dingwall. & we still had time to see all the bands we wanted to.
On Saturday we also did our spot on Medicine Music’s Potting Shed Stage which was great. Thanks to Rob Ellan for the invitation.
We always come off there buzzing !! God we love “Bella “ , the best yet ?
Fri 14th August -
The return to the legendary Loch Carron. We were welcomed by Nigel reminding us the last time we were there the old trailer was slowly falling to pieces with every mile Lol..
This time we had the new amps and backline -
The response to the new set was great and we had a couple of great dancers again
HEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOUUUUUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We ended at 150mph as usual and finished the last of a few pints of water ! It was boiling in there.
Another drive home in the dark o’clock with the deer at the road side ( someone should tell them it’s summer )
Euan driving , was left the only one awake whilst the farting , snoring majority lolled around in there slumber to the undulations of the road til we got hame for a wee victory dance. Yum.
Thurs 20th August -
This was a good one. We hooked up a hybrid p.a. between ours and the hoots one with the new back lines again. The place was really busy with friends, locals & tourists alike.
We had a ball and the set went over well it was over before we knew it .
3hours can sometimes go so fast , especially when the craic is good. We played our trademark sets and songs and some of the requests which we were asked for in the interval.
We finished with a roar from the crowd and packed the gear. Home by half one we were still buzzin’ after the gig , theDrambuie , tea , cheese , bikkies
At 3 am !!!
HEB / ROSS 3 -
Friday night the full band turned up as did a good contingent from Lewis, Invershin, The Muir & Glasgow !
We moved around the hotel from function room to the bar and back playing in each area, the locals were certainly enjoying the craic.
Once the charity gig finished, raising an excellent sum for Leukemia research we adjourned to the bar again for a private party ‘til half four a.m. Playin’ and singin’ non stop. Brilliant fun. Cathy held out ‘til 2.30 a.m. But succombed and won the lightweight belt.
Saturday -
We set off from the Ord and headed to The Novar Arms Evanton , for a few tunes outside, which was pleasant in the sun. After a few restorative pints and grub we headed to Graeme & Brenda’s @ the Invershin Hotel. The only venue chosen for all 3 Heb / Ross weekends for good reason.
We were joined by the the Fort Augustus crew and many more, eventually having 29 musicians playing from 8pm til 5am.
This was a great night to be alive. The music was brilliant and varied with everyone contributing to one of the best nights of music I’ve been to. The audience certainly loved it. The Best Heb / Ross yet ? Thanks to Graeme , Brenda, Mike who drove the bus the whole weekend. Brian, and name checks to Iain , Sarah, Finlay, Cathy , Aky, The Wizard of Ord ( Mick ),Ian , Rox, John Sinc, S.J. Fiona, Stacey, Ronnie, &&&
Fri 28th August -
A welcome return to Kenny and Helen’s place. We noticed for the first time it’s dark by nine ( Ooooh winter’s comin’ ) as we arrived to set up. We had no Jim tonight due to family commitments , so this was Rob and Euan’s first go at leading the vocals and trying out a dozen or so new songs.
Happily it went off really well and the BIG guy with the air guitar , air fiddle and air drums was back in the place and on form . Great laugh !!
We cranked up the pace and were complemented by many about the songs and Claire’s furious fiddle. I think she was on the methanol and nitrous oxide tonight and nae brakes. Rob and Euan kept up manfully as we could see the way things were developing. The last set , I think we were all a blur of beats , double stops and trebles. Heh heh heh . Victory dance at home again to slow us down. Yum.