Every time I have been to a wedding recently, there has been a fantastic amount of Scottish Country dancing.
Until recently I had never tried it before so I was suitably confused when all the spinning and holding hands and jigging about began.
After a while though I got the hang of it, thanks to the cilidh bands instructions and had a whale of a time.
To find out more here is my interview with one of the band members: What made you want to play traditional music? Well originally I played in a school orchestra and played a lot of different instruments when I went to study music at university.
I got into traditional Scottish cilidh music because it is fun and I can make a living playing at weddings and corporate events.
I like traditional music more than other genres because it is very unrestrictive and appeals to a very wide audience.
What do you hope to do in the future? I really enjoy doing the whole wedding reception entertainment thing for now but I hope to start touring around the country and to record an album of new Scottish cilidh music in the next couple of years.
There is a growing appreciation for traditional music outside of the wedding arena so I hope to tap into that interest and get more people liking the music I love.
What do you think of mainstream bands? Don't get me wrong I like lots of the music around just now especially some of the Scottish dance bands.
But I don't feel that mainstream music really does anything for people at the moment.
There are too many Simon Cowell manufactured karaoke divas who get famous by singing other people's songs, then get handed a new song someone else wrote and use their new fame and face to sell it.
It's like a production line of manufactured pop which really has nothing to do with where anyone is from.
It speaks to the lowest common denominator which makes it incredibly low value and short sighted.
Scottish cilidh music is one of the best forms of traditional music which has been around for centuries.
So many of the songs we play are timeless tales about real life which is lacking in most pop songs.
Can you see yourself topping the charts any time soon? Haha no.
I just want to play music for a living and enjoy doing it.
The charts are for people who want to be famous, not real musicians.
Until recently I had never tried it before so I was suitably confused when all the spinning and holding hands and jigging about began.
After a while though I got the hang of it, thanks to the cilidh bands instructions and had a whale of a time.
To find out more here is my interview with one of the band members: What made you want to play traditional music? Well originally I played in a school orchestra and played a lot of different instruments when I went to study music at university.
I got into traditional Scottish cilidh music because it is fun and I can make a living playing at weddings and corporate events.
I like traditional music more than other genres because it is very unrestrictive and appeals to a very wide audience.
What do you hope to do in the future? I really enjoy doing the whole wedding reception entertainment thing for now but I hope to start touring around the country and to record an album of new Scottish cilidh music in the next couple of years.
There is a growing appreciation for traditional music outside of the wedding arena so I hope to tap into that interest and get more people liking the music I love.
What do you think of mainstream bands? Don't get me wrong I like lots of the music around just now especially some of the Scottish dance bands.
But I don't feel that mainstream music really does anything for people at the moment.
There are too many Simon Cowell manufactured karaoke divas who get famous by singing other people's songs, then get handed a new song someone else wrote and use their new fame and face to sell it.
It's like a production line of manufactured pop which really has nothing to do with where anyone is from.
It speaks to the lowest common denominator which makes it incredibly low value and short sighted.
Scottish cilidh music is one of the best forms of traditional music which has been around for centuries.
So many of the songs we play are timeless tales about real life which is lacking in most pop songs.
Can you see yourself topping the charts any time soon? Haha no.
I just want to play music for a living and enjoy doing it.
The charts are for people who want to be famous, not real musicians.