Tartan Day South

The kickoff is on Friday evening at 6pm with a reception and is followed by a fundraising event featuring whiskey tasting, dinner, concert & auction at the host hotel. Later that evening a pub-crawl is planned in downtown Columbia with music provided by some of the weekend’s featured entertainers.

Saturday the main festival takes place at the Historic Columbia Speedway in Cayce, SC. which highlights Celtic music, Highland athletics, pipe bands, clan/society area, Celtic Marketplace, food, kids activities and demonstrations in dancing, piping, storytelling, herding, to name a few. The hours on Sat. run from 10am until 8pm and will be packed with something for everyone and a few special surprises.

We’re especially excited about the first musical line up because it brings together some diverse, quality acts with plenty of energy. Drum roll please…..RATHKELTAIR, BARLEYJUICE, THE BLESSED BLEND, CUTTHROAT SHAMROCK, THISTLEDOWN TINKERS, DAVEY RAMONE MORRISON, MARCILLE WALLIS.

And the best part……it’s only $10 per person for Saturday! Start your festival season at Tartan Day South. You’ll find more details at www.tartandaysouth.com

As a tribute to David’s memory we will be running special programming on Celtic Force Radio featuring some music and words that represent David.

We are starting at midnight on Sunday morning and running a 20 min. tribute every three hours. We want to invite folks across the globe to tune in and raise a glass to the memory of this well-loved giant of a man. We miss you and will carry on with your work.

Sunday
Schedule:   Scotland       US (eastern)
                          5am              midnight
                          8am                  3am
                         11am                 6am
                           2pm                 9am
                           5pm                 noon
                           8pm                  3pm
                          11pm                 6pm
                            2am (Mon)      9pm
                            5am (Mon)   midnight

The programming software is set for the top of each hour but will only play the tribute once the current song in the Que is finished, so the set may not kick off exactly on the hour. As a reference point, the tribute starts with Dougie MacLean’s “Caledonia”.

RIP, David.

Visit CelticForceRadio.com!

In the High Country you can celebrate this day by attending a dinner and concert featuring one of Scotland’s treasures, singer/songwriter, Jim Malcolm.

Malcolm is the winner of the Scots Trad Music Awards Songwriter of the Year and has been runner up for singer of the year. (www.jimmalcolm.com)

He is known for his smooth vocals, his charismatic delivery and his wit. Jim has performed in the past at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, as well as other regional venues, and will deliver his tribute to St Andrew’s Day at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center in Boone, NC.

The dinner will be at 7pm followed by the concert in the Grand Ballroom at Broyhill Inn. This celebration is being presented jointly by the Broyhill Inn and Celtic Force Enterprises.

Tickets for the dinner and the concert are $45 per person and can be purchased on line at www.thecelticforce.com/tickets. For more information you can call 336-499-9733

The Tin Whistle (sometimes called a pennywhistle) is a simple and cheap instrument. It’s simply a metal tube with six fingerholes and a mouthpiece (much like a recorder); it has a range of about two octaves. Costs range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars — although some of the best players play only the cheaper brands.

The tin whistle is a simple instrument — and it’s simple to play, and simple to play easy tunes. But — it’s not simple to master! The instrument may be cheap, but you’ll have to pay for mastery … by practicing! The haunting whistle tunes from the movie “Titanic” illustrate the deep soul found in this instrument.

This instrument is commonly made from metal (usually brass) with a molded whistle mouthpiece. By playing it open (not covering any of the six fingerholes), then by covering each fingerhole in turn, you can play the 7 notes in a diatonic (a simple Do-Re-Mi scale — essentially the white keys on a piano) scale. Blow a little bit harder and you’ll play the same note, but an octave higher. While it is a diatonic instrument, you can achieve sharps and flats by half-covering fingerholes.

Since there are essentially only two open notes — a note, then the note an octave higher when you blow harder — each tin whistle is said to represent a certain Key signature. For instance, if the open note sounds a “D”, then the whistle is considered to be in the key of D. Many players carry a small set of whistles in the most commonly used keys.

Some people don’t realize you can actually tune a tin whistle! You do so by sliding the metal barrel of the whistle in and out of the mouthpiece head. Some whistles have the head glues securely to the barrel. You can usually loosen the glue by holding the joined portion under hot running water. Don’t use boiling water — this may melt the plastic whistle head!

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Hugh Allison was born in Lochaber, Scotland and has felt a strong connection to his past from an early age. Over the years he has put his experiences and learning of history into three books that show a culture that originated in the highlands and lowlands of Scotland, over many centuries, but ended up spreading across the world. His first book, Roots of Stone, tells the story of those who came before, a direct connection to the author’s personal heritage.

His next book, Rivers Running Far, tells the story of those who went away, the thousands of Scottish immigrants that spread their heritage halfway around the globe. His latest book, Culloden Tales, are stories about the place that ended the Highland way of life and would eventually help populate our country with many ideas that became the basis for our formation as a nation.

These stories that have been passed down, or experienced by the author, and show the impact of a single location and moment in time on the future of a country. Hugh weaves all of the tales with passion and humor, leaving the reader, or listener, yearning to know more about this magical, ancient place known as Alba (Gaelic for Scotland). www.scottishtalespinner.com

You don’t want to miss this unique opportunity to meet an entertaining speaker, and possibly a distant relative, if you have Scottish roots or an interest in all things Scottish.

Hugh will be at the following locations; Sept. 26, River House Inn in Grassy Creek, NC (www.riverhousenc.com), Sept. 27 Old Salem Tavern, Winston Salem, NC (www.oldsalemtavern.com), Sept. 29 Tirnanog Irish Pub, Raleigh, NC for whiskey tasting and dinner (www.tirnanogirishpub.com) and at the Williamsburg Scottish Festival on Oct 1 & 2 (www.wsfonline.org)

Source: http://celticmusic.co/

The fourth album from the rockin’ modern pipes and drums band features ‘Bagrock’ cover versions of classic tracks including Radio Ga Ga (Queen), Baba O’Reilly (The Who), Let Me Entertain You (Robbie Williams) and Long Way To The Top (AC/DC).

The Chillis’ version of Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars has been going down a storm in America, where the band is currently touring.

The Chilli Pipers also incorporate gospel and dance into their melting pot of sound, through the likes of Everybody Dance Now and a version of Amazing Grace featuring members of Glasgow’s Gospel Truth Choir.

The Chillis came storming on to the scene after winning Graham Norton’s BBC1 TV series When Will I Be Famous? With their powerful style they have moved the bagpipes into new and adventurous areas, re-interpreting famous tracks by the likes of Queen, Survivor, John Farnham, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Status Quo, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Coldplay in their very own Chilli Piper way.

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By Maureen Perdomo and Jack Long, Guest Writers

In early July, on a crisp Sunday morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, the sounds of the song “The Kiss,” from the movie, “The Last of the Mohicans,” could be heard filtering down through the rocks and the crags into the valleys below.

Above, on a mile-high pedestrian bridge, 28 members of the Chelsea House Orchestra played as they crossed from one peak to another, bringing their version of “Celtic with a kick” to yet another part of the world.

This glorious site was the conclusion of CHO’s first trip to the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, where the largest gathering of the clans in the United States takes place each year to celebrate their Scottish heritage.

This trip would also mark the beginning of one of the busiest and most traveled months in the CHO’s history, putting in over 2,400 miles in a three-week period in a tour that covered shows in North Carolina, Jackson, Edinboro, Pa., Grass Lake and ending in Chelsea.

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• Desire Lines, David’s unique combination travelogue and history book on his beloved Scotland.

• On the Trail of William Wallace, David’s refreshing insight into the life and heritage of the great Scots hero whose proud story is at the very heart of what it means to be Scottish.

Books can be purchased by contacting Eric Johnson.  Send email to:  thecelticforceej@gmail.com for more information.

Additional inventory of other David Ross books is expected soon. Included will be his last work, Scottish Women, scheduled for release in June. Look for further announcements here.

David Robertson Ross is, and was, a patriotic Scot who loved his country and its people. He was passionate about the rich tapestry of Scottish history. David  specialised in the great Scottish hero Sir William Wallace. He loved Scotland’s past AND present. David believed his writing gave him the opportunity to promote Scotland in a positive light. For David, it was always important to show Scotland as ready to take its equal place in the world of the future.

David Ross websites:

http://www.davidrross.org
http://www.walkforwallace.com
http://www.thesocietyofwilliamwallace.com

The Celtic Force – Visit our website: www.thecelticforce.com

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