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LIGONIER HIGHLAND GAMES ENTERTAINMENT ROSTER
ABBOTS CROSS
Named for a town in County Antrim, Ireland, Abbots Cross has been performing traditional and modern Celtic music since 2010. Founding members Alan Booth on guitar and vocals and Mike Clancy on flute and percussion, are musicians located in the Pittsburgh area. The combination of Alan Booth's rich vocals and Mike Clancy's jazz background makes for an exciting musical experience. Rounding out the full band is Paul Busalacchi on bass and Josh Gerba on drums.
Their influences range from The Wolfe Tones to John Coltrane. Booth and Clancy's set list includes traditional and modern Celtic music as well as original instrumentals combined with jigs and reels inspired by Brian Finnegan and Michael McGoldrick.
In recent years, Abbots Cross have been featured at The 3 Rivers Arts Festival, The Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival, The Pittsburgh Irish Festival, and the Christmas In the Woods Festival in Ohio.
Their influences range from The Wolfe Tones to John Coltrane. Booth and Clancy's set list includes traditional and modern Celtic music as well as original instrumentals combined with jigs and reels inspired by Brian Finnegan and Michael McGoldrick.
In recent years, Abbots Cross have been featured at The 3 Rivers Arts Festival, The Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival, The Pittsburgh Irish Festival, and the Christmas In the Woods Festival in Ohio.
SEAN PATRICK REGAN
Sean Patrick Regan is a 3rd-generation bagpiper, a former amateur National and World Solo Piping Champion, and the current Professor of Bagpiping at PennWest Edinboro (formerly Edinboro University).
Sean is the only person in the world to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education, and a Master of Music Performance, with the Bagpipe as the primary instrument. He has earned terminal certificates in Piping Performance, Theory, and Teaching from the Piping and Drumming Qualifications Board, Scotland, as well as the Graduate Certificate awarded by the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association.
Sean has competed as a member of pipe bands of every grade level, and instructs the Balmoral Pipes & Drums, a Pittsburgh-based Grade 5 band. He also serves as the Artistic Director for the Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming.
Sean teaches private students locally and nationally, in person and online. In addition to teaching, he performs regularly as a soloist and as a member of Grammy-nominated Celtic ensemble, The Rogues. He is featured on seven albums, and contributes periodically to The Voice, the quarterly publication of the EUSPBA, providing articles on bagpipe pedagogy and philosophy.
Education and entertainment are combined in this abridged performance as Sean attempts to answer every question ever asked about the Great Highland Bagpipe
Sean is the only person in the world to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education, and a Master of Music Performance, with the Bagpipe as the primary instrument. He has earned terminal certificates in Piping Performance, Theory, and Teaching from the Piping and Drumming Qualifications Board, Scotland, as well as the Graduate Certificate awarded by the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association.
Sean has competed as a member of pipe bands of every grade level, and instructs the Balmoral Pipes & Drums, a Pittsburgh-based Grade 5 band. He also serves as the Artistic Director for the Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming.
Sean teaches private students locally and nationally, in person and online. In addition to teaching, he performs regularly as a soloist and as a member of Grammy-nominated Celtic ensemble, The Rogues. He is featured on seven albums, and contributes periodically to The Voice, the quarterly publication of the EUSPBA, providing articles on bagpipe pedagogy and philosophy.
Education and entertainment are combined in this abridged performance as Sean attempts to answer every question ever asked about the Great Highland Bagpipe
MELINDA CRAWFORD & COMPANY
Melinda Crawford is a Scottish fiddler based in western Pennsylvania. With a sound that hearkens back to the Highlands and Islands, she has performed the music of traditional and modern Scottish fiddling in Scotland and throughout the United States. Blending traditional tunes and her own compositions, she weaves imaged of ancient lands into sets with vibrant dances that are as much fun to listen to as they are to play. Joining Melinda on keyboard is Dan Perttu whose haunting harmonies bring the mist to the atmosphere, along with Kip Ruefle on bodhran, who also brings the dancing rhythms to life.
A teacher as well as a performer, Melinda is also a Scottish F.I.R.E. sanctioned judge and the director of the annual Strathgeny School of Scottish Fiddling at Westminster College, where she also serves as a professor of music.
A teacher as well as a performer, Melinda is also a Scottish F.I.R.E. sanctioned judge and the director of the annual Strathgeny School of Scottish Fiddling at Westminster College, where she also serves as a professor of music.
RED McWILLIAMS
with guest Jessica Willard
Combining a percussive guitar with a rich baritone voice and a positive attitude has created the perfect blend of Celtic entertainer. Red moves from ballads to bawdy, from patriotic to parody, from historical to hysterical. Red addsoff-the-wall comments, jokes, stories, ribald humorbetween songs that makes his solo act entertaining, and one of a kind. Red is appreciated by Celtic music lovers all over the world and is often called “America’s Celt.”
DENNIS DOYLE
Dennis Doyle is a Celtic harpist from California. His delightful program of traditional Celtic harp music, stories, songs, bits of history and jokes have been performed all over North America, Japan, the UK and Ireland. Teachers and musicians run in his family which originally hails from County Wicklow, Ireland.
Dennis has over ten recordings and has two published books on Celtic and liturgical music. The most recent recording is Swift River.
Though based in California, Dennis has deep personal roots in Westmoreland and Fayette counties of Pennsylvania where his grandfather William Doyle worked the mines in the region. Dennis’ father, Mark Doyle, was born in Connellsville and grew up in Uniontown, moving the family post-war to Los Angeles in 1949.
Dennis has over ten recordings and has two published books on Celtic and liturgical music. The most recent recording is Swift River.
Though based in California, Dennis has deep personal roots in Westmoreland and Fayette counties of Pennsylvania where his grandfather William Doyle worked the mines in the region. Dennis’ father, Mark Doyle, was born in Connellsville and grew up in Uniontown, moving the family post-war to Los Angeles in 1949.
RICHPATRICK CELTIC MUSIC
RichPatrick brings audiences Celtic folk music, blending traditional and contemporary songs and tunes. The trio features Rich Lange on vocals and acoustic guitar, Sue Borowski on vocals, fiddle, bouzouki & mandolin and Jim Borowski on bodhran and vocals.
WATERHORSE
featuring Sue Tillotson and Jim Cunningham
Sue Tillotson and Jim Cunningham are WaterHorse. Sue and Jim live in western New York and have played music together for many years bringing a love of Celtic music and exciting instrumentation to their audiences. You will hear Sue on fiddle, whistle and vocals and Jim on guitar, bouzouki, cittern, whistle and vocals. They are regular performers at the Jamestown Regional Celtic Festival, the Ligonier Highland Games and the Fredonia Freee For All. They have played house concerts, wineries, weddings, museums and Celtic church services. They were featured at the historic Fredonia Opera House as part of their Folk in Fredonia Music Series and performed at the Reg Lenna Civic Center in Jamestown, New York for several Annual Holiday Family Christmas concerts. They have been featured guests at WRFA Back Room Radio Hour, a local TV show called Chautauqua Sunrise and WRFA Arts on Fire program. Check out their website: www.waterhorse.org and their YouTube channel and you can find them on Facebook under Water Horse.
DRUIDSONG
featuring Bruce Golightly
Bruce Golightly is a well-known Celtic artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. Bruce appears as DruidSong performing Celticfolk music. The songs he sings are drawn primarily from the Irish and Scottish traditions and from a variety of sources. He also performs original songs in an acoustic format.
WILLA WHAMDIDDLER
Willa Whamdiddler (Jessica A. Willard) is a newer face to the Celtic music scene. Compelled by her love for the genre, she taught herself how to play the hammered dulcimer, also known as a whamdiddle. Jessica is a classically trained musician and played in many bands and orchestras over the course of her life. She's now performing at festivals and renaissance faires across the United States including a few close to her home near Pittsburgh, PA.
SOUND SYSTEM SUPPORT PROVIDED BY LARCH AUDIO
PERFORMING AT PAVILION E1:
PITTSBURGH SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY
Country Dancing emerged in Scotland at the beginning of the 18th century as a form of social dancing, usually done in groups of four couples somewhat like its cousin, Western Square Dancing. After two centuries of mass popularity, Scottish Country Dancing was a fading memory when in 1923 the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society was founded to restore and preserve the tradition. Hundreds of dances have been edited and republished from old manuscripts. The very dance most frequent at Highland Balls now - The Montgomerys' Rant - was recorded as a favorite at balls in 1749.
The Pittsburgh affiliate of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society will demonstrate this happy blend of music and movement with performances at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM at Pavilion E1.
These demonstrations will combine a performance with audience participation. All those interested are invited to watch and perhaps try their hand at dancing with some instruction. This activity is available to anyone interested, though it is suggested that participating children be at least 8 years old. Comfortable shoes are all that is required!
The Pittsburgh affiliate of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society will demonstrate this happy blend of music and movement with performances at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM at Pavilion E1.
These demonstrations will combine a performance with audience participation. All those interested are invited to watch and perhaps try their hand at dancing with some instruction. This activity is available to anyone interested, though it is suggested that participating children be at least 8 years old. Comfortable shoes are all that is required!
BARRA THE BARD
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Barra the Bard returns for her 31st Year of Scottish Storytelling
Barra has been our seannachie for 31 years! A seannachie is the Scots Gaelic word for “storyteller,” and Barra the Bard has been telling Scottish tales with us since the last millenium. She’s only ever repeated one tale one time, and that was a request! Barra learned many Hebridean and Scottish tales from her great-great grandmother, who emigrated from the Isle of Barra (yes, Barra was named for it) in the 1820s with her a small bardic harp that had been handed down for almost 200 years.
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She tells stories in the ancient manner as a traditional teller, not reading a book aloud but working from memory, the heart. A professional storyteller for many years, she’s told in churches, classrooms, private and holiday parties, concerts, fraternal groups, museums and other festivals for almost thirty years.
She’s an active member of StorySwap, Pittsburgh’s Storytelling Guild, which sponsors Tellabration concerts in November and the Three Rivers Storytelling Festival in August; most recently, doing “harptellings,” there in which she’s combined playing her harp, singing and telling. Barra told at the scholarship awards banquet at Pittsburgh’s St. Andrew’s Society and has been a part of Pittsburgh Tartan Day celebrations here since they began twenty years ago.
Barra estimates her repertoire is well over 5,000 folktales, myths and legends from around the world. Besides those genres, she delights in telling folk- and fairytales, ghost stories, historical tales, and a few of her own. Other aspects of her work include research, blogging, writing, and leading workshops on storytelling and public speaking topics and “songtellings,” combining telling and music. In the past she has taught at CMU’s Academy of Life-long Learning (ALL) and was a guest lecturer at Pitt’s School of Library & Information Sciences’ graduate storytelling classes. She’s been the fiction editor and has written a column of Scottish folktales and folklore for the Scottish Harp Society of America’s (SHSA) journal, Kilt & Harp for more than 17 years.
She’s an active member of StorySwap, Pittsburgh’s Storytelling Guild, which sponsors Tellabration concerts in November and the Three Rivers Storytelling Festival in August; most recently, doing “harptellings,” there in which she’s combined playing her harp, singing and telling. Barra told at the scholarship awards banquet at Pittsburgh’s St. Andrew’s Society and has been a part of Pittsburgh Tartan Day celebrations here since they began twenty years ago.
Barra estimates her repertoire is well over 5,000 folktales, myths and legends from around the world. Besides those genres, she delights in telling folk- and fairytales, ghost stories, historical tales, and a few of her own. Other aspects of her work include research, blogging, writing, and leading workshops on storytelling and public speaking topics and “songtellings,” combining telling and music. In the past she has taught at CMU’s Academy of Life-long Learning (ALL) and was a guest lecturer at Pitt’s School of Library & Information Sciences’ graduate storytelling classes. She’s been the fiction editor and has written a column of Scottish folktales and folklore for the Scottish Harp Society of America’s (SHSA) journal, Kilt & Harp for more than 17 years.
Become a sponsor of the Ligonier Highland Games and help us continue the tradition of preserving and promoting Scottish arts and heritage. Your donation will be recognized on our website and in the souvenir program book. Other benefits can include V.I.P. seating, hotel accommodation and becoming an honorary chieftain. Click link above to find out more.
