The Iron Horse was a Scottish band founded in 1990. I heard them in Edinburgh several times over the ten years they existed as a touring group and they were as great live as they are recorded.
During the decade that the band existed, it performed mostly Scottish music but merged in other material as well. If you’ve heard another Scottish sort of trad group, you’ll see the commonality the two groups have. Though the band split up in 2001, due to contractual recording obligations, they reunited briefly in 2004 to record a final album.
The Iron Horse was Annie Grace (whistles and vocals), Ross Kennedy (guitars and vocals), Gavin Marwick (fiddle), Lynn Morrison (keyboard and vocals), and Rod Paul (whistles, mandolin, banjo, guitar). They have made a number of albums since this one, but this is their finest to date. The Iron Horse is one of those full-force bands that have to be heard to be believed — imagine the Old Blind Dogs with even more energy.
If you buy their first few albums, you’ll note that they are an acoustic sounding band but they, like Steeleye Span, became more electric as time went on. This is reflected in the name of the band which takes its name from an old Scottish song in which a man first encounters the harsh reality of modern technology in the form of a train.
Ok, so let’s give you a taste of how they sounded. Here is The 8-Step Waltz whch is actually a reel that has been done by many groups such as Blowzabella.
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