Who could not like a ceilidh band called Roger the Badger that names its first CD Snout? And the badger on the CD cover is ever so cute! Roger the Badger is Cath James on fiddle, Trev Thomas on mandolin, John Fuller on guitar and flute and Pete Gibbins on bass, with caller Trev Lea. The band says Snout is "a ceilidh in your pocket," and I must agree wholeheartedly that this is great dance music! That the production of the CD was been made possible by a National Lottery grant from the Arts Council of England is enough of a reason to make one a gambler! This is a large and experienced band as the bios from their Web Site show:
"John Fuller (guitar and flute) is a Newcastle expatriate now living in Darton, near Barnsley. Known by the rest of the band as 'Johny Two Guitars' because of his insistence on having two on stage with him at all times. John's an accomplished flute player as well as a versatile and experienced guitarist.""Cath James (fiddle) has played fiddle since the age of six with groups in and around her native Hampshire. After becoming a student in Sheffield she joined the University Folk Society and has played with Roger the Badger from their very first appearance in 1990 . Cath was a finalist in the Radio 2's Young Tradition Award in 1995 and has played in Britain, Germany, France, Greece and Romania. Her playing is featured on the first Evolving Tradition CD compilation and on 2 CDs released by Irish Band Achill Sound in Germany. She teaches folk fiddle playing in Sheffield, Rotherham and North Derbyshire and in her spare time - what's left of it - makes violins. It is her own custom made electric that she uses for Ceilidhs though for recording she uses a turn of the century German fiddle."
"'Captain' Trevor Lea (caller) started calling for dancing back in 1989 at the University Folk Society and still calls regularly for them as well as his work with Roger the badger. His enthusiastic, participatory style is a little unusual, amusing and sometimes frightening as he can pop up anywhere in the room armed with his headset radio mike. Trevor also does a bit of ballroom, salsa and merengue as and when he gets the chance. In real life he's a dietician and sport scientist."
"Peter Rophone (bass) took up the bass many years ago as a second instrument but soon got the bug and now owns five, plus a recently acquired Romanian double bass. The CD features a treasured 1970s Ibanez although he plays fretless bass regularly live 'but not that really naff muso fretless style' - he points out emphatically. Always a believer in a bit of showmanship, he has fitted one of his instruments with a flashing red light that he can activate at key moments, and much to the amusement (or is that horror) of the rest of the band, has a long standing ambition to play a gig on stilts."
"Trevor Thomas (mandolin) has a propulsive and energetic rhythm style that's quite unique. His long musical background takes in alternative rock styles as well as traditional playing. He's a veteran of legendary Sheffield folk/punk/ska band Blind Mole Rat and has toured various European countries with them. Like Cath and Peter he's a regular at sessions in Sheffield , where he'll often take down his double bass and a pocket of harmonicas as well as his arch top mandolin. He is also the only man in existence to own an electric flying V mandolin - which he made himself."
A ceilidh band is, at its heart, a dance band. Once upon a time, a
ceilidh was simply the term for a house party in Scotland or the
North of England, but modern celiedhs are largely like the contra
dances in North America -- dance, not conversation or food, is the
raison d'etre for these events. (Henry Glassie's
Passing the Time in Ballymenone: Culture and History in an Irish
Community focuses somewhat on ceilidhs in a small Irish community
in the 1970's and early 1980's. In Glassie's book, ceilidhs are
primarily for visiting, for good talk, but not generally for music.
Sometimes there's music, but the participants aren't focused on
music. Scottish ceilidhs seem more focused on both dance and music.)
There are, by my figuring, hundreds upon hundreds of ceilidh bands
existing today in Scotland and England. And many have as colorful
names as Roger the Badger: Peeping Tom, All Blacked Up, The Band With
No Name, Batter the Haddock, Bellows, Scratchitt and Pluckitt,
Citizen Camembert, Eel Grinders, Malt Kiln Ceilidh Band, and Pigs Ear
Ceilidh Band to name but a few!
I've listened to Snout at least a dozen times. Each time I'm amazed how good they are. To be honest, they are far better than many "professional" English and Celtic bands that I could mention! What you get for your cash is 15 tracks of uptempo dance music from Ireland, Scotland, England and beyond. You'll find reels, jigs, slip jigs, waltzes and hornpipes plus some truly haunting slow airs. From the two Irish reel that lead off ("McMahon's/Father Kelly's") to the inclusion of Penguin Cafe Orchestra's "Music for a Found Harmonium," this is a ceilidh band that struts its stuff very well! (A few week ago, the Irish Traditional Music list had a somewhat bitter debate over the validity of "Music for a Found Harmonium" as a Celtic tune. It certainly has become a tune that many groups treat as proper to play!) The bottom line is any lover of Celtic and/or English traditional music should have this CD. Email the band for the full details on how to get this sterling CD!
And the image on the cover of Snout was the winner of the BG wildlife photographer of the year competition 1996! Cutest badger one will ever see, eh?
