CELTIC rockers Runrig are to treat the region when they arrive in Ipswich for one of only a handful of gigs in England.The band, famed for their Gaelic folk rock, are set to perform live at the Regent on December 11.
CELTIC rockers Runrig are to treat the region when they arrive in Ipswich for one of only a handful of gigs in England.
The band, famed for their Gaelic folk rock, are set to perform live at the Regent on December 11.
Their latest tour takes in only a few English towns so their decision to stop off in Suffolk should excite their fans in East Anglia.
The Runrig foundations were laid in 1973 when the band was a three-piece playing traditional Gaelic music in Glasgow, Scotland.
The following year, the original three – brothers Calum (drums) and Rory Macdonald (guitar) and Blair Douglas (accordion) – were joined by vocalist Donnie Munro.
As their commitment to music increased so did the band's line-up. Iain Bayne was brought in after the release of their second album, The Highland Connection, taking over drums from Calum who instead moved on to percussion. Englishman Richard Cherns joined the Scottish line up later in the eighties to play keyboards.
It was not until Runrig – a name taken from an old Scottish oil field system of agriculture – had recorded and released three albums that they decided to move out of the Gaelic heartlands.
They were soon amazed that their music had the ability to cross over and appeal to a wider audience and their fame across the UK and then the world continued to grow.
By the arrival of the 1990s Runrig were selling out gigs and achieving regular chart hits, not least so with their eighth, and most successful, album The Big Wheel which went straight into the charts at number four.
Their commitment to music continued but in 1997 Donnie left the band to pursue a political career. Less than a year later, and in the bands 25th anniversary year, Nova Scotian Bruce Guthro was brought in to the Runrig fold marking the start of a new era.
A few changes later and the current line-up stands as Rory, Calum, Iain and Bruce, alongside Brian Hurren and Malcolm Jones.
It is this Runrig who will perform for Ipswich come December.
n Runrig will be at Ipswich Regent on December 11. Tickets cost £19 and are available from the Central Box Office, Princes Street, Ipswich, by calling 01473 433100 or online at www.ipswich-ents.co.uk
Weblink: www.runrig.co.uk
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