House Band in Square

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 22

House Band in Square

The House Band, an Edinburgh based group playing the traditional music of Scotland, Ireland and England is touring New Zealand.

The House Band has been together for 18 months. The band consists of four members, each with varied backgrounds. Ged Foley, who features on guitar and mandolin and is the main vocalist of the group, is from Durham, North East England. He has earned considerable respect across Europe and North America for his fine instrumental and vocal skills. He was previously a member of the highly successful “Battlefield Band.”

lain Macleod, jokingly referred to as “the token youth” of the line-up, is a native of Edinburgh and plays the mandolin, guitar, cithern as well as the backing vocals. He is a relatively recent convert to the traditional music field. He comes from the pop music world, having played in several beat groups, and has recorded and toured with “The Little Red Dufflecoats.”

Chris Parkinson, from Lancashire, is the “musician’s musician” of the group, having been a keen instrumentalist since the age of four. He has worked with innumerable people in the traditional music scene,

and the wide range of instruments he has mastered has made hint one of the most sought after session musicians. Consequently he has put his talents to great use in recording with many others.

In The House Band he plays melodian accordion, keyboards, vocals and a range of other instruments. James Mackenzie Young Bthe wooden flute, lumbrian Smallpipes, whistle and bodran (pronounced “borrin”). He spent much of his musical background in Ireland, working with some of the leading traditional musicians in the country such as Tommy Peoples. Direct from Scotland, The House Band will tour the South Island, visiting Christchurch to play at the Banks Peninsula Folk Club, the Great Hall, and also as a guest of the Summertimes Programme. It will perform in Cathedral Square at lunch time today. After its New Zealand tour, the band will tour North America before heading back to record its next album in Britain. As Jimmy Young says “We seem to have come up with the right chemistry, and as long as we continue to strengthen support for the music we play, then we’ll be continuing together”.