RAHWAY, NJ — Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend with the rock band with bagpipes!
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers are returning to Union County Performing Arts Center on Friday, March 14. The Celtic rock band from Scotland is a fusion of traditional Scottish music and rock/pop anthems. They formed in 2002 and became internationally popular in 2007 after winning the BBC talent show “When Will I Be Famous.” The band’s lineup features three highland bagpipers and traditional marching snare, backed by a five- to seven-piece band. The band’s live show also features vocal performances and highland dancing. Their notable covers performed have included “We Will Rock You,” by Queen; “Smoke on the Water,” by Deep Purple; and “Don’t Stop Believing,” by Journey.
Kevin MacDonald, founding member and also managing director, is one of the current performers. He was raised in Aberdeen, Scotland, and started playing bag pipes when he was 7 years old. His grandfather played bag pipes, but MacDonald says he was “terrible” and “played bag pipes really badly.”
MacDonald really enjoyed playing. “I had a small amount of talent,” he said.
Since then, he’s risen as one of the world’s most respected bagpipers in the past 20 years. After relocating to Central Scotland in the early 1990s, he trained with Lorne Brown while playing for the Wallacestone and Linlithgow Pipe Bands.
In 1997, MacDonald joined the Grade One Glasgow Skye Pip Band with Pipe Major Iain Roddick. Following Roddick’s retirement, MacDonald moved to the Royal Burgh of Stirling Pope Band.
He co-founded the Red Hot Chilli Pipers in 2002 and has since toured the globe and has been a driving force of the band’s many honorable accolades. The band’s unique moniker originated from a misfiled compact disc where a Red Hot Chili Peppers album was mistakenly placed among traditional music.
The band members initially performed at weddings and corporate events. It started out like any other gig, then it snowballed, according to MacDonald. They sold out tours throughout the world – the United Kingdom, United States, China, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Ukraine, Barbados, Dubai, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India.
Their fans include Paul McCartney, the Scottish Rugby Team, Samuel L. Jackson and even the Queen!
They’ve received a Gold Disc for more than 100,000 United Kingdom sales of their first album, “Bagrock to the Masses.” They’ve been awarded twice for “Best Live Act in Scotland.” They have triple platinum album status for their third album and DVD, “Blast Live.” And they have more than 3.5 million views on YouTube of their viral cover of the Avicii track “Wake Me Up.”
When they did “We Will Rock You” in Hyde Park, MacDonald said, “That was my one moment of feeling like Freddie Mercury.”
Of course, there are also challenges. “The amount of traveling we do is exhausting,” said MacDonald. “You have to have a good sense of humor. There’s a lot of fun stories that happen on the road.”
MacDonald is quick to support any young person who wants to follow in his path. “We’ve given kids a chance, invited them on stage to play with us. Kids are coming along and watching us at 9, 10, 11.”
His advice to those children who may want to be musicians is, “Believe in what you do and keep practicing.”
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers have a new album coming out called “Back to Roots.”
For more information on the band, visit: https://rhcp.scot/.
For tickets to the show at UCPAC, on Friday, March 14, visit: https://ucpac.org/event/the-red-hot-chilli-pipers/.
Photo Courtesy of Bicoastal Productions