The Whistlebinkies, one of Scotland’s longest-standing folk groups, will perform at Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church as part of the Glasgow West End Festival on Sunday, June 21, at 7.30pm.
The Whistlebinkies (Image: Supplied)
Formed in Glasgow in the late 1960s, the group is credited with championing the Scottish tradition’s ‘three graces’, fiddle, pipes, and harp.
Their list of collaborators is as varied as it is impressive, spanning pop singer David Essex, avant-garde composer John Cage, and Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan.
Sir James performed on their 1999 album Timber Timber, singing and playing tin whistle.
Their connection with John Cage began during his 1984 visit to Scotland and led to the creation of Scottish Circus, a piece he wrote specifically for the group.
Their collaboration with Cage is now being released on DVD by New York-based Mode Records, featuring video recordings of both Scottish Circus and 4’33.
The Whistlebinkies were also the first Scottish band to perform in China and have toured extensively across Europe and the US.
In addition to their international work, the group recorded music composed by Mr McGuire for the first Scots-language adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland in 1981.
They plan to include extracts from this soundtrack in their upcoming Glasgow performance.
Eddie McGuire, the group’s flute player and a prolific composer, said: “We like to give audiences a real flavour of the Scottish tradition.
“But we’ve also enjoyed playing in concerts and on recordings with a wide variety of musicians.
“It’s an atmospheric piece but not so different in terms of sound to our traditional material.
“It makes a good contrast to the reels, airs, and strathspeys, which we’ve always played as examples of authentic Scottish music.”
“One of our more unlikely adventures was when we performed John Cage’s famous 4’33, which is four minutes and thirty-three minutes of silence.
“We did this twice, the second time being outdoors and of course, being in Scotland, it rained and we had to abandon the performance.”
