Gary West
Musician
Broadcaster
Ethnologist
Broadcaster
Ethnologist
News ~ Naidheachdan
The Celtic Arts Foundation Winter School in Seabeck, WA is almost upon us! I'll be giving workshops and performing, and on February 12th at the Littlefield centre in Mount Vernon, presenting my new publication: Brave New Music - The Martyn Bennett Story, with signed copies available to purchase at the event. For full details of the book launch, see here and for the full Winter School programme see here!
At last! It's been a while in the writing but I'm delighted to announce the publication by Luath Press Ltd. of my new book: Brave New Music - The Martyn Bennett Story , launched on 30th January as part of the Celtic Connections festival. The first reviews have also come out - all saying good things, thankfully! Books are now available to purchase from my webstore. Get your signed copy here!
About
'Tradition
is a story,
told
in the past,
shaped in the
present,
looking to the
future.'
Hello and thanks for joining me here! I am a musician, academic and broadcaster, and I specialise in researching, teaching and performing the cultural traditions of Scotland. My day job for the last 27 years was Professor of Scottish Ethnology at the University of Edinburgh, but I was also very active well beyond academia, as a piper and singer, and I presented Pipeline,
a weekly specialist music programme on BBC Radio Scotland for twenty years. I have most recently moved on from my post at Edinburgh and as presenter/producer of Pipeline to new challenges, including making my own weekly podcast, 'Enjoy Your Piping', and developing new creative projects in music, film and media.
Originally from Pitlochry in Perthshire, I played for many years with the innovative Vale of Atholl Pipe Band, winning the Scottish and European Championships. In my late teens I moved sideways into the folk scene, playing, recording and touring with the bands Ceolbeg and Clan Alba, and becoming a founder member of the ceilidh band Hugh MacDiarmid's Haircut. I have performed on around 20 albums, including my debut solo release, The Islay Ball, and a collaboration in 2009, Hinterlands, with harpist Wendy Stewart.
More recently, I played for two seasons in the Grade 1 Glasgow Police Pipe Band, and was one of the all-star cast in the Far Far From Ypres
commemorative tour in 2018. I perform regularly throughout the year with fellow folk musicians Sandy Brechin and Gregor Borland, and together we make up the trio BrOg.
In 2016, I wrote, produced and performed in Jock's Jocks, a one act play based on the extraordinary collection of first world war testimonies recorded by North East folksinger Jock Duncan as a labour of love over a period of fifty years. I also edited these for publication as a book under the same title launched in 2019. Currently, I am writing the biography of piper Martyn Bennett, due for publication later this year.
In addition to my work in music and media, I am a former Director of the European Ethnological Research Centre, a board member of Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, and a board member of the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust.
I hope you find someting of interest on these pages, and please do get in touch if you'd like to know more or to chat about Scotland and our rich and varied culture!
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Courses and Retreats:Piping Instructor
Piping
Instructor
Tuition in traditional performing arts on short courses is a great way to accelerate and enhance learning in a relaxed but focused environment. This year, Far North Retreats, Celtic Arts Foundation and The Barga School of Traditional Scottish Song, Music and Dance have all booked me as a specialist piping instructor. Click on the button below for further information.
Find out more
Board
Responsibilities
Click on the logos below to find out more about the organisations and positions held.
JOCK'S JOCKS
Jock's Jocks is a collection of testimonies recorded from first world war veterans by North East folksinger Jock Duncan over the course of fifty years. A longstanding family friend, I was honoured to edit these remarkable and moving accounts for publication as a book and to bring them to the stage as a one act musical play.
'...a document of lasting historical value.' (Undiscovered Scotland)
‘I believe this book is of national importance.’(James Robertson, Scottish Review of Books)
'Both play and book constitute a testament of valour, endurance and humour under appalling conditions, infused with sheer, resilient humanity.' ( Jim Gilchrist, The Scotsman)
It effortlessly slips from seemingly ad lib pure storytelling and reminiscence into full blown theatre’
(Mark Gorman, Think Hard)
'...listening to these voices is above all a refreshing, life-enhancing experience, and an affirmation of what it means to be human.'
(Donald Smith, Director of Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland)
BrÒg
Folk trio with fiddler Gregor Borland and accordionist Sandy Brechin, performing regularly throughout Scotland.
Get DVDs and CDs of our shows.
Get DVDs and CDs of our shows.
Atholl Highlanders
I am Pipe Major of the Atholl Highlanders Pipe Band. The private army of the Duke of Atholl, the Atholl Highlanders perform ceremonial duties throughout the year, focused on the annual parade and gathering in the last weekend of May .
'West is a brilliant soloist no matter which style he performs. Also, he's a great composer.'
(Gert-Ove Fridland, Hallandsposten, Sweden)
'Generally cited as one of the country's finest contemporary pipers..' (Sue Wilson, The Herald)
Discography
'West has a warm way with a song...'(The Scotsman)
The Islay Ball
Click image to listen
Solo Album
Released: January 2001
Label: Greentrax Recordings Ltd
Hinterlands
Click image to listen
Released April 2009
Label: Moulincairn
Books
'Buainidh aon fhacal ceud''One word will set loose a hundred'
For a complete list of published work, click here
To purchase or find out more about an edition featured below,
click on cover image.
'Gary....seeks to place the tradition within the wider world, looking at how location, or place, has been an influence.' (Gordon Potter, review of Voicing Scotland, in The Living Tradition)
Jock's Jocks
Understanding Scotland Musically
Voicing Scotland
