Getting all the members of Gleadhraich in one room is like herding cats.
A load of tartan-clad, bickering, brotherly cats.
Even when frontman and piper Craig Weir rallies the troops and six show up, we’re still two short of a full line-up – guitarist Marc Lyon and brass man David William can’t make it.
But as the band are scattered across the country, with full time jobs and partners and other projects on the go, six out of eight is pretty good going.
“Sometimes we don’t see each other all together for six months, depending on what we’ve got going on” says saxophonist Ewan Barrack, 32, candidly.
He’s travelled here tonight from Edinburgh, where he works as a sexual health doctor.
Next to him is newest recruit and Lidl employee Dan Richardson, a well-kent face on the Dundee music scene from other outfits such as Corde Du Roi and Jutebox.
At 23, the keyboard player is the youngest member of Gleadhraich by some years.
And having only been in the band for about 8 months of their 15-year history, this coming summer will be his first real festival season as part of Gleadhraich.
He’s excited to be part of something which already has a rich legacy.
How did 4 boys from Carnoustie create Gleadhraich?
The band was formed in 2010, when original members Craig, his younger brother Paul Weir, Ross White and Graeme Ritchie were all pupils at Carnoustie High School.
It began, they all agree, with Craig – a teenage piper with big ambitions and a very serious outlook.
“I remember Craig would play the pipes at all these school events, and every time, the performance would get more elaborate,” laughs Ross, 34, who works as a quality manager for a leather manufacturer in Glasgow.
“He asked if I would play the guitar while he played the pipes. And then Paul got dragged in to play the drums.”
Graeme, now a farm worker at Rossie Estate in Inchture, joined the band on bass shortly after.
Drummer was ‘too young’ for his own gig
Their first gig was in the Kinloch Arms Hotel in Carnoustie, in April 2010.
Notably, the only member of the band old enough to be at the gig was bassist Graeme.
Even frontman Craig wasn’t legal to be in the pub yet at 17, and drummer Paul had only just grazed 14.
“It was for Tartan Day,” recalls Craig. “At the time, a lot of our friends from school had come along to the gig to see what we were up to.
“But then the police turned up and were putting out anybody who was underage. They were going: ‘But the drummer’s 14!'”
“Paul was tall enough that his age was ignored,” laughs Graeme.
Frontman Craig ‘ran a dictatorship’
At that time, the band meant different things to each of the members.
And 31-year-old frontman Craig – now a primary school teacher in Dundee – admits he ran it “more like a pipe major” than a frontman.
“When we started, it was almost like a dictatorship,” winces Craig. “I was like: This is the direction of the band!”
Between strict, ambitious Craig and Graeme, a rebellious 18-year-old who “spent too much time in the pub”, things back then were often fractious.
“I’ve ‘left’ the band loads of times,” chuckles Graeme.
“I mean, I’ve never actually left. What you need to understand is I was going out on a Saturday night, then hauling myself along to band practice on a Sunday with a raging hangover, to have bagpipes blasted in my ears for 3 hours.
“I maybe wasn’t taking it very seriously,” he adds wryly.
“And I was taking it too seriously,” confesses Craig. “Now what’s great is that everyone in the band contributes to the music and the ideas. It makes us a better band.”
Kilt is ‘a symbol of what we do’
Since those early days, Gleadhraich has expanded its line-up and grown to be a worldwide force, blending Celtic and rock music for audiences across the globe.
The band have played everywhere from Canada and Barbados to headline shows at New York Tartan Week, and T In The Park with the Bay City Rollers.
They’ve had audiences with the late Queen Elizabeth II, the Dalai Lama, and even ‘the Big Yin’, Billy Connolly.
And done it all in their signature kilts.
“I think the kilt’s always been a symbol of what we do as a band,” says Craig. “And the way we wear them has changed over the years. At first it was the whole getup, with waistcoats and jackets.
“Now, it’s a kilt and whatever else we want to wear. We’ve chilled out a lot.”
Paul recalls one gig, shortly after Covid, when he’d slightly outgrown his kilt.
“Craig told me I could wear it on my head if I had to,” he says placidly.
“I wear tartan trousers now.”
Brothers in a band – what could go wrong?
It’s clear the brothers have a strong bond; there’s no Gallagher-level egos here.
“We speak every day,” says Craig. “To the point where our partners, Jenny and Cara, are like: ‘What could you possibly have to talk about?'”
But it’s not just the blood relatives who make Gleadhraich feel like a “big crazy family” – especially at gigs like their upcoming 15th anniversary show in Dundee.
“Between the band, all our partners, friends and family, it does feel like a big family,” smiles Craig.
“We’ve grown up together, and kept this strong willingness to keep playing together throughout it all.”
Between the interview and the writing of this article, the very first “Gleadhraich baby”, Paul’s son, was born, ushering in a new generation for the band.
“Life does move, but the fact that we all still get together and enjoy playing music together is, for me, what keeps this all going,” says Ross.
“If we didn’t enjoy doing it, we wouldn’t still be doing it 15 years later. But we do.”
Gleadhraich will celebrate 15 years at the Gardyne Theatre, Dundee, on March 14.
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