Battlefield Band, part of the Cap Global Roots Series, Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. at the North Shore Credit Union Centre for the Performing Arts at Capilano University. Tickets: $30/$27, visit www.capilanou.ca/nscucentre.
WHEN asked what it's like to be part of a band with such a storied history, vocalist and guitarist Sean O'Donnell has no choice but to answer positively.
"It's been great. The boys are very welcoming - I have to say that because they're listening," he laughs, reached Monday via cell phone as he and his Battlefield Band band mates Ewen Henderson, Mike Katz and Alasdair White were en route from Rhode Island to their next gig in North Carolina.
Jokes aside, O'Donnell, part of the group since 2005, means it. The members of Battlefield Band, named after the Glasgow suburb where the group was founded in 1969, remain dedicated to Scotland's musical tradition.
The group has continued to evolve, the result of a line-up that's changed over the years.
"It's great at the moment because we've got a whole new burst of energy with Ewen joining - that's him there in the background playing his mouth organ," says O'Donnell.
Henderson, making himself known by playing a scale on his harmonica, joined about a year ago, O'Donnell explains. "It's changed the sound of the band again and kind of gives us a whole new dynamic," he says.
Battlefield Band arrived in North America last week and the road has so far been treating them well. They come to North America about twice a year, usually in March and October-November, touring for little over a month each trip.
"We spend a lot of our time over here so we kind of know the place quite well. We've made it up to Canada quite a few times in the last couple years so that's been great too," says O'Donnell.
Both O'Donnell, from Derry, Northern Ireland (who lived in Glasgow for 10 years before moving back to his hometown in
recent years), and Henderson, from Fort William, a Scottish West Highland town, came to music at an early age.
O'Donnell, coming from a big musical family, gravitated towards rock music at first, then started playing more traditional music.
"I found it was a good way to get free beer," he says. "So that was just the job for me. It's a great way to meet people and socialize, like if you move to a new place."
Henderson, who contributes fiddle, highland bagpipes, small pipes, vocals and piano to Battlefield, started learning violin at age five.
The band's motto is "Forward with Scotland's Past."
"For me personally, that means forward not in the sense of any kind of progress or feeling you have to change anything. We're taking the music we've grown up with in Scotland that we love, taking that forward to the world, taking that over here to different places; and doing so, putting (our) own spin on the music, (our) own personal flavour on the music as well," says Henderson.
Battlefield Band released their latest album, Line-up, this summer. Like all their releases, it was recorded in Temple, a little village outside Edinburgh, in a recording studio in a converted church, owned by their manager Robin Morton.
"It's a great place to record, a really nice building with lots of history. It's freezing mind you, but it's inspiring," says O'Donnell.
Line-up's tracks are representative of the band's interest in playing a mix of original and traditional works.
"Even the original stuff, it's all kind of along the same lines, it's all kind of shaped by our interest in traditional music anyway," says O'Donnell. "It's good to kind of mix it up a bit as well, and maybe throw in something kind of from left field and just make your music a wee bit different than maybe other people's."
Line-up includes their version of "That's How Strong My Love Is," popularized by Otis Redding. It's a follow to their successful recording of Nina Simone's "Plain Gold Ring" on their previous record, 2009's Zama Zama . . . Try Your Luck.
"The lyrics kind of reminded us of an old folky song," says O'Donnell.
The new album cements their interest in traditional music. "It's nearly all acoustic instruments on this album, there's no keyboards on it, there's a bit of piano. All the old Battlefield Band albums had lots of keyboards and synths and stuff on them, so it's a much more kind of rootsy sound and a bit more direct and very traditional. It's a bit more earthy. I think we're all really happy with it. It's the kind of stuff that we're all really interested in. It's the kind of music that you play in the pub anyway, so it's great," says O'Donnell.
For the next album, Battlefield Band plans to take a different approach. Instead of hitting the studio and devoting a specific period of time, like a month, to recording, members plan to record a song here and there over the course of a year and a half.
"The plan is to release it track by track on the Internet, just to get it out there. That's going to be the strategy for the next project," says Henderson.
As part of their current tour, Battlefield Band is set to play North Vancouver's Capilano University, Wednesday.
"We can pretty much guarantee a great night of music and entertainment. . . . (There's) plenty of energy and excitement in our gigs. We like to send people home with a smile on their face, one way or another," says Henderson.
