Feature
Under a Celtic Moon II
Left: Skweez the Weezle's Mike Day, David Lanigan and Troy Hanford; Top Right: Desert Thistle Pipe Band members. (Photos courtesy of the musicians)
David Lanigan saw the Desert Thistle Pipe Band perform at a St. Patrick’s Day event in Richland in 1984. He enjoyed it so much that after the show, he talked to the band’s pipe major about what it took to become a piper. Soon he was taking bagpipe lessons.
“I joined Desert Thistle in 1985,” says Lanigan, “and I’ve been playing with them ever since.” Lanigan has attended piping schools in the Northwest and British Columbia, and in 1996 he traveled to Scotland to take part in a school there. For several years during the 1990s, Lanigan served as Desert Thistle’s pipe major.
In 1999, Lanigan formed Skweez the Weezle. The group now includes Troy Hanford on guitar and vocals, Mike Day on drums and “other percussive thingies”, and Lanigan playing Border pipes, Highland pipes, Scottish smallpipes, shuttle pipes, dulcitar, Irish bouzouki, and whistles. The trio specializes in Celtic instrumental music ranging from slow airs to driving jigs and reels. The group’s repertoire includes traditional, modern and original songs from Highland and Lowland Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cape Breton, and the USA.
The Desert Thistle Pipe Band and Skweez the Weezle will both be performing in Dayton on February 27th as part of Under a Celtic Moon II at the Liberty Theater. However, Lanigan will be performing only with Skweez the Weezle at that show. “I’ve done the double-band thing at concerts in the past,” he says, “and it’s a bit much.”
Also performing again this year with Skweez the Weezle will be three members of the An Daire Irish Dancers from Tri-Cities. An Daire is a dance academy specializing in traditional Irish and Highland dances.
Folk singers Thom Dudley and Eddie Parente will be new performers at Under a Celtic Moon II. They are both former members of the Band Raven, and are long-time players in the Northwest Celtic Music Scene.
Under a Celtic Moon II is being organized again this year by Mike McQuary, owner and brewmaster at Skye Book and Brew in Dayton. Mike’s band, the Skye Brew Singers, will be back for this show with a new set of folk tunes from around the world.