Ian Bruce And The Tartan Spiders - Young Territorial

Cat. no: CDTRAX414
Format: CD
Barcode: 5018081041428
Release Date: 30th April 2021
Genre: Folk

Every Regiment has legends and songs: These go beyond the tunes of the marching band and the laments of a church service but tell the real human story of the time place.

They come from the soldiers and form part of the DNA of a unit, connecting past to present in vivid, emotionally-charged, unifying ways. Stories make a Regiment become more than just a badge to the people in it. That said, The London Scottish Regiment have one hell of a story to tell. The Hodden Grey ‘tartan’ was introduced in 1859 and became the iconic colour of The London Scottish Regiment worn by this Young Territorial.

Ian Bruce was invited to record and produce the album of tunes and historical stories collected over the years by the Regiment. Ian put music to the stories and made them into wonderful songs. He also recorded the album in his own studio and produced, mixed and mastered it, calling on several friends to session with him.

They include: Fiona Forbes (backing vocals), Denise Crighton Ward (bass), Lt. Col. Rob Pitt (recitations), Kev Green (lead vocals, harmony vocals and recitations), Charlie Milne (lead vocals, harmony vocals and recitations), Gregor Lowrey (accordion and melodeon), Pete Clark (fiddles), Alastair Morrow (drums), Alasdair ‘Sandy’ Gibbs (bagpipes) plus others.

Ian Bruce is a well established Scottish folk singer with several albums to his credit. He has toured the UK and Europe widely both as a solo singer and and in various lineups, including duos with brother Fraser and also Ian Walker. 

Ian is an accomplished songwriter and was commissioned by The London Scottish Regiment to put music to several stories and poems, from the Regiments archives, and record the album in his own studio. Ian invited several Scottish singers and musicians to work with him and humorously named them The Tartan Spiders. The London Scottish Regiment was raised in London in 1859, and is widely known and recognised for the ‘hodden grey’ kilts worn by the soldiers.

Tracks: A-Diddleo / Spoken Introduction / Inverness / Soldiers In The Chapel / Sandy’s Conversion / Sandy The PIper / The Somme Offensive / Halloween / The Young Territorial / In The Abbey / The Big Drum Major / The Auld Corps / Glenworple Highlanders / Donald And THe De’il / Grey KIlts / Wey Hey For The Hodden Grey / The Legend Of Sheppey