Like the famous structure itself, the Hadrian’s Wall band is solid, dependable and has a very defined purpose.
Unlike the famous wall located in Scotland, though, the purpose of which was to keep the English out, Hadrian’s Wall, the band, has a much different, more enjoyable purpose – which will be seen when they play the Canmore Highland Games’ Ceilidh, Sunday (Sept. 1).
Hadrian’s Wall, said Neil Emberg, “plays for the crowd. Celtic music is like kids’ music or Christmas songs, it’s always popular for a wide range of people. We play for young people who want fast reels and for older people who used to dance to that music years ago. We’re all about getting a crowd up and dancing.”
The Canmore games will be a first for Hadrian’s Wall, as the band has played the Western U.S., but not Western Canada.
With eight albums of their own under their belt since 1995, the band has played some of the largest Celtic and world festivals in North America, the Caribbean and Europe and, after having had its share of touring over the years, the band now specializes in festival play.
For their Canmore visit, Hadrian’s Wall will be Emberg, Dave Gossage, Ewen McIntosh, Ashley McLeod, Terry O’Farrell and Steph McAlear.
“We don’t tour as much as we used to,” said Emberg. “We’ve got 14 kids among the band and about half are full-time musicians. In this day and age, it’s tough to be a full-time musician, so we’re more selective with our gigs.
“At festivals, we get the crowds up and dancing and we enjoy ourselves.”
Back in the day, some Hadrian’s Wall members were part of the Glengarry Pipe Band. “But instead of paying $150 every time we went out to play, we thought, let’s try and get people to pay us to play. Instead of paying for drinks, maybe we could get them for free.
“When I was 19, I was playing rock or pop, but every time a Celtic band was in the area, everyone got up and dance and we thought that’s something we’d enjoy doing.”
Celtic rock caught on, fiddlers like Ashley MacIsaac took off with their careers, “and Great Big Sea, before their first album, were just regular guys everyone knew,” said Emberg. “But three months later, they were the biggest band out there, and still young.”
Hadrian’s Wall got in on the popularity of the Celtic explosion, and has been part of the scene ever since.
“We’re a pretty tight unit, even though all of us only get together for festivals. But we also play as duos or trios and everybody has individual projects and albums. But everyone knows what they’re doing, we’re comfortable playing and we have enough of a body of work that we can play whatever a crowd wants to hear.
“For the last 10 years, all I’ve wanted was to play in a band, so it’s been very good to me and we’ve all played with just about every touring band in the scene. It’s been a blast.”
From eastern Ontario and western Quebec, Hadrian’s Wall deliver a blend of Irish, Scottish and Canadiana music fused with elements of jazz and rock.
The band has shared stages with performers ranging from John McDermott, to Natalie MacMaster, MacIsaac, David Wilcox, Eilleen Ivers, Rawlins Cross, the Barra MacNeils and Great Big Sea, among many others.
Venues the band has performed at include: Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival, Highlands of Durham Games, Texas Scottish Festival and Games, New Hampshire Highland Games, Glengarry Highland Games, Upper Canada Folk Fest, Canadian Tulip Festival, Culloden Highland Games and Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair, among others.
Part of what keeps Hadrian’s Wall on the festival circuit, “is that it’s a very spontaneous thing,” said Emberg. “We don’t usually have a set list because it will always change once we start playing. Every night is kind of an improv; free flowing, that’s why I love this band.
“We’re kind of like a jam band, but what we play is based on the crowd and what we read from them. We do mix in some originals, and our next album will be mostly originals because there are a lot of songwriters in the band, but we love to play whatever the crowd wants to hear.”
