The Iron Horse was a Scottish Celtic music band formed in 1990. During the 1990s the band, along with others, broadened Celtic music from its traditional roots to the wider range of music now encompassed within the Celtic music genre. From slow airs and ballads to driving instrumentals, they wrote and performed a broad spectrum of Scottish folk music. Though the band split up in 2001, due to contractual recording obligations, they reunited briefly in 2004 to record a final album. The band was introduced to a wider audience when they created the music for the BBC TV documentary series, ''The Gamekeeper'' (1995). ''Five Hands High'', one of their more notable albums, opened with "8-Step Waltz", in fact a

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

. The band is best known for their album ''Demons and Lovers''. They later added a drummer, Lee Agnew (also part of Dougie MacLean's band) to the band. In a further change, their 1999 tour included the accordion and keyboards of Brian McAlpine. Both had appeared on ''Demons and Lovers''. Their last album in 2004, ''The Wind Shall Blow For Ever More'' was seen as a return of the band to an earlier sound. The band toured extensively, appearing at many festivals, such as Ely, Edinburgh, Tarbert and Arran. They headlined the 1994 "Celts in Kent" festival, playing two shows in

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient Briti ...

and the Sassoon Gallery in Folkestone. In 1996 they headlined the Gosport Easter Festival, with their contemporaries the

Old Blind Dogs Old Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues, and Middle Eastern music rhythms. Background The three founding members of the band (Ia ...

sharing the stage for the finale.

Band members

* Annie Grace: whistles, Great Highland bagpipe,

Scottish smallpipes The Scottish smallpipe is a bellows-blown bagpipe re-developed by Colin Ross and many others, adapted from an earlier design of the instrument. There are surviving bellows-blown examples of similar historical instruments as well as the mouth-bl ...

and vocals (also an actor with the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

) * Ross Kennedy:

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s and vocals * Gavin Marwick: fiddle (now with Ceilidh Minogue) * Lynn Morrison: keyboards and vocals * Rod Paul: mandolin, banjo, guitar * Stevie Lawrence: Percussion, Guitars * Lee Agnew: Drums * Brian McAlpine: Keyboards, Accordion * Ashley MacMillan: Drums * Lawrie MacMillan: Bass

Discography

* ''The Iron Horse'' (1992) * ''Thro Water, Earth and Stone'' (1993) * ''Five Hands High'' (1994) * ''Voice Of the Land'' (1995) * ''Demons and Lovers'' (1997) * ''The Wind Shall Blow For Ever More'' (2004) * ''The Collection'' (2009) Additionally, they appear on; * "Women of the World, Celtic II" (Putumayo 1995) with the song 'Raindance' * '' The Rough Guide to Scottish Music'' (1996) ** with the song "The 8-Step Waltz". A

various artists A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

album which also includes acts like

Wolfstone Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Celtic rock. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. They have released seven studio albums, the latest, '' Terra Firma'', in 2007. The band ...

. * ''Naciones Celtas: Buscando el norte'' (1997) ** with the song "Glasgow Peggy".

External links

Article on Annie Grace

Short bio of the group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Horse Celtic music groups