Enter the Haggis – Celtic/World/Rock

"Enter the Haggis does for Celtic world music what Nickel Creek does for bluegrass." - Playback Magazine

n 1996 Toronto piper Craig Downie decided to reacquaint himself with the bagpipes. By the end of the decade the 5-piece Enter the Haggis was amassing fans across Canada. Now, six albums, a PBS special, and miles and miles later, the band performs over 150 dates worldwide each year with an army of “Haggis Heads” following along. Their music crosses borders covering, by one count, as many as 18 different genres. Yet the Celtic influence remains intact.

Enter the Haggis is fiddler Brian Buchanan, guitarist Trevor Lewington, piper Craig Downie, bassist Mark Abraham, and drummer James Campbell. "We're not trying to be a commercial band, so we have the musical freedom to mix sounds," Lewington says. "Every song is different. We push ourselves as musicians to be innovative and yet accessible.”

More than a party band with bagpipes, their music, while infectious, danceable and fraught with sing-along choruses, consistently demonstrates conscience and conviction. Their 2004 CD Casualties Of Retail and 2006’s Soapbox Heroes (produced by 4-time Grammy winner Neil Dorfsman) take on pertinent issues and cut to the chase. Remarkably they manage all this with a pop/rock/fusion/bluegrass/folk/Latin sensibility that still holds true their Celtic roots. Bring your dancing shoes!

Website: http://www.enterthehaggis.com/