Celtic music lovers are in for a treat Saturday (March 20) as Squamish's Black Tusk Caledonia Pipe Band host an evening of foot-stomping tunes with special guests at the Brackendale Art Gallery.
Starting at 8 p.m., the MacGregor and Stuart-tartan-clad pipe band, led by Pipe Major Luc LeBlanc, shares the stage with world-class piper Alan Walters and local fiddler Jocelyn Pettit.
Walters is performing while in town teaching the Black Tusk Caledonia Band the "finer points" of piping, said LeBlanc.
"[Walters] knows more about bagpipes than anybody I know," said LeBlanc, whose been playing the bagpipe for 27 years. "He is a gifted teacher. He is a walking wealth of information. Alan has an incredible depth of knowledge regarding the great Highland bagpipe."
Walters, a former member of Scotland's Mulrhead and Sons Pipe Band, instructs Highland Bagpiping and Scottish Smallpipes at the Pacific Institute of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts. He plays for the top dancing competitions in North America and the U.K. and has released a solo CD for dancing competitors entitled "Strictly Time."
The entire evening will hold a great variety of Celtic-style music and dancing, said LeBlanc.
"We're going to having singing, highland dancing, full band, and some more private moments with a soloist here and there," he said.
Also on stage Saturday night is 15-year-old Squamish fiddling sensation Pettit. She is performing with her mother, a violinist, and her father, a drummer, and will also join one of the pipe band members in a duet.
"The family that plays together stays together," said Thor Froslev, owner and operator of the Brackendale Art Gallery. "They really brought up Jocelyn to be a wonderful girl."
The larger-than life character said he's been listening to pipe bands in Squamish for most of his 40 years as a resident. He's partnered with LeBlanc before to open the Fall Fair with a marching band, but this will be the first time the Pipe Band plays at his gallery.
"It's a special kind of sound, you know," he said. "It's going to be very spectacular."
This will also be the first time the pipe band performs with special guests.
"[The show] starts at 8 p.m. so don't be late," said Froslev.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance at The Bookshelf or at the Brackendale Art Gallery. Tickets may also be at the door depending on availability.
For a preview of Pettit's music, visit www.jocelynpettit.com. To learn more about the Black Tusk Caledonia Pipe Band, visit www.squamishpipeband.ca.
