Fiddle and Bagpipes at play, with some of North America’s foremost exponents of Scottish traditional music.
Loud Weather began as the inventive musical duo of Fiddle player, Alasdair White (Battlefield Band, Dàimh, Alan Kelly Gang) and Piper, Elias Alexander (Old Blind Dogs, The Bywater Band, Soulsha, MAC, Fàrsan), each known for their dazzlingly playful approach to the piping repertoire of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
Deep friendships formed during late nights of raucous tune playing have expanded the project to include Eamon Sefton on guitar, Neil Pearl man on accordion and piano, and Anna Colliton on bodhrán.
Taking their name from the poem The Given Note, by Seamus Heaney, Loud Weather brings a mighty, swelling sound, rife with intertwining melodies, soaring harmonies, and vital rhythms true to the pure joy of traditional Scottish dance music. The timeless combination of Bagpipes and Fiddle lead the charge as Loud Weather lovingly sculpt ancient tunes into catchy and beautiful new instrumental music.
Loud Weather is:
Alasdair White is an exceptional exponent of west coast Scottish music and is widely regarded as one of the foremost Scottish fiddler players of his generation. He was born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands of singular importance to Gaelic Scotland’s musical heritage and is perhaps best known as having been a member of Scotland’s seminal Battlefield Band for over 16 years, touring extensively in that time throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Now resident in New York, Alasdair has performed and recorded as a guest with many of the best-known names in Scottish, Irish and Breton traditional music including Kathleen MacInnis, Julie Fowlis, Eddie Reader, Allan MacDonald, Manus Lunny, Nuala Kennedy, and Arnaud Ciapolino. Current ongoing projects include Daimh, the Alan Kelly Gang and of course, Battlefield Band. Alasdair also recently premiered a major commission at the Hebridean Celtic festival in Stornoway, an hour-long original piece entitled An Iuchair.
Elias Alexander
Elias Alexander wears multiple hats, and he doesn’t even look particularly good in hats. Some know him as one of the finest trad-style pipers in North America. Others know him as the sequin-clad hip-thrusting multi-instrumentalist and electronic artist at the center of Ramblxr. Still others know him as a soulful singer-songwriter and bedroom pop producer. Some even know him as one who often forgets to eat a healthy lunch.
Elias knows himself as someone who loves many things, and who can’t stop won’t stop creating whatever his heart desires, until he burns out a little and needs to take a nap.
Then it’s back into action, touring on the trad scene with The Old Blind Dogs and Loud Weather, his new project with fiddler Alasdair White (the Battlefield Band, Dàimh, Alan Kelly Gang).
Meanwhile his Celtic EDM project Ramblxr is booking booty-shaking queer-forward dance parties and festivals for people who like thiccc bass and also bagpipes.
Elias grew up in Ashland Oregon, where he cultivated deep roots in Scottish traditional music, studying bagpipes, fiddle, whistle, and guitar from a young age.
In 2009 he relocated to the East Coast, where he made a name for himself as one of America's finest exponents of traditional Scottish music. He spent the later half of the 10s touring with numerous bands, including the Bywater Band, Soulsha, Seven Nations, MAC and Fàrsan, and playing some of the world’s top Celtic festivals, including Celtic Connections (Glasgow, Scotland) and Celtic Colours (Cape Breton, NS).
Elias also worked with many of the greats of Celtic music, including Alasdair Fraser, Carlos Nuñez, and Gillebrìde MacMillan, given lectures at Harvard and MIT, and taught at fiddle camps across the country. Whew, damn, it was a lot.
When the pandemic changed everything, he turned his attention to songwriting and production. The result of two years of seclusion in home studios in LA and Portland, he is now releasing EDM tracks under the name Ramblxr, and he’s getting ready to finally release some bedroom pop cry-along anthems in 2023.
So yeah if you want to stay in touch with Elias sign up for his email list at eliasalexander.com so you hear about new music and stuff, and keep an eye out for Ramblxr, Loud Weather, and Born Outside.
Multi-instrumentalist, step dancer and host of the TradCafe podcast, Neil Pearlman is a vital and distinctive voice in contemporary traditional music. Described as “a tremendous pianist” on BBC Radio Scotland and “a force to be reckoned with” by WGBH’s Brian O’Donovan, Neil is best known for his groundbreaking approach to the piano in Celtic music. Motivated by a deep musical curiosity and a love of collaboration, his playing is continually evolving and spontaneous without losing its roots in the traditional piano styles of Atlantic Canada, New England and Scotland. He has appeared at major festivals across North America and Europe including the Newport Folk Festival, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Celtic Colours in Cape Breton, the Orkney Folk Festival, and has recorded, performed or otherwise collaborated with such artists as Natalie MacMaster, Darol Anger, Seamus Egan, Alasdair Fraser and many more.
Eamon Sefton is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter based out of Boston, MA. He is rooted in a wide variety of different musical styles ranging from rock to pop to traditional Celtic. Specializing in Irish and Scottish style guitar, he has established himself as one of the most highly sought after accompanists in the Boston area. His percussive rhythm and innovative use of harmony, as well as deep understanding of traditional tunes distinguish him as a truly unique and stand-out musician.
A Berklee College of Music Alumnus, Eamon has performed and taught all over the US with an array of different musicians. He has been a featured performer numerous times on Brian O'Donovan's "A Celtic Sojourn." He has shared the stage with many prominent Celtic musicians including Hanneke Cassel, Jamie Laval, John Doyle, Galen Fraser, and many others. Eamon teaches regularly at a variety of music programs all across the US.
A Berklee College of Music Alumnus, Eamon has performed and taught all over the US with an array of different musicians. He has been a featured performer numerous times on Brian O'Donovan's "A Celtic Sojourn." He has shared the stage with many prominent Celtic musicians including Hanneke Cassel, Jamie Laval, John Doyle, Galen Fraser, and many others. Eamon teaches regularly at a variety of music programs all across the US.
Anna Colliton's distinctively buoyant and imaginative playing has made her one of the leading exponents of the bodhrán, the traditional Irish frame drum. Anna has appeared with Cherish the Ladies, Eileen Ivers, Comas, the Paul McKenna Band, and others, was a dedicated sub for the Broadway hit musical "Come From Away," and completed a three year residency at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where she performed daily at the International Showcase at Epcot Theme Park.
She has performed and taught at dozens of festivals across the country, including Catskills Irish Arts Week, Swannanoa Celtic Week, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, The O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, The St. Louis Tionol, CCE MAD Week, Tune Junkie Weekend, and Augusta Celtic Week, as well as with the Academy of Irish Music in Chicago and the Irish Arts Center in New York. As a teacher dedicated to advancing the tradition of bodhrán playing, Anna inspires students of all levels to incorporate both “the old” and “the new” into their playing, emphasizing the importance of personal style in traditional music. Currently based in New York City, Anna is a permanent member of the Tune Supply roster, and plays with the Boston-based traditional music quartet Ship in the Clouds, as well as The Bad Neighbors Rhythm Project, a rhythm-centric collaboration with percussive dancer Danielle Enblom.