Brian Heywood

MoonDance Ceilidh Band EP

This release follows the instrumental 'folk rock / fusion' thread of Brian Heywood's musicial development.

Brian started his journey into the musical side of social dance - bush, barn, ceilidh and hoedown - in Sydney in the late 1970's as a member of the Bluetongue Bush Band which performed at the monthly Surrey Hills Bush Dance and many other places including the Balmain Town Hall. At the beginning of the 1980's he moved to England where he became involved with the Rogue Folk movement. Inititally he was with the 'Cluster of Nuts' band who, with drummer Graeme Harrison bought an Aussie folk-rock feel. Brian then went on to form Nightwatch, Double Vision, MoonDance Ceilidh Band and the Hoedown Band. He also appeared as a guest with outfits including Roger Watson's All Stars and Pete McClelland's Thingumajig. He also appeared in Australian in the National and Fairbridge festivals and even had a gig in Nashville for the North American Folk Alliance.

MoonDance was one of the leading bands in the UK's eCeilidh movement with original instrumentals and arrangements of traditional folk tunes with a 'full on' progressive rock vibe to give a tremendously danceable, and accessible, style. The band played at festivals around the UK - including a run of five years at Guilfest.

In the words of Roger Watson who was Director of TAPS and one of England's top social dance gurus - "Brian's work with The Cluster of Nuts Band, Nightwatch and MoonDance has helped bring social set dance back into its proper social context without making any artistic compromises. The essence of the e-ceilidh movement is to make social dance both accessible and engaging, as appropriate to a festival audience as to a social gathering as a wedding or party."

This EP is a reissue from 2008, with a bonus track mostly recorded at the same time completed for this release. The tracks range from 'full on' rock to celtic laid back with plenty of instrumental action.

TRACK Listing

Credits
  • Brian Heywood: electric and acoustic guitars, arrangments and engineering.
  • Thomas Fairbairn: fiddle, bass guitar, programming
  • James Asher: acoustic and electric drums, piano, synthesiers and drum programming
  • Special guest: John Devine: tin whistles and pipes (Tahneens' Lament)

Reviews

"I thought that the Farmer Giles Barn Dance was particularly super!b" - Tony Scott (Guilfest Organiser)

"That was the best day in my life so far... a gift was presented to us all at Guilfest from the heavens in the form of a barn dance..." - comment on YouTube