Highlander (band)
| Highlander | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| founding | 1985 as Overseas , 2009 |
| resolution | 2007 |
| Website | www.highlander-show.de |
| Founding members | |
| Drew Ross (until 1988) | |
| Allan Murdoch | |
| Ron Howden (1985) | |
| Alan "Taff" Freeman (1985) | |
| Current occupation | |
Guitar, vocals |
Allan Murdoch |
Bass, vocals |
Peter Campbell (1988–2007, since 2011) |
Drums |
Jan-Peter "JP Thunder" Zander (since 2012) |
| former members | |
Drums |
Colin Jamieson (1985-2000) |
singing |
Martin Griffiths (1988) |
singing |
Kirk David (2010-2011) |
bass |
Gordon McPherson (2010-2011) |
Drums |
John Hart (2010-2011) |
Keyboard |
Michael Mackintyre (2010-2011) |
| Johnny Reed (2010-2011) | |
Highlander is a multinational rock band that was originally formed as an international project.
Band history
The band was formed in 1985 as Overseas and was originally a multinational band. When the Scot Allan Murdoch (ex- Message ) visited his friends Alan "Taff" Freeman and Ron Howden from Nektar , it was decided to start a band together. The singer and bassist Drew Ross was added and Overseas was founded. After Freeman and Howden left after a short time, Murdoch and Ross, along with drummer Colin Jamieson, continued the band as The Overseas Project . In 1988 the debut album Highlander was released .
With the new singer Martin Griffiths, formerly Beggar's Opera , and bassist Peter Campbell, the name was changed to Highlander. The center of the band was now also Scotland. When Griffiths had to quit shortly before a tour, Murdoch took over the vocals and became a permanent singer from then on. By 2000 the band recorded a total of nine albums. In 2000 Murdoch and Campbell moved to Germany, but had to part with Jameson. Until 2005 the band had no permanent line-up. The last gig took place in 2007, after which the band broke up.
After Murdoch attended Wacken Open Air in 2009 , he decided to reform the band, this time with an enlarged line-up. The line-up now consisted of his guitarist, Kirk David (vocals), Gordon McPherson (bass), John Hart (drums) and Michael Mackintyre (keyboard). In November 2010, Johnny Reed, who plays the bagpipes and violin , also joined. In 2011 the album Inneal Subhal Tìme was released , a concept album about a biker who jumps through time and experiences different epochs of Scottish history .
At the end of 2011 problems arose again due to the fact that the cast, who lived far apart from each other, had problems. The resulting difficulties with booking led to the dissolution of the Highlander project. Still, Murdoch and Campbell often met privately and played Highlander songs in an acoustic duet. This gave rise to the idea of reviving Highlander as a trio like in the early days. The band was reactivated in February 2012 with Jan-Peter "JP Thunder" Zander on drums.
Music genre
From 1990 until its dissolution in 2007, Highlander played biker rock and performed mainly in the context of motorcycle meetings. The music oscillated between hard rock and southern rock . With the re-establishment in 2010, the band took over stylistic elements of medieval and folk rock , which is particularly evident in the instrumentation. The concept of the album, however, is influenced by the progressive rock of the 1970s. Since the band's revival in 2012, the band has returned to its (hard) rock roots.
Discography
As an overseas project
- 1988: Highlander (Face Records)
As a highlander
- 1989: The Overseas Project (Face Records)
- 1991: Harley's the Best ... (Face Records)
- 1991: The Quickening (Face Records)
- 1993: Harleyluja (in-house production / Biker News)
- 1994: Live in Germany (Face Records)
- 1995: See You Later Harleygator (Face Records)
- 1996: Highway Warrior (Face Records)
- 1998: Scotia (Face Records)
- 2000: Cool and Smoky (Best-of-Album, Face Records)
- 2011: Inneal Siubhal Tìme (Face Records)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Official biography. Official website, accessed November 9, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Chris Brough: Interview with Allan Murdoch. Part 1. Official website, accessed November 9, 2011 .
- ↑ Entry on Highlander. (No longer available online.) In: metalseek.de. Formerly in the original ; accessed on August 31, 2012 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Buffo Schnädelbach: Review of Harleyluja . In: Rock Hard . No. 73 , June 1993 ( rockhard.de ).
