Saturday night, Aug. 10, the Highland Pub will be the centre of the party in fine Fergus Scottish Festival tradition, when fan favourite Celtic rockers The Mudmen return to stir up the fun, rock ‘n roll style.
“For Fergus it will be a high energy show because that’s what they [the audience] want and that’s what they expect,” said Sandy Campbell, one of the band’s founders and front men, in a duo of bagpipe players with his brother Robby.
Many locals will know the Campbell brothers. The pair have been regular musicians and presenters at the Highland Games here. But their most notable contribution to Canadian culture to date has been their addition of bagpipes to a new Hockey Night in Canada anthem, created by Colin Oberst.
“Ron McLean went on the air and said Mudmen, we love them,” Campbell said, noting it was a great endorsement, also supported by Don Cherry, who has used the band’s music on several of his hockey videos.
The Mudmen have evolved over more than a decade of tours that have taken them across Canada, into the United States and abroad.
The band includes Steve Gore, lead singer and guitarist, Steve Volk, drummer, Anthony Albanese, on guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and Mario Bozza on bass.
Described as having “a sound that is powerfully intense” the band has gained a following throughout North America with their fusion of hard rock, punk and Celtic influences.
With seven albums behind them, including their latest release “Where I came From,” released in February 2013, Campbell admits their sound has evolved too.
“We play for the audience, so we’ve had to alter our sound depending on who we are playing for and why,” he said. “We can get crazy and loud, but we do have a tame sound too.”
Sandy points to songs such as “Burn,” on the band’s latest release, as an indication of the growth and depth of their song writing and ability to perform ballads.
“If we weren’t a bit wild, we wouldn’t have gotten noticed,” Campbell said of the early days with the band.
Sandy doesn’t like the word “mellow” and assures fans that the band has not lost its hard core edge.
“I’d still call us Celtic rock,” he said. “Our bark still has to have some bite.”
Touring has influenced their sound too. The band has just returned from a three month tour with Canadian country artist Johnny Reid, for his PBS special, with the Campbell brothers sharing the stage with him at the Canadian Country Music Awards in 2010.
The band has twice performed on Parliament Hill for the Canada Day celebrations, which included meeting the Queen in 2010.
The band also played a special concert for the Canadian men’s and women’s Olympic hockey teams and have performed during various Walk of Fame induction ceremonies.
Throughout their career, the Mudmen have opened for the Guess Who, Nazareth, Finger Eleven, Biff Naked, Econoline Crush, David Usher and more. They took part in the Entertainment Tonight Canada event for the 2012/13 Niagara Falls New Year’s celebration.
Fergus has a special place in the heart and the history of the band, Campbell says, and they are happy to return to the Scottish Festival here.
“Fergus has been very good to us. I think they’re the first highland games to hire the Mudmen, back when we were the Campbell brothers in 1999,” Campbell said.
He added that the atmosphere of the games here is important to respecting the integrity of the festival.
“It’s good to keep the traditional music alive at these games, that’s where we got our start,” he said.
“They are a fantastic highland games, they’ve got to be the best in Canada for sure,” he said, noting the band had just played the Cambridge Scottish Festival, which they enjoyed. Soon they are off to Detroit for their festival.
The Mudmen will headline the Highland Pub on Aug. 10. at 10:30pm. For more information visit www.mudmen.ca.
