Bagrock to the Masses: next Red Hot Chilli Pipers CD

The popularity of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers is zooming, and the Scottish-based group of pipers and drummers, known for its clever adaptations of pop-songs, will release Bagrock to the Masses on November 12th. The project will be on the REL label, which reportedly plans to deploy a sizable marketing and promotions campaign behind it, complete with television and radio advertising.

“[Bagrock to the Masses] is exactly what it is,” said Red Hot Chilli Piper member Stuart Cassells. “The album has been recorded with not really the piping people in mind but instead trying to make a piping album accessible for the general public – but we hope that pipers will like it too!”

Some of the tracks on the CD targeted at the mainstream are renditions of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Survivor’s “Eye of Tiger,” “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple, “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” paired with “The Mason’s Apron,” and a rendition of the Coldplay hit, “Clocks.”

A few sample tracks from the new album have been posted on the band’s MySpace page.

Made up of pipers Stuart Cassells, Willie Armstrong, and Kevin Macdonald; guitarist Gregor James; and percussionists Steven Graham, Malcolm McEwan, and Steven Black, the group’s self-described “jock and roll” helped the band win BBC 1’s “When Will I Be Famous” contest in 2006. Cassells was named BBC Radio Scotland’s “Young Traditional Musician of the Year” in 2005.

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