Acid croft is a term Shooglenifty popularised to describe the energetic blend of modern and traditional music that a new generation of musicians keep the new generation of village hall goers hot and sweaty with. This, by no means comprehensive guide covers my favourites, and on this page I've even listed them in the order I currently consider to offer the best night out! Click on the logo to go to the band's own site.

The Peatbog Faeries on a good night are really the best your life's ever going to get. With the pipes skirling and a host of sweaty nutters and fabulous tunes surround you in a otherwordly faeriemist. Clearly the long wait for Faerie Stories to come out has driven me mad. It really took ages to come out, I think their record company went into liquidation and they ended up putting it out themselves - and when it eventually arrived it instantly became one of my favourite cds, ideal music for driving through Scotland. I made it my mission to convert everyone around me to Faeriedom, a mission accomplished without that much effort, and Im looking forward to what they come out with once they've settled into their new line up.

updated - The Peatbogs already had one rock god in Innes, now they have another in Adam Sutherland, formerly of Croft No. 5. As Adam is a neighbour of mine and blushes easily I'll say no more but that boy is a star!

And I have to rejig my page AGAIN after the Peatbogs played a fabulous set at the Dores Gala Dance. Adam was playing to his home crowd in the closest venue the Peatbogs could play to my house, a fabulous night and a great party till sunrise - fantastic!

The Peatbog Faeries are currently -

Peter Morrison - Pipes & Whistles
Adam Sutherland - Fiddles
Tom Salter - Guitar
Leighton Jones - Keyboards
Innes Hutton - Bass & Percussion
Iain Copeland - Drums

In the old days - Nurudin, ex keyboard wizard has released his own cd, Ben Molleson plays fiddle in La Boum along with Tom and Ali Pentland used to play guitar and mandolin. Roddy Neilson has been replaced on fiddle with legend in the making, Adam Sutherland.

My copy of Faerie Stories looks like this - except for the streaks, thats the scanner... 2000	Faerie Stories 2001

What a surprise the Mark Saul band turned out to be! Although they're Australian, they must have Scottish convict roots .Their Celtic hardcore groove is meant to be heard under twilight starry skies with a bottle of whisky in one hand and the raver you love in the other. Never mind about the midgies singing along in your ears and I swear if we'd had this sort of music at Culloden we'd have beaten the English for sure.

They blew everyone off the stage at the Hebridean Celtic festival and put in a decent set at Invershin, possibly one of the strangest gigs I've ever been to. If you are going to Edinburgh for the Fringe YOU NUST CHECK OUT THIS BAND! See you at the Speigeltent on the 13th August, I think they might be off back to Australia afterwards. Buy their CD, Mixolydian, the most mental CD since Faerie Stories. (available thru Greentrax - Cover scan to follow, maybe I'll get Fiona's autographed copy!).

Band -

Mark Saul - Electric bagpipes, whistles, lots of other stuff (and a very handsome young man too)

Simon Rowley - variety of guitars which he can play behind his head! The very-out-of-his-face guy next to us kept moaning "Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix"

Shannon - First live drum and bass drummer I've seen and I thought I was hallucinating.- Awesome

Charlotte - very good fiddler, all the more so for learning the set on the road.

PS - The midgies were singing too loud for me to catch your second names, sorry!

Shooglenifty are usually top of the list for a good sweaty night out, particularly if you can make the effort to go to Glenuig to see them play - although as they're popular all over the world there's a good chance they'll be playing near you..

They're extremely funky, fast and furious and will try to confuse you with snap changes in rhythm but they're not as off their trolley as Angus would have you believe and you would be hard pushed to find a harder-working band in Scotland.

They've released four studio and two live CDs, dont expect to be sitting down if you've got any of them on, although my particular favourite is "A Whisky Kiss".

Shooglenifty are currently -

Angus R Grant - fiddle, front man with a difference!

Garry Banjo - I wonder what he plays???

James Macintosh - Scotland's hardest working drummer

Luke Plumb - mandolin

Malcolm Crosbie - guitar

Quee Macarthur - extremely funky bass

In the old days - Conrad used to play bass and Iain MacLeod was on mandolin.

The Arms Dealer's Daughter 2003	Solar Shears 2000	Venus in tweeds 1994

Live at Selwyn Hall, Box 1996	A Whisky Kiss 1996
Shooglenifty @ the Highland Festival mp4
Another dusty VHS makes it onto DVD... Shooglenifty entertaining crowds in Inverness and Palermo and a TV announcer with the hots for Conrad!

Highland Festival 1998	itw	Palermo 1998

Bongshang are to say the least reclusive and shy away from publicity. In their own words 'This site was last updated on 04/11/2001 13:32:43 (UK) ' so dont expect any upcoming gigs or news of a new album - maybe they've split up.(updated - their website doesn't seem to exist anymore) Its a mystery. There was a rumour they played last year at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen, I found out about it the day after it was meant to have taken place - they are fast becoming the stuff of Urban myth and legend. Mind you, I thought this before and one day while innocently browsing a Shetland music on line shop I came across Vy Lo Fone - if anyone knows whether or not they're still on this planet drop me a line - or maybe Shetland's just too good a place to leave... At least get the finger out and revord some new stuff JJ or I might have to come to Shetland in search of you....

Vy Lo Fone 1999	Crude 1994?

The Hurricane Jungle 1996

Check out a non-comprehensive history of Acid Croft by clicking on the arrow.