History is 'plaid' by Ross piper
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AN Easter Ross clan commander’s unlikely friendship with a Motown legend may just have made musical history at the weekend.
When Iain MacGillivray (31) took to the stage of the SSE Hydro in Glasgow alongside chart-topper Martha Reeves (77) on Saturday, it was the culmination of a rollercoaster ride that started when he invited the legend to gatecrash a wedding party in Easter Ross two years ago.
Saturday’s performance is understood to be the first time a Motown star has performed on stage live with a bagpiper – and it very nearly didn’t happen.
The North Star revealed back in 2016 how Mr MacGillivray, of Calrossie Farm near Tain, had met Martha and the Vandellas after their show in Inverness and made the wedding party invitation.
Like Martha Reeves, famous for hits like Dancing in the Streets, Nowhere to Run and Jimmy Mack, Iain’s mum Janemarie comes from Michigan. Martha took Iain up on the offer back in December 2016 and relished the wedding dance, even taking part in a strip the willow and dancing with a local farmer.
Now referring to the MacGillivrays as “my Scottish family”, she’s kept in touch and event showed them around the Motown Museum in Detroit. The offer to talented piper Iain to join her on stage was one not to be missed – though shortage of rehearsal time almost saw the plans nixed.
Iain said: “I had to liaise with about 20 different people but I was determined it was going to happen after making the trip. Martha stepped in and said: ‘we’re doing this’. She’s the boss and that was that.”
In addition to a spine-tingling version of Amazing Grace, Iain also learned the riff of the band’s classic Forget Me Not, resplendent in full Highland dress and clan tartan.
He said: “I believe it’s the first time a Motown act has performed with a bagpiper. It couldn’t have gone better I feel we played an absolute blinder! My mum is from Michigan, my dad is a piper – it felt like everything that’s in me came out in a three-minute performance on stage. It was amazing. It’s just great when you can understand each others’ musicianship.”
Adding to the excitement and challenge, he had borrowed an unfamiliar set of pipes from Burgess Bagpipes to play in the required key.
AN Easter Ross clan commander's unlikely friendship with a Motown legend may have made musical history at the weekend.
