Iron Broo Ceilidh Band

Author: charlieabel

  • Four good reasons to book a Scottish Wedding ceilidh Band

    Four good reasons to book a Scottish Wedding ceilidh Band

    Booking a Scottish ceilidh band for your wedding can be a fantastic way to add excitement, energy, and traditional flair to your special day. Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider booking a Scottish ceilidh band for your wedding:

    Iron Broo at YWE wedding exhibition
    Iron Broo at YWE wedding exhibition 2023
    1. Create a Fun and Lively Atmosphere: Ceilidh music is upbeat and energetic, and the traditional dances accompanying it is fun and easy to learn. Hiring a Scottish ceilidh band can create an atmosphere of celebration and joy that will get your guests up and dancing.
    2. Honour Your Heritage: If you or your partner have Scottish heritage, booking a ceilidh band is a great way to pay homage to your roots. Even if you don’t have any Scottish ancestry, the lively music and dances will surely be a hit with all your guests.
    3. Encourage Guest Interaction: Ceilidh dances are often done in groups, which makes them a great way to encourage your guests to interact with one another. This is especially important if you have guests from different social circles who don’t know each other well.
    4. Create Lasting Memories: Your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and you want to ensure your guests remember it fondly. Hiring a ceilidh band can be a unique and memorable experience that your guests will talk about for years to come.

    Overall, booking a Scottish ceilidh band for your wedding can be a great way to add excitement, energy, and traditional flair to your special day.

    How will guests know how to join in with the ceilidh dances?


    Typically, Scottish ceilidh bands will have a caller who will guide guests through the various dances and steps. The caller will usually stand at the front of the room and give instructions for each dance before the music starts.The caller will typically explain the steps clearly and simply and may even demonstrate the movements so guests can get a feel for the dance. The caller will also usually encourage guests to partner up with one another and will help them get into position before the music starts.In addition to the caller’s instructions, many Scottish ceilidh bands will provide written instructions or diagrams of the dances for guests to refer to. This can be especially helpful for guests unfamiliar with the steps or who want to ‘learn in reel time’. Overall, guests should feel comfortable joining in with the ceilidh dances, even if they have never done them before. The caller and the other guests will help guide them through the steps and ensure everyone is having a good time.

    Will the ceilidh band travel abroad?


    It depends on the specific ceilidh band you are interested in booking. Some Scottish ceilidh bands may be willing to travel abroad for performances, while others may not be available or have restrictions. Suppose you are interested in booking a Scottish ceilidh band for a wedding or event outside of Scotland. In that case, it’s best to contact the band directly to inquire about their availability and willingness to travel. Some factors that may affect their desire to travel could include the distance, the length of the trip, and any additional costs associated with international travel, such as visas, flights, and accommodations.It’s also worth noting that there may be local ceilidh bands or musicians in your area who can provide a similar experience, even if they are not specifically Scottish. These bands may be more accustomed to local customs and dance styles and may be more readily available for performances in your area. Our band love to travel but we need as much notice as possible due to out other booking commitments.

    A Gay Gordons at Lonach Hall

    Do you have first dance recommendations for a Scottish ceilidh? 

    One popular choice for a first dance at a Scottish ceilidh wedding is the Grand March, popular in the Northeast of Scotland. It requires a decent-sized dance floor and participation from the bride and groom and as many of guests as possible. Another popular choice is the Gay Gordons, which is a traditional Scottish dance that is easy to learn and fun to do. The music for the Gay Gordons is typically played on accordion, bagpipes or fiddles, and you can choose from many different versions of the dance.Another option for a first dance at a Scottish ceilidh wedding is the Dashing White Sergeant, which is another popular Scottish dance. This dance is typically done in sets of six dancers and involves a series of turns, spins, and partner changes.If you are looking for a slower, more romantic option for your first dance, you might consider a Scottish ballad or love song, such as “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns or “Loch Lomond”. These songs can be played by a Scottish ceilidh band, providing a beautiful and intimate moment for you and your partner. This could be a slow Scottish waltz or Old time waltz.Ultimately, choosing the first dance song will depend on your preferences and the atmosphere you hope to create at your wedding. A good ceilidh band can provide suggestions and guidance to help you choose the perfect first dance song for your Scottish ceilidh wedding.

  • We won an award!

    THE HITCHED WEDDING AWARDS 2023 RECOGNISE WEDDING PROFESSIONALS AFTER A RECORD YEAR OF WEDDINGS

    Iron Broo Ceilidh Band won the Hitched.co.uk Wedding Awards 2023 and has been proclaimed one of the best wedding professionals in the UK.

    This year marks the second edition of the prestigious Hitched Wedding Awards.
    Over 18,000 wedding vendors registered on the Hitched.co.uk platform were given equal chances of winning.
    2022 saw a boom in weddings after the pandemic; this year’s edition serves as a tribute to the hard work we’ve seen in the industry.
    Iron Broo Ceilidh Band is one of the Hitched Wedding Awards 2023 winners in the Wedding Music and DJs category, making them one of the most recommended professionals by newlyweds on Hitched.co.uk.

    Aberdeen , 24 of January of 2023.

    Iron Broo Ceilidh Band, and thousands of other wedding professionals in the United Kingdom have just completed an unprecedented year for the industry – 2022 was the year of the ‘wedding boom’ following hundreds of thousands of delayed celebrations. Hitched.co.uk, a leading wedding planning platform and part of The Knot Worldwide group, has announced the winners of the second annual Hitched Wedding Awards.

    These awards are based on reviews by couples who married in the past year. Iron Broo Ceilidh Band has won a Hitched Wedding Award in the Wedding Music and DJs category.

    Iron Broo Ceilidh Band, received a total of 13 reviews on their online storefront on Hitched.co.uk and a rating of 5.0 out of 5.0 determined by the couples who planned their weddings with them. As of today, they have received a badge on their Hitched listing, which recognises them as winners of the Hitched Wedding Awards 2023. This badge will serve as a marker of quality to the thousands of couples who use Hitched to book their wedding vendors.

    Last year’s awards were special, but this year’s edition holds even more value. In the words of José Melo, Vice President of Sales for Europe at Hitched.co.uk, “After two very difficult years of the pandemic for the sector, where professionals had to halt their activity and suffered great losses, this year we can finally talk about an edition where weddings were celebrated big.

    Iron Broo at YWE wedding exhibition
    Iron Broo Ceilidh at YWE wedding exhibition 2023

    PRESS RELEASE

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    “The professionals have worked long hours, without weekends off and have extended the season during practically all of 2022. Therefore, above and beyond individual recognition, the celebration of the Wedding Awards 2023 seeks to serve as a tribute to all those professionals and businesses that gave everything to make the recovery of the industry a reality.”

    In addition to the annual objective of recognising the excellent service offered by wedding professionals in the United Kingdom, we have also added the objective of highlighting the incredible work of the professionals during and after the pandemic.

    This year, with the boom in weddings, these awards were based on over 8.5 million couple reviews globally across The Knot Worldwide, a number that is growing continuously. With over 18,000 wedding businesses listed in the Hitched directory, the quality of service and level of customer satisfaction delivered by the winners cannot be underestimated. This is why the Hitched Wedding Awards is based entirely on reviews from real couples, who enlisted these professionals to help plan their weddings. This is precisely why ”This award has become an industry reference and a guarantee for couples planning their wedding every year,” Melo says.

    The Wedding Awards include the following categories: Wedding Venues, Photographers, Videography, Music and DJs, Cars and Travel, Stationery, Favours, Decoration Hire, Mobile Bar Services, Photo Booth, Marquee & Tipi Hire, Speechwriting Services, Wedding Entertainment, Wedding Planners, Wedding Cakes, Catering, Bridal Shops & Jewellery, Groomswear Shops, Beauty, Hair & Makeup, Celebrants, Toastmasters, Honeymoons, Something Different and Others, and can be found in the complete list of winners here: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-awards

    About Hitched.co.uk

    Hitched.co.uk is a leading UK wedding planning destination from the global wedding group, The Knot Worldwide, with a simple mission: to help people plan the happiest day of their lives with help from the best professionals. With their international presence, The Knot Worldwide has created the largest wedding community and online marketplace for wedding planning on a global scale. Their extensive database showcases over 700,000 wedding professionals and offers couples planning tools to prepare their guest list, manage their budget, find their suppliers, and more. The Knot Worldwide operates in 16 countries across different domains, including Bodas.net, WeddingWire.com, TheKnot.com, Matrimonio.com, Mariages.net, Casamentos.pt, Bodas.com.mx, Casamentos.com.br, Matrimonio.com.co, Matrimonios.cl, Casamientos.com.ar, Matrimonio.com.pe, Hitched.co.uk, Hitched.ie, Casamiento.com.uy, WeddingWire.ca and WeddingWire.in.

    For more information:

    Telf.: +4401224874570 charlieabel@ironbroo.scot

    PRESS RELEASE

  • Ceilidh in Luxembourg – Taking Scottish Ceilidh Music Abroad

    Ceilidh in Luxembourg – Taking Scottish Ceilidh Music Abroad

    When Iron Broo was invited to Luxembourg to play a school ceilidh, it was a new destination for us and a good reminder that Scottish ceilidh dancing really can work almost anywhere.

    We travelled over in December to provide a ceilidh for Year 8 pupils at an international school. Luxembourg was certainly colder than I had expected, colder than Aberdeen, which takes some doing, but it was a great trip and a fantastic event. 

    A Scottish Ceilidh for an International Audience

    One of the questions we often get when playing for international groups is:

    “What if our guests have never done a ceilidh before?”

    That really isn’t a problem.

    Calling and explaining the dances is a big part of what Iron Broo does. In Luxembourg, the pupils were largely new to Scottish ceilidh dancing, so we talked them through each dance before the music started and kept helping as we went along.

    Despite being in a multilingual country, communication wasn’t a problem. Before long the floor was full and the pupils were throwing themselves into the dancing.

    That is one of the things I love about a ceilidh. You don’t need years of dance experience, and you certainly don’t need to be Scottish. With good music, clear calling and a willingness to have a go, people very quickly find themselves joining in.

    Bringing Scottish Music to Luxembourg

    Luxembourg is a fascinating place to visit. The city is built over dramatic valleys and gorges, with the old fortifications and the lower Grund giving it a very distinctive character. We were also impressed by how multilingual the city was, with Luxembourgish, French and German heard alongside many other European languages. 

    Being there in December also meant Christmas markets, lights and plenty of atmosphere around the city.

    But the real highlight for us was the ceilidh itself.

    The reaction afterwards summed it up perfectly. Chantal Gluting wrote:

    “They came all the way to Luxembourg to do a ceilidh with our Year 8 students and it was simply fantastic!” 

    She also said that the students were encouraged to take part and ended up loving the dancing. 

    Ceilidhs Work Across Cultures

    The Luxembourg trip reinforced something we have seen many times over the years.

    A ceilidh is particularly good for an international group because it gives everyone something to do together. People who have only just met can be dancing together within minutes, and the fact that the dances are called means nobody has to arrive knowing what to do.

    That is just as useful at an international school event as it is at a wedding where families and friends have travelled from different countries.

    Iron Broo Abroad

    Iron Broo has travelled outside Scotland for weddings, private events and other celebrations, taking Scottish ceilidh music to audiences who may never have experienced it before.

    We can provide different line-ups depending on the event and destination, from the compact One Man Ceilidh Band and Iron Broo Duo through to larger band combinations.

    Wherever we play, the principle is the same: live Scottish music, clear dance calling and getting as many people involved as possible.

    Planning a Wedding or Event Abroad?

    If you are organising a wedding or celebration overseas and would like to bring a genuine Scottish ceilidh with you, we’d be delighted to hear about it.

    Find out more about our Destination Wedding Ceilidh Band →

    Here’s fit Luxembourg looks like… in the Gruund.

  • Poppy Scotland Ceilidh

    Poppy Scotland Ceilidh

    Iron Broo are playing a ceilidh in Inverurie Town Hall on Friday 11th of November 2022 to help raise funds for Poppy Scotland.

    Tickets available from royalbritishlegion.inverurie@googlemail.com

    Get your tickets ASAP!

    Ceilidh poster
  • Christmas Ceilidh with Iron Broo

    Christmas Ceilidh with Iron Broo

    Celebrate in true Scottish Ceilidh style with friends, family or colleagues.

    Join us again this year for another fantastic Christmas Ceilidh at the Star Ballroom, upstairs at the Beach Ballroom. Our first post pandemic Christmas ceilidh. We are looking forward to it!

    All welcome!

    Join us on Saturday the 17th of December for a ‘cracker’ of a Christmas Ceilidh. A great way to de-stress and wind down from the pre-Christmas stress and get into the right frame of mind for the holidays.

    We have again chosen the iconic Star Ballroom, upstairs at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen for our 2022 Christmas ceilidh as we love the venue. It’s intimate and has a lovely view over the North Sea on a winter night, and we know from experience that the Chef makes some of the best Stovies and Macaroni in town. Enough to keep Santa satisfied and left with a warm glow.

    ​We will be calling the dances, so no experience necessary.
    Works parties and Families welcome.

    Various ceilidh tickets available with discounted rates for families, OAP and students.

    Doors open 7.30pm
    Dancing from 8 pm – Stovies or Macaroni included during the half time break – Band finish 11.30pm. The bar will close at midnight.

    Here’s taster of our Christmas ceilidh with some clips from 2018.

  • Out O’ The Box CD

    Fir like patrons!

    I have been quiet lately, but that usually means I’ve been busy.  Look what arrived this afternoon!

     Thanks to you guys and your help and support, I’ve completed another CD that will be released shortly.  I want to thank you all.  You’ve helped make this happen.

    Special thanks to Fred Wilkinson, who also appears on tracks 10 and 12, which we previously released together as ‘Iron Broo’ Digital singles for the Doric Film Festival 2019 and 2021.

    Fred and I will be working on an Iron Broo album together shortly. 

    Please  send me your postal address to my email charlieabel@ironbroo.co.uk so I may send you all personally, my small group of Patrons an advance pre-release copy of the new CD before it goes out for release. 

    You’ll notice your ‘shout out’ on the sleeve notes 🙂

    I look forward to hearing from you,

    Charlie

  • Early Access! of a new release – Hibakusha

    Hibakusha ( The Survivors ) 

    Hibakusha – is a word of Japanese origin: 被爆者 or 被曝者; lit. 

    “person affected by a bomb” or

     “person affected by exposure to radioactivity.”  

    Patrons can download the digital album artwork and the full master audio wav file.  In advance of it being released online in 2-3 weeks from now. I’ve just posted the video on YouTube you can see above.

    I wrote and recorded this music when a friend asked me to play at a CND event in Aberdeen on the 7th of August 2021.  The event was to remember the Atomic bombings of August 6th and 9th, 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

    It was the first time the world had seen the use of such weapons used on a civilian population, and if there’s any hope for humanity, it must be the last time.

    When Ronnie Watt (9th dan) OBE ORS heard I was playing at the CND event, he asked me to write a piece of music on behalf of the Scottish Samurai.

    On the 7th of August 2021 – At lunchtime, a small crowd had gathered outside the Marischal College in Aberdeen to show their respects.

    There were messages read out from Japan, from Hiroshima, and MSPs and activists took turns to say their pieces, and musicians and poets entertained with tasteful music and prose between the speeches.  Free food was on offer from ‘Food not Bombs’.

    The following is a copy of my short introduction speech on that day before playing the music for the first time.

    “I was asked to say a few words on behalf of Ronnie Watt (9th Dan). 

    Ronnie founded the Scottish Samurai awards and is a world-famous Karate master here in Aberdeen for those who don’t know. Over the years, Ronnie has had a great connection with Japan, and through his work with Karate and the Samurai Awards, he has made many friends in Japan, in Nagasaki, in the atomic bomb museum and other places.   Ronnie has earned himself the nickname, the second Scottish Samurai, after Thomas Blake Glover. 

    Unfortunately, Ronnie could not be here today as he is busy teaching Karate. But when Ronnie heard CND had asked me to play here, he asked me to write a piece of music to commemorate this event on behalf of The Order of The Scottish Samurai.  In celebration of the friendship between our nations and the hope we never see another bomb.

    It’s sad to think that some 75 years later, after the initial blasts, which killed over 210,000, there have subsequently been as many as half a million deaths due to radiation poisoning that still affects even unborn children to this day. It remains a gross injustice that the innocent pay the price of war and even more so when future generations not yet born also pay the price.

    I admit I find it challenging to write music for such a tragic subject. 

     So I have tried to arrange a piece that will remember the “Hibakusha” That’s the Japanese name for the people who survive the atomic bomb and have to live with the after-effects of radiation exposure.  It’s a name also used for the survivors of Fukushima. “

    Thanks for your continued support. 

  • Video – The Hash O’ Bennagoak

    I remember my Grandpa singing this song. He used to say he  ‘remembered a’ the words bit neen o’ the notes’. 

    The audio will be available online shortly. For now you can watch the video. If you are a Patron then you get the high definition audio track sent to you via email. Check the last ‘Patron only post’ for info. 

    Thanks for your support. 

    Charlie

  • The Hash o’ Bennagoak

    Dear Patrons!  

    There’s a new single in the pipeline and once again the digital gnomes are hard at work processing it for worldwide distribution on your favourite platforms.

    Your support is hugely important to me.  Spiritually, creatively  and financially. 

    I would like you to have an advance copy of not just the single, but the high definition master file.

    The same file used in super audio discs or on ‘Mastered for iTunes’ libraries. 

    It’s digital in 24 Bit and 96kz, and is not currently available anywhere else. If you have a fancy audio system you’ll really notice the difference. 

    If you’d like me to send you a digital copy get in touch and I’ll send you a personal link. 

    email me at charlieabel@ironbroo.scot 

    The track should be released in the next few weeks and I’m pleased to say it’s getting featured on Scots Radio by Frieda Morrison.

    I’ll post a public YouTube video as well and if you can share it that would great!

    A’ the best,

    Charlie

  • The Rose of Montrose

    New song about to be released, hear it here first for free.

    To be released on Christmas day 2020.

    Details to follow…