Although Kirk McLeod, frontman for the Celtic rock band Seven Nations, has played Highland bagpipes since he was 12, he was also influenced by the likes of the Beatles, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and the Cure.
"They were the ones who inspired me to play music," McLeod said during a phone interview from his tour van in Los Angeles. "Many people are thrown off by the fact that I listened to music other than the Chieftans and other Celtic bands."
Seven Nations — McLeod, bassist Sturby, drummer Ashton Geoghagan, piper Scott Long and fiddle/viola player Dan Stacey — will play the Zephyr Club, 301 S. West Temple, on Sunday, Feb. 18. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Back in the mid-1980s, McLeod found himself playing bagpipes at Disney World, which he describes as a thankless job. "I had many people come up to me and ask if I actually played songs or if I was just making things up," he said with a laugh. "I had spent so much time and effort learning the pipes that I felt like I was wasting my time."
McLeod decided to find a way to incorporate the bagpipes into a surrounding where they could really be appreciated. "That's when Seven Nations got together. It was 1993 in New York."
A couple of years later, Seven Nations began releasing a line of independent albums, including the critically acclaimed "Rain Thunder" (1995) and "Big Dog" (1997).
The band took to touring continuously the club circuit around the East Coast.
"We got a lot of strange reactions when we would show up for the gigs," McLeod said. "They'd see the bagpipes and immediately, the club owners would think we were a marching band. But once we started playing, that all went away."
Playing live is how Seven Nations garnered a recording contract with Q Records and a loyal following that spans the world, even into such nations as Puerto Rico.
"The main focus is the energy of our music," McLeod explained. "We will always have the Celtic music roots, but we have found a way to cross boundaries of race and region."
That, said the piper, is one of the many rewards of being in Seven Nations. "It would be so easy for us to sit back and play only the Scottish and Irish circuits. But we wanted to take the music to larger audiences. And it is wonderful to see an audience in Puerto Rico getting off on the bagpipes."
That experience solidified Seven Nations' mission — to bring good music to the people.
"When I think of Bob Marley, I don't think so much of him being only a reggae artist," McLeod explained. "He's a pioneer who helped the world become aware of his music.
"While I do not, and would not like to think Seven Nations is the spokesband for the Celtic music scene — because there are a lot of Celtic music bands out there who are a lot better than we are — I would like to think of us as bringing our own brand of Celtic music to the world's awareness."
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com