by Erin Sullivan
Due to the generosity of their fans, the Canadian celtic rock band Enter the Haggis has collected $60,000 on Kickstarter.com to produce their upcoming album. The Modest Revolution is set to release on March 30th, 2013 and along the way, each fan or “backer”, as they call them on Kickstarter, will receive a prize for donating money. T-shirts, signed albums, and digital downloads are just some of the smaller prizes. Some fans got to be a part of the new album and some will see a live show and barbecue with the band. One backer who donated $1,000 will get a matching tattoo with band member Trevor Lewington.
“I forget exactly what day we went live with the fundraiser but we had a goal of $20,000, which was reached in 11 hours. Our fans are exceedingly generous and amazing supporters of what we do. Each of us were at home sitting in front of our computers and refreshing it every few minutes on that first day, watching wide-eyed as the number soared. It’s still hard to believe that it happened,” says Lewington.
Most backers will also receive a copy of the newspaper from March 30th, 2012, which is the inspiration for their album. They decided to preorder 1,500 copies of that issue of The Globe and Mail, a Toronto paper, not knowing what stories would be in them, but they took a chance. According to their Kickstarter page they’ve filled out the crossword puzzles, read the obituaries and practically dissected the entire paper to find inspiration for their music.
“We were asked to do a songwriting workshop in Boston a few years ago and I suggested that Craig, Brian and I each write separate songs based on a story in the newspaper that day to present at the clinic. The story was about extreme flooding in the area. Brian’s song, “The Flood”, actually wound up on Whitelake, the next record that we released. I enjoyed the challenge of creating a song based on a single, common inspirational source and suggested basing a whole album off of the content of one day’s newspaper,” says Lewington.
Enter the Haggis is made up of Trevor Lewington, Brian Buchanan, Craig Downie, Mark Abraham, and Bruce McCarthy. The Modest Revolution will be the band’s seventh full length album. They have been making Celtic music together for the last decade and their fans can’t wait for the new release. The members of ETH all play a wide variety of instruments- it’s hard to list them all, but interestingly they play fiddles, trumpet, banjos, a ukelele, an accordion, and bagpipes along with guitars and drums. They recorded the album at Saint Claire Recording Company in Lexington, KY, which was a dream come true for them.
The guys also have a special treat in store for those who are attending their New Years Eve show in Northampton, MA. One of the Kickstarter packages a fan paid for involves Lewington dressing up in drag for a show. He has already been fitted for a dress and he is set to get a little crazy in Northampton…like usual. For those who won’t make it to the NYE bash, the band is currently touring all over the country and are set to perform at the Musikfest Cafe in Bethlehem, PA on November 24th.
“We have a lot of fans in Pennsylvania so we like to get there a few times a year. Musikfest Cafe is great venue with a pretty unique backdrop to the stage: a view of colorfully lit smoke stacks from an old factory,” says Lewington. “I don’t know much about the music scene in Philadelphia as we don’t often perform with local bands who could share their thoughts on that. Philadelphia is a cool city that we’ve actually had a little bit of time to explore over the years. I always try to hit the Reading Terminal Market when we’re in town,” says Lewington. They hit up the World Cafe Live every now and then, so be sure to keep an eye on the band’s tour dates!
As mentioned above, Enter the Haggis has an amazing group of fans- The Haggis Heads! A few of those fans have arranged a food and clothing drive for people affected by Hurricane Sandy. If you’ll be attending the ETH show after Thanksgiving in Bethlehem, consider donating some items. The Haggis Heads will gladly accept school supplies, winter clothing for all ages, paper goods and non perishables. One of the fans is in charge of the school supplies, another is contacting agencies who can pick up the goods. The raffle will be a cash benefit for Red Cross. Haggis Heads will be donating and creating goods to be raffled at the November 24th Musikfest Cafe show. For more information and to let the Haggis Heads know you have something to bring, please contact Donna at tiltedhaggissoap@gmail.com.
