Seven Nations began in New York City, with members now hailing from California, to Toronto, to Florida. Their passionate, tender, and rollicking style veers from roots and folk to dance and fusion-rock. Seven Nations has earned a reputation as an adventurous band with a charismatic stage presence.
“Seven Nations — the name refers to the seven original Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Galecia, Isle of Man, and Brittany — officially began in 1993 in New York City with a standard line-up of drums, guitars, and bass,” notes lead singer and guitarist Kirk McLeod. “We soon introduced bagpipes into the show, and over time the number of songs utilizing bagpipes grew until it became obvious that they were integral to our emerging sound,” says McLeod. “Most of the band members grew up playing Celtic music, and we’ve been performing original compositions since we began. Our instrumentation, and bagpipes and fiddle mostly, give us a distinctive sound and that’s what makes us different.”
Seven Nations has been touring full-time since 1994 with successful stops in Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, and virtually every state in the US. The band has recorded a number of albums with over a quarter million units in sales. Their latest album, Tales from the Eighth Nations, has been praised for “having the appeal of the original albums, yet a mature songwriting style. The lyrics are relatable, surprising, and the pipe/fiddle hooks stir a desire to listen to the album over and over.”
Recently they’ve included dates with several American orchestras, most notably the multi-Grammy-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the South Carolina Philharmonic. They became the first Celtic rock band to bring this exhilarating collaboration to the stage at an outdoor Irish festival, when they performed an entire show with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra at the Dublin Irish Festival.
Seven Nations has played the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, a New Year’s Eve performance at Scotland’s Royal Mile for 40,000 people, and at the New York City Marathon. They’ve appeared in over 20 major publications including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Playboy, Maxim, GQ, Stuff, and FHM.
