Enter The Haggis - Soapbox Heroes

Canadian Celtic rockers Enter the Haggis have completed their fifth album, titled “Soapbox Heroes,” and are currently touring the U.S. in support of the July 2006 release date.

Recorded in February 2006 at the Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY, the album features 10 superb and diverse songs produced by 4-time Grammy winner Neil Dorfsman (Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Sting, Dire Straits).

“For the recording of Soapbox Heroes, we lived in a house that was attached to the studio so we were isolated from family and friends,” says Lewington, “The only people we interacted with were ourselves, Neil, the studio employees and guest musicians. The seclusion helped us focus on the record without any distractions. It also meant that we didn’t have any feedback from family and friends until it was too late.”

Soapbox Heroes, once again, establishes the band as possessing tremendous flexibility while not abandoning their respect for the traditional Celtic genre. The evidence lies in the kickoff piece “Lancaster Gate,” an instrumental establishing shot of what you have yet to hear. “One Last Drink” is a tried and true drinking tune until you hear the infusion of a horn section that seems to have jumped right off a Calexico record. “Cynical” is the Waterboys and Midnight Oil colliding with the Pogues, rousing chorus and all, and the “Barfly” is a piano ballad that the Eagles wish they’d written. To name a few more, “Marti’s Last Stand” features Brian, Craig and Trevor on lead vocals and “Long Way Home” wraps it up as “Load Out/Stay” wraps up Jackson Browne’s Running On Empty.

When we met with Enter The Haggis at their Sranton PA show, they were preparing to leave for their ancestral homeland of Scotland, taking along 30 fans from their native Canada and the United States.

“We had a blast,” Lewington says of the Scotland trip, “You may wonder what the dynamic was like between the band and 30 fans traveling with them on the bus. We think the whole star system is pretty silly. We’re just regular, well-mannered guys who are very fortunate to be playing music for a living and I think our fans see us the same way. This makes it easy to hang out with people who enjoy our music.”

Track Listing:
1 Lancaster Gate
2 One Last Drink
3 New Monthly Flavour
4 The Apothecary
5 Cynical
6 The Barfly
7 No More Stones
8 Perfect Song
9 Marti's Last Stand
10 Long Way Home

Enter The Haggis are:
Brian Buchanan: vocals, fiddle, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin.
Craig Downie: highland and Deger bagpipes, vocals, tin whistle, jaw harp, harmonica.
Mark Abraham: Electric Bass
James Campbell: drums, percussion, vocals.
Trevor Lewington: vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, banjo.

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