The power and emotion of the Great Highland Bagpipe
Tribal drums, fierce and joyous
The mystical rhythms of the Australian didgeridoo
and
The ancient call of the Bronze-Age Irish Horn
Wicked Tinkers are a Celtic Tribal Sound Explosion!
In 1995, Aaron Shaw – award-winning master piper – met bass drum player, Warren Casey at The Celtic Arts Center in Los Angeles, California. Playing together, they discovered the simple beauty and power of the music created by these two instruments.
“The combination seemed to tap the very soul of Gaelic Music†Says Shaw.
It is the music you might have heard hundreds of years ago at a Scottish wedding celebration; or perhaps around the campfire at a Highland raiding party - a raw, exciting sound that touches you on a primal level. Looking for a way to express this feeling of the ancient within the modern world, WICKED TINKERS was born.
In 2000, Keith Jones joined the band on snare drum and hand percussion ~ rocking the Tinkers into the new millennium with his red-hot drumming and larger-than-life stage presence.
More recently, the addition of didgeridoo player Jay Atwood has moved the band slightly to the left of traditional. But in Jay's hands, this odd instrument seems a natural fit with the pipes. Add to that the ancient call of the Bronze-Age Irish Horn – a sound that was lost for over three thousand years - and you've got the music of our ancestors, recreated for the twenty-first century!
Now this strange and unlikely combination seems to access our deepest connection to a primal place that is both hauntingly familiar and ancient.
Known as the "Wild Men" of the Celtic circuit, these kilted bad boys are outrageous, witty, silly, sincere, and totally accessible. For more than thriteen years they have entertained audiences at some of the countries largest Celtic Festivals.
All together, WICKED TINKERS’ explosive performance style, incredible musical talent, and humorous antics assure that audiences of all ages leave the show as pipes and drums fans!
"Like a fine, smoky Scotch whisky; they are a little rough around the edges, but unmistakably the real thing!"
