Los Angeles, CA (Brickman Marketing) - The popular Celtic Rock band, Stand Easy, has announced its new CD release, "Tainted." The band's newest CD, "Tainted," includes 11 tunes, ranging from the powerful "Western Thunder" to the haunting "Leaving Lismore." More details and MP3s are available on the website: www.myspace.com/standeasy. Stand Easy's self-titled first CD has been heard on over a hundred commercial radio stations in the U.S.A., Scotland, Canada and Mexico.
Stand Easy is a Celtic Rock band led by Los Angeles-based John McLean Allan, an award-winning bagpiper, singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. John has appeared playing bagpipes in numerous feature films and television shows, including the Oscar-winning Best Picture, "Million Dollar Baby," "Open Season," "Austin Powers 2," "West Wing," "Primary Colors," "Judging Amy," " Sleeper Cell," "National Security," and "Providence," among many others.
Stand Easy also features several much sought after professional musicians: Jeff Cullen on highland pipes, whistles and vocals, Ken Lasaine on guitars, Paul Trutner on bass, and Chris Razze on drums.
Stand Easy came together to share in John's vision of creating a landmark fusion of commercial songwriting, Celtic music, and Rock and Roll. A powerful crowd-pleasing band, Stand Easy performs original songs, traditional songs and bagpipe/rock instrumentals. They have performed at many prestigious Festivals and innumerable nightclubs and pubs across the West Coast of the United States.
John McLean Allan has performed with the Chieftains, Korn, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Tonight Show Band and at the Coachella Music Festival. As a member of the top-ranked L.A. Scots Pipe Band, John has performed and competed all over North America and Europe. The L.A. Scots Pipe Band have also performed and recorded John's compositions. He also played with a variety of rock bands in Los Angeles for ten years.
Allan's original songs are in the modern rock style but incorporate bagpipe jigs and reels from the traditional Celtic style. "It's a way to bring Celtic music to people who wouldn't normally listen to it and bridge the generation gap, too," Allan said. "It allows young people to connect with their Celtic heritage."
Raised in Scotland, Allan started playing the bagpipes when he was 7 years old. "I started playing rock 'n' roll when I was 14, when I didn't think bagpipes were cool any more," he said. "It's very military oriented in Scotland. I wanted to grow my hair and play the rock music I loved. He didn't start playing the bagpipes seriously again until after he moved to the United States in 1989," he said. Soon after he arrived here, he went to a Scottish festival in Huntington Beach. He started talking to one of the bagpipers and discovered he was the grandson of one of Allan's former teachers.
"That was a sure sign for me that I should be playing the bagpipes again," Allan said. "I felt a yearning to play the bagpipe probably to satisfy the need to have a connection to home."
John's compositions have been used for such diverse applications as a Honda Commercial, and in performances by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In addition to composing and his work with Stand Easy, John also performs frequently at special events and gives bagpipe lessons.
John McLean Allan also has released "Family Favourites" which features thirty-four classic tunes performed solo on the Great Highland Bagpipe.
If you're excited about what Celtic music and bagpipes sound like in the world of Rock & Roll, then prepare for a brand new listening experience... Stand Easy!
For more information, check out www.myspace.com/standeasy
or call (818) 243-7011.
