It all began in New York City when Kirk McLeod convinced Neil Anderson to move up and join him and Struby in their rock band called One-19. Neil and Kirk played more traditional gigs at smaller venues and pubs as well.
As time passed, the two musical styles merged together and One-19 began incorporating some of the traditional tunes into their rock performances. The crowds loved it, and the guys adopted the new name 'Clan Na Gael'. Shortly thereafter, in 1994, their first CD called "Rain and Thunder" was released.
A natural step for the band was to play at Scottish-American Highland Games and Celtic festivals. By this time, drummer Nick Watson had joined Kirk, Struby and Neil. In 1995, they released their second CD, titled "Old Ground". As the band continued to play to enthusiastic crowds all over the US and Canada, they found the need to change their name to something more unique and that would be more identifiable with the band itself. The name 'Clan Na Gael' was confusing to some people and was also being used by other various groups and organizations. So, the guys decided on a new name, 'Seven Nations'. This name represents the seven celtic nations of Alba(Scotland), Eire(Ireland), Cymru(Wales), Mannin(The Isle of Man), Briezh(Brittany), Kernow(Cornwall), and Galica(Spain). The first CD released under the name Seven Nations was "Big Dog" in 1996. This CD continues to be a favorite of fans and critics alike. In mid 1997, Nick Watson left the band for personal reasons and new drummer Ashton Patrick Geoghagan was brought on board. His drumming style brought a whole new energy to the band. Seven Nations continued their constant touring, and in August of '97, were invited to perform during the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. The trip was a great success and they gained a whole new set of fans.
1998 brought more touring (including a second trip to Scotland) and the release of not one, but two live albums. "Road Kill vol. 1" and "Road Kill vol. 2" capture the tremendous energy and fun of a Seven Nations performance. 1998 also saw the departure of piper Neil Anderson, who felt it was time to leave and pursue a solo project. For a short time, Jamie Holton was brought on as the new piper, but he was unable to become a permanent member due to previous career obligations. Soon thereafter, in January of 1999, two new members were added to the Seven Nations lineup. Scott Long, from Nova Scotia, Canada was inducted as the new piper. Scott had previously been working with Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac. The group also took this opportunity to add Dan Stacey, also from Canada. Dan is an excellent fiddle player as well as an accomplished step dancer.
With the addition of Scott and Dan, Seven Nations now has an even richer, fuller sound than before. On July 8, 1999, the band released their sixth album, titled "The Factory", and embarked on another extensive tour in support of that album. 2000 brought yet another independent release called "The Pictou Sessions: An Acoustic Album". 2000 proved to be a landmark year in the progression of Seven Nations, as the band signed a marketing and distribution deal with Q Records, which is distributed by WEA corporation's Atlantic Records. The debut release on Atlantic, titled simply "Seven Nations", hit stores on October 10th, 2000. With the new release gaining attention and radio airplay, the band set out on the road once again to spread their awesome sound with promotional help from Dewar's Scotch (which featured the band in their fall/winter 2000 print ad campaign). However, touring makes having a 'normal' home life practically impossible and, in July 2001, Seven Nations drummer Ashton Geoghagan made the difficult decision to leave the band in order to spend more time with his wife and infant daughter and to pursue his long-time dream of becoming a firefighter/EMT. He is greatly missed by all, but we wish him all the best in his future. Ashton's replacement, Crisco, joined the band on the road on July 10th. He comes in just as the band is scheduled to release a third live disc in mid-July. So, even with the lineup change, it seems that the band is still on the fast track to mega-success.
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