Another old friend

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Many years ago I was in a queue of vehicles in Calais, waiting to board a ferry back to England.  Quite suddenly, a man jumped out of the van in front of us. It was Scottish musician Brian McNeill. Instead of ‘hello, what a coincidence’ Brian breathlessly shouted ‘my cittern has exploded’.

In fact it wasn’t a real explosion, just the screw holding the back-plate down had loosened and was on its way out. Easily sorted.

I’ve known Brian for ever. In 1975 he had recently formed the Battlefield Band and having seen Tom Gilfellon’s cittern, came to see me. I was then (briefly) living in Wark, prior to moving to Whitley Chapel, and had not long been building citterns and bouzoukis.

Brian and band member Jamie McMenemy bought bouzoukis.  The band toured these all around the US, showing and talking about their instruments everywhere they went.  They spread the word so well that for a while I sold almost as many instruments in the US as in Britain.

A few days ago Brian visited my workshop with another tailpiece problem. The brass string-plate articulates on two little lugs sticking up from the back-plate and one of these had broken. I modified and fitted a new back-plate and all was well again.  Lovely to see another old friend and his old instrument.

Brian was always the most dynamic and exciting of bouzouki players and he still is.