Tinkers bring tribal music into modern age

Bagpipes and drums are a natural combination; you'll hardly find one without the other. But a didgeridoo?

Throw one of those into the mix, and you have the Wicked Tinkers, producers of "haunting, heart-pounding, irresistible" music at the forefront of the Celtic tribal movement.

The Wicked Tinkers, based in Glendale, Calif., have been coming to Utah's Scottish Festival for about 10 years now and have become one of the most popular performing groups there.

They will again be at the festival Saturday, with performances scheduled for 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. (Other featured entertainers include Men of Worth, Molly's Revenge and Oceans Apart, as well as a number of local performers, making for nonstop music and dance.)

"We always have a great time in Utah," says Aaron Shaw, who plays the Great Highland Bagpipes with the group.

Warren Patrick Casey plays the tapan/bass drum and bodhran; Keith Jones does snares and percussion; and Jay Atwood plays the didgeridoo and Bronze-age Irish horn, among other things.

Their music is loud; it's primal; it takes you back to a time when "battle cries filled the air, and strange, unheard-of creatures roamed the night." And yet, it has a freshness and excitement that easily engages the audience. It is the Celtic music of their ancestors re-created for the 21st century, they say.

"It's tribal music, so I'm not stuck behind a drum set, Jones says. "I can run around in the audience. We just have a good time."

Their Utah audiences are always so enthusiastic, they say. "Some places we play, it's like being on TV," Shaw says. "But in Utah we get the energy back from the audience. It's more like we're having a party than putting on a show. We love that involvement; it works well here."

The Wicked Tinkers started in 1995, when Shaw and Casey happened upon each other at the Celtic Arts Center in Los Angeles and hit it off. They began playing together, and others wanted to join in. Since then, they have toured the country, often playing at festivals and Highland games.

Shaw, who is of Scottish descent, began playing the bagpipes after a trip to Scotland when he was 16. The "wailing music spoke loudly" to him, he says.

He also loves the pipes, he says, "because there's always more to learn. I've been playing them for more than 30 years, and there's still more. They are not a forgiving instrument, not like the piano, for example. You have to blow and squeeze and tone. There's always a lot going on."