Fire on McGinnis is what happens when a pipe and drum band gets bored playing "Scotland the Brave" over and over for 10 years. Lazlo was driving everyone crazy in Stroller White Pipes and Drums with this and that (don't ask) . . . until one day in 2004 Bruce McQueen suggested that the SWP&D band have a recital. Lazlo (so named during a Burns Night a few years before in which some Hungarian Tabasco sauce and a lot of whiskey ended up being thrown into the haggis before it was placed in the oven), being scared to death of playing bagpipes by himself in public, decided he would play electric guitar at the bagpipe recital instead. Having sold his last guitar and amp while in college, he had to buy new equipment, which arrived the day before the recital. Everyone in the SWP&D band, plus a few more (Dayna McCrummen on vocals, Jim and Martha Stey on mandolin and fiddle, Melanie Brown on flute, Allan McKinnon on pipe organ) played the Waly Waly/Sleepy Maggie/Scotland the Brave set at the recital in Northern Light United Church. Lazlo was convinced it was a rousing success even though we learned our first lesson that you can't tune the bagpipes to an old electric organ!

 

The Waly Waly set was reprised a few weeks later at a Marine Park Fridays in the Park concert. Shortly after that we became a band and picked the name Fire on McGinnis. We choose the name in part because of the most photographed mountain in the Juneau area (Mt McGinnis) but mostly because it sounds cool.

Our initial roster was Dayna Robertson on vocals, Doug and Laurie Gardner on pipes, Lazlo on guitar and Dave Sheakley on drums. In the early days we mostly played parties and occasionally played open mic nights at the Alaskan bar. Martha Defreest joined us on fiddle after we played a birthday party at the Buoy Deck. James Bibb joined us on bass about the same time. It wasn't long after cranking up the Musicians friend credit card that we had Mark Lukey join us on sound system (which is huge--managing our sound is a real challenge!)

Since Martha and James joined the band, we ramped our set list up to 3 full hours and have been playing at various venues around town: Island Pub, the Alaskan Bar, and the Hangar on the Wharf. We really enjoy playing for the dances at the Alaska Folk Festival.

Looking forward, we are hoping to spread our wings and try some venues in other towns. See you there!