The Big Shoogle

The Big Shoogle are an uptempo Scottish Ceilidh Band with strong musical influences from rock, traditional Scottish, cajun, zydeco, rockabilly and swing, all added together and shoogled.... !

The band play swingy traditional Scottish and Irish ceilidh tunes in their own inimitable style, and will call all the dances for guests who may be unfamiliar with them. So, even if you are dance-lexic (!) and can’t tell the difference between a Dashing White Sergeant and a haggis supper, The Big Shoogle will have you birling around the floor like an expert! This is all done in an informal and humourous way, creating a real party atmosphere. You KNOW when you’ve been Shoogled! 

They are, in fact, one of the most exciting bands to come out of Scotland in a long time. 

They play for all the well-known favourite ceilidh dances as well as some new, more unusual ceilidh dances – some of which not for the faint-hearted..

From haunting Scottish airs to thundering jigs and reels, your granny will adore the slow ones and you will shoogle your socks off to the jigs, reels and fancy feels.

However, while they are perfectly happy to play for ceilidh dancing for the whole evening, in addition, as one of the most versatile bands around today, have a repertoire of songs enabling them to diversify if the function requires so. They play their own versions of well-known crowd pleasers in a zydeco, cajun, rock style as well as covers of some current mainstream chart and classic floor-fillers. Audiences find it difficult to believe that the range of music and sounds all comes from the same three band members.

Based in Glasgow they do indeed play at many functions and festivals in the UK but do travel. They have played in top venues UK-wide and overseas for every kind of audience imaginable in Paris, Brussels, London, Copenhagen, Moscow, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Florence, Pisa, Bishopbriggs, Bonkle and Ballybunion. International festivals like Celtic Connections, Lorient and headlined the Ceilidh Tent at this year's T in the Park. They are as comfortable playing to large festival audiences and corporate events as they are at small functions. 

Numerous “blue-chip” clients appear on their engagement lists, from Hollywood A-List actors and supermodels to TV personalities and major corporations.

They are self-contained with their own sound system and lighting and, needless to say, are very professional in all respects. 

If Carlsberg made ceilidh bands, they probably wouldn’t be as exciting as The Big Shoogle.