It was the end of an era when a founding member of one of Campbeltown’s most iconic bands performed his final gig.
Calum Brodie – known to many by his nickname Cabo – performed with the Wee Toon Tellers for the last time on Saturday.
The gig took place in the Feathers Inn, one of the first venues in which the band performed when it was founded 35 years ago.
Punters packed into the pub “like sardines” to see Calum take to the stage for the final time, joined by fellow Wee Toon Tellers founding members Davie Robertson, Alex McAllister, Archie McAllister and Dave Bisset.
During their decades together, the band gained a reputation as a Campbeltown institution, playing a variety of well-known Scottish folk tunes as well as original material which they released on two albums, ‘Jarred and Feathered’ and ‘10 Years Matured’.
Calum, who plays the bodhrán drum, explained that his decision to call it a day just before his 70th birthday is for health reasons.
He said: “I’ve got arthritis and my shoulders are getting kind of sore, and I felt that playing was getting too much so I decided to set a date and that would be the final gig.”
Talking about how the band was formed, he added: “We were pals and we did a couple of wee gigs here and there, in the Para Handy and different bars. Then we started performing properly in the Feathers – that’s why we decided to finish there, because that took us full circle."
The band used the occasion to replicate a photograph taken outside the Feathers Inn towards the beginning of their career.
Calum said: “We released our first tape in 1991, and that’s when the original photo was taken.”
Although Calum has bowed out, it doesn’t mean the end of the road for the band.
He said: “As far as I know, the boys will keep playing and I might make the odd guest appearance."
With Archie also a member of Skipinnish, one of Scotland’s most prolific traditional bands, opportunities for Wee Toon Tellers gigs are not as plentiful as they once were, but Calum is looking forward to being an audience member at any future shows.
He said: “If the boys are playing, I’ll go and hear them. I must say, I had a great time with the band.
“We had a good laugh and played in lots of different places – Mallaig, Tobermory, Ballachulish, Gigha, all over.
“It was great being together, the five of us. We practised the odd song, if it was one that one of the boys had written, but, other than that, we appeared and started performing and that was it; everything just seemed to fall into place. We were quite lucky that way.
“It was great to be part of what I class as one of the best bands in Campbeltown.”
Asked if he has any plans for his newfound spare time, Calum replied: “No, nothing at all – just give the arms a rest from playing!”
Feathers Inn owner James Green, who appears in the original 1991 photograph with the band, said: “It was just a brilliant event; it was like the good old days.”
He added that he, wife Carol, son Simon, daughter-in-law Kelsey and the rest of the Feathers Inn staff wished Calum all the best and thanked him for arranging the day for them all to get together once again.
Kelsey and Simon, who were working behind the bar on the day, enjoyed it thoroughly and hope to have the rest of the band members return one day very soon.
They said: “The customers are still going on about how great the day was and how it felt like they were back when the band first started.”
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