BOX O' BANANAS

BIOGRAPHY:

The Bananas were formed in 1991 by Jock the Box (accordion / vocals), Stevie Gillies (guitar / bagpipes / vocals) & Alistair Morrow (drums). The band played as a duo, a three piece and occasionally a four piece featuring a fiddler (Eilidh Campbell or Dougie Ballantine).
Jock & Stevie were involved with The Lobsters at this point however, they also formed another band called Ceilidh Minogue.
Morrow was replaced by John McAvoy in 1992, and the "Banana" album was recorded in 1998. McAvoy was the replaced by Iain Wallace (drums, ex-Throb) in 2000. Jock ventured to Nigeria for a show and Stevie performed rwo or three times per year in Bahrain with his other band Rusty Nail, who were formed way back in 1982 after a chance meeting of two musicians at an International Folk Festival in Edegem, Belgium. The original Rusty Nail members were Stevie Gillies (acoustic/ electric guitars, bagpipes & vocals), Gregor Lowrey (midi accordion & vocals) and Iain McKenzie (2nd accordion, drums, spoons & vocals). Rusty Nail are still performing today and use various drummers such as Ashley MacMillan (ex-Ironhorse, Stiltskin & The Willie Logan Band), Lee Agnew (ex- Ironhorse, currently with Nazareth), Alistair Morrow (Ceilidh Minogue & The Fat Sams Jazz Band) and Duncan Findlay (guitar).
Ashley MacMillan came into Box O'Bananas, replacing Wallace, around 2003 and has been a key player ever since. The band continued to play live into 2006, including a date with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. 2007 saw more live dates by the band, including some on the island of Jersey, and some in California (USA, not up the braes!). Summer saw dates at the Wickerman Festival in the Borders, and supporting the Stranglers at the Campbeltown Festival.
The Bananas had been playing for around 16 years when they decided to call it a day in August 2008. The 2008 gigs take them up to around August so catch them where you can.

RELEASES:

"Bananas" (CD album, 1998)

WEBSITE:

http://www.boxobananas.com/