 What do all these things have in common? To understand, let me tell you a bit about myself... I began playing the bagpipes when I was 12 in my hometown of Merrickville, Ontario. Merrickville is a quaint and charming village on the Rideau Canal in Canada. Why did I start playing the bagpipes? Good question... Still not sure, but I’m sure glad I did. When I was attending University near Niagara Falls I got a call out of the blue from a friend asking if I would be interested in playing with a Celtic band called Gaelic Storm. At the time, I had no idea the band was the steerage party band in a little movie called Titanic, you may have heard of it. Regardless, I said sure and took a Greyhound bus through the night to Pittsburgh to meet the band. I thought in 4 months I would go back to school and pursue the rest of my business degree like a good little boy and forget about music. But what can I say, I fell in love with the idea of playing music for a living and that 4 months turned into 13 years... and counting. Joining up with Gaelic Storm turned out to be a pretty good idea. We have played in front of over a million people and sold hundreds of thousands of albums, 6 of which have hit #1 on the world music billboard charts. I also met my wife at a Gaelic Storm show. This lifestyle has gifted me experiences and things I would have never had otherwise. One really cool moment that helps tie all of this together took place one afternoon in Austin, Texas while working on the album Cabbage at a friend’s house. He casually mentioned that Robert Plant, the singer from Led Zeppelin would be coming over to pick up some mics. Sure enough, a little later he showed up and we pretended to be cool about it, that it wasn’t a big deal that maybe the most famous rock and roll singer of all time was here. He chatted with the other English guys in the band about football (soccer) and said something to me about bagpipes. Looking back, I have no idea what he said because it was such a surreal moment. Anyways, after that meeting I began listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin and consequently learned how to play “Stairway to Heaven” on the piano. Fast forward almost 10 years... My little nephew, Kevin, was over and he loves music. Trying to entertain him, I grabbed his little baby xylophone and began playing twinkle little star, happy birthday, etc…. And he showed very little interest. I, then, started playing “Stairway to Heaven” and all of a sudden he was captivated. An idea began to form in my head and so Rock the Cradle was born. So I guess Led Zeppelin, Babies, Bagpipes and Xylophones actually do have something in common - they all, in some small way, helped to start Rock the Cradle. The lullaby version of Led Zeppelin was the third Rock the Cradle album I did and, of course, the most popular song on the album is “Stairway to Heaven”. My version is a bit of a departure from the original, but it was a blast and an honor to record the track and has become one of my favorite Rock the Cradle tracks. As a thank you for being one of my subscribers I want to give it to you for free – no strings attached. Just go down to bottom of page Right click on 'Download File' and either choose to 'open with iTunes' or 'Download Linked File' and drag onto desktop and enjoy these peaceful lullabies. If you like it, you might also enjoy ‘Lullaby Versions of Led Zeppelin’ or any of the Rock the Cradle catalog. Talk soon, Peter Purvis - Rock the Cradle 
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AuthorPeter Purvis. Producer/Musician ArchivesCategories |
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