Irene and Mark - blurb to follow

Hi, I‘m Silke (crubag in the chatroom), 33 years old and living in the south-west of Germany near Mannheim. I’m one of Runrig’s new fans and therefore new to the chatroom too. Haven’t been to the chatroom as much as I would have liked so far but hope to be there more regular in the future.  I first heard of Runrig at my brother’s place in `94.He was a fan from `91 on and had all of their albums so far. I liked what I heard, so I borrowed a few of their CDs. But at that time I was in a kind of ‚rebellious‘ state of mind and hard rock and heavy metal were my everyday music. So Runrig were reduced to the odd peaceful hour and to being my background music on my holidays in Great Britain. Then in `97 while being on the Isle of Skye, I heard that Donnie was about to leave the band and people thought that this would be Runrigs end. Well, so did I and as music is usually not our first topic, my brother had no chance to teach me otherwise. But anyway, as he is not the most talkative man in the world (I’m a nasty ‚little‘ sister I know?), I probably wouldn’t know by now that Runrig are still alive and kicking with a new front man if I hadn’t browsed through his CD collection last christmas. So I took ISOA and TSG home to listen to the new voice.......and was captivated from the first song on. I always liked Donnies voice and still do but Bruce‘ voice was ....yeah, what exactly?????? Can’t think of a way to describe it properly what made the difference for me but it sure was Bruce‘ voice together with the music on TSG sounding so vivid. And I shamefully admit that it was the first time I fully realised Rory’s captivating voice.During my holiday in the northwestern highlands this summer, I decided to learn gaelic as I was fascinated by the language and back home I searched for a course in Germany which I gladly found in Bonn. The gaelic songs served as a start to get a grip of the pronunciation and have been a further step to Runrigs music. BUT....I still couldn’t imagine that they would be able to keep the magic of their music when playing live....what little did I know! And again, big brother wasn’t very helpful......when asked about the concerts he attended , his only reply was „they were good, always nice evenings“ ???!!!! Well, I should have known by now that this is the most enthusiastic praise he would ever deliver, translated as “amazing, incredible, wonderful, brilliant, best ever.........“. 14 years of living apart from each other must go for an excuse! But he at least got me a ticket for Mainz to make up for it! Then the weekend of my first gaelic course happened to be the one when the boys played in Cologne (just around the corner of Bonn) and so I got a ticket to make this my first Runrig concert! Unfortunately it was the one Iain got ill but after the six songs they played (thanks again for that!!!) they had a new fan on the hook!!!!! And after Mainz a week later , I got a flight and tickets for Glasgow and Edinburgh ...needless to say more!  I met wonderful people at the concerts in Germany and Scotland, thank you all for taking me into the Runrig family !!! And it was very nice to meet some of the chatroomers in Edinburgh (thanks Lisa for taking the photo and sending it to Rosey!!!)

My real name is William although I am knowing to most as Billy and to chatroom members as Donn. I live in Newcastle Upon Tyne in the North-east of England. I became a Runrig fan in 1997 and from then have gone on to amass a huge collection of Runrig recrdings that has been described by some as a work of near genius. At present I own over one hunfred and fifty recordings in various formats includings 12" vinyls, 7" Vinyls, Promos, lp's, Cd's, Dvd,s. I have just about everything Runrig have released in just about every format. My wife Lynne went spare when I spent over fifty pounds on a black label promo of Dance Called America, but if I want it I will buy it whatever the cost. I also have a vast collection of the wire magazines and a large number of bootleg recordings. My next project of collecting involves Russian and Polish flexi recordings of which their are hundreds (Don't tell the wife she thinks my collection is almost complete). The pride of my collection is a toss up between Play Gaelic original neptune LP and Song Of The Earth C.D single. I have seen Runrig live on three occasions and have seen Donnie once as a solo artist. Favourite Runrig song is The Greatest flame. Best album is Recovery. Favourite band member is Rory even though the wife fancies him (He's Ginger) NO TASTE IN MEN!!!

Rick is my chatroom name, it has been shortened from Rickard which is the name I started going into the chatroom with, Anyway  I'm pictured here with my other half , it was taken at a gig at the Colston Hall in Bristol, as you can see during the Stamping Ground tour. I am useless with dates and I am impressed with other "Riggies" that can remember how many concerts they have been to and where, I'm sure if I were to sit down and work it out it would come out to around 20 plus concerts, the latest being at the Shepherds Bush Empire. However, I remember vividly the first Time I clapped eyes on Runrig, we had tickets for the NEC Birmingham to see Chris de Burgh, we settled down to watch the support, and to my recollection I never heard any announcement to this 6 piece band that strolled on and proceeded to blow us away.  Obviously we were instantly hooked, as many are, and although our taste in music is varied, Runrig will always be our favourite "gig". For quite a while we thought we must be the only people in the world that knew Runrig, especially from south of the border and were amazed when we attended our first dedicated Runrig "gig" at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, which obviously was a sell out.  Another huge bonus to following such a great band,are the friends you make, such as our host, Rosey, who just happens to be my near neighbour, I am lucky to have made friends from all over the country and indeed all over the world, and all under the name of Runrig.

Ohio Tom...blurb to follow