Dynamically fusing contemporary and traditional influences from Scotland, Ireland, the Canadian Maritimes and beyond, Larsa's tightly driven tunes and soulful songs have been captivating audiences across the UK and Europe since their formation in early 2012. This debut EP from Larsa consists of fiery, driving instrumentals and beautiful renditions of old and new songs on guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, pipes and bodhran.

03 Calum And The Goats (SAMPLE)

01 Norotunes (SAMPLE)

02 Logan Braes (SAMPLE)

05 MacGregor Of Ruara (SAMPLE)

04 The Close Shave (SAMPLE)

Here's a live recording from the "On Home Ground" CD Release at the New City Galerie in Burlington, VT (April 13, 2014).

Tunes:
The Rector at the Fèis (Ryan J. MacNeil)
The Rubbermaid Collection (Stan Chapman)
Traditional Laddie
'S Ioma Rud A Chunna Mi

*all tunes are traditional, arranged by Ben Miller, except where noted.

Musicians:
Ben Miller - Border pipes
Anita MacDonald - Fiddle
Dominique Dodge - Scottish harp
Tristan Henderson - 12-string guitar

Ben Miller and Friends - The Rector (Live at The New City Galerie)

Ben Miller and Friends, LIVE at Acoustic Artisans, Portland ME.

Tunes:
An Cota Ruadh
Lucy Campbell
Calum Crùbach
The White Houses of Sheildaig
Johnny Lad
The Night We Had the Goats
Roy’s Wife

*all tunes are traditional, arranged by Ben Miller, except where noted.

Musicians:
Ben Miller - Border pipes
Anita MacDonald - Fiddle
Tristan Henderson - 12-string guitar

Ben Miller and Friends - A Bigger Blast (Live at Acoustic Artisans)

Ben Miller and Friends with Ward MacDonald, recorded LIVE at the Skye Theatre, South Carthage ME. 

Tunes: 
Bu Chaomh Leam Bhith Fuireach
The Editor's Favourite
Mary MacDonald's 
The Creignish Hills (Rev. Hugh A. MacDonald)
The Yetts of Muckart
The Inver Lasses

*all tunes are traditional, arranged by Ben Miller and Friends, except where noted.

Musicians:
Ben Miller - Border pipes
Anita MacDonald - Fiddle
Tristan Henderson - 12-string guitar
Ward MacDonald - Piano

Ben Miller and Friends w/ Ward MacDonald - Right Before the Encore (Live at the Skye Theatre)

Ben Miller and Friends, LIVE at Acoustic Artisans, Portland ME.

Tunes:
The Weaver's Jig
The Thatcher's Jig
The Soup Dragon (Gordon Duncan)
Old Joe's Jig

*all tunes are traditional, arranged by Ben Miller and Friends, except where noted.

Musicians:
Ben Miller - Border pipes
Anita MacDonald - Fiddle
Tristan Henderson - Bouzouki

Ben Miller and Friends - The Thatcher and the Weaver (Live at Acoustic Artisans)

Here is a wee clip from a set at the Sky Theatre in Carthage, Maine (04/2013). 
The tunes here are all melodies of Scottish Gaelic puirt à beul, mostly taken from the collections compiled by Keith Norman MacDonald in the early 20th century - Skye, Gesto, and his own Puirt à Beul collection.

The tunes here are: 
Bodach Innse Chro - 'The Old Man of Inchro'
Hò Gun d'Mharbh Mi - 'Ho, I Killed [… a Bull With One Blow]' (aka, The Maids of Islay)
Chuir I Glùn air a' Bhodach - 'She Put Her Knee On the Old Man'
Thèid Mi Null air a' Bheinn - 'I Will Go Over the Mountain'
An Gille Donn 's a' Bhanarach- 'The Brown Haired Lad and the Milkmaid'

Ben Miller (feat. Andrea Beaton - Piano) - K.N. MacDonald's (Live)

Originally from the Lake George area of Upstate New York, Ben is currently living in Edinburgh, Scotland, having recently completed a post-graduate degree in the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh. 

Ben's interest in Scottish and Irish music stems from his exposure to the bagpipes at a young age in his home community of Queensbury, New York, and his family's strong connection to it's Scots-Irish roots, through both his American mother and his Canadian father. He began studying the Highland Bagpipes at age eight. By twelve, he began to shift his focus the bellows-blown Scottish smallpipes and picked up the Border pipes a few years later. Ben has played with several competitive pipe bands during his career, including the internationally acclaimed Scotia-Glenville Pipe Band, who recently took the world title in the Novice Juvenile division at the World Pipe Band Championship in Glasgow.

At age 18, Ben left the competitive pipe band scene to pursue traditional Scottish and Cape Breton dance music. Since then, he has performed a number of concerts in the Northeastern USA and Canada, and has travelled extensively to Scotland, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton to further develop his own unique style. 

As an academic, Ben has focused on music theory, musicology and Scottish ethnology, at both the undergraduate and post-gradutae level. He writes regularly for Piping Today magazine, and continues to enjoy exploring the intricacies of his own musical tradition in the ethnomusicological context.  

Ben is currently involved with several musical projects including the Edinburgh-based quartet, Larsa (http://www.facebook.com/larsamusic), and can often be found collaborating on Scottish step-dance programs across the country with dancer, Sophie Stephenson of Fort Augustus (http://www.sophabulous.co.uk/).  

bmillerpipes

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