KAILUA-KONA — Bagpipes are not the typical instrument heard on Hawaii Island.
Duncan Knight, along with his band, Celtica Pipes Rock, is slowly starting to change that.
On Saturday, Knight will be playing his Great Highland bagpipe with Celtica Pipes Rock at Honokaa People’s Theatre as part of the band’s fourth visit to Hawaii.
“We’re bringing rock and celtic culture to someplace that’s far removed from it,” Knight, who lives and plays in Scotland, said. “It’s a slightly different atmosphere then where we usually play.”
Celtica Pipes Rock plays rock music with a Celtic/Scottish twist. Knight said the goal for the band’s music is something that most people have never heard before.
“I think it’s quite different from anything else out there,” Knight said. “It’s a mix of different genres, and we’re trying to create a symphonic-funk-metal mesh.”
Knight believes the music the band has created is something that most people have never experienced before.
“We’re as close to unique as possible for a band,” Knight said.
Doors for Saturday’s concert open at 6:30 p.m., and the show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance.
Despite their Celtics roots and name, the band’s members come from all over the world, including Scotland, Austria and Arizona. Along with Knight, the band consists of Gajus Stappen on electric guitar and drums, Jane Espie on bagpipes, Harald Weinkum on bass and drums and Matthias Katzmair on drums.
Knight said the band records remotely, and then gets together in Vienna for a few months a year to rehearse all the material together.
“The band is constantly evolving,” Knight said. “The sound we have is so much bigger now. And it’s not just in sound, but for tours, it’s visual too.”
Knight said he never envisioned himself touring the world and playing bagpipes for a living. Knight went to school with the goal of teaching music, but his “niche” talent of playing the bagpipes allowed him to pursue playing full time.
“It was completely by accident,” Knight said. “And I never really looked back.”
That path has led Knight and Celtica Pipes Rock to over 200 shows in North America alone, and to now four different visits to Hawaii. For this year’s tour, the band will be in Oahu this week performing two shows before their Saturday concert at Honokaa People’s Theatre. Knight said the band always looks forward to their Hawaii trips because it’s “an amazing place to visit.”
“We have quite a few friends on the Big Island,” Knight said. “So we’ll see quite a few friends, quite a few parties and just enjoy the warm weather.”
For more information on the band, visit www.celticrocks.com. For tickets, visit www.bluesbearhawaii.com.
