Discography Videos
Scottish Rogues 1995 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfsRTqH9b98
Hollerin' for Haggis! 1996 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwMmtQdvAXA
Live in Canada, Eh? 1997 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcY1_Jj1Nwc
Off Kilter 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNPBQlnGZuk
The Rogues 5.0 2001 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2UCoVN9bSM
Made in Texas CD 2003 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztqVyOFsKFg
Made in Texas DVD 2003 Contact:
Roguetrip 2005 Randy Wothke
American Highlander 2008 therogues@sbcglobal.net
3 LBS of Rage 2010 Phone: 281-636-8672
Hellbound Sleigh 2013 2536 Country Creek Ln.
25... and Live! 2019 Fort Worth, TX 76123
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About Us
Houston's Often Imitated but Never Duplicated AWARD WINNING Celtic Band. Founded in Houston in 1994, The Rogues created a new genre of Celtic music with exceptionally well-played pipes and driving percussion and have become award-winning international artists. From Scottish Highland games to performing with a symphony orchestra, The Rogues deliver a commanding performance. Starting at the Texas Renaissance Festival in 1994, the band soon began performing out of state and added Scottish Highland Games and Celtic festivals and corporate shows. The band has produced it's own theater show called Celtic Crossroads, performed as a guest artist with the Air Force Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC and had music featured in the 2011 film "Kill the Irishman.". They also won 1st place in the original Strangford-Lough Celtic Battle of the Bands. The Rogues have performed in Las Vegas, Scotland, Greece, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Canada, several cruises and all over the United States. Usually performing with 2 pipers and 2 percussionists, our roster includes 12 top notch players from around the country. Members of the band have competed all over North America and Scotland, and won 1st place at the 1998 World Pipe Band Championships in Grade III, performing with the Hamilton Pipe Band out of Houston, TX. The Rogues have produced 11 albums and 2 DVDs to date and are listed in the official Grammy book for several nominations, though falling short of the final 5. The Rogues have a tradition of supporting charities, sometimes holding their own fundraisers supporting individuals and causes for soldiers. The band even has it's own tartan in the Scottish Register of Tartans. That Tartan is the background for the website!
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Performance History Highlights
Chicago Highland Games, Chicago, IL - 2002/2005/2019
North Texas Irish Festival, Dallas, TX - 2005/2009/2011/2016/2017/2019
Dickens on the Strand, Galveston, TX - 1999-2019
Boynton Beach Haunted Pirate Festival, Boynton Beach, FL - 2017-2019
Ligonier Highland Games, Ligonier, PA - 2018/2019
Virginia Renaissance Festival, Spotsylvania, VA – 2015-2019
Rams Head On Stage, Annapolis, MD - 2018
Mix in the Sticks Music Festival, Minden, LA - 2018
Dallas Zoo, Dallas, TX - 2018
Friends Folk Club, Oxford, PA - 2018
Tartan Fest, Louisiana - 2018
Scarborough Faire, Waxahachie, TX - 1995-2007/2009/2018
St. Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, MD – 2012/2017
Long’s Peak Celtic Festival & Highland Games, Estes Park, CO - 2016
Miles City Scottish Festival, Miles City, MT – 1998/1999/2016
Connecticut Renaissance Festival, Norwich, CT - 2010/2011/2013/2016
Annapolis Irish Festival, Annapolis, MD - 2011/2012/2013/2015/2016
John Strongbow’s Tavern, Alexandria, VA – 2014/2015/2016
Moon Dancer Winery, Wrightsville, PA - 2015
Ceilidh 2015, Houston, TX - 2015
Midland Scottish Irish Festival, Midland, TX – 2015
Sherwood Celtic Festival, McDade, TX - 2014
Northwest Pacific Scottish Games, Enumclaw, WA - 2014
Odessa Celtic Concert, Odessa, TX - 2014
Ohio Scottish Games, Cleveland, OH - 2002-2005/2014
Washington Renaissance Festival, Seattle, WA – 2007/2014
Firelake Grand Casino, Oklahoma City, OK – 2014
Maryland Renaissance Festival, Annapolis, MD - 1996-2014
Ft. Lauderdale Scottish Games, Ft. Lauderdale, FL - 2012
Columbus Scottish Festival, Columbus, IN - 2011/2012
WV Scottish Festival and Celtic Gathering, Bridgeport, WV - 2006/2011/2012
Alma Highland Festival, Alma, MI - 2012
Loch Norman Highland Games, Hunterville, NC - 2012
Floydfest, Floyd, VA - 2012
Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival, Mt. Hope, PA - 2000-2002/2012
Celtic Fling, Manheim, PA - 2000/2001/2012
Almonte Celtfest, Almonte, ON - 2011
Detroit Highland Games, Detroit, IL - 2011
Fergus Scottish Festival, Fergus, ON - 2011
Indianapolis Scottish Festival, Indianapolis, IN - 2011
US Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - 2011
Winner of the Strangford Lough’s Celtic Battle of the Bands, Las Vegas, NV - 2010
Celtic Fest Chicago, Chicago, IL - 2010
Florida Renaissance Festival, Ft. Lauderdale, FL - 1998-2002/2010
Texas Scottish Festival, Arlington, TX - 2001-2006/2009
Mykonos, Greece - 2009
Guest Artist with Air Force Symphony Orchestra, Washington, DC - 2007
Hendersonville Scottish Games, Hendersonville, NC - 2007
Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, Linville, NC - 2003/2004
Austin Celtic Festival, Austin, TX – 2001/2003
USCO Highland Games, Oklahoma City, OK - 2001/2002
Kansas City Renaissance Festival, Kansas City, KS - 1997/2001
Texas Renaissance Festival, Plantersville, TX - 1994-2000
Ontario Renaissance Festival, Milton, ON - 1997
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Professional Recommendations
Marc Gunn - CelticMusicPodcast.com
"They shook the world with revolutionary bagpipe and drum music and led to a dozen imitators."
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Ken Arpino - Director, Wolfsbane Productions
August 31, 2017
"The Rogues are a great addition to any special event or concert series. Their high energy sets mixed with fun-loving personalities are sure to please any crowd. We will be happy to work with them again!"
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Dr. Gilbert Corella - Music Director, Loudoun Symphonic Winds
June 03, 2017
"The intense rhythms of the drums combined with the nostalgic sounds of the bagpipes energized all! The Rogues with the Loudoun Symphonic Winds drove the audience to their feet in a frenzy we haven’t seen before!"
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Carolyn Spedden - Artistic Director Maryland Renaissance Festival
"On the Rogues' first performance day I stood at the back of the crowd to observe. By the end of the first song the crowd went wild. The atmosphere was charged with energy. The response was terrific and has stayed that way over many seasons."
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David Casey - Entertainment Director, Texas Renaissance Festival
"A lone piper bleating a mournful tune is one thing, The Rogues quite another. They are a genuine band that galvanizes an audience with precisely played rhythms and moves them through the hidden mysteries of Scottish tradition - they can make an Iranian wistful for Scotland! Their performance is a measured blend of stately hymns and rabble rousing anthems. It moves from dignity through defiance to abandoned joy and most important, the audience feels it."
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Quotes from Fans
“Please consider coming back this year…I’ve been going to the faire for ten years and your group is the first to get a standing ovation.” - Kristin Olsen, Wisconsin
"Bought the Rogues "Made in Texas" at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in 2004. Have been wearin' it out in my truck stereo to and from work ever since. Already replaced the speakers....twice!" - Bernard M. Boyle, Maryland
“I had the pleasure of seeing you perform in Kansas City this year. It was the highlight of the weekend, as I have told a great number of my friends. Thank you for your wonderful music and for the information.” - Michael E. Longfellow, Kansas City, MO
"I’ve surfed around the web to different links for Celtic music and have found nothing to compare with your sound. The haunting melodies and sensuous rhythms, the magnificent harmonies and lively tempos, the fun and energy are just the best combination of pleasure to the senses. I hate to think we have to wait another year to see you perform again!" - Barbara Hunt, Springfield, Virginia
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Reviews
Eileen McClelland - Houston Chronicle
"Bagpipes and drums in the wrong hands could be deafening. But under the influence of the kilt-clad Rogues, the effect is smoothly mesmerizing. Fans follow the Houston-based band around the country, from Renaissance fairs and Highland games to McGonigel's Mucky Duck tonight."
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Rhonda Eudaly - Celtic Music Magazine
November 18, 2014
When The Rogues' “Hellbound Sleigh” came up for review I jumped at it - even though I'm generally a stickler for not listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. This, I thought, would be a fun addition to my Christmas music collection. I figured it would be weirdly irreverent with the title. I was surprised.
Apart from the title track, Hellbound Sleigh is mostly a lovely and lively collection of familiar Christmas and Holiday songs - some stand alone, others as part of medleys. Most are instrumental with pipes and bagpipes, violins and drums - along with other instruments that do give these time-honored classics unique elements. For the traditional Celts, and because there aren't that many New Year's songs, The Rogues appeal to all with "Ros' Hogmanay".
I have friends who are bellydancers. I can totally see this album as the base of a holiday-themed dance routine for them. There's a tribal sense to the instrumentals that make you want to move to the rhythm. That's not so hard to imagine since there are tracks like "March, Pat-a-Pan and Reel" and "Christmas Eve Reel/The Maple Leaf/Joy to the World" medley.
There are amazing - and different - combinations of songs on this album, too. I wouldn't ever have considered melding "Jingle Bells" with "Good King Wenceslas", but this works. It really works - to the point that I'm really looking forward to having this in my Christmas playlist just for the fact that it's “different” and very intricate and cool. My church has a symphonic violin player. I'm very tempted to make him listen to "O Holy Night/Ave Maria" because it's beautifully performed and haunting at the same time. The skill and musicianship is intricate and skilled.
If you're like me and buy a new Christmas album each year, this is the one to get this year.
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Andrew Berthoff - Piper & Drummer Magazine
October 03, 1999
"The Rogues Create a Celtic Joyride - Unique and fun interpretations result in an often brilliant recording."
Only a decade ago, most North American Celtic groups were just loose imitations of bands like Battlefield, Tannahill Weavers, and Osian. Today, the United States, in particular, appears to be not just riding the wave of interest in Celtic music, but creating its own tidal force.
The Rogues - the Houston, Texas, quartet of two pipers and two percussionists – have just released “Off Kilter,” their fourth recording, which presents a quite unique and distinctly modern take on the Celtic idiom.
It would be a mistake for competing pipers and drummers to take one look at the group and dismiss them as a bunch of Rob Roy revivalists, like those seen around many North American Highland games. The Rogues’ puffy shirted look is part of the overall spectacle.
“Off Kilter” is a distinctly modern approach to piping and drumming. But, unlike many of today’s Celtic music groups, The Rogues don’t seem to have much time for synthesizers or anything electronic, for that matter. With only one exception, their stuff is done using traditional instruments.
Their music, though, is anything but traditional. “Off Kilter” is a ceilidh of musical surprises, the most intriguing of which seem to be from piper Lars Sloan. Three tracks in particular – “Miss. P.,” “’Scuse Me?” and “Guinness Dog” – are wonderfully creative. From the dog barking samples in “Guinness Dog” to the bizarre vocal interjections in “’Scuse Me?,” Sloan’s compositions put an accent on fun, and usually come up with a percussion groove that makes the pipe music surge.
And it is the percussion that is perhaps the best overall part of “Off Kilter.” Bodhran, congas, bongos, claves, and God knows what else drive the whole thing along at a crazy pace. The only parts of the recording that get a bit ponderous are the points where the group goes only with Highland pipes and pipe band snare, as in the start of the last track of hornpipes and reels. It’s relatively unexciting, but then the group gets grooving again with drum set and a more driving tempo.
“Off Kilter” is a difficult thing to summarize musically. The piping is very good, the instruments are well tuned, and the spirit is intensely positive. One thing’s for sure: the piping puritans will hate it.
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Contact
Randy Wothke
therogues@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 281-636-8672
2536 Country Creek Ln.
Fort Worth, TX 76123