Watt Club celebrates Tartan Week in style

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L-R: Ross White - Guitar, Craig Weir - Bagpipes, Josh Langsburgh - Saxaphone, KT Tunstall, Marc Lyon - Bass, Paul Weir - Drums and Ali Ogilvie - Sound Technician

A Heriot-Watt graduate has returned home after an unforgettable trip to New York.

Ross White a guitarist from Carnoustie, was invited to the United States to perform with his Celtic rock band, Gleadhraich, at the annual Tartan Week celebrations.

The 25-year-old who graduated from the University in 2015 after studying Mechanical Engineering, is no stranger to the Big Apple having first performed in the celebrations in 2014.

It felt very surreal that a group of friends from Carnoustie could get such a great welcome in one of the coolest cities in the world.

Ross White

This time round he got the chance to rub shoulders with fellow members of The Watt Club as well as Scottish songstress, KT Tunstall, who led 500 marchers through the streets of New York. In total, seven members of the Watt Club - the oldest alumni association in the UK – made the journey from as far away as London to take part in its first ever participation in the famous parade.

The day was rounded off when Ross and the band played at the official post-parade party at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill.

“It was a truly magical experience to walk onto 6th Avenue in New York, the sun shining and people waving and cheering for us,” said Ross, who works as a quality assurance engineer for Jaguar Land Rover on the outskirts of Liverpool.

“It felt very surreal that a group of friends from Carnoustie could get such a great welcome in one of the coolest cities in the world.

“The highlight was when we walked onto stage at B.B. King's Bar for the post-parade party in front of a packed room. Striking into the first chord of the opening number is what we had been waiting to do for almost a year and it was worth every second of the wait!”

Gleadhraich has a number of shows coming up including a live performance at Stramash in Edinburgh Cowgate on Saturday 28 April. For more information please visit here.

New York City Tartan Week is in its 20th year and recognises the contributions made by Scottish-Americans to the United States.