The Great Western were formed by Tim Rafferty in Stirling around the turn of the century after meeting sax player Bruce Michie and performing live at sessions in Nicky Tams on Baker Street. Various other members came and went and the band played several gigs. There was then a hiatus for a couple of years before the band regrouped in early 2006. New tracks were written, the band went from strength to strength, and then a year of recording began on the first proper album in June 2006.

The core of the band consists of Tim Rafferty on guitar and vocals, Bruce Michie on sax, trombone and trumpet, Mark Arnold on drums and Calum Neil on bass guitar.

Describing The Great Western Tim says "The vision I had was to play epic and melodic rock music but also incorporating a wide range of other elements such as evocative soundtrack music, dubscape, soul and jazz. Also to evoke a sense of place and to have a steady collective of organic and instinctive players. I think an important first stage of this has now been achieved and we are looking forward to developing it much further in the future."

"Road Music", the first album by The Great Western, is released in June 2007. It features old favourites like "The Ballad of MacDuff", "Girl From the City" and "Reincarnated" along with newer tracks from 2006 like "Road Music", "The Old Straight Track" and "My Hellbound Hometown Girl". If you want a copy please get in touch with us by becoming a friend on Myspace and leave a message with your email ad and we'll get in touch. Alternative online purchase will be set up in due course.

Live dates:
The Clachaig Inn, Glencoe, Sat Jun 30th
The Clachaig Inn, Glencoe, Sat Aug 18th

This is a new website, please check back for updates.

Contact the band and check out news and sounds at our Myspace page www.myspace.com/thegreatwestern