Its a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll out the barrel

One highlight of this years Speyside Whisky festival had to be last nights gig at Balvenie Castle, by the Copper Dogs.
 
Made up of whisky fanatics, The Copper Dogs are a four-piece band comprising of well-known whisky industry characters Sam Simmons (guitar/vocals), Cat Spencer (vocals), Simon Roser (drums) and Rob Allanson (bass). Inspired by their number one passion of whisky, the Copper Dogs’s songs are mostly ‘blends’ or ‘mash-ups’ of songs from across the years since 1962. With the domineering 13th Century Balvenie Castle as a backdrop they performed tracks at a very special one-off concert to celebrate the launch of their new album.
The band’s first album, a double LP which is being released on vinyl only and limited to just 500 copies was recorded in the floor maltings of the nearby Balvenie Distillery last summer, giving an added dimension to the acoustics of the recording.

As well as being the driving force behind The Copper Dogs, Sam Simmons had to be the driving force rolling the barrel speakers he had specially made for the concert up into the castle. Sam who in his spare time is a Balvenie Brand Ambassador worked with Glenfiddich craftsman Ian Law to convert to two old whisky casks so they could each carry a 12 inch speaker.

Here Sam is being offered kind words of encouragement to help him on his long and rocky path by Glenfiddich's Malt Master Brian Kinsman.

It was the first time such an event had been held in the castle and it provided the most unique of settings. With the perfect evening weather and attraction of a free dram, a large crowd came along to enjoy the show including Joyce, Rhonda and Trevor. who dropped in to soak up the atmosphere.