John Burns, Eric Giler, Steve Taylor and Craig MacDonald
first played together on October 2, 1971 ... and then formed a band.
The Sons of Ginzo gigged a bit, partied a lot and later added Paul Moyer on alto sax. In 1973 they competed in the Connecticut State Battle of the Bands, finishing 5th in a field of over 30 bands. College and different interests led them down different paths, though those paths crossed on occasion.
In 2004 they came together for a casual reunion in Ithaca New York. The recordings of what they played that evening are pretty terrible but the spark kindled a tiny flame. Later that year John rediscovered tape recordings from 1974 that he and Craig had made while exploring new song ideas. He digitized two tunes, overdubbed additional tracks and sent them to Craig as an invitation to collaborate.
Steve, Craig, Eric and John in Boston, December 2010
Now collaborating in the digital age, they were able to exchange ideas long distance. Through their efforts they put together their first new tune, "Mopar" ... an homage to Steve's 1946 Dodge, which, back in 1972 had become the bands official means of transportation.
When John and Craig played "Mopar" for Steve he was flattered by the homage and eagerly added vocals and a bass line to the track.
Shortly after that, Old Scots was born (Burns, MacDonald, & Taylor) . In 2010, they published their first album of original tunes, "39" so titled because it had taken them that many years to record their original work. Since then they've published over 75 original tunes on five albums, their latest being "Can't Not Do It" (released January 1, 2021)
39
(2010)
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Power Lounging
(2014)
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Moving On
(2016)
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Old Scots 4
(2018
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Old Scots 5
Can't Not Do It
(2020)
Old Scots 6
Sunrise/Twilight'ning
2024
