Yellowknife (Sep 24/04) - For some strange reason, Enter the Haggis is more popular in the U.S. than in Canada. They even have a T.V. special of their music airing coast to coast this fall on PBS stations.

"About 90 per cent of our fan base is in the States," said Mark Abraham, the band's bassist.

But the band is definitely Canadian. Yellowknifer spoke to Abraham on his cell phone while he was stuck in Toronto traffic, trying to get home to Hamilton, Ont.

Enter the Haggis is trying to help rectify that imbalance with a quick Canadian tour of Edmonton and Yellowknife, before swinging back to smaller U.S. cities.

The band, based out of Ontario, headlines concerts tonight and tomorrow at NACC.

The line-up also includes special guests The Gumboots, Street Noise and the Strings Across the Sky fiddlers.

The band's name is partly a play on the title of the classic Bruce Lee movie Enter the Dragon. The band also chose the name Enter the Haggis because the Scottish delicacy, which is a mixture of oats, lamb and organ meat cooked inside a sheep's stomach, reminded them of their music.

"We're a mix of everything: celtic, bluegrass, rock, jazz, everything," said Abraham.

Their eclectic Celtic fusion stems from the disparate musical backgrounds of the band members.

Abraham and guitarist Trevor Lewington are into rock; James Campbell, the drummer, prefers hard rock; bagpiper Craig Downie's "a true Scot;" and Brian Buchanan, who plays the fiddle, has a classical background.

But, unlike haggis, they don't come packed in a sheep's stomach.

"Not usually, no," said Abraham.

Ardent fans of the band call themselves "haggis heads."

But Abraham is careful not to dwell too much on the Scottish influence in the band's sound, for the same reason that he and Lewington have temporarily stopped wearing kilts on stage.

The Celtic influence is just one part of their sound. The rest of the band still plays kilted.

Their newest album is Casualties of Retail, released in May of this year. The CD was produced by Joao Carvalho, who has also worked with Hawksley Workman, Slainte Mhath and Pilate.