A chance meeting with a fan at a gig has landed a Perthshire band a place at an international Expo event in Japan. Bruach had been playing packed Inverness venue Hootananny last August when a Japanese member of the audience, impressed by the energy of their music, insisted they should get involved in the Osaka event. The five-piece applied for a place and were amazed when told they had been successful and are now gigging across Scotland to raise money for the July trip of a lifetime. The band’s singer Davie Farrell, of Errol, said: “We had a bit of banter with a member of the Hootananny audience from the stage in our song ‘All for Me Sauce’, a parody version of The Dubliners’ ‘All For Me Grog’. “He won a free t-shirt for the loudest cheer. “It turned out he lives in Kyoto, and he came over to speak to our fiddler, Kayo, who’s from Japan. “He told her about the Expo and encouraged her to put our name forward. “We all laughed. It was hilarious to think of going to Japan when we can’t get booked for festivals closer to home. But we sent off the application anyway, expecting nothing back. “And in December, we got a reply – you’ve been accepted to host a stage at Osaka Expo. “We totally freaked out. It’s mad, but fantastic, that they’d take us. “So we’ve started booking gigs to pay for the trip.” Bruach, who have been on the go for around eight years in various forms, are: Davie Farrell (vocals), Kayo Ono (fiddle), Sean Wilkie (bass), Kris Pheely (guitar), and Niall Crookston (drums). They are putting together a set for the Japanese show that includes Loch Lomond, Auld Lang Syne, and Comin’ Thro’ the Rye. Davie added: “The Japanese already know a lot of the old Scottish tunes, though they don’t necessarily know where they came from. “We are also going to play traditional Japanese songs Sakura Sakura and Kimi Ga Yo in our folk rock style. “We also want to add ‘Train Train’, a hit song from the 80s by Japanese punk rock band the Blue Hearts. “And then of course we have our songs, All For Me Sauce, The Big Heid and Highland Soldier. “We will also have traditional Japanese musicians Yogakai who’ll be supporting and collaborating with us - that’s going to be interesting. “We’ve got plenty of work to do to get that into the set.” Bruach are planning to have their Japan gig broadcast over the net and they also hope to see a bit of the country during a busy schedule. Davie said: “We’re going to do some traditional music lessons over there. “We also have some charity work planned, as well as a visit to a temple. “And if there’s any time for sightseeing, we’ll do that, too. “Celtic Music Radio has agreed to broadcast the Expo show live as long as we can send it over the net, and if not, they’ll play the audio recording. “We plan to release a live album if we can get a good enough quality recording, and a studio album afterward, using some of our work in Japan. “It’s going to be amazing - none of us thought we’d play music abroad, except Kayo, who’s kinda doing that already.” The band are set to play the Coach and Horses in Dumfries (April 12), Waxy’s in Glasgow (April 18) and Roots Music Venue in Dundee (April 26). Forthcoming Perthshire gigs are McKays, Pitlochry, on May 23, September 13 and December 20, and Perth’s Slainte Bar on November 30.