THE bagpipes and Brazil might sound an unlikely combination, yet one Scottish musician found himself trying to convince locals to switch from samba to the pipes.

Scott Wood has played all over the world in the past few years, and is back in Glasgow tonight for a gig as Piping Live! speeds towards its finale this weekend.

While the 21-year-old is glad to be back on home soil, it’s a bit different to some of his recent experiences.

“We’ve just had a Highland Games in Switzerland, and we get a lot of gigs like that, where countries are drawing on their Scottish heritage,” says Scott, who’s from Erskine.

“I’ve also been to Brazil, America, Australia and throughout Europe - basically, every continent except Antarctica! Most of them are Irish or Scottish festivals, or festivals where they’re wanting instrumental music, as the bagpipes are the voice of the band.

“In Brazil it was for a word music conference, for universities and things like that. We played there and it was amazing - most of the people there were European, but there were locals too - I’m not sure the Brazilians there had seen anything like us before.”

Scott previously played in the Scott Wood Trio, which has since added two members and became a fully-fledged band. The transition has also seen them work on a debut album, Upsurge, which they will officially launch at tonight’s Friday Night Folk show at the Art School.

Yet although Scott’s a tremendous talent, this isn’t a case where piping was in his blood. He comes from a non-musical family, and only started playing the instrument by chance.

“I learned in the boy’s brigade in Erskine, then onto the Strathclyde Police band,” he recalls.

“There’s been support from friends and family all the way, but I can’t really point to a certain time when I realised I loved it, it was just something I took to right away.

“We used to do rehearsals in the family living room so they’ve been there for the whole journey. A lot of the family will be there at the album launch show so it’s nice to have that.”

Like many of the modern piping crop, Scott is keen to blend other influences into the band, who also consist of Mhairi Mackinnon on fiddle, Ron Jappy on guitar, Angus Tikka on bass and Mark Scobbie on drums.

He has a particular interest in jazz, as well as pop and rock.

“There’s people who’ll think of the White Heather Club on the TV and think that’s all there is to piping, but there is so much more to them and you can incorporate them into mainstream music as well,” adds Scott, enthusiastically.

“I wouldn’t say we’re a mainstream band as such, but I do want to cross over into different genres, like jazz. There’s a guy who’ll be playing at the album launch, Davie Dunsmuir, he’s one of Scotland’s best jazz guitarists and is an amazing player.

“He’s on the album as well and enjoyed it so much he’s at the show, so it’s nice to cross over into that genre.”

The group headed to Edinburgh to record Upsurge, aiming to replicate the energetic live sound of their shows. Once that was done, Scott got the chance to work with a musical hero, when he set off for Michigan to mix the record alongside Tyler Duncan, of the band Ella Riot.

“He’s one of my idols, so it was a dream come true for me,” adds Scott.

“It's a hard choice who should mix your record, but I’d listened to his records for years and I’ve always loved the sound on them. I really wanted him to do it, so I built up the courage one day to send him an email, and he was really nice and liked the music.

“We got some Creative Scotland funding, so rather than do it over Skype I headed to his house in America for a week and did it there. He was a brilliant, brilliant guy and dead into the music, which was the main thing for us.”

Now they’re set for tonight’s celebratory gig, where they’ll be joined onstage for some numbers by a string quartet, an extra guitarist and Calum MacCrimmon, the Breabach musician who also produced the record.

“I think we’ll be emotional,” admits Scott.

“It’s been a year and a half of intense work, so to have the record out from this day onward is quite scary.”

Friday Night Folk, tonight, Art School, £15, 7.30pm