Aly Bain

Last updated

Aly Bain
Ali Bain, Cambridge Folk Festival 50th Anniversary (14851529023).jpg
Background information
Born (1946-05-15) 15 May 1946 (age 78)
Origin Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland
Genres Folk, Traditional, Celtic, World Music
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s) Fiddle/viola
Years active1968present
Labels Whirlie Records

Aly Bain MBE (born 15 May 1946) is a Scottish fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. The former First Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell called Bain a "Scottish icon." [1]

Contents

Career

Bain was born in the town of Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. In the early years of his career, he was—briefly and unofficially—part of the band The Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty, Billy Connolly and Tam Harvey. [2] He was one of the members of the band "Gordon Hank and the Country Ramblers", which also included Gordon Smith, Ian Stewart and Jack Robertson in 1967 and was based in Shetland. [3] [4]

He became nationally prominent as a founding member of The Boys of the Lough, [5] a Scots-Irish folk group, with whom he played for over 30 years.

Simultaneously, Bain pursued a solo career in collaborative and television projects with Pelicula Films director Mike Alexander and producer Douglas Eadie, working on several international television series: The Down home Recordings (which described how fiddling music spread from Scotland and Ireland to America [6] ), The Shetland Sessions (recorded at the Shetland folk festival in 1991 [6] ), Aly Meets The Cajuns, and six series of the Transatlantic Sessions . [7]

Since the early eighties, Bain has regularly collaborated and recorded with prominent, international musicians, including: Phil Cunningham, Jerry Douglas, Emmylou Harris, Norman Blake, Mark O'Connor, Jay Ungar, Mary Black, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Dan Tyminski, Rosanne Cash, James Taylor, Eddi Reader, Paul Brady, Darrell Scott, Michael Doucet, Martha Wainwright, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, John Martyn, Danny Thompson, Iris DeMent, Karen Matheson, Karan Casey, Donal Lunny, Joan Osborne, Allison Moorer, Bruce Molsky and Allan MacDonald, bringing traditional music to a wider audience.

In 1989, Bain played at the Carnegie Hall in New York, USA, to a capacity crowd. [5]

In 1993, his autobiography Fiddler on the Loose, co-written with Alastair Clark, was published by "Mainstream". [8]

In 1999 Bain played at the first opening of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. [9]

In 2000, Bain played at the funeral of the Scottish first minister Donald Dewar. [9]

In 2006, a television programme celebrating Bain's 60th birthday was broadcast by the BBC, documenting his life and works. [1] The same year, Bain was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame.

In 2009, Bain collaborated with Nicola Benedetti to create a television programme for BBC Scotland: When Nicola Benedetti Met Aly Bain, broadcast the same year. [10]

In 2010, Bain made a further hour-long television programme for BBC with Pelicula Films and Billy Connolly: Fishing for Poetry, celebrating the life and works of the Scottish Poet Norman MacCaig. [11]

In 2012, Bain and Cunningham celebrated their 25th anniversary of touring as a fiddle and accordion duo. Bain also tours with Swedish multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller (with whom he has recorded two albums) and with American old-time fiddler, singer, guitarist and banjo player Bruce Molsky; as a trio, they released their first album in 2013.

Honours and awards

Bain has received many honours for his services to music.

In 1989, he received a Silver Disc from the Record Industry Association for his Aly Meets the Cajuns recording. A further Silver Disc followed in 1991 for The Pearl , recorded on his own Edinburgh Record Label, Whirlie Records. [7]

In 1994, he was awarded the MBE for his musical accomplishments. [12]

He also has received five honorary Doctor of Music (DMus) degrees from: Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama; [5] Stirling University; [13] The University of St Andrews (2003); [14] The Open University (2005) [15] and Edinburgh University (2009). [16]

In 2005, he and Phil Cunningham won the BBC's "Best Duo of the Year" award. [17]

On 27 November 2007, Bain and Cunningham were awarded Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University for their contributions to music and to the education and encouragement of young musicians. [18]

In 2010, Bain won the BBC Radio 2 Folk "Good Tradition Award". [7]

In the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Bain was honoured with a lifetime achievement award. [19]

He has also received several honorary doctorates in the US.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

Bain has three daughters – Annalese, Jessica and Sophie who were respectively 25, 24 and 8 years old in 2003. [20]

He endorsed the independence campaign in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014. [21]

Discography

Solo albums

From television series

Transatlantic Sessions

With Mike Whellans

With Willie Johnson

With The Boys of the Lough

In 2009 Paidriag O'Keefe's/Con Cassidy's from In The Tradition was included in Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten as track fourteen on the third CD.

With Tom Anderson

In 2009 Soldier's Joy from The Silver Bow was also included in Three Score and Ten as track seven on the fourth CD.

With Phil Cunningham

With Ale Möller

With Kvifte, Sommerro, Yndestad and Solberg

With BT Scottish Ensemble

DVDs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael McGoldrick</span> Musical artist

Michael McGoldrick is a folk musician who plays Irish flute, uilleann pipes, low whistle and bodhran. He also plays other instruments such as acoustic guitar, cittern, and mandolin.

The Boys of the Lough is a Scottish-Irish Celtic music band active since the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McCusker</span> Scottish folk musician

John McCusker is a Scottish folk musician, record producer, and composer. He had a long association as a member of Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and producer for folk singer Kate Rusby. He has served as producer and arranger for various artists. He has also released several solo albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celtic Connections</span> Annual music festival in Glasgow, Scotland

The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international folk, roots and world music artists. The festival is produced and promoted by Glasgow Life. Donald Shaw, a founding member of Capercaillie, was appointed Celtic Connections Artistic Director in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Douglas</span> American bluegrass musician

Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prolific." A fourteen-time Grammy winner, he has been called “dobro’s matchless contemporary master,” by The New York Times, and is among the most innovative recording artists in music, both as a solo artist and member of numerous bands, such as Alison Krauss and Union Station and The Earls of Leicester. He has been a co-director of the Transatlantic Sessions since 1998.

Scottish fiddling may be distinguished from other folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery, for example, the rendering of the dotted-quaver/semi-quaver rhythmic patterns, commonly used in the Strathspey. Christine Martin, in her Traditional Scottish Fiddling players guide, discusses the techniques of "hack bowing", "the Scotch snap", and "snap bowing". These techniques contrast quite sharply with the most common bowing patterns of Irish fiddling. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures. There is also a strong link to the playing of traditional Scottish bagpipes which is better known throughout the world.

Tom (Tammy) Anderson MBE (1910–1991) was a Scottish fiddler, teacher, composer and collector of traditional tunes. He has been described as "...the most prominent personality in the entire history of Shetland fiddling."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Cunningham (folk musician)</span> Musical artist

Philip Martin Cunningham, MBE is a Scottish folk musician and composer. He is best known for playing the accordion with Silly Wizard, as well as in other bands and in duets with his brother, Johnny. When they played together, they would egg each other on to play faster and faster, and try, light-heartedly, to trip each other up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Fowlis</span> Scottish Gaelic singer

Julie Fowlis is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.

The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention. Nominations are made by the public and in 2019 over 100,000 public votes were expected across 18 categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aoife O'Donovan</span> Musical artist

Aoife O'Donovan is an American singer and Grammy award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still and she also co-founded the Grammy Award-winning female folk trio I'm with Her. She has released three critically acclaimed studio albums: Fossils (2013), In the Magic Hour (2016), and Age of Apathy, as well as multiple noteworthy live recordings and EPs, including Blue Light (2010), Peachstone (2012), Man in a Neon Coat: Live From Cambridge (2016), In the Magic Hour: Solo Sessions (2019), and Bull Frog's Croon (2020). She also spent a decade contributing to the radio variety shows Live from Here and A Prairie Home Companion. Her first professional engagement was singing lead for the folk group The Wayfaring Strangers.

"Peerie" Willie Johnson was a Scottish folk guitarist and bassist. He was respected as an influential and innovative musician in the Shetland folk scene. Since 2005 there has been a "Peerie" Willie Guitar Festival" each year on the islands.

Bongshang are a Scottish band from Shetland, who fuse traditional Shetland and folk styles with rock, funk, electronica and contemporary production techniques. They have been likened to Celtic fusion artists such as Shooglenifty and Martyn Bennett.

Chris Stout is a Scottish fiddle/violin player from Shetland, now based in Glasgow. Stout grew up in Fair Isle and lived there until 8 years of age before moving to Sandwick on the Shetland Mainland, then on to Glasgow in the 1990s.

Catriona Macdonald is a fiddler, composer, researcher, and lecturer from Shetland, located some 320 km north of the Scottish mainland. She is considered to be among the world's leading traditional fiddle players, and one of the top exponents of the Shetland fiddle, a branch of traditional music with clear connections to the music of Scotland, but which features differs slightly in its overall feeling. The music of Shetland has been shaped for centuries by visitors and various musicians from abroad, including Scandinavians, and has been influenced by styles such as the music of Orkney, Norway and Ireland.

The Summit format is used in jazz to bring together performers on a particular musical instrument. Though these recordings often feature other musicians, the main instrument is focused upon in a celebratory way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenna Reid</span> Musical artist

Jenna Reid is a Scottish fiddle player who has been described as "...the finest fiddler in Scotland of her generation." She was born and brought up in the village of Quarff, in the Shetland Islands of Scotland and found a fiddle in her grandmother's attic when she was nine years old and started to play it. She was taught by Tom Anderson and Willie Hunter and also studied the classical piano. She graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Scottish traditional music where she also sang and played the piano accordion and the piano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transatlantic Sessions</span> Series of musical productions by Glasgow-based Pelicula Films Ltd

Transatlantic Sessions is the collective title for a series of musical productions by Glasgow-based Pelicula Films Ltd, funded by- and produced for BBC Scotland, BBC Four and RTÉ of Ireland. The productions comprise collaborative live performances by various leading folk, bluegrass and country musicians from both sides of the North Atlantic, playing music from Scotland, Ireland, England and North America, who congregate under the musical direction of Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas to record and film a set of half-hour TV episodes. The Television director is Mike Alexander and the producer is Douglas Eadie.

Catriona McKay is Scottish harpist and composer. She is a contemporary explorer on the Scottish harp (Clàrsach), having collaborated with folk and experimental musicians, as well as co-designing the Starfish McKay harp.

References

  1. 1 2 "The true northerner Wherever he goes, fiddler Aly Bain remains unchanged – even at 60, says David Belcher". Herald Scotland. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  2. Bynorth, John (6 August 2015). "Cultural collective rolls back the years after absence of 40 years". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  3. Nichol, Alan (4 April 2014). "Four nations' folk is set to be showcased: North East roots music scene". Newcastle Chronicle. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  4. "Aly Bain – And Young Champions". Coda Music. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Alexander (Aly) Bain, 1945 -". Gazetteer for Scotland. 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 Harris, Craig. "Aly Bain – Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "Aly Bain Biography" (PDF). Whirlie Records. 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  8. Bain, Aly; Clark, Alastair; Clarke, Alastair (10 November 1993). Aly Bain: Fiddler on the Loose. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN   9781851584314.
  9. 1 2 Roberts, Lesley (26 October 2013). "Great Scot Awards 2013: Legendary folk duo Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham scoop Lifetime Achievement Award". Daily Record. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  10. "When Nicola Benedetti Met Aly Bain, ArtWorks Scotland – BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  11. "TV review: Billy Connolly and Aly Bain: Fishing for Poetry I How Not to Live Your Life". The Scotsman. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  12. "Nightjar presents Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham". Evening Times. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  13. "University of Stirling Calendar; Staff and Committees; Honorary Graduates, 4 July 2003" (PDF). University of Stirling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  14. "Honorary graduates November 2003". University of St Andrews. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  15. "Open University list of honorary graduates" (PDF). Open University. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  16. "Honorary music degrees for Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham". The Shetland Times. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  17. "BBC – Press Office – Radio 2 Folk Awards 2005 winners". BBC. 14 February 2005. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  18. "Graduation Honorary Awards : News Headlines". Gcal.ac.uk.[ permanent dead link ]
  19. Tait, Jim (1 February 2013). "Lifetime achievement accolade for Aly in Radio 2 folk awards". The Shetland Times . Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  20. Moncrief, Jane (7 August 2003). "Aly Bain – Paying a Price for Success". Northings.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  21. "Bain supports independence". Shetnews.co.uk. 19 July 2013.