Aly Bain MBE (born 15 May 1946) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

r who learned his instrument from the old-time master

Tom Anderson Thomas Anderson (born November 8, 1970) is an American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of the social networking website Myspace, which he founded in 2003 with Chris DeWolfe. He was later president of Myspace and a strategic adviser ...

. The former

First Minister of Scotland The first minister of Scotland () is the head of government of Scotland. The first minister leads the Scottish Government, the Executive (government), executive branch of the devolved government and is th ...

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as first minister of Scotland and leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister f ...

called Bain a "Scottish icon."

Career

Bain was born in the town of

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

, in the

Shetland Islands Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In the early years of his career, he was—briefly and unofficially—part of the band The Humblebums with

Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in the ...

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his idiosyncratic and of ...

and Tam Harvey. 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. He became nationally prominent as a founding member of The Boys of the Lough, 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), ''The Shetland Sessions'' (recorded at the Shetland folk festival in 1991), ''Aly Meets The Cajuns'', and six series of the '' Transatlantic Sessions''. Since the early eighties, Bain has regularly collaborated and recorded with prominent, international musicians, including: Phil Cunningham,

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin Douglas (born May 28, 1956) 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 prol ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

, Norman Blake, Mark O'Connor,

Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s ...

, Mary Black, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Dan Tyminski,

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Cash. Although Cash is often classified as a country artist, her music draws f ...

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

Eddi Reader Sadenia "Eddi" Reader Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 29 August 1959) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as the lead vocalist of the Folk music, folk and soft rock band Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo caree ...

, Paul Brady,

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He has written several mainstream country hits, and is well-established as one of Nashville's premier session instrumentalists. B ...

, Michael Doucet,

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and the younger si ...

Kate & Anna McGarrigle Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010) and Anna McGarrigle (born December 4, 1944) were a duo of folk rock and country folk Canadian singer-songwriters (and sisters) from Quebec, who performed together until Kate's death in 2010 ...

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Ma ...

, Iris DeMent, Karen Matheson,

Karan Casey Karan Casey (born 1969) is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas. She resides in Cork, Ireland. Early years Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to si ...

, Donal Lunny,

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

Allison Moorer Allison Moorer (born June 21, 1972) is an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. She signed with MCA Nashville in 1997 and made her debut on the U.S. Billboard Country Chart with the release of her debut single, "A Soft Place to F ...

, Bruce Molsky and Allan MacDonald, bringing traditional music to a wider audience. In 1989, Bain played at the

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in New York, USA, to a capacity crowd. In 1993, his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

''Fiddler on the Loose'', co-written with Alastair Clark, was published by "Mainstream". In 1999 Bain played at the first opening of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

in Edinburgh. In 2000, Bain played at the funeral of the Scottish first minister

Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish statesman and politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000 and leader of the Labour Par ...

. In 2006, a television programme celebrating Bain's 60th birthday was broadcast by the BBC, documenting his life and works. The same year, Bain was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame. In 2009, Bain collaborated with

Nicola Benedetti Nicola Joy Nadia Benedetti (born 20 July 1987) is a Scottish classical solo violinist and festival director. Her ability was recognised when she was a child, including the award of BBC Young Musician of the Year when she was 16. She works wi ...

to create a television programme for

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

: ''When Nicola Benedetti Met Aly Bain'', broadcast the same year. In 2010, Bain made a further hour-long television programme for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

with Pelicula Films and

: ''Fishing for Poetry'', celebrating the life and works of the Scottish Poet

Norman MacCaig Norman Alexander MacCaig (14 November 1910 – 23 January 1996) was a Scottish poet and teacher. His poetry, in modern English, is known for its humour, simplicity of language and great popularity. Life Norman Alexander MacCaig was born at 15 E ...

. 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. In 1994, he was awarded the MBE for his musical accomplishments. He also has received five honorary

Doctor of Music The Doctor of Music degree (DMus, DM, MusD or occasionally MusDoc) is a doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions, musical performances, and/or scholarly publications on music. In some institutions, the award is a ...

(DMus) degrees from: Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama; Stirling University; The University of St Andrews (2003);

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

(2005) and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

(2009). In 2005, he and Phil Cunningham won the

's "Best Duo of the Year" award. On 27 November 2007, Bain and Cunningham were awarded

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

from

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

for their contributions to music and to the education and encouragement of young musicians. In 2010, Bain won the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

"Good Tradition Award". In the 2013

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British rad ...

, Bain was honoured with a lifetime achievement award. He has also received several

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s in the US.

Personal life

Bain has three daughters – Annalese, Jessica and Sophie who were respectively 25, 24 and 8 years old in 2003. He endorsed the independence campaign in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014.

Discography

Solo albums

*''Aly Bain'' (1984) *'' Lonely Bird'' (1992) *'' The Best of Aly Bain:Volume One:A Fiddler's Tale'' (2008)

From television series

*''The Legendary Down Home Recordings'' *'' Aly Bain Meets The Cajuns'' (1994) *'' Aly Bain and Friends'' (1994) *'' Aly Bain and Young Champions'' (2005) *''The Shetland Sessions ol. 1' (1992) *''The Shetland Sessions ol. 2' (1993)

Transatlantic Sessions

*'' Transatlantic Sessions 3 ol.1' (2007) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 3 ol.2' (2008) (with

and various artists) *''The Original Transatlantic Sessions ol.1' (2008) (with

and various artists) *''The Original Transatlantic Sessions ol.2' (2008) (with

and various artists) *''The Original Transatlantic Sessions ol.3' (2009) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 4 ol.1' (2009) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 4 ol.2' (2010) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 4 ol.3' (2010) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 5 ol.1' (2011) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 5 ol.2' (2012) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 5 ol.3' (2012) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 2 ol.1' (2013) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 2 ol.2' (2013) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 2 ol.3' (2013) (with

and various artists) *'' Transatlantic Sessions 6 ol.1' (2013) (with

and various artists)

With Mike Whellans

*''Aly Bain – Mike Whellans'' (1971)

With Willie Johnson

*''Shetland Folk Fiddle Volume 2'' (1976)

With The Boys of the Lough

*'' The Boys of the Lough'' (1973) *''Second Album'' (1973) *''Recorded Live'' (1975) *''Lochaber No More'' (1975) *''The Piper's Broken Finger'' (1976) *''Good Friends-Good Music'' (1977) *''Wish You Were Here'' (1978) *''Re-Grouped'' (1980) *''In the Tradition'' (1981) *''Open Road'' (1983) *''Far from Home'' (1986) *''Welcoming Paddy Home'' (1986) *'' Farewell and Remember Me'' (1987) *''Sweet Rural Shade'' (1988) *''Live at The Carnegie Hall'' (1989) *''The Fair Hills of Ireland'' (1992) *''The Day Dawn'' (1994) *''The West of Ireland'' (1999) In 2009 ''Paidriag O'Keefe's/Con Cassidy's'' from ''In The Tradition'' was included in

Topic Records Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.M. Brocken ...

70 year anniversary boxed set '' Three Score and Ten'' as track fourteen on the third CD.

With Tom Anderson

*''The Silver Bow'' (1995) (2008) 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

*'' The Pearl'' (1995) *'' The Ruby'' (1997) *'' Another Gem'' (2000) *'' Spring the Summer Long'' (2003) *'' Best of Aly and Phil Volume One'' (2004) *'' Roads Not Travelled'' (2006) *''

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

'' (2010) *''

Five and Twenty 5 (five) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 Digit (anatomy), digits ...

'' (2012) *''

Best of Aly and Phil Volume Two Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

'' (2013)

With Ale Möller

*'' Fully Rigged'' (1999) *'' Beyond the Stacks'' (2007) *'' Meeting Point'' Aly Bain, Ale Moller and Bruce Molsky (2013)

With Kvifte, Sommerro, Yndestad and Solberg

*'' North Sea Music'' (2006)

With BT Scottish Ensemble

*'' Follow the Moonstone'' (1995) arr. Henning Sommerro

DVDs

*'' Another Musical Interlude'' (2004) (with Phil Cunningham) *''Transatlantic Sessions Series 3'' (2007) (with

and various artists) *''The Original Transatlantic Sessions: Series 1'' (2008) (with

and various artists) *''Transatlantic Sessions Series 4'' (2009) (with

and various artists) *''Transatlantic Sessions Series 5'' (2011) (with

and various artists) *''Transatlantic Sessions Series 2'' (2012) (with

and various artists) *''Aly Meets The Cajuns'' (2012) (with

Dewey Balfa Dewey Balfa (March 20, 1927 – June 17, 1992) was an American Cajun fiddler and singer who contributed significantly to the popularity of Cajun music. Balfa was born near Mamou, Louisiana. He is perhaps best known for his 1964 performance at the ...

and various artists) *''Transatlantic Sessions Series 6'' (2013) (with

and various artists)

References

External links

Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham Official WebsiteAly Bain Official Website (.uk)Aly Bain Official Website (.com)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bain, Aly 1946 births Living people People from Lerwick Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish folk musicians Shetland fiddlers British male violinists Shetland music The Boys of the Lough members 21st-century Scottish violinists 21st-century Scottish male musicians 20th-century British folk musicians 21st-century British folk musicians 20th-century Scottish musicians