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 ...

fiddler 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 ( sco, heid meinister o Scotland; gd, prìomh mhinistear na h-Alba ) is the head of the Scottish Government and keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The first minister chair ...

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 fo ...

called Bain a "Scottish icon."

Career

Bain was born in the town of

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) 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. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland a ...

, in the

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the n ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

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

The Humblebums The Humblebums were a Scottish folk rock band, based in Glasgow. Its members included Billy Connolly, who later became a renowned stand-up comedian and actor; guitarist Tam Harvey; and singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. The band was active from ...

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 th ...

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

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 The Boys of the Lough is a Scottish-Irish Celtic music band active since the 1970s. Early years Their first album, called ''Boys of the Lough'' (1972) consisted of Aly Bain ( fiddle), Cathal McConnell ( flute), Dick Gaughan (vocals and guitar) a ...

, 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 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 performan ...

''. Since the early eighties, Bain has regularly collaborated and recorded with prominent, international musicians, including: Phil Cunningham,

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he h ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year award ...

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 Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (; born 26 July 1959) is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish folk music band Altan, which she co-founded with her late husband Frankie Kennedy in 1987. Today, Mairéad is recognised as a leading exponent ...

Dan Tyminski Daniel John Tyminski (born June 20, 1967) is an American bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of Alison Krauss's band Union Station, and has released three solo albums, ''Carry Me Across the Mountain'' (2000), o ...

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 Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

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. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, hav ...

, Eddi Reader,

Paul Brady Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age. Initially popular for playing ...

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959), is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The son of musician Wayne Scott, he moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana (known today as Lake Station, Indiana). ...

Michael Doucet Michael Louis Doucet (born February 14, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and musician best known as the founder of the Cajun band BeauSoleil. Early life Doucet was born in Scott, Louisiana, to a Cajun family. Family parties in the 1950s ...

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

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

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish 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 Mar ...

Iris DeMent Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American two-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and musician . DeMent's musical style includes elements of folk, country and gospel. Early life DeMent was born in Paragould, Arkansas, the 1 ...

Karen Matheson Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer who frequently sings in Gaelic. She is the lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Héritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lead ...

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 sin ...

Donal Lunny Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

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,

Bruce Molsky Bruce C. Molsky (born 1955, New York City) is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region. Early years As a young man, Molsky first became interested in blues music, b ...

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. In 1993, his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

''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 ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holy ...

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 politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000. He previously served as ...

. 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 an Italian-British 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 w ...

to create a television programme for

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irelan ...

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

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

with Pelicula Films and

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

Norman MacCaig Norman Alexander MacCaig DLitt (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 bor ...

. 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 Arild Staffan Möller (born 26 March 1955), known professionally as Ale Möller, is a Swedish musician and composer. He was born and grew up in Scania in southern Sweden and started in music as a jazz trumpeter. He lived for a while in Greece wh ...

(with whom he has recorded two albums) and with American old-time fiddler, singer, guitarist and banjo player

; 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 Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

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 (D.Mus., D.M., Mus.D. or occasionally Mus.Doc.) is a higher doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions and/or scholarly publications on music. Like other higher doctorates, it is granted ...

(DMus) degrees from:

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

;

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

; The University of St Andrews (2003);

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a British 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 underg ...

(2005) and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI i ...

(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 ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), 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 G ...

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 most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

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

"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 ra ...

, 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 ho ...

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 A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" ...

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 Aly (russian: Алы; sah, Алыы, ''Alıı'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a ''village#Russia, selo'') in Nizhnebytantaysky Rural Okrug in Eveno-Bytantaysky National District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, loca ...

'' (2005) *''The Shetland Sessions

ol. 1 OL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Orphaned Land, an Israeli progressive metal band * Old Lace (comics) a telepathically linked dinosaur hero Businesses and organizations * OLT Express Germany (IATA code: OL), a scheduled and charter airl ...

' (1992) *''The Shetland Sessions ol. 2' (1993)

Transatlantic Sessions

*''

3 ol.1' (2007) (with

and various artists) *''

3 ol.2' (2008) (with

and various artists) *''The Original

ol.1' (2008) (with

and various artists) *''The Original

ol.2' (2008) (with

and various artists) *''The Original

ol.3' (2009) (with

and various artists) *''

4 ol.1' (2009) (with

and various artists) *''

4 ol.2' (2010) (with

and various artists) *''

4 ol.3' (2010) (with

and various artists) *''

5 ol.1' (2011) (with

and various artists) *''

5 ol.2' (2012) (with

and various artists) *''

5 ol.3' (2012) (with

and various artists) *''

2 ol.1' (2013) (with

and various artists) *''

2 ol.2' (2013) (with

and various artists) *''

2 ol.3' (2013) (with

and various artists) *''

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

*''

'' (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 ''Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People'' is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label. The album consists of a hardback book containing the seven CDs and a paper ...

'' 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 ''The Ruby'' is the sixth extended play by South Korean girl group April. It was released on October 16, 2018, by DSP Media. The EP was supported by the "retro" lead single "Oh! My Mistake". ''The Ruby'' debuted and peaked at number 10 on the Gaon ...

'' (1997) *'' Another Gem'' (2000) *''

Spring the Summer Long Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

'' (2003) *''

Best of Aly and Phil Volume One 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, ...

'' (2004) *''

Roads Not Travelled A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

'' (2006) *''

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

'' (2010) *'' Five and Twenty'' (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 A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three seg ...

'' (1999) *''

Beyond the Stacks Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed b ...

'' (2007) *''

Meeting Point Meeting Point ( Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British negotiation on the question of Hon ...

'' Aly Bain, Ale Moller and Bruce Molsky (2013)

With Kvifte, Sommerro, Yndestad and Solberg

*''

North Sea Music North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

'' (2006)

With BT Scottish Ensemble

*''

Follow the Moonstone Follow may refer to: * ''Follow'' (album), the third album by Pakho Chau *Follow (dancer), one member of a partner dance *"Follow", a song by Jerry Merrick, popularized by Richie Havens on his 1966 album ''Mixed Bag'' *"Follow", a song by Drowning ...

'' (1995) arr.

Henning Sommerro Henning Sommerro (born 3 May 1952 in Surnadal) is a Norwegian musician, composer and professor at NTNU. Biography Sommerro grew up on the Sommerro farm at Skei in Surnadal. His name became widely known in 1977 when the folk music group Vårs� ...

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 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 violinists 21st-century British male musicians