Blazin' Fiddles are a contemporary Scottish

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 ...

band from the

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act o ...

. They formed in 1998 to showcase Scotland's distinct regional fiddle styles. The band have a number of awards, including; the MG ALBA

Scots Trad Music Awards 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 an ...

Live Act of the Year, Album of the Year and Folk Band of the Year. Their records are released on their own

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

Blazin' Records label. They have been described as "...the Led Zeppelin of the Folk World."

History

As part of the year of Highland Culture in 1998 the band had originally come together to put on a one-off tour to showcase the various fiddle styles of the Highlands and Islands but the audience reception was so enthusiastic they decided to continue. Their name makes reference to the burning of fiddles that was done by the Church in parts of Scotland in the 19th century. In 1999 they were invited to the Fiddlers of the World festival in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. At the Scots Trad music awards they were awarded Best Live Act in 2004, their Album ''Magnificent Seven'' was Album of the Year in 2005, and they were Folk Band of the Year in 2013 and 2019. They took part in the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

at the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genre ...

, London in August 2005. Of the original line-up, Aidan O'Rourke and Marc Clement left in 2009 and

Catriona Macdonald Catriona Macdonald (born 1969 or 1970) is a fiddler, composer, researcher, and lecturer from Shetland, located some 320 km (200 miles) north of the Scottish mainland. She is considered to be among the world's leading traditional fiddle players, ...

departed from the band in autumn 2010. They were replaced by the Shetland fiddler

Jenna Reid 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 grandmoth ...

, award-winning guitarist Anna Massie and Young Trad winner Kirsten Harvey. The Scotsman newspaper described them as "...the Led Zeppelin of the Folk World." They played at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. the world's largest arts festival, in 2016 and (with singer Emily Smith) in 2019. The album ''Six'' was the final recording that features Iain MacFarlane and Allan Henderson, who were both founder members of Blazin' Fiddles. Blazin' Fiddles has been described as one of the world's most prolific fiddle groups.

Line-up (2019)

* Bruce MacGregor from

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

on fiddle. *Kristan Harvey from

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

on fiddle. *Ruaridh Macmillan from

Nairn Nairn (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland Council council areas of Scotland, area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nair ...

on fiddle. *

from

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

on fiddle. *Anna Massie from

Fortrose Fortrose is a town and former royal burgh on the Black Isle in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland, about northeast of Inverness. The town is known for its ruined 13th-century Fortrose Cathedral, cathedral, and as ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and fiddle. *Angus Lyon from Biggar on

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Blazin' in Beauly

*Blazin' in Beauly is an event which has taken place every October since 2000 in a village in the highlands called

Beauly Beauly ( ; ; ) is a village in Scotland's Highland (council area), Highland area, on the River Beauly, west of Inverness by the Far North Line, Far North railway line. The town is historically within Kilmorack Parish of the County of Inverness. ...

. Participants come for one week of fiddle workshops, masterclasses, concerts, sessions and singing. It is open to all ages and levels, and participants can bring their own instruments such as fiddles, guitars and keyboards. Blazin' in Beauly was nominated for the Community Project of the Year at the 2019

Gallery

File:Bruce MacGregor.jpg, Bruce MacGregor File:Kirstan Harvey & Rua Macmillan.jpg, Kristan Harvey & Rua Macmillan File:Jenna Reid 2016.jpg, Jenna Reid File:Angus Lyon, Kirstan Harvey & Anna Massie of the Blazin' Fiddles band at the 2016 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival.jpg, Angus Lyon, Kristan Harvey & Anna Massie

Past members

*Andy Thorburn from

Evanton Evanton ( or ) is a small village in Easter Ross, in the Highland council area of Scotland. It lies between the River Sgitheach and the Allt Graad, is north of Inverness, some south-west of Alness, and northeast of Dingwall. The village h ...

on piano *

Catriona MacDonald Catriona Macdonald (born 1969 or 1970) is a fiddler, composer, researcher, and lecturer from Shetland, located some 320 km (200 miles) north of the Scottish mainland. She is considered to be among the world's leading traditional fiddle players, ...

from Shetland on fiddle. *

Duncan Chisholm Duncan Chisholm (born 31 October 1968) is a Scottish fiddle player and composer. He has released seven solo albums as a solo artist. His studio album, '' Affric'', released in 2012, was longlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award. ...

from Kirkhill on fiddle. * Aidan O'Rourke from

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

on fiddle. *Marc Clement from

on guitar. *Allan Henderson from

Mallaig Mallaig (; ) is a seaport, port in Morar, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. It faces Skye from across the Sound of Sleat. The Mallaig railway station, local railway station is the terminus of the West Highlan ...

on fiddle *Iain MacFarlane from

Glenfinnan Glenfinnan ( ) is a hamlet in Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. In 1745 the Jacobite rising of 1745, Jacobite rising began here when Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") raised his House of Stuart ...

on fiddle

Discography

*''Fire On!'' (2000) *''The Old Style'' (2002) *''Magnificent Seven'' (2005) *''Blazin' Fiddles Live'' (2007) *''Thursday Night in the Caley'' (2011) *''Six'' (2013) *''Solo'' (2014) *''North'' (2015) *''The Key'' (2017) *''XXV'' (2023)

References

External links

Dotted Line, Manager and booking agentOfficial websiteBlazin' Fiddles page on YoutubeBruce MacGregorAngus LyonRua MacmillanAnna MassieJenna ReidBlazin' Fiddles
Sage Gateshead event {{Authority control Scottish folk music groups Celtic fusion groups Musical groups established in 1998 1998 establishments in Scotland