Brian McNeill (born 6 April 1950,

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

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 ...

) is a Scottish

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 ...

multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and musical director. He was a founding member of Battlefield Band which combined traditional Celtic melodies and new material.

Biography

McNeill learnt music on the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

before taking up other instruments including guitar, fiddle,

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

, and

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...

, as well as singing. He played

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 ...

with Battlefield Band from its formation in 1969 until 1990. In 1987, he won the UK National Songsearch competition for amateur and professional performers, having been runner-up in 1986. From 1996 until January 2008, McNeill was head of the traditional music course at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

, Glasgow. As a novelist he has published three books, ''The Busker'' (1989), ''To Answer the Peacock'' (1999), and ''In the Grass''. He has also produced an acclaimed audio-visual show about Scottish emigration to America, ''The Back o' the North Wind''. Apart from his visible contributions, McNeill is influential in Scotland and abroad as a producer. He has many production credits in the UK and North America including "Emigrant and Exile" for

Eric Bogle Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is an Australian folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25 to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of to ...

with John Munro. McNeill's songs often feature lyrics based on Scottish historical themes, and he continually has celebrated the culture of his fellow Scots, including those who have emigrated to North America. His album ''The Back o' the North Wind'' features songs about industrialist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

and the man who initiated the conservation movement in the United States,

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...

. Brian McNeill won the inaugural Fatea Lifetime Achievement award in 2007 and was the producer of 2017's instrumental album of the year, "Matt Tighe", the eponymous debut album of the young English fiddler that Brian had inspired at one of his many Cambridge Folk Festival appearances.

Books

*''The Busker'', Macdonald, 1989, *''To Answer The Peacock'', Black Ace Books, 1999, *''In the Grass'', Author House, 2012,

Discography

With Battlefield Band

*1976 01/small> '' Farewell to Nova Scotia'' debut studio album (first released on Escalibur label as ''Scottish Folk'') *1977 02/small> ''Battlefield Band'' studio album #02 (first released on Topic label) *1978 03/small> '' Wae's me for Prince Charlie'' studio album #03 (first released on Escalibur label) *1978 04/small> ''At the Front'' studio album #04 (first released on Topic label) *1979 05/small> ''Stand Easy'' studio album #05 (first released on Topic label ; reissued as ''Stand Easy/Preview'' in 1980) *1980 06/small> '' Home Is Where the Van Is'' studio album #06 *1982 07/small> ''The Story So Far 1977-1980'' compilation album #1 of the 3 first studios albums released on Topic label *1982 08/small> ''There's a Buzz'' studio album #07 *1984 09/small> ''Anthem for the Common Man'' studio album #08 *1986 10/small> ''Music in Trust Vol 1'' Soundtrack album #01 *1986 11/small> ''On the Rise'' studio album #09 *1987 12/small> '' After Hours: Forward to Scotland's Past'' compilation album #2 of the five last previous albums *1987 13/small> ''Celtic Hotel'' studio album #10 *1988 14/small> ''Music in Trust Vol 2'' Soundtrack album #02 *1989 15/small> ''Home Ground – Live From Scotland'' live album #1 (recorded live in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

during the group's Scottish tour in Spring 1989) *1998 00/small> '' Live Celtic Folk Music'' (live recording of a concert at the 1980 Winterfolkfestival, held in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

, Netherlands; released only on a foreign label)

Solo albums

* 1978 ''Monksgate'' * 1985 ''Unstrung Hero'' * 1985 ''The Busker and the Devil's Only daughter'' * 1991 ''The Back O' The North Wind'' ( Greentrax Recordings) * 1994 ''Horses for Courses'' (with Tom McDonagh) * 1995 ''No Gods'' (Greentrax Recordings) * 1995 ''Stage By Stage'' (with Iain MacKintosh) * 1999 ''To Answer the Peacock'' (Greentrax Recordings) * 2000 ''Live and Kicking'' (with Iain MacKintosh; includes " The King of Rome") * 2009 ''The Baltic tae Byzantium'' (Greentrax Recordings) * 2010 ''The Crew o' the Copenhagen'' (with Drones & Bellows) * 2015 ''The Falkirk Music Pot'' (Greentrax Recordings) (featured as "Brian McNeill & Friends celebrate his home town's music") (22-track double album)

References

External links

Official website

Brian McNeill profile
at Temple Records {{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, Brian 1950 births Living people 20th-century Scottish male singers Scottish male songwriters Scottish folk musicians Scottish fiddlers British male violinists Battlefield Band members 21st-century Scottish violinists 21st-century Scottish male singers British male songwriters