Old Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional

Scottish folk music Scottish folk music (also Scottish traditional music) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that uses forms that are identified as part of the Scottish musical tradition. There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in ...

and

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

, with influences from rock,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and

Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Kurdish music, Armenian music. Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cyp ...

rhythms.

Background

The three founding members of the band (Ian F. Benzie, Buzzby McMillan and Jonny Hardie) first met during a so-called " buskers' holiday" in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

in 1990, and after playing together for the summer decided to call themselves "Old Blind Dogs". Dave Francis and Carmen Higgins joined the band soon afterwards, but left in 1992 before the recording of the first album, ''New Tricks''. Since that time, the line-up of the band has changed frequently, with only Jonny Hardie remaining from the original group. The Old Blind Dogs were named "Folk Band of the Year" at the

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 ...

. Also in 2004, Jim Malcolm was named Songwriter of the Year. In 2001, the UK's

Association of Independent Music The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is a non-profit trade body established in 1999 by UK independent record labels to represent the independent record sector, which in 2016 constituted approximately 23% of the UK market. Its members in ...

selected their album ''Fit?'' as a finalist for the Celtic Album of the Year award. The band have toured extensively, performing in Britain, the US, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, and Russia.

Discography

* ''New Tricks'' (1992) * ''Close to the Bone'' (1993) * ''Tall Tails'' (1994) * ''Legacy'' (1995) * ''Five'' (1997) * ''Live'' (1999) * ''The World's Room'' (1999) * ''Fit?'' (2001) * ''The Gab o' Mey'' (2003) * ''Play Live'' (2004) * ''Four on the Floor'' (2007) * ''Wherever Yet May Be'' (2010) * ''Room with a View'' (2017) * ''Knucklehead Circus'' (2021)

Band members

1990–92 * Ian F. Benzie (guitar, vocals) * Jonny Hardie (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, backing vocals) * Buzzby McMillan (cittern, bass) * Carmen Higgins (fiddle) * Dave Francis (percussion) * Davy Cattanach (percussion) joined 1991 1992–96 * Ian F. Benzie * Jonny Hardie * Buzzby McMillan * Davy Cattanach 1996–97 * Ian F. Benzie * Jonny Hardie * Buzzby McMillan * Fraser Fifield (small pipes, saxophone) * Davy Cattanach 1997–99 * Ian F. Benzie * Fraser Fifield * Graham Youngson (percussion) * Jonny Hardie * Buzzby McMillan 1999–2003 * Jim Malcolm (guitar, harmonica, lead vocals) * Jonny Hardie (fiddle, guitar, backing vocals) * Buzzby McMillan * Rory Campbell (whistle, border pipes, guitar, harmonica, backing vocals) * Paul Jennings (percussion) left 2002 2003–2006 * Jim Malcolm * Jonny Hardie * Rory Campbell * Fraser Stone (drums, percussion) * Aaron Jones (bouzouki, bass, backing vocals) 2007–2008 * Jonny Hardie (fiddle, guitar, vocals) * Rory Campbell (border pipes, whistles, vocals) * Fraser Stone (percussion) * Aaron Jones (bouzouki, guitar, vocals) 2008–2016 * Jonny Hardie (fiddle, guitar, vocals) * Ali Hutton (border pipes, whistles) * Fraser Stone (percussion) * Aaron Jones (bouzouki, guitar, vocals) 2016–2021 * Jonny Hardie (fiddle, guitar, vocals) * Ali Hutton (Great Highland bagpipe, border pipes, whistles) * Donald Hay (percussion) * Aaron Jones (bouzouki, guitar, vocals) 2021- *Jonny Hardie (fiddle, guitar, vocals) *Mike Katz (UK/Europe: pipes, whistles) *Elias Alexander (USA: pipes, whistles) *Donald Hay (percussion) *Aaron Jones (bouzouki, guitar, vocals) In the following table, please note that although "Live" was released in 1999, the performers are those from the 1992–1996 line-up (Benzie, Hardie, McMillan, and Cattenach) and not those from "The World's Room" (a studio release from the same year).

References

External links

*
Compass Records
Old Blind Dogs' former record label {{Authority control Celtic fusion groups Scottish folk music groups Scottish folk singers Scottish buskers Green Linnet Records artists Vertical Records artists