Brian McNeill
Encyclopedia
Brian McNeill is a Scottish
folk
multi-instrumentalist
, songwriter
, record producer
and musical director. He was a founding member of The Battlefield Band which combined traditional celtic melodies and new material.
before taking up electric guitar
. McNeill now sings and plays a range of instruments including guitar, fiddle, viola
, mandolin
, concertina
, and hurdy-gurdy. He played fiddle
with The Battlefield Band from its formation in 1969 until 1990.
In the 1990s he toured extensively with the Scottish ensemble Clan Alba and did joint tours with guitarist Tony McManus
and with Iain MacKintosh
. More recently he has collaborated and toured with fellow member of Clan Alba, Dick Gaughan
.
As a novelist he has published two books, The Busker and To Answer The Peacock. 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
with John Munro and two CDs for fiddler John Taylor
. He is also a prolific songwriter.
In recent years Brian McNeill has hosted the Saturday Session at the Cambridge Folk Festival
, pulling together many interesting ad-hoc groupings from bands playing the festival that year. In doing so he has established a festival record for the most consecutive appearances in the program by an artist. Abroad, he is a fixture at Tønder Festival
and the Texas Scottish Festival.
2008 saw Brian McNeill receive the first ever Fatea Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising, not only, Brian's work as a musician, arranger and producer, but also his work in education passing on his passion for music to rising stars of the next generation.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and musical director. He was a founding member of The Battlefield Band which combined traditional celtic melodies and new material.
Biography
McNeill learnt music on the violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
before taking up electric guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. McNeill now sings and plays a range of instruments including guitar, fiddle, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, concertina
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
, and hurdy-gurdy. He played fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
with The Battlefield Band from its formation in 1969 until 1990.
In the 1990s he toured extensively with the Scottish ensemble Clan Alba and did joint tours with guitarist Tony McManus
Tony McManus
Tony McManus is a Scottish Steel-string guitarist of Irish descent born in Paisley, Scotland. English guitarist John Renbourn described him as "the best Celtic guitarist in the world". His first self-titled album was released in 1996 on Greentrax Recordings...
and with Iain MacKintosh
Iain MacKintosh
Iain MacKintosh was a Scottish singer and songwriter. His father was from the Outer Hebrides, a watchmaker and goldsmith who owned a pawnshop in Glasgow, his mother came from Northern Ireland. At the age of seven he started learning the Highland pipes and played in a pipe band in his youth...
. More recently he has collaborated and toured with fellow member of Clan Alba, Dick Gaughan
Dick Gaughan
Richard Peter Gaughan usually known as Dick Gaughan is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs.-Early years:...
.
As a novelist he has published two books, The Busker and To Answer The Peacock. 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
Eric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...
with John Munro and two CDs for fiddler John Taylor
John Taylor (Scottish fiddler)
John Taylor is a fiddler and composer from Buckie in Scotland and a past winner of the Niel Gow award for Scottish fiddling. He lives in California and leads the band Hamewith. He was part of the former band Emerald that was based in Northern California in the 1980s and 1990s...
. He is also a prolific songwriter.
In recent years Brian McNeill has hosted the Saturday Session at the Cambridge Folk Festival
Cambridge Folk Festival
The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is renowned for its eclectic mix of music and a wide definition of what might be considered folk. It occurs...
, pulling together many interesting ad-hoc groupings from bands playing the festival that year. In doing so he has established a festival record for the most consecutive appearances in the program by an artist. Abroad, he is a fixture at Tønder Festival
Tønder Festival
Tønder Festival is a large annual folk music festival in Tønder, Denmark. It is always held at the last weekend of August.It was founded in 1975....
and the Texas Scottish Festival.
2008 saw Brian McNeill receive the first ever Fatea Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising, not only, Brian's work as a musician, arranger and producer, but also his work in education passing on his passion for music to rising stars of the next generation.
Books
- The Busker, Macdonald, 1989, ISBN 0356179435
- To Answer The Peacock, Black Ace Books, 1999, ISBN 1872988326
Albums
- Monksgate (1978)
- Unstrung Hero (1985)
- The Busker and the Devil's Only daughter (1985)
- The Back O' The North Wind (1991)
- Horses for Courses with Tom McDonagh (1994)
- No Gods (1995)
- Stage By Stage with Iain MacKintoshIain MacKintoshIain MacKintosh was a Scottish singer and songwriter. His father was from the Outer Hebrides, a watchmaker and goldsmith who owned a pawnshop in Glasgow, his mother came from Northern Ireland. At the age of seven he started learning the Highland pipes and played in a pipe band in his youth...
(1995) - To Answer the Peacock (1999)
- Live and Kicking with Iain MacKintoshIain MacKintoshIain MacKintosh was a Scottish singer and songwriter. His father was from the Outer Hebrides, a watchmaker and goldsmith who owned a pawnshop in Glasgow, his mother came from Northern Ireland. At the age of seven he started learning the Highland pipes and played in a pipe band in his youth...
(2000)- Includes The King of RomeThe King of RomeThe King of Rome and its owner were the subject of a song and book by Dave Sudbury. It tells how:indicating the dangers related to the bird's races....
- Includes The King of Rome
- The Baltic tae Byzantium (2009)