Search Results for: Jimmy Shand

Few musicians’ names become interchangeable with the style of music they play in the way that Jimmy Shand came to define Scottish Country Dance music to the broader audience. For countless numbers of people across the world, the sound of an accordion playing Scottish music instantly registered the Shand legend and for decades no Scottish […]

Jimmy McHugh was a Glasgow-domiciled Tyrone-born fiddler who exerted an immense influence on the development of Irish music and culture in the city and beyond, co-founding the first branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann to be formed outside Ireland, in Glasgow in 1957. The renowned, Glasgow-based Four Provinces Ceili Band, which he led until his death, […]

Sometimes known as “the provost of Forgandenny”, referring to the Perthshire village he made his home, Jimmy Blue became a household name and an international performer as a Scottish dance band musician, his button accordion prowess taking him from rural halls, through widespread theatre and television work with Andy Stewart to playing before audiences of […]

Born in Torry, Aberdeenshire, Andrew Rankine moved with his family to Menstrie, Clackmannanshire when he was two years old. It was in this small Hillfoots village that he would develop into one of Scotland’s most accomplished accordionists and dance band leaders, dedicated to preserving and performing Scottish dance music with both authenticity and innovation. Andrew’s […]

Born in Saigon in 1972 and evacuated from the Vietnamese War as a baby, Andrew Yearley was adopted by Iain and Eileen Yearley who moved to Lewis around the same time. Raised in Keose, a close-knit rural village in the Outer Hebrides, Andrew enjoyed a happy upbringing surrounded by a supportive island community and the […]

David Cunningham Snr’s musical journey began in his childhood home in Kettlebridge, Fife. Born into a musical family, his first notes came from a Christmas stocking mouth organ, quickly progressing to sneaking tunes on his father’s melodeon. His dad, Bill, who had spent time farming in Canada before returning to Scotland, and his mother Christina, […]

Wick-born fiddler, accordionist and guitarist Addie Harper Junior was brought up surrounded by music, since leading a prolific career as a performer, record producer and tutor. He started on the mouth organ, performing his first concert at the Tannach school aged five years old. Following in his father’s footsteps, shortly after he began violin lessons […]

Wick-born fiddler, accordionist and guitarist Addie Harper Junior was brought up surrounded by music, since leading a prolific career as a performer, record producer and tutor. He started on the mouth organ, performing his first concert at the Tannach school aged five years old. Following in his father’s footsteps, shortly after he began violin lessons […]

From their first BBC broadcast in 1957, to their last in 2008, John Ellis and his Highland Country Band made their own small piece of history as the longest serving broadcasting Scottish Dance Band. John Ellis was born and brought up at the foot of the Sidlaw hills, just North of Dundee. It would’ve been […]