Brian McNeill: Difference between revisions

{{About|the Scottish musician|the New Zealand playwright|Brian McNeill (playwright)}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2019}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Brian McNeill

| image = BrianMcNeillAug06.jpg

| image_size = <!-- Only for images smaller than 220px! -->

| birth_name =

| alias =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|4|6|df=y}}

| birth_place = [[Falkirk]], Scotland

| death_date =

| instrument = [[Violin]], guitar, [[viola]], [[mandolin]], [[Irish bouzouki|bouzouki]], [[cittern]], [[concertina]], [[hurdy-gurdy]]

| genre = [[Folk rock]]

| occupation = Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer

| years_active = 1969–present

| label =

| associated_acts = [[Battlefield Band]]

| website = [http://www.brianmcneill.co.uk/ Official website]

McNeill learnt music on the [[violin]] before taking up other instruments including guitar, fiddle, [[viola]], [[mandolin]], [[Irish bouzouki|bouzouki]], [[cittern]], [[concertina]], and [[hurdy-gurdy]], as well as singing. He played [[fiddle]] with [[Battlefield Band]] from its formation in 1969 until 1990.<ref name="Weir">{{cite journal |last1=Weir |first1=Rob |title=On the Road Again: BRIAN MCNEILL & Scottish Wanderlust |journal=Sing Out! |date=Autumn 2010 – Winter 2011 |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=56–59 |issn=0037-5624 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Asheville">{{cite news |title=McNeill offers up the Scottish legends |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/203791424/?terms=Busker%2B%22Brian%2BMcNeill%22 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Asheville Citizen-Times |date=14 July 2016 |location=Asheville, North Carolina |page=B2}}</ref><ref name="Romanski">{{cite news |last1=Romanski |first1=Kara |title=Taking the road less traveled. Brian McNeill and his wife enjoy the scenic routes in life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/256772847/?terms=Busker%2B%22Brian%2BMcNeill%22 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Daily Record |date=15 October 2010 |location=Morristown, New Jersey |page=7 TGIF!}}</ref> In 1987, he won the UK National Songsearch competition for amateur and professional performers, having been runner-up in 1986.<ref name="Stage">{{cite news |title=Sponsorship shortfall hits Songsearch |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001180/19870910/027/0004 |accessdate=5 May 2019 |work=[[The Stage]] |date=10 September 1987}}</ref>

From 1996 until January 2008, McNeill was head of the traditional music course at the [[Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama]], Glasgow.<ref name="Weir"/><ref name="Scott">{{cite news |last1=Scott |first1=Robert Dawson |title=Accordionist is new head of traditional music course |url=http://search.ebscohost.com.rp.nla.gov.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=7EH3948689791&site=ehost-live |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=The Times |date=30 January 2008 |page=26 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

As a novelist he has published three books, ''The Busker'' (1989),<ref name="Asheville"/><ref name="Romanski"/><ref name="Sawyers"/> ''To Answer the Peacock'' (1999),<ref name="Asheville"/><ref name="Romanski"/> and ''In the Grass''.<ref name="Asheville"/> He has also produced an acclaimed audio-visual show about Scottish emigration to America, ''The Back o' the North Wind''.<ref name="Asheville"/><ref name="Sawyers">{{cite news |last1=Sawyers |first1=June |title=Allure of emigration. Brian McNeill's 'North Wind' profiles Scottish wanderlust |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/389495703/?terms=Busker%2B%22Brian%2BMcNeill%22 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=5 December 1991 |location=Chicago, Illinois |page=3, S5}}</ref><ref name="Bird">{{cite news |last1=Bird |first1=John |title=Americans may be in for quite a shock |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000726/19910223/233/0018 |accessdate=5 May 2019 |work=Newcastle Evening Chronicle |date=23 February 1991 |location=Newcastle, Northumberland, England |page=18}}</ref>

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.<ref>The Great Scots Musicography {{ISBN|1-84183-041-0}}, 2002 Mercat Press, Edinburgh</ref>

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]] and the man who initiated the conservation movement in the United States, [[John Muir]].<ref name="Sawyers"/><ref name="Asheville"/>

Brian McNeill won the inaugural Fatea Lifetime Achievement award in 2007<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazineOld//awards2007.html|title=Website Powered by FATEA|website=Fatea-records.co.uk|accessdate=2020-07-05}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/news/Wnners2017/|title=FATEA - Home|website=Fatea-records.co.uk|accessdate=2020-07-05}}</ref>

*''In the Grass'', Author House, 2012, {{ISBN|9781467884594}}

* 1991 ''The Back O' The North Wind'' ([[Greentrax Recordings]])<ref name="Sawyers"/><ref name="Romanski"/>

* 1995 ''No Gods'' (Greentrax Recordings)<ref name="Carnahan">{{cite journal |last1=Carnahan |first1=Danny |title=Hail Caledonia: A Brief History of Scottish Song in America |journal=Acoustic Guitar |date=May 2018 |url=http://acousticguitar.com/hail-caledonia-a-brief-history-of-scottish-song-in-america/ |accessdate=5 May 2019}}</ref>

* 1995 ''Stage By Stage'' <small>(with Iain MacKintosh)</small>

* 1999 ''To Answer the Peacock'' (Greentrax Recordings)

* 2000 ''Live and Kicking'' <small>(with Iain MacKintosh; includes "[[The King of Rome]]")</small>

* 2009 ''The Baltic tae Byzantium'' (Greentrax Recordings) <ref name="Romanski"/>

* 2015 ''The Falkirk Music Pot'' (Greentrax Recordings) <small>(featured as "Brian McNeill & Friends celebrate his home town's music") (22-track double album)</small><ref name="greentrax.com Brian McNeill The Falkirk Music Pot">{{cite web |url=http://www.greentrax.com/music/product/the-falkirk-music-pot |title=The Falkirk Music Pot |date= March 2016 |website=[[Greentrax]] |accessdate= 5 March 2016}}</ref>

* [https://www.templerecords.co.uk/pages/brian-mcneill Brian McNeill profile] at [[Temple Records (1978 UK label)|Temple Records]]

{{Battlefield Band}}

[[Category:20th-century Scottish male singers]]

[[Category:Scottish male songwriters]]

[[Category:21st-century Scottish male singers]]

[[Category:British male songwriters]]