Event

Brian McNeill

Brian McNeill is a Scottish composer, singer, songwriter, producer, author and dynamite performer who has made a multitude of friends and fans here in St Louis! Brian originally learned music on violin, but now plays fiddle, viola, mandolin, bouzouki, cittern, concertina, and hurdy-gurdy. He played fiddle with Battlefield Band from its formation in 1969 until 1990.

From 1996 until January 2008, Brian was head of the traditional music department at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, 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. Brians songs tend to get right to the point; they 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.