Over the years Old Blind Dogs have evolved and grown into one of Scotland's favourite folk bands. In the early days, the line-up consisted of: Jonny Hardie, Buzzby McMillan, and Ian Benzie, along with Dave Francis on percussion and Carmen Higgins on fiddle . In 1992 Dave and Carmen left, and Davy Cattanach joined the band (playing percussion), and they toured as a four piece for several years. During this time they recorded four great CDs with Scotland's record label KRL - New Tricks, Close to the Bone, Tall Tails and Legacy.
In 1996 Fraser Fifield became the fifth member of the Old Blind Dogs, adding to the bands cutting edge sound with his tasty jazz licks on the sax and his superb playing of the small pipes. Their first album as a quintet - entitled Five, aptly enough, and released in 1997 - completed their five-album deal with KRL. Then in early 1997 Graham 'Mop' Youngson (ex - Wolfstone) replaced Davy Cattanach with his funky, hard-hitting rhythm kit. The band was busy in 1998 touring in America, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the UK.
1999 saw Old Blind Dogs embracing the New Year with a new and evolved line up. lan Benzie retired from the band in January, 1999. Fraser Fifield also moved on to develop other musical projects. The Old Blind Dogs continued on with the introduction of another great Scottish singer and songwriter Jim Malcolm and Rory Campbell (Deaf Shepherd) on small pipes and whistles. Jim Malcolm is a performer of traditional Scots music and song with particular strong links to the ballads of Perthshire and Angus. In addition he is a fine exponent of simultaneous guitar and harmonica playing. Rory Campbell will be most recognised through his contributions in another great Scottish Folk band - Deaf Shepherd. Rory's piping has been described as 'crisp and tight', 'pipe tunes with inexorable energy' and a 'glorious blare of sound'. With Paul Jennings on percussion, the new Dogs line-up released two CDs "The World's Room", and "Fit".
2002 saw the exit of Paul Jennings, (who left to focus on his other band, Croft No. 5) and the entrance of Fraser Stone on percussion. Old Blind Dogs are: Jonny Hardie (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and backing vocals), Buzzby McMillan (electric bass, cittern and backing vocals), Jim Malcolm (lead singer, guitar and harmonica), Rory Campbell (small pipes and whistles) and Fraser Stone (percussion).
Jim Malcolm was brought up in Perthshire and Angus, steeped in the strong singing tradition of the area. His career began to take off when he hosted the open stage at Edinburgh Folk Festival, and through his own playing there secured a contract with Greentrax for his first solo album, Sconeward. Acclaimed by critics and chosen as one of the year's best by Radio Scotland's folk programmes Travelling Folk and Celtic Connections, the album brought in bookings at folk clubs and festivals in Britain and abroad, and established Jim as one of the leading songwriters in the traditional idiom in Scotland. He was dubbed: "The new male voice of Scotland." Next up was Rohallion, a collection of Jim's new songs recorded with gifted pianist and fiddler Dave Watt and percussionist Iain MacFadyen. "An intoxicating display of lyrical and musical genius" was how Rock 'n' Reel described the CD, from which Jim's song Battle of Waterloo, to the pipe tune of the same name, was an instant hit. In January 1999 Jim joined the Old Blind Dogs and has since worked with them all over the UK, in France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, USA, Canada and Bulgaria. In 2000 Jim released his third solo CD, Resonance, on Beltane Records. It features a collection of his favourite traditional songs alongside four of his own new compositions and some contemporary classics. New album to be released, again on Beltane Records, at the end of 2002.
Rory Campbell Raised in Central Scotland and in a family that fully encouraged the uptake of music from an early age. Rory's father is a respected piper and singer from the Isle of Barra. Rory began playing in pipe bands at the age of 12. It was around then that he also picked up the whistles. His first band was a Gaelic Folk Group called Gleus - his father and sister also played in the band. Rory will be best known through his performances with the band Deaf Shepherd, which has recorded two succesful albums with the Scottish label Greentrax (Ae Spark O Natures Fire and Synergy). He has also recorded with the band Caledon on Noble Trousers. He has recorded a solo album The Pipers Whim and completed a duo album with Malcolm Stitt (performer with both Deaf Shepherd and Boys of the Lough) titled Nusa.
Jonny Hardie was brought up in Aberdeenshire- an area of Scotland culturally rich in ballads and fiddle tunes. At the age of eight Jonny started playing violin. After leaving secondary school he studied viola at the Royal Northern College of Music. Jonny then returned to Scotland to concentrate on traditional music and soon became involved in various local bands. It was during this time that Old Blind Dogs were formed, along with Ian Benzie and Buzzby McMillan. Over the last decade Jonny has toured extensively with Old Blind Dogs, and has also been involved with a variety of theatre projects. Apart from OBD's work, Jonny has recorded two CDs with Gavin Marwick ("Up In The Air" & "The Blue Lamp"), recorded and produced both "The Captain's Collection" (recordings from Captain Simon Fraser's 1816 collection) and a new CD featuring the music of Inverness fiddler Donald Riddle (called "A Highland Fiddler"). More recently, Jonny has been much in demand as a freelance guitarist working with Bruce MacGregor, Finlay MacDonald, Dàimh, and Fiddler's Bid.Fraser Stone
Fraser Stone was raised in the highlands in a small town called Granton-on-Spey. He was first introduced to drums and percussion at the early age of six through a Christmas present of a small plastic drum kit. Growing up throughout his teen years with a group of friends that played traditional music, Fraser adapted his skills onto African percussion. His first Traditional band was a group called Skoosh who did a lot of work around the highlands including work for Gaelic television and for an album. He's done session work for many different styles of music from Rock to Blues, Jazz, Samba and Traditional Cuban. Productions with Scottish Youth Theatre also performances at the millennium Dome. Musical director for drama productions and festival organisation etc. Fraser as well as being a member of the Old Blind Dogs is currently giving African Percussion workshops at Fèisean and schools around Scotland and private tuition to local students.
Buzzby MacMillan, one of the founding members of the Old Blind Dogs, is from Aberdeenshire - the birthplace of the band. Buzzby started playing electric bass at the age of 15 in a local pop band. He spent his youth playing with a number of rock and mostly reggae bands. The Thirty Footers were a very popular reggae band in the region that featured Buzzby and Davie Cattenach (former OBD percussionist). Buzzby eventually met Ian Benzie (former OBD lead singer) who was hot on original and traditional music. They performed in a local traditonal band called the Mabel Marbles and released two albums. One summer Ian and Buzby decided to take their music skills on a buskers 'holiday' around the Highlands of Scotland - this is where they came across a young Jonny Hardie. The three of them hit it off and when they returned to Aberdeen decided to form the Old Blind Dogs. In addition to his musical accomplishments Buzzby has also been known to appear on stage as an actor with the well known Scottish theatre company Invisible Bouncers - performing in Gaelic and Doric productions about contemporary and historical themes pertinent to life in the North of Scotland. He has also worked as a "live" sound engineer for seven years and worked as a producer in the studio. |
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