Sun. October 24, 7:30 pm
Chaucer's Pub, 122 Carling Street, London, ON N6A 1H6
$15 advance / $18 at the door

This year Brian McNeill celebrates the 40th year of a career that has established him as one of the most acclaimed forces in Scottish music. Brian has been described as ‘Scotland’s most meaningful contemporary songwriter’ (The Scotsman); add to that his work and influence as performer, composer, producer, teacher, musical director, band leader, novelist and interpreter of Scotland’s past, present and future and you have a man who has never stood still. He has performed around the globe, both as a soloist and with some of the era’s most influential bands, including Battlefield Band, which he founded in 1969, and Clan Alba.

Brian was born in 1950 in Falkirk and began his musical training in his early teens with violin lessons, but soon forsook that for the electric  guitar. There followed a comprehensive  musical  education  and mildly  misspent  youth - until his student  years brought  him to Celtic music.  As a direct consequence, in 1969 he formed the Battlefield Band, which  became one of Scotland's best known ensembles. 

Brian plays fiddle, octave fiddle, guitar, mandocello, bouzouki,viola, mandolin, cittern, concertina, bass and hurdy gurdy. The importance of his songwriting, mostly  about Scotland's  past and future, has long been recognised. Songs including The Yew Tree, The Lads O' The Fair, The Snows of France and Holland,  Strong  Women Rule Us All With Their Tears, Any Mick'll  Do and No Gods and Precious Few Heroes have established  him as one of Scotland's leading  songwriters.