A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham

ALY BAIN and PHIL CUNNINGHAM first met when Bain heard a very young Cunningham playing in a pub near Edinburgh. Some years later, Bain invited him to perform on his television show, Aly Bain & Friends, and they’ve been playing together ever since. The duo made their first tour together in 1988, spending six days traveling through Scotland. Since then, their annual Scottish tour has expanded to a full month every September, not to mention dates spent touring internationally. They have also released two CDs, The Pearl (1996) and The Ruby (1998), both on Green Linnet Records. Aly Bain was born in Lerwick, Shetland, and began playing the fiddle at the age of 11. After moving to mainland Scotland, he helped to establish the Boys of the Lough, one of the best-known traditional folk bands, with whom he still records and performs. At the same time, he pursued a solo career, recording two albums, First Album and Lonely Bird. Bain’s autobiography, Fiddler on the Loose, co-written by Alastair Clark, was published in 1993 by Mainstream Publishing. He recently collaborated with Norwegian composer Henning Sommerro on an album of Shetland and Norwegian music entitled Songs of the North Sea. Phil Cunningham was born in Edinburgh, and began accordion lessons at the age of 3, adding the violin a few years later. At 16, he joined his brother John in the highly acclaimed Scottish band Silly Wizard. During his thirteen years in the band, his work began to broaden and he found himself in demand as a composer and performer in television, radio, film, and stage. He left the band in 1983 to pursue a solo career, and released two solo recordings, 1984’s Airs and Graces and 1989’s The Palomino Waltz. Cunningham has worked as music director for theater, television, and composed The Highlands & Islands Suite, an orchestral work, which was performed at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. He has recently toured with Bonnie Raitt and with Kepa Junkera, in addition to running CAP recording studios. (www.boysofthelough.com/alybain.html and www.philcunningham.com)

The Battlefield Band: Alan Reid, John McCusker, Mike Katz, Karine Polwart

Though the group’s personnel has changed over time, THE BATTLEFIELD BAND
has thrived for nearly 30 years. Taking their name from the Glasgow district in which the group was formed, the band plays an amalgamation of traditional Scottish music and modern composition. Critics have said that The Battlefield Band combines “the classical Celtic music of the Scottish Highlands with the contemporary rock-oriented folk music of modern Britain.” Although fiddle, bagpipes and guitar are common instruments in Celtic bands, Battlefield Band is credited with being the first to add synthesizer. Providing the sound of an organ, parlor piano, or drums, as
necessary, synthesizer adds a fullness not heard in most traditional groups. The band tours extensively, including past visits to Singapore, Australia, Syria, Jordan, India, Sri Lanka, and Egypt, as well as throughout Europe and Canada. Leaving Friday Harbor (Temple Records),
which was released in August of 1999, includes “Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura’s Reel,” inspired by Minnesota’s current governor. Their new CD, Happy Daze (Temple), is the latest in a string of more than fifteen albums the band has released. The band’s current lineup is founding member Alan Reid (keyboards, guitar), Mike Katz (Highland bagpipe, whistles, guitar), John McCusker (fiddle, cittern, accordion, keyboards), and Karine Polwart (guitar, bouzouki). (www.battlefieldband.co.uk)