Iain Thomson and Marc Duff are coming to Orkney as part of a Scottish tour promoting their new duo Cd “No Borders.”

Dates:

• 6th of August – Burray Hall
• 7th of August – King St Halls, Kirkwall
• 8th of August – Stromness Town Hall

Iain Thomson

Iain was brought up in Dumfries and started learning the piano at 7. By age of 15 he moved on from the discipline of classical piano to take up the guitar and singing.

He moved to Mull in 1986 to run a large hill farm and became known as the “Singing Shepherd” after producing two successful tapes of self-penned songs.

In 1996 he left Mull spending 7 restless years driving trucks and playing in bars.

Due to changing circumstances and an almost magnetic draw he returned to Mull and his rural roots and started a fencing and sheep shearing business. .

In 2010 he brought out the album “Fields of Dreams” to critical acclaim.
It consisted of 12 tracks of self-penned songs and tunes.

The new cd “No Borders” is a collection of self-penned songs that are both personal and topical but rooted in his experiences of life in rural Argyll.

Marc Duff

Marc is known primarily for co-founding the notable Celtic band Capercaillie with whom he has toured extensively and made many successful recordings.

His time spent at the Guildhall School of Music has given him an eclectic taste in music and a distinct style of playing which has kept him in demand as a session musician and a teacher.

Since leaving Capercaillie in 1995 to pursue his own career, he has worked with many prominent artists, playing low D whistle, Bodhran, bouzouki and wind synthesizer and now with the uilleann pipes bringing a whole new dimension.

Marc has performed and recorded with an eclectic array of artists from many different musical genres including Def Shepherd, Fish, Iain Morrison, Dick Gaughan, Billy Bragg, Wolfstone and as a soloist with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing music for the BBC series A History of Scotland.

Also notable is that Marc was nominated for Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2008 Scottish Trad Music Awards.

As a duo Marc’s instrumental style compliments Iains vocals to produce a contemporary sound but with a traditional twist.

More on Iain and Marc can be found at Iain Thomson