Blair Dunlop (born 11 February 1992) is an English folk musician and actor.

Early life and education

Dunlop is the son of folk-rock musician

Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years by his nickname, "Tyger" Hutchings (born 26 January 1945) is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of t ...

(formerly a member of

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

) and singer Judy Dunlop. He received a scholarship to attend Foremarke Hall in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, which he attended from 2003 to 2005 and then moved onto Foremarke Hall’s senior school,

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

. As a young actor, Dunlop made his film debut with an American accent in ''

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The story was originally ...

'' (2005), directed by

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

. Dunlop played the young

Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprietor ...

, a child with a burdensome set of orthodontic headgear under strict rule by his father who works as a dental practitioner. Dunlop was also on ''Rocket Man'', a television show in his native UK.

Professional career

Blair Dunlop now works as a singer-songwriter and guitarist. He took over the running of

The Albion Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the mo ...

from Hutchings in 2011 but folded the band in 2013 to focus on his solo career. He has released one EP and three albums. His first full-length solo album, ''Blight and Blossom'', was released on Rooksmere Records in 2013. His second solo album, ''House of Jacks'', was released in May 2014. His third album, ''Gilded'', was released on his own record label Gilded Wings Records on 6 May 2016. This was followed up by the second album on his own label, ''Notes From An Island'', which was released in May 2018.

Awards

Dunlop won the Horizon Award at the 2013

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

. He also received the Special Jury Prize of the Premio Ciampi in the city of

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

in Italy in November 2014.

Discography

Albums

* ''Blight and Blossom'' (Rooksmere Records) (2012) * ''House of Jacks'' (Rooksmere Records) (2014) * ''Gilded'' (Gilded Wings Records) (2016) * ''Notes From An Island'' (Gilded Wings Records) (2018)

EPs

* ''Bags Outside The Door EP'' (Rooksmere Records) (2011) * ''Blair Dunlop / Larkin Poe'' (Rooksmere Records) – 6-track mini-album collaboration with

Larkin Poe Larkin Poe is an American roots rock band originally from north Georgia, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, and fronted by sisters Rebecca Lovell (born January 30, 1991) and Megan Lovell (born May 12, 1989). Featuring strong southern harmo ...

(2013) * ''The Mark Radcliffe Folk Sessions'' (Delphonic Records) (2013)

Other releases

* ''Fighting Room'' –

(mini-album) (2011) * ''The Vice Of The People'' –

(album) (2012) * ''Orion's Belt'' –

(live album) (2012)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlop, Blair 1992 births Living people 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century English actors 21st-century English singers The Albion Band members English folk singers English folk guitarists English male child actors English male film actors English male guitarists People educated at Repton School People from Chesterfield, Derbyshire