Iain Morrison is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter. He was born on the

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

Career

Morrison was a member of the Glasgow-based band Crash My Model Car. They were signed to

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...

in 2005 and released an album ''Ghosts & Heights''. He won Composer of the Year at The Scots Trad Music Awards in 2010. He was commissioned the same year by the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, to write songs for a New Voices showcase. The show, titled ''Ceol Mor/Little Music'', received a 5 star review from ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' newspaper. He appeared on three programmes of the

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

series ''

Transatlantic Sessions Transatlantic Sessions is the collective title for a series of musical productions by Glasgow-based Pelicula Films Ltd, funded by- and produced for BBC Scotland, BBC Four and RTÉ of Ireland. The productions comprise collaborative live performan ...

'' in 2011, singing three of his own songs alongside

Bela Fleck Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal * Bela, Janakpur, ...

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...

and

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he has ...

. He sang the part of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...

for

Anaïs Mitchell Anaïs Mitchell (; born March 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including ''Hadestown'' (2010), '' Young Man in America'' (2012),

's ''

Hadestown ''Hadestown'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell. It tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, goes to work in a hellish industrial underworld ...

'' show in Glasgow in 2011. To record his 2012 album ''To the Horizon, Sir'', Morrison traveled to

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

and the home studio of producer and friend

Michael Chorney Michael Chorney is an American saxophone and guitar player, composer, arranger, and music producer. His bands include Feast or Famine, So-Called Jazz Quintet, So-Called Jazz Sextet, ViperHouse, Magic City, Orchid, 7 Deadly Sins, the Michael Chorn ...

. His 2015 album, ''Eas'', was chosen as 'Album of the Year 2015' on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

's ''The Roddy Hart Show''. ''Eas'' was nominated for the

Scottish Album of the Year Award The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is an award given annually for an outstanding album produced by a Scottish artist. The award was launched in 2012 by thScottish Music Industry Association(SMIA) in partnership with Creative Scotland Cre ...

, at the SAY Awards in 2016. In 2018, he was commissioned by An Lanntair and 14-18 Now to write new music to mark the centenary of the

Iolaire HMY Iolaire was an Admiralty Yacht that sank at the entrance to Stornoway harbour on 1 January 1919, with the loss of at least 201 men out of the 283 on board. The overcrowded vessel was trying to negotiate a difficult route under exceptionally b ...

. The piece is called ''Sàl'' (Saltwater). In May 2018, he released two albums, ''Amusement Arcade'' and ''3 a.m.'' His most recent studio album, ''Sàl'', was released in November 2019. In December 2020 he released a collection of previously unreleased tracks, b-sides and home recordings called "Pots and Pans".

Discography

Solo

*''Empty Beer Bottles & Peat Fire Smoke'' (2004) *''Skimming Stones... Sinking Boats'' (2008) *''Trust the Sea to Guide Me'' (2010) *''To the Horizon, Sir'' (2012) * ''Eas'' (2015) * ''Amusement Arcade'' (2018) * ''3 A.M.'' (2018) * ''Sàl'' (2019) * "Pots and Pans" (2020)

With poet Daibhidh Martin

*''Haunted Bird'' (2011)

With Crash My Model Car

*''Ghosts & Heights'' (2007)

With Poor Old Ben

*''Drawing Faces to Forget'' (2003)

References

Reviews

The Glasgow HeraldFolk Radio UKThe Scotsman gig review
*

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

br>reviewThe Herald Scotland

External links

Official Iain Morrison Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Iain Scottish male singer-songwriters Scottish singer-songwriters Scottish folk musicians Scottish male guitarists Scottish composers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Great Highland bagpipe players British male singer-songwriters