Iain Morrison

Biography

- Iain is from an Island off the north west coast of Scotland called Lewis. - He currently lives near Glasgow. - He recently appeared on the BBC’s Transatlantic Sessions singing Broken Off Car Door, A Lewis Summer and Fire in my Hands alongside the likes of Bela Fleck, Danny Thompson and Jerry Douglas. - He has released 4 albums on his own label: Empty Beer Bottles and Peatfire Smoke (2004), Skimming Stones…Sinking Boats (2008), Trust the Sea to Guide me (2010), Haunted Bird with the poet/stor...

- Iain is from an Island off the north west coast of Scotland called Lewis.
- He currently lives near Glasgow.
- He recently appeared on the BBC’s Transatlantic Sessions singing Broken Off Car Door, A Lewis Summer and Fire in my Hands alongside the likes of Bela Fleck, Danny Thompson and Jerry Douglas.
- He has released 4 albums on his own label:
Empty Beer Bottles and Peatfire Smoke (2004),
Skimming Stones…Sinking Boats (2008),
Trust the Sea to Guide me (2010),
Haunted Bird with the poet/storyteller Daibhidh Martin (2011)
- He can play a number of instruments including various types of pipes. At a young age he grew to love the classical music of the highland pipes (piobaireachd) which was taught to him by his father using a technique called canntaireachd! In 2010 he was commissioned to write songs based on these ancient melodies by the Celtic Connections festival. The piece he wrote received a 5 star review from the Scotsman newspaper. These songs are yet to be recorded.
- He was the writer and singer with the Scottish indie band Crash My Model Car. They were signed to V2. The band broke up in 2009.
- In his small house there are too many instruments and not enough chairs!

‘These were songs you instantly wanted to hear all over again'
5/5 – THE SCOTSMAN

'Iain Morrison's music is an enigmatic and truly original mix of creative elements which, beyond its immediate sonorous beauty, has a depth of startlingly imaginative, even surreal, observation'
Hi-Arts

‘Highly Recommended' - The LIST

'Morrison is from the Outer Hebrides and his atmospheric songs are awash with the bleak beauty of the region. A remarkable slice of rural folk' R2 Magazine

‘His vocals exude an appealing vulnerability, a beguiling sort of alt- folk haven'
4/5 - SONGLINES

‘But the heart of the afternoon, at least for this reviewer, is the set by Iain Morrison and Daibhidh Martin. Morrison, who cut his milk teeth in the piping tradition of the Western Isles before going on to indie success with Crash My Model Car, is a musician who could well claim to be one of the original pioneers of Scottish Nu-folk, were he at all interested in that kind of thing. Martin, accompanied only by an imperturbable cellist and Morrison’s guitar, breathes lyrics in the inimitable accents of Lewis and stills the room. Morrison curls over the microphone and tears his songs straight out of his heart; it’s hard to keep a dry eye during “Angel Wings in the Closet”. The presence of most of the Hidden Lane Choir in the audience helps considerably when he asks for vocal help on a chorus. “You are the only one”, sings the audience. It’s true – there is only one Iain Morrison’ – NORTHINGS.Com

‘From the most humble of beginnings, the music of Iain Morrison is both distant and disarmingly intimate, carefully reserved and unflinchingly honest, desolately bare and overgrown in a tangle of emotion. To The Horizon, Sir is shot through with life lived on the edge of nowhere, shimmering with nuanced beauty and life's complex nature. An unfettered musician, Iain has his colours nailed to a mast strained with full sail and an eye fixed on where the sky meets the sea. Let it take you’ - Mike Donald

Winner of 'Composer of the Year' at the Scots Trad Awards 2010.
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