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"...humor that bites like a bear,
pithy voice, dynamite in the fingertips ...amazing stage presence; one stroke of the bow,
one twitch of the eyebrow and the place goes wild..." - Schwâbische Post
Brian McNeill was born in 1950
in Falkirk, Scotland. He began his musical training in his early teens with formal violin
lessons, but soon forsook that instrument for the electric guitar. A comprehensive musical
education and a mildly misspent youth were the result - until his student years brought him
to Celtic music. He knew immediately that this was his music and as a direct consequence,
in 1969 he picked up his fiddle again and formed the Battlefield Band, one of Scotland's
best-known ensembles.
Brian plays fiddle, viola, mandolin,
cittern, bouzouki, guitar, concertina, bass and hurdy-gurdy, and the importance of his
songwriting (mostly about Scotland's past and future) has long been recognized. "The Yew
Tree," "The Lads O' The Fair," "Montrose" and "The Snows of France and Holland" were among
the best-loved of Battlefield Band's repertoire, and "The Devil's Only Daughter" won
Britain's prestigious National Songsearch competition in 1987. In 1990 recognition also
came in the USA, with the Texas Celtic Music Award for "The Rovin' Dies Hard." Since then
compositions such as "Strong Women Rule Us All With Their Tears," "Any Mick'll Do" and "No
Gods and Precious Few Heroes" have established him as one of Scotland's leading songwriters.
Brian has also toured with Scottish
"supergroup" Clan Alba, Ian MacKintosh, Martin Hayes, and Nova Scotia's Natalie MacMaster.
Brian has performed many times in Texas and is featured every year at the Texas Scottish
Festival in Arlington. In 2001, Brian was a featured headliner at the North Texas Irish
Festival along with Ed Miller and John Taylor. Brian's continuing connection with Texas
has led to him being created an honorary Texas by Governor George W. Bush in 1999. His
latest novel, To Answer The Peacock, was published in 1999 by Black Ace Books in Scotland,
along with a fiddle album and tune book of the same name.
Brian's production skills are very
much in demand and his name can be found on the back of some of the Celtic scene's most
important artists among them, Eric Bogle, Davey Arthur, The John Wright Band, Jock Duncan,
Ed Miller, Heather Heywood and Tony McManus.
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