John McCusker

Infobox musical artist
Name = John McCusker

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Img_capt = With Mark Knopfler July 18, 2008 at the NAC in Ottawa
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
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Born = 1974
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Origin = Glasgow, Scotland
Instrument = fiddle, whistle, piano, cittern
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Associated_acts = Battlefield Band, Kate Rusby, Roddy Woomble, Kris Drever, Eddi Reader
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Notable_instruments = Violin

John McCusker is a Scottish folk musician. He was born in 1974, and began playing the fiddle at the age 7. He became a regular in local youth orchestras and ceilidh bands and formed the band Parcel O'Rogues (named from Robert Burns' "Rogues In A Nation") with some schoolmates when he was 14. A couple of years later he gave up a place at the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow to go on the road with the Battlefield Band. [ [http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishpost/ents/glasgow.asp Glasgow goes green] ]

He was in the Battlefield Band for 11 years and by the time he left he was one of the top traditional musicians in the land, also composing a rich fund of original tunes. McCusker also guested on albums with many musicians including Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller,Teenage Fanclub, Danny Thompson, Eddi Reader, Tim O'Brien and Linda Thompson. By then he was already involved with folk singer Kate Rusby. He joined her band, became her producer and married in August 2001. They later divorced.

McCusker is mainly known for his virtuoso fiddle playing, but is also a skilled player of other instruments including whistles, piano and cittern. In recognition of his contribution to Scottish Music he was presented with the Spirit of Scotland Award for Music in 2000.

He also worked with Rusby on the music for the Miramax movie "Heartlands", directed by Damien O'Donnell. It went on general release in 2003 distributed by Buena Vista.

As a producer he has been involved in some of the best-selling and most critically-acclaimed folk albums in recent years, including Kate Rusby's Mercury Music Prize-nominated "Sleepless", plus releases by Eliza Carthy, Linda Thompson, Cathie Ryan and Blazin' Fiddles. The 2006 debut solo album by Idlewild lead singer Roddy Woomble was also produced by John and featured Kate Rusby and Karine Polwart on vocals. A new Woomble record is being worked on for a possible 2008 release.

In an interview with newspaper The Scotsman, McCusker said he's going to produce an album with Radiohead drummer Phil Selway later in 2007.

John toured with Mark Knopfler in 2008. [ [http://www.mark-knopfler.net/ KTGC Tour personnel] ]

In 2007, John was jointly commissioned by the Celtic Connections festival and Cambridge Folk Festival to compose Under One Sky, uniting Scottish and English musicians of different genres, from Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis to ex-Blur guitarist Graham Coxon. Under One Sky will be touring the UK in December 2008.

Other recent and current activities include a new songwriting trio with the aforementioned Drever and Woomble. The Drever/McCusker/Woomble album Before The Ruin was released in September 2008.

Discography

Albums

* "John McCusker" (1995)
* "Yella Hoose" (2001)
* "Goodnight Ginger" (2004)
* "Before the Ruin" (2008) (with Roddy Woomble and Kris Drever)

References

External links

* [http://www.johnmccusker.demon.co.uk/ John McCusker - brand new website]