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Finlay Allison
Fiddle
Finlay is fiddler and caller with the renowned Cloud Howe Ceilidh Band and plays guitar, mandolin and fiddle with Stramash, folk supergroup. He is an enthusiastic teacher of Scottish fiddle, children and adults, for South Lanarkshire Council and the Glasgow Fiddle Workshop and runs a class on Monday evenings in St. Andrews in the Square.
He has recorded for Greentrax, Lismore and Living Tradition Records, accompanying singers Adam MacNaughtan, Bob Blair, Anne Neilson, Kevin Mitchell and John Eaglesham. With Stramash, he has performed in Scotland, (most recently at Celtic Connections 2003), in Ireland and at the National Folk Festival. He has performed with Stramash on various recordings and for STV on 'McGinn of the Calton' with Robbie Coltrane. Radio appearances include Radio Scotland's 'Travelling Folk' and 'Take the Floor' and he collaborated on music for the Radio 4 play 'The End of Ane Old Sang' with Gordon McCulloch and Palaver, starring John Sessions as Daniel Defoe performed as part of the celebrations for the opening of the Scottish Parliament.
With Cloud Howe, Finlay has performed all over Scotland from Celtic Connections to the Orkney Folk Festival.
As a schoolboy he was recommended to Decca Records by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. He has performed with them as well as accompanying many of the best singers in Scottish Traditional music, performing several times at the Edinburgh International Festival, most recently in 2002.
In addition to his musical enthusiasm, he teaches primary children with learning difficulties in Glasgow. He and his partner have five daughters and the love of music is central to their outlook on life.
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