Phil Cunningham - Biography
By J Poet
Phil Cunningham is one of Scotland’s most versatile folk musicians, a player, singer songwriter, and producer, and member of two influential folk bands, Silly Wizard and Relativity. Since 1986 he’s been performing with Aly Bain and collaborating with him on a series of albums and TV projects. His first classical composition, “Highlands and Islands Suite” premiered at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1996.
Phil Cunningham was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1960. Musically precocious he started accordion lessons at three and violin soon later. He was classically, but loved the folk music of Scotland as well. He was the first violinist in the orchestra of Portobello High, in Edinburgh, but was not taken seriously by his music teacher who predicted a grim musical fate for him and his older brother Johnny.
Phil and Johnny played folk music together all through high school. Phil wanted to be a zoologist, but when Johnny joined Silly Wizard in 1976, he signed up too. Silly Wizard had a whimsical name, but the band was serious about the folk music of Scotland. The band started at Edinburgh University when Gordon Jones and Bob Thomas met. They went through almost a dozen musicians before finding Johnny Cunningham and Andy Stewart, who became their lead singer and main songwriter. After their debut album, Phil joined the band and with the Cunningham brothers in two, the band went on to international fame with albums like Caledonia's Hardy Sons (1978 Shanachie), So Many Partings (1980 Shanachie), Wild & Beautiful (1981 Shanachie), and Kiss the Tears Away (1983 Shanachie).
After the breakup of Silly Wizard, Phil and Johnny toured as a duo and made several albums including Against the Storm (1980 Shanachie), Thoughts from Another World (1981 Shanachie), and Fair Warning (1983 Green Linnet). Phil Cunningham also made his first solo album Airs & Graces (1984 Green Linnet).
The brothers next joined two Irish siblings Triona Ni Dhomhnaill and Michael O Dhomhnaill, in the archly named band Relativity. Their Scotch/Irish fusion produced two wonderful folk rock albums Relativity (1986 Green Linnet) and Gathering Pace (1987 Green Linnet). After the band broke up, Phil made his second solo effort Palomino Waltz (1989 Green Linnet). Both his solo albums were later released as Re:Box (1999 Green Linnet).
In 1988, Aly Bain of the Boys of the Lough, asked Cunningham to help him prepare incidental music for Down Home, a British TV series that traced the folk music of Britain, Scotland and Ireland to America and back. They hit it off and started performing as a duo and have made five albums together The Pearl (1995 Green Linnet), The Ruby (1997 Green Linnet), Another Gem (2000 Compass), Spring The Summer Long (2003 Whirlie) and Roads Not Traveled (2006 Whirlie).
In the 90s, Cunningham became musical director and composer for director/playwright Bill Bryden’s productions of The Ship in 1990 and The Big Picnic. He was also musical director for BBC Scotland’s traditional music show, Talla a’Bhaile, and Hogmanay Live. He also opened CAP Recording Studios, to help his growing career in production. He helmed four successful albums by the American Celtic singer Connie Dover, Somebody (1991 Taylor Park), The Wishing Well (1994 Taylor Park), If Ever I Return (1997 Taylor Park) and The Border of Heaven (2000 Taylor Park) and has worked with Dolores Keane on Dolores Keane (1988 Round Tower) Altan on Horse with a Heart (1989 Green Linnet), and folk rock band Wolfstone on their breakout album Year of the Dog (1994 Green Linnet).
His “The Highlands and Islands Suite,” commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council, was performed by a 150 musicians and singers in Glasgow in 1996. Cunningham was awarded the MBE for services to Scottish Music in 2002 and was voted Best Instrumentalist at the inaugural Scottish Traditional Music Awards in 2003.
