Troy Donockley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Troy Donockley is an English player of uillean pipes.

1 Rejection of pop
2 Celtic New Age
3 Maddy and Barbara
4 Work with singer-songwriters
5 Classical ambitions
6 Discography

[edit] Rejection of pop

Troy was born about 1970 in Workington in Cumbria. His father and mother were members of a band called Travelling Country. At the age of 16 Troy joined them, playing at many venues in West Cumbria. His father's record collection was broad and gave Troy a love of classical as well as traditional music. He is one of the few Englishmen who are master of the uillean pipes. Additionally he plays guitar, flute, bouzouki, low whistle and keyboards. His ambition was to travel the world as a musician, but hated "empty pop created by cynical twerps". The strangeness of the sound of the uilleann pipes enabled him to become a session musician with prog-rockers The Enid in 1987 on their album The Sower and the Seed.

[edit] Celtic New Age

In 1987 he joined You Slosh, recording Glorious Racket with them in 1989. In the following year he recorded as a session musician with Iona, another Celtic New Age band. This was at the very beginning of the boom in new age bands, and both ventures were very successful. Troy recorded one more album with You Slosh in 1991 plus seven more Iona albums. He became an official member of the group in 1995. Máire Brennan, a member of the best-known new age group, Clannad, called on Troy to be a session musician on Two Horizons. Kathryn Tickell plays the Northumbrian smallpipes. Troy made Debataeable Lands with her in 1999, contrasting two types of bagpipe.

[edit] Maddy and Barbara

Both Barbara Dickson and Maddy Prior live in the north of England so it was almost inevitable that Troy would meet them. Alongside her easy listening albums, Barbara Dickson also records folk albums. In 1994 and again in 2004 Troy was a session musician for Barbara's folk albums. After recording Flesh and Blood with Maddy Prior in 1997, Troy became co-producer of her next four solo albums. He gave a prog-rock feel to material that is mainly traditional.

[edit] Work with singer-songwriters

Troy Donockley has recorded as a session musician with Roy Harper, Del Amitri and Status Quo. Maartin Allcock, a member of Fairport Convention has recorded an album of his own songs, with Troy playing on it. Bruce Johnson of the Beach Boys has used him. Five albums by prog-rockers Mostly Autumn feature him.

[edit] Classical ambitions

Troy has composed music for choir and orchestra. He has gone to great lengths to find the right kind of studio production. The Unseen Stream (1998) and The Pursuit of Illusion (2003) put the uilleann pipes in a sound mix that has never been heard before. If they are ever performed live, they will be expensive.

[edit] Discography

[edit] as Session Musician

The Enid - The Seed and the Sower (1987)
You Slosh - Glorious Racket (1989), Lift Me Up (1991)
Iona - Iona (1988), The Book of Kells (1992), Beyond These Shores (1993)
Barbara Dickson - Parcel of Rogues (1994), Full Circle (2004)
Tickell - Debatable Lands (1999)
Mostly Autumn - For All We Shared (1999), The Spirit of Autumn Passed (1999), Music Inspired By Lord Of The Rings (2002)