Old Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music rhythms. The three founding members of the band (Ian F Benzie, Buzzby McMillan and Jonny Hardie) first met during a so-called "buskers' holiday" in the Scottish Highlands in 1990, and after playing together for the summer decided to call themselves "Old Blind Dogs". Dave Francis and Carmen Higgins joined the band soon afterwards, but left in 1992 before the recording of the first album, New Tricks. Since that time, the lineup of the band has changed frequently, with only Jonny Hardie remaining from the original group.
The Old Blind Dogs were named "Folk Band of the Year" at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2004 and 2007. Also in 2004, Jim Malcolm was named Songwriter of the Year. In 2001, the UK’s Association of Independent Music selected their album Fit? as a finalist for the Celtic Album of the Year award.
The band was, until the departure of Jim Malcolm, unusual amongst Scottish folk groups in that it represented the folk tradition of the North-East of Scotland, having a repertoire that included many ballads from this particular area, often sung in the distinctive 'Doric' dialect of Aberdeen and the surrounding area.
The band have toured extensively, performing in Britain, the USA, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, and Russia.
1990–92
1992–96
1996–97
1997–99
1999–2003
2003–2006
2007-2008
2008-
| Old Blind Dogs member timeline, 1990 – present | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | 1990s | 2000s | now | |||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Releases | New Tricks | Close to the Bone | Tall Tails | Legacy | Five | Live, The World's Room | Fit? | The Gab o Mey | Play Live | Four on the Floor | ||||||||||||
| Ian F. Benzie | guitar, vocals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Jonny Hardie | fiddle, mandolin, guitar, backing vocals | fiddle, guitar, backing vocals | fiddle, guitar, vocals | |||||||||||||||||||
| Buzzby McMillan | cittern, bass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Carmen Higgins | fiddle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dave Francis | percussion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Davy Cattanach | percussion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fraser Fifield | small pipes, saxophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Graham Youngson | percussion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Jim Malcolm | guitar, harmonica, lead vocals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rory Campbell | border pipes, whistles, vocals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul Jennings | percussion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fraser Stone | drums, percussion | percussion | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Aaron Jones | bouzouki, bass, backing vocals | bouzouki, guitar, vocals | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ali Hutton | border pipes, whistles | |||||||||||||||||||||