Troy Donockley

Troy Donockley
Donockley with Nightwish in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Troy Donockley
Born	(1964-05-30) May 30, 1964 Workington, Cumbria
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Classic, rock, country, traditional
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Uilleann pipes, tin whistle, backing vocalist
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	Nightwish, Iona, Maddy Prior, The Bad Shepherds, Dave Bainbridge, The Enid, Barbara Dickson, Kathryn Tickell, Mostly Autumn, Roy Harper, Mermaid Kiss, Magenta, Kompendium, Ayreon
Website	www.troydonockley.co.uk

Troy Donockley (born 30 May 1964) is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist most known for his playing of uillean pipes. He has performed with symphonic metal act Nightwish as a sessional member since 2007, and joined the band permanently in October 2013.^[1]

Early life and career

Donockley was born in Workington, Cumbria; his parents 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 his son a love of classical, rock, country as well as traditional music. He is a multi-instrumentalist and a master of the uilleann pipes. His ambition as a teenager was to travel the world as a musician, but hated "empty pop created by cynical twerps".^{[citation needed]} 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 Seed and the Sower.

Celtic-folk music

Donockley on guitar with You Slosh in 1991

In 1987 he formed Celtic Rock band 'You Slosh,^[2] recording Glorious Racket with them in 1989. In the following year he recorded as a session musician with Celtic-folk band Iona. This was at the very beginning of the boom in Celtic-folk bands, and both ventures were very successful. Donockley recorded one more album with You Slosh in 1991 plus nine more albums with Iona. He became an official member of the group in 1995 and left the band in 2009. Máire Brennan, a member of the best-known Celtic-folk group, Clannad, called on Donockley to be a session musician on Two Horizons. Donockley recorded in 1999 "Our Kate" on the album Debateable Lands by Kathryn Tickell, contrasting two types of pipes with her, who plays the Northumbrian smallpipes.^[3]

Together with Adrian Edmondson, Donockley founded the band The Bad Shepherds in 2008, performing punk and new wave classics on folk instruments.^[4] They have a CD out in 2009 on Monsoon Music. A second album followed in 2010 By Hook or By Crook. http://www.thebadshepherds.com/merch.html

Maddy Prior and Barbara Dickson

Both Barbara Dickson and Maddy Prior lived in the north of England, and Donockley met them both. Alongside her easy listening albums, Dickson also recorded folk albums. In 1994 and again in 2004, Donockley was a session musician for Dickson's folk albums and then went on to produce three of her albums including her latest Words Unspoken (2010) . After recording Flesh and Blood with Prior in 1997, Donockley also became co-producer of her next four solo albums.

Session work

Donockley has recorded as a session musician with Roy Harper, Midge Ure, Del Amitri, Alan Stivell and Status Quo. Bruce Johnson of the Beach Boys has used him. Eight studio albums by prog-rockers Mostly Autumn feature him, as do Welsh prog group Magenta on two albums. He also performed on Etarlis, a 2007 release by Mermaid Kiss and on Dark Passion Play, a 2007 release by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Occasionally he also accompanied the band on their Dark Passion Play tour and features on the music video for the single "The Islander". When the band released their latest album, Imaginaerum, in 2011, he was asked to play a wide array of instruments including, uillean pipes, Celtic bouzouki, tin and low whistles and was even asked to supply some Cumbrian chanting on the song, "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove." He also joined the band on the Imaginaerum World Tour and can be seen on the DVD of the band's show at the Wacken Open Air festival, and he makes a brief appearance in the film Imaginaerum as a magician. In October 2013, he was asked to become a full-time member of the band and accepted the offer. He can be heard on recent movie soundtracks Robin Hood (Ridley Scott, 2010) and Ironclad (Jonathan English, 2011). Notably, he also performed at the Scottish leg of Live 8 with Midge Ure.

Classical ambitions

Donockley 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. His latest work is the lavishly produced and packaged "The Madness of Crowds" (2009).

Discography

as Troy Donockley

• The Unseen Stream (1998) (remastered 2005)
• The Pursuit of Illusion (2003)
• The Madness of Crowds (2009)

with Nightwish

• Dark Passion Play (2007) (as guest)
• Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places) EP (2009) (as guest)
• Imaginaerum (2011) (as guest)
• Showtime, Storytime (2013)

with Iona

• Iona (1988) (as guest)
• The Book of Kells (1992) (as guest)
• Beyond These Shores (1993) (as guest)
• Journey Into The Morn (1996)
• Heaven's Bright Sun (1997)
• Woven Cord (1999)
• Open Sky (2000)
• The River Flows (2002)
• The Circling Hour (2006)

with Maddy Prior

• Flesh and Blood (1997)
• Ravenchild (1999)
• Ballads and Candles (2000)
• Arthur The King (2001)
• Lionheart (2003)

with You Slosh

• Glorious Racket (1989)
• Lift Me Up (1991)

with The Bad Shepherds

• Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera! (2009)
• By Hook or By Crook (2010)

with Dave Bainbridge

• When Worlds Collide (2005)
• From Silence (2005)
• From Silence (DVD) (2005)

as session / guest musician

• The Enid - The Seed and the Sower (1987)
• Barbara Dickson - Parcel of Rogues (1994), Full Circle (2004)
• Kathryn Tickell - Debatable Lands (1999)
• Mostly Autumn - The Spirit of Autumn Past (1999), The Last Bright Light (2001), Passengers (2003), Storms Over Still Water (2005), Storms Over London Town (2006), Heart Full Of Sky (2007), Glass Shadows (2008), Go Well Diamond Heart (2010), "Ghost Moon Orchestra" (2012)
• Roy Harper – Royal Festival Hall Live - June 10th 2001 (2001)
• Mermaid Kiss - Etarlis (2007)
• Magenta - Home (2006), Metamorphosis (2008)
• Kompendium - Beneath The Waves (2012)
• Ayreon - The Theory of Everything (2013)

References

External links

• Donockley's Official Website