Kenny Thomson
By Karyn McCulloch
Music has always been in the Thomson household, as Dad (Jim) played the accordion and Mum (Eadie) played the piano. Young Kenny started playing the accordion in 1947 – three months before his fourth birthday. He was taught, as you would expect in a musical family home, by his mother and father, who had played in ‘Samson’s Band’ before Kenny was born. The very first tune Kenny learned was Loch Lomond, which he played on his first accordion – an 8 bass Steldini. Nowadays, Kenny plays a Hohner Morino V, with Gola couplers, which he bought in January 1966. It was the first of its kind the McCormick’s Music in Glasgow had ever seen! Prior to this he had a Domino Coupler Morino, but only for a couple of months, as he was having problems with it, so changed it for the new version. He also still has his Hohner Atlantic IV, which he has had since he was thirteen. This, he claims, was his first “decent accordion”.
His first public performance was at a wedding when he was about seven years old. He remembers being a bit nervous at the time, but is convinced that he’s more nervous before a gig now than he was that night!
In music terms, Kenny’s first love was Scottish Dance music – especially the master himself, Sir Jimmy Shand. When his music came on the wireless, everything else was put to the side – abandoned, until the dance music had finished. Initially, it was only the Shand Band that Kenny listened to – nobody else. However, as time went on and he got a wee bit older, he realized that there were other bands and began listening to these other players too.
Of course, he has other tastes in music away from the Scottish scene, pop music of the 60’s is always a favourite – even a touch of jazz and classical.
Following on from the initial influence of the ‘Shand dunt’, the next inspiration for the young aspiring bandleader came in the form of Ian Powrie, in the late 50’s. Then it was Stan Hamilton, who was originally from Auchincruive, before emigrating to Canada, where he made his name. He had his own inimitable style – strathspeys caught Kenny’s attention – which Stan played in a manner that he had never heard before.
The competition stage took its place in the very early years – until he was around ten years old. In fact, he won the first competition he competed in! It was the NAO Competition in 1953, held in the Christian Institute, Glasgow, and the second was in the MacLellan Galleries. In later years he went on to adjudicate various competitions, including the Ayr Accordion and Fiddle Festival in 1987 (where I was one of the junior competitors!) He is also an established composer having written a good many tunes.
Some of his favourite bands include the names of Sir Jimmy Shand, Ian Powrie and Stan Hamilton as already mentioned as well as Jimmy Blue, Jim Johnstone etc. Kenny makes special mention of one man in particular – Mickie Ainsworth.
The reason behind this goes back to Kenny’s early years. When he started out in bands, amplification was limited – if available at all. Most gigs would be parties in small village halls etc, so in order to get more volume bands would get more player since three accordionists sounded three times louder. When Mickie Ainsworth and Jimmy Blue joined Ian Powrie’s band in the late 50’s, sometimes Mickie stopped playing melody accordion and played chords and harmonies etc. His straight tunes Morino IV cut through everything else and really stood out. Kenny heard this and realised there was more to playing the accordion than just melodies. Kenny himself then evolved into the second accordionist in the band – all thanks to Mickie Ainsworth.
His first ‘band gig’ was with a pal – Ronnie Easton – who asked Kenny to play at a Guide party with him in the mid 50’s. The two played together at various stages over the years since then. After this, he started to get seriously involved with his dad’s band ‘the Melody Quintet’, which had evolved from ‘Samson’s Band’, playing modern dance music. Kenny filled in when his dad couldn’t manage. All other band work since then has been with his own band, although he has been able to gig with Jimmy Shand Jnr.
Kenny had a period away from the music scene – he got “fed up” and wanted a break but that was short lived and he was soon back with the band again. Then in 1976, Ronnie Easton came back into the scene. He contacted Kenny to play at a Country Dance in Newton Stewart, with Derek Lawrence – who had just formed a band. However, what Kenny didn’t know was that Derek was intending to do an audition for the BBC – with the band! Kenny thought he was just going to play at a dance! Kenny’s playing impressed Derek, who – during the interval – asked him to join the band for an audition. Thinking to himself, “I only came here to play for a dance – not for the BBC” Kenny replied “I’ll think about it”. Of course, in the end, he agreed to join the band for the audition. After lots of practices they finally went for the audition – and passed. Kenny’s first broadcast was, in fact, with this band in 1976. Derek emigrated to Canada within a year; Ronnie Easton then took over leading the band. Ronnie worked with Monsanto in Ayrshire and as luck would have it within a further year they moved his job to Birmingham. At this point Kenny was left “in charge”. During the initial two years, Kenny had been playing second box (“Mickie Ainsworth style”) and continued to do this. After Ronnie Easton left, Kenny asked a young Ian Muir (from Patna) to join the band and Ian took over where Ronnie had left off – playing lead box. It was at this point that ‘The Wardlaw Scottish Dance Band’ emerged.
The original line-up of the Wardlaw Band was : accordions Ian Muir and Kenny Thomson; fiddle – Gordon Simpson; piano – Colin Finlayson; bass Neil McMillan and drums – Duncan Burns.
Finally, when Ian left, Kenny took over the lead box role – that’s when the style of the band changed. Kenny was playing lead box and his brother Stuart, joined the band playing second box.
The current line-up of the Wardlaw: is lead accordion – Kenny Thomson; second accordion – Stuart Thomson; piano – Jim Clark; bass – Suzanne Croy and drums – Alex Wilson.
Incidentally ‘Wardlaw’ takes its name from a hill behind Muirkirk, Aryshire, where Kenny was “born and bred” – although he has been living in Cumnock for a while now.
Kenny has had the pleasure of traveling abroad with the band – having played twice in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This was with the full band, first in 1987 then again in 1989. In 2001, the band trio (Kenny, Stuart and Alex) enjoyed a trip to Sweden playing for the Ayr Branch of the RSCDS.
He has numerous radio broadcasts with his band to his credit, the most recent being for ‘Take the Floor’ earlier this year. As well as broadcasting, the band has recorded three albums for the RSCDS (two were recorded in the 80’s for Books 5 and 33 and one for Book 39 in the 90’s). He is hoping to record another album of dances independently, possibly later this year.
On a final note (pun intended!) Kenny has this advice for up and coming players “don’t listen to just one band or player. Listen to as many as you possibly can – and create your own style from them”.
Sound advice, I’d say. May I take this opportunity to thank Kenny for his time and for the nostalgic photographs he supplied for this feature.
Box and Fiddle
August 2003
If I recall correctly the style referred to above which Ronnie Easton/Kenny Thomson and Kenny Thomson/Ian Muir used was 8 bars unison with the two accordions playing the melody and then the repeat 8 bars with the more conventional chording from the second box – and this done throughout each and every set in a broadcast. It was very distinctive and since there was no room for error in the first 8 bars with two accordions and the fiddle all playing the melody I imagine it must have taken a lot of hard practice, even from these very talented accordionists. I have to say I was a great fan of the band – and as I say it was an instantly recognizable band sound – something bands have lost over the years. CT
His first public performance was at a wedding when he was about seven years old. He remembers being a bit nervous at the time, but is convinced that he’s more nervous before a gig now than he was that night!
In music terms, Kenny’s first love was Scottish Dance music – especially the master himself, Sir Jimmy Shand. When his music came on the wireless, everything else was put to the side – abandoned, until the dance music had finished. Initially, it was only the Shand Band that Kenny listened to – nobody else. However, as time went on and he got a wee bit older, he realized that there were other bands and began listening to these other players too.
Of course, he has other tastes in music away from the Scottish scene, pop music of the 60’s is always a favourite – even a touch of jazz and classical.
Following on from the initial influence of the ‘Shand dunt’, the next inspiration for the young aspiring bandleader came in the form of Ian Powrie, in the late 50’s. Then it was Stan Hamilton, who was originally from Auchincruive, before emigrating to Canada, where he made his name. He had his own inimitable style – strathspeys caught Kenny’s attention – which Stan played in a manner that he had never heard before.
The competition stage took its place in the very early years – until he was around ten years old. In fact, he won the first competition he competed in! It was the NAO Competition in 1953, held in the Christian Institute, Glasgow, and the second was in the MacLellan Galleries. In later years he went on to adjudicate various competitions, including the Ayr Accordion and Fiddle Festival in 1987 (where I was one of the junior competitors!) He is also an established composer having written a good many tunes.
Some of his favourite bands include the names of Sir Jimmy Shand, Ian Powrie and Stan Hamilton as already mentioned as well as Jimmy Blue, Jim Johnstone etc. Kenny makes special mention of one man in particular – Mickie Ainsworth.
The reason behind this goes back to Kenny’s early years. When he started out in bands, amplification was limited – if available at all. Most gigs would be parties in small village halls etc, so in order to get more volume bands would get more player since three accordionists sounded three times louder. When Mickie Ainsworth and Jimmy Blue joined Ian Powrie’s band in the late 50’s, sometimes Mickie stopped playing melody accordion and played chords and harmonies etc. His straight tunes Morino IV cut through everything else and really stood out. Kenny heard this and realised there was more to playing the accordion than just melodies. Kenny himself then evolved into the second accordionist in the band – all thanks to Mickie Ainsworth.
His first ‘band gig’ was with a pal – Ronnie Easton – who asked Kenny to play at a Guide party with him in the mid 50’s. The two played together at various stages over the years since then. After this, he started to get seriously involved with his dad’s band ‘the Melody Quintet’, which had evolved from ‘Samson’s Band’, playing modern dance music. Kenny filled in when his dad couldn’t manage. All other band work since then has been with his own band, although he has been able to gig with Jimmy Shand Jnr.
Kenny had a period away from the music scene – he got “fed up” and wanted a break but that was short lived and he was soon back with the band again. Then in 1976, Ronnie Easton came back into the scene. He contacted Kenny to play at a Country Dance in Newton Stewart, with Derek Lawrence – who had just formed a band. However, what Kenny didn’t know was that Derek was intending to do an audition for the BBC – with the band! Kenny thought he was just going to play at a dance! Kenny’s playing impressed Derek, who – during the interval – asked him to join the band for an audition. Thinking to himself, “I only came here to play for a dance – not for the BBC” Kenny replied “I’ll think about it”. Of course, in the end, he agreed to join the band for the audition. After lots of practices they finally went for the audition – and passed. Kenny’s first broadcast was, in fact, with this band in 1976. Derek emigrated to Canada within a year; Ronnie Easton then took over leading the band. Ronnie worked with Monsanto in Ayrshire and as luck would have it within a further year they moved his job to Birmingham. At this point Kenny was left “in charge”. During the initial two years, Kenny had been playing second box (“Mickie Ainsworth style”) and continued to do this. After Ronnie Easton left, Kenny asked a young Ian Muir (from Patna) to join the band and Ian took over where Ronnie had left off – playing lead box. It was at this point that ‘The Wardlaw Scottish Dance Band’ emerged.
The original line-up of the Wardlaw Band was : accordions Ian Muir and Kenny Thomson; fiddle – Gordon Simpson; piano – Colin Finlayson; bass Neil McMillan and drums – Duncan Burns.
Finally, when Ian left, Kenny took over the lead box role – that’s when the style of the band changed. Kenny was playing lead box and his brother Stuart, joined the band playing second box.
The current line-up of the Wardlaw: is lead accordion – Kenny Thomson; second accordion – Stuart Thomson; piano – Jim Clark; bass – Suzanne Croy and drums – Alex Wilson.
Incidentally ‘Wardlaw’ takes its name from a hill behind Muirkirk, Aryshire, where Kenny was “born and bred” – although he has been living in Cumnock for a while now.
Kenny has had the pleasure of traveling abroad with the band – having played twice in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This was with the full band, first in 1987 then again in 1989. In 2001, the band trio (Kenny, Stuart and Alex) enjoyed a trip to Sweden playing for the Ayr Branch of the RSCDS.
He has numerous radio broadcasts with his band to his credit, the most recent being for ‘Take the Floor’ earlier this year. As well as broadcasting, the band has recorded three albums for the RSCDS (two were recorded in the 80’s for Books 5 and 33 and one for Book 39 in the 90’s). He is hoping to record another album of dances independently, possibly later this year.
On a final note (pun intended!) Kenny has this advice for up and coming players “don’t listen to just one band or player. Listen to as many as you possibly can – and create your own style from them”.
Sound advice, I’d say. May I take this opportunity to thank Kenny for his time and for the nostalgic photographs he supplied for this feature.
Box and Fiddle
August 2003
If I recall correctly the style referred to above which Ronnie Easton/Kenny Thomson and Kenny Thomson/Ian Muir used was 8 bars unison with the two accordions playing the melody and then the repeat 8 bars with the more conventional chording from the second box – and this done throughout each and every set in a broadcast. It was very distinctive and since there was no room for error in the first 8 bars with two accordions and the fiddle all playing the melody I imagine it must have taken a lot of hard practice, even from these very talented accordionists. I have to say I was a great fan of the band – and as I say it was an instantly recognizable band sound – something bands have lost over the years. CT