Neil Sinclair
by Charlie Kirkpatrick
In November last year I had the honour of being guest artiste at the 40th birthday celebrations of Oban Accordion and Fiddle club and while there I met up with one of the founder members, an old friend of mine from schooldays namely Neil Sinclair from Connel. During the interval, I had a chat with Neil surely one of the unsung heroes of our music scene.
Neil was born in 1948 in Connel, 5 miles outside Oban, the youngest of four children to Peter and Peggy Sinclair. Neil’s father had a croft and some of Neil’s earliest memories are of having to milk the cows and then deliver milk round the village before setting off for school. In the byre was an old piano and after church on Sundays, Neil used to sit at the piano trying to play the hymns which he had just heard. When he was about 10 years old Neil was given an accordion by his uncle and he seems to have practised non- stop because the story goes that Neil’s father used to complain that he couldn’t get to eat his breakfast in peace because of the incessant sound of the accordion. Around this time Willie Lowe, the bass player with Bobby MacLeod’s band, came to live in the village and he was a great inspiration to Neil assisting him with chords and all different types of music.
On leaving school, while working as a postman and also with the Forestry Commission, Neil joined Colin Campbell’s band and at that time bought his next accordion, an Excelsior Multi Musette, from J D Forbes’ music shop in Dundee. This was an exciting time for the band and they got their big break when Alasdair Gillies asked them to tour with him. Gigs all over Scotland and even as far afield as the Royal Albert Hall in London followed. They made over 60 appearances on the Alasdair Sings programme for STV and also made several LPs.
One experience in particular sticks in Neil’s mind. On the island of Lewis it was normal to do a two house concert followed by a dance. However on this occasion the dance seemed to be finishing early at midnight, but the band’s hopes of an early night were dashed when they found that they had to go a few miles further down the road set up the gear and play for another dance which then finished at about 5am.
After a few years on tour with Colin Campbell, Neil gave up touring to concentrate on post office work in the Oban area and around this time he met Sheila who had come to teach at Oban High School. They were married the next year and subsequently their three children Isla, Sileas and Craig were born. By this time Neil had taken over the running of Connel Post Office and, because the space permitted, he started giving accordion lessons in the rear of the Post Office. Over the years many of his pupils have gone on to become very well known in the music scene among them Ross McPherson, Hector McFadyen, Donald Shaw, Gary Innes, Megan Henderson and Andrew Macdonald. Many of his pupils will remember helping to wheel mail bags up to Connel station to put them on the Glasgow train after their lessons
Teaching accordion also took Neil to Islay once a month, Fort William once a week and he also taught in Fergie Macdonald’s hotel for a spell. There was one memorable trip when he was asked by Father Colin MacInnes to go out to Barra to teach. The trip out from Oban was in a force 10 gale and lasted 15 hours. The trip back home was easy – only force 8
Neil played many gigs around Oban with the late Billy Ford and in fact they ran the Highlands Restaurant at the local Corran Halls for a few years. While there, they promoted and provided the musical backing for many shows at the Corran Halls featuring Kenneth McKellar and also Norman MacLean. Neil says of Kenneth, “He was a lovely man, I learnt a lot from him”. There are many stories about gigging with Norman but Neil recalls one gig in Ardnamurchan and as they set off for home, a journey normally taking three hours, Norman said “Oh, did I not tell you we are playing in London tomorrow night?” So they set off overnight for London arriving about mid-day, did the gig, and drove straight home after the show.
In 1980 Calum MacPhail, the well-known fiddler from Dalmally, phoned Neil up and asked if he could do a gig in Manila. Thinking that Manila was somewhere down in Kintyre Neil said “Yes” only to discover that Manila was 6,500 miles away in the Philippines. That was his first of many trips abroad - to Egypt with Colin Campbell where he was nicknamed Tutankhampbell, Brazil with Alasdair Hunter and India with Ryan McGlynn.
With Neil teaching accordion and Sheila running a successful Highland dance school, thoughts turned to a possible Festival in the area. As a result of a few friends gathered round the Sinclair kitchen table, the Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival was born in 1983. It has gone from strength to strength, attracting over 1,000 competitors, and the fringe events continue to thrive. One of the highlights for Neil is the Invitational Accordion and Fiddle competition held on the Friday at the start of the Festival.
Neil has also had a long association with Oban Gaelic Choir, singing in the bass section and then conducting the choir from 1979 until 1986. Incidentally his mother, who spoke no English until she went to school, had a great knowledge of Gaelic songs and music which she was happy to pass on to her family. Unfortunately speaking the language wasn’t passed on to the family as speaking Gaelic at school and in the playground was frowned upon. Neil was particularly proud when the choir, presently conducted by his daughter Sileas, won the Lovat and Tullibardine competition at the Royal National Mod in Oban last October.
Neil currently plays as The Neil Sinclair Sound, with his wife Sheila on piano and Don McAllister on fiddle. His present accordion is a Borsini with the option of free bass - this came about after he became friendly with Oleg Sharov, professor of music at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, who played a Bayan free bass accordion. Learning the free bass is Neil’s plan for retirement – watch this space!!!
Over the years Neil has composed many tunes and in the last few years has used the Sibelius programme to put them on computer. Sheila tells me that Neil and computers don’t exactly see eye to eye and it is just as well that the family are able to rally round to act as his help line. One of his compositions came about as he was waiting for the weather to improve to go to Lismore. As he had been asked many times to play Leaving Lismore, Neil thought that Going to Lismore would make a good title for a tune – the tune was composed and played at the dance that night. Who knows, perhaps Neil will get round to publishing a book of his compositions one day.
That then is Neil Sinclair who has done much to foster our music through his playing, his organisation of the Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival and by his teaching. We are pleased to welcome him to our Celebrity Luncheon as one of our Guests of Honour.
Box and Fiddle
May 2016
Neil was born in 1948 in Connel, 5 miles outside Oban, the youngest of four children to Peter and Peggy Sinclair. Neil’s father had a croft and some of Neil’s earliest memories are of having to milk the cows and then deliver milk round the village before setting off for school. In the byre was an old piano and after church on Sundays, Neil used to sit at the piano trying to play the hymns which he had just heard. When he was about 10 years old Neil was given an accordion by his uncle and he seems to have practised non- stop because the story goes that Neil’s father used to complain that he couldn’t get to eat his breakfast in peace because of the incessant sound of the accordion. Around this time Willie Lowe, the bass player with Bobby MacLeod’s band, came to live in the village and he was a great inspiration to Neil assisting him with chords and all different types of music.
On leaving school, while working as a postman and also with the Forestry Commission, Neil joined Colin Campbell’s band and at that time bought his next accordion, an Excelsior Multi Musette, from J D Forbes’ music shop in Dundee. This was an exciting time for the band and they got their big break when Alasdair Gillies asked them to tour with him. Gigs all over Scotland and even as far afield as the Royal Albert Hall in London followed. They made over 60 appearances on the Alasdair Sings programme for STV and also made several LPs.
One experience in particular sticks in Neil’s mind. On the island of Lewis it was normal to do a two house concert followed by a dance. However on this occasion the dance seemed to be finishing early at midnight, but the band’s hopes of an early night were dashed when they found that they had to go a few miles further down the road set up the gear and play for another dance which then finished at about 5am.
After a few years on tour with Colin Campbell, Neil gave up touring to concentrate on post office work in the Oban area and around this time he met Sheila who had come to teach at Oban High School. They were married the next year and subsequently their three children Isla, Sileas and Craig were born. By this time Neil had taken over the running of Connel Post Office and, because the space permitted, he started giving accordion lessons in the rear of the Post Office. Over the years many of his pupils have gone on to become very well known in the music scene among them Ross McPherson, Hector McFadyen, Donald Shaw, Gary Innes, Megan Henderson and Andrew Macdonald. Many of his pupils will remember helping to wheel mail bags up to Connel station to put them on the Glasgow train after their lessons
Teaching accordion also took Neil to Islay once a month, Fort William once a week and he also taught in Fergie Macdonald’s hotel for a spell. There was one memorable trip when he was asked by Father Colin MacInnes to go out to Barra to teach. The trip out from Oban was in a force 10 gale and lasted 15 hours. The trip back home was easy – only force 8
Neil played many gigs around Oban with the late Billy Ford and in fact they ran the Highlands Restaurant at the local Corran Halls for a few years. While there, they promoted and provided the musical backing for many shows at the Corran Halls featuring Kenneth McKellar and also Norman MacLean. Neil says of Kenneth, “He was a lovely man, I learnt a lot from him”. There are many stories about gigging with Norman but Neil recalls one gig in Ardnamurchan and as they set off for home, a journey normally taking three hours, Norman said “Oh, did I not tell you we are playing in London tomorrow night?” So they set off overnight for London arriving about mid-day, did the gig, and drove straight home after the show.
In 1980 Calum MacPhail, the well-known fiddler from Dalmally, phoned Neil up and asked if he could do a gig in Manila. Thinking that Manila was somewhere down in Kintyre Neil said “Yes” only to discover that Manila was 6,500 miles away in the Philippines. That was his first of many trips abroad - to Egypt with Colin Campbell where he was nicknamed Tutankhampbell, Brazil with Alasdair Hunter and India with Ryan McGlynn.
With Neil teaching accordion and Sheila running a successful Highland dance school, thoughts turned to a possible Festival in the area. As a result of a few friends gathered round the Sinclair kitchen table, the Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival was born in 1983. It has gone from strength to strength, attracting over 1,000 competitors, and the fringe events continue to thrive. One of the highlights for Neil is the Invitational Accordion and Fiddle competition held on the Friday at the start of the Festival.
Neil has also had a long association with Oban Gaelic Choir, singing in the bass section and then conducting the choir from 1979 until 1986. Incidentally his mother, who spoke no English until she went to school, had a great knowledge of Gaelic songs and music which she was happy to pass on to her family. Unfortunately speaking the language wasn’t passed on to the family as speaking Gaelic at school and in the playground was frowned upon. Neil was particularly proud when the choir, presently conducted by his daughter Sileas, won the Lovat and Tullibardine competition at the Royal National Mod in Oban last October.
Neil currently plays as The Neil Sinclair Sound, with his wife Sheila on piano and Don McAllister on fiddle. His present accordion is a Borsini with the option of free bass - this came about after he became friendly with Oleg Sharov, professor of music at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, who played a Bayan free bass accordion. Learning the free bass is Neil’s plan for retirement – watch this space!!!
Over the years Neil has composed many tunes and in the last few years has used the Sibelius programme to put them on computer. Sheila tells me that Neil and computers don’t exactly see eye to eye and it is just as well that the family are able to rally round to act as his help line. One of his compositions came about as he was waiting for the weather to improve to go to Lismore. As he had been asked many times to play Leaving Lismore, Neil thought that Going to Lismore would make a good title for a tune – the tune was composed and played at the dance that night. Who knows, perhaps Neil will get round to publishing a book of his compositions one day.
That then is Neil Sinclair who has done much to foster our music through his playing, his organisation of the Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival and by his teaching. We are pleased to welcome him to our Celebrity Luncheon as one of our Guests of Honour.
Box and Fiddle
May 2016