John McCusker
John McCusker (born 15 May 1973) is a Scottish folk musician, record producer and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and producer for folk singer Kate Rusby. He has served as producer and arranger for artists in a range of genres and also has several solo albums to his credit. Career. McCusker was born in Bellshill, 15 May 1973 near Glasgow, Scotland, to an Irish mother who encouraged him to learn to play the fiddle beginning at  age seven. He became a regular in local youth orchestras and ceilidh bands and formed the band Parcel O'Rogues (named from Robert Burns' "Sic a Parcel o' Rogues in a Nation") with some schoolmates when he was 14. A couple of years later he gave up a place at the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow to go on the road with the Battlefield Band. His first solo album was released by Temple in 1995. McCusker spent eleven years as a member of the Battlefield Band. He also guested on albums by Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller, Teenage Fanclub, Danny Thompson , Eddi Reader, Tim O'Brien and Linda Thompson. By then he was already involved with folk singer Kate Rusby. He joined her band, and became her producer. They married in August 2001, but divorced in 2006. He has shared stages with Bonnie Raitt, Patti Smith, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash, Paolo Nutini and Jools Holland, and been featured on recordings by Mark Knopfler, Paul Weller, Teenage Fanclub, and Ocean Colour Scene. Film and TV work include soundtracks for the movie "Heartlands" (2002), "Billy Connolly's World Tour of New Zealand" and the Jennifer Saunders sitcom "Jam & Jerusalem". His most recent solo album , "Goodnight Ginger", was released in 2003. McCusker won the Spirit of Scotland award for music in 2001 and the BBC Radio 2 folk musician of the year in 2003. McCusker's work as a producer includes debut albums by Kris Drever and Roddy Woomble. He's also manned the controls for singers Eddi Reader, Linda Thompson and Eliza Carthy, and is currently at work on the forthcoming solo release from Radiohead drummer Phil Selway. After a 6-month world tour with Mark Knopfler, McCusker released a new record along with Orcadian singer Kris Drever and Idlewild front man, Roddy Woomble . The album "Before the Ruin" was released in September 2008, and features members of Teenage Fanclub, Radiohead, Michael McGoldrick and Heidi Talbot. In 2007, McCusker was jointly commissioned by the Celtic Connections festival and Cambridge Folk Festival to compose "Under One Sky", uniting Scottish and English musicians of different genres, from Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis to ex-Blur guitarist Graham Coxon. He toured to support "Under One Sky" in the UK in November and December 2008. After bassist Mike McNamara introduced John and Simon Fowler of Ocean Colour Scene to each other, Fowler subsequently presented him with the BBC Radio  2 folk musician of the year award in 2003. McCusker has appeared live on numerous of times with the Birmingham band, and in 2012 McCusker appeared on Fowler's 'Merrymouth' album, he also joined the band on their UK tour In 2014, McCusker once again appeared on Fowlers solo project, now called Merrymouth, brand new album 'Wenlock Hill'. The album also features a guest appearance from Chas Hodges from Chas and Dave