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James Graham
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| Biography: | |
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When James Graham won the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the
Year award in 2004, James was not only the first Gaelic singer to win, he was
also the first male winner. James, who also plays the pipes, grew up in a
household where music was an essential part of family life. Although his mother,
an accordionist, is the only other family member who plays an instrument,
James's father and sister are good singers and were always singing around the
house, and at weekends, friends and family members regularly gathered for
ceilidhs. James began singing Gaelic at competition level at the age of ten and quickly became a prize-winner at both local and national Mods, the Gaelic music and poetry festivals. By the time James moved on to Ullapool High School, he was playing the bagpipes under the tutelage of Norman Gillies. He continued piping as a subsidiary study when he went to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in 1999, with singing as his principal study. Coached and encouraged by his tutor at the RSAMD, the well-known singer and immensely knowledgeable Gaelic scholar Kenna Campbell, James became increasingly passionate about singing and he credits Kenna Campbell with giving him the confidence to enter the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition. While studying at the RSAMD, where he gained his BA (Hons) in Scottish Music, James researched the songs of his home area, Assynt, for his dissertation, talking to the few remaining native Gaelic speakers and collecting songs from them. He feels emotionally tied to these songs and is dedicated to keeping them alive. He is also passionate about singing pibroch, which he learned from the brilliant piper and folklorist, Allan MacDonald. |
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| Bagpipe, Vocals | |
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