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I started playing the piano at the age of six, then took up the violin at eight. I spent my early teenage years playing in the Hillhead Strings orchestra: once a year we spent a week of intensive practise at Castle Toward near Dunoon. Its beautiful setting was a real inspiration, and we were overseen by the wonderful John Maxwell Geddes.
 Folk
music began at the age of 13, when I joined the Glasgow Fiddle
Workshop in its early days under Jo miller. Traditional
music had always been around in the family, if only on tape.
My parents used to play, among others, a lot of Patrick Street,
Paul Brady, Planxty and De Danann, as well as Scottish artists
like Dougie MacLean and Dick Gaughan.
Several years spent with the Inishowen Ceili Band took me to every
conceivable corner (and every church hall!) of the Central Belt
of Scotland. I also formed my own band, The Broken Peg,
and we became stalwarts of student ceilidhs around Glasgow.
I competed in the yearly Irish music competitions for a couple
of years, winning senior fiddle in the all-Britain fleadh in ’98
and ’99.
1998 was about the time I made some of my  longest-lasting
musical friendships. Lawrence McElhinney, an outstanding
button accordion player, introduced me to the Glasgow session
scene. He also took me regularly over to Edinburgh and the
heady sounds and atmosphere of the sessions on the Royal Mile.
I also met Sean O’Donnell around this time, who’d
landed in Glasgow from Derry seeking fame and fortune. Sean
had a rock music background but he picked up the backing for folk
music at a terrifying pace and is still finding new and inventive
accompaniments to this day. Sean currently plays with the legendary
Battlefield Band.
In late 2000 Sean and I got together with Padraig O’Neill, a recent refugee from Kerry. We called the band 'Benêche' – a bizarre name from my history degree, but it stuck. A demo recorded that November became a full-length album, which we released in January 2003.
 That
same month at Celtic Connections, the band won a Danny Kyle Open
Stage award, and Benêche took on an additional member in
the form of Martin O’Neill. Martin is a terrific bodhran
player who has wowed audiences with his skills all over the world,
playing with such distinguished acts as Flook and the Micbael
McGoldrick Band.
I’ve toured quite a bit with Benêche. Highlights
would include the Orkney and Shetland folk festivals, Celtic Connections
alongside the Dubliners, excursions to Manchester and Wales, and
of course Lorient in summer 2004 where we were finalists in the
prestigious band competition.
Starting in February 2005 I began recording towards my first,
and hopefully not my last, solo album. It was released at
Celtic Connections in January 2006 and was received well, winning
good reviews in various newspapers, magazines and websites as
well as geting UK and international radio play.
I am now based in London with my wife Becky, playing and teaching
full-time. As well as solo gigs, I play in a band with the wonderful
accordion player Colette O'Leary and the magical banjo and mandolin
genius Brian Kelly. Happy days!
Take it easy,
Jamie Smith |
