Fiddlers' Bid are a Shetland based instrumental group known for playing contemporary arrangements of traditional Shetland fiddle tunes. The seven piece line-up consists of four fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

s, acoustic guitar

Acoustic guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

, bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 and piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

/Clàrsach

Clàrsach

Clàrsach or Cláirseach , is the generic Gaelic word for 'a harp', as derived from Middle Irish...

.

The band have performed at some of the largest folk festivals in the world including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held for two weeks around the Fourth of July holiday...

, Cambridge Folk Festival

Cambridge Folk Festival

The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is renowned for its eclectic mix of music and a wide definition of what might be considered folk. It occurs...

, Festival Interceltique de Lorient

Festival Interceltique de Lorient

The Festival Interceltique de Lorient or Gouelioù Etrekeltiek An Oriant was founded in Lorient, Brittany in 1971 by Polig Montjarret...

 and Celtic Connections

Celtic Connections

The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international...

, and have toured extensively including performances at Melbourne Concert Hall and Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

.

Several members of the band play Ewen Thomson

Ewen Thomson

Ewen Thomson is a luthier from Shetland specialising in violins, violas and cellos.Ewen grew up in a musical family in Fair Isle and at age 16 began studying at The Newark School of Violin Making, graduating with merit. He was the youngest ever student to be accepted onto the course. In 1991 he...

 violins

Discography

• Da Blue Tape, Wheatleyback Recordings (1991)
• Around The World, Fiddlers’ Bid Recordings (1994)
• Hamnataing, Greentrax (1998)
• Da Farder Ben Da Welcomer, Greentrax (2001)
• Naked and Bare, Greentrax (2005)
• All Dressed in Yellow, Hairst Blinks Music (2009)

Awards and achievements

• Band members Chris Stout
  Chris Stout
  Chris Stout is a fiddle/violin player from Shetland, now based in Glasgow. Stout grew up in Fair Isle, a small Shetland island, and lived there until 8 years of age before moving to Sandwick on the Shetland mainland, then on to Glasgow in the 1990s....
  
   and Andrew Gifford have both won the Shetland Young Fiddler of the Year
  Young Fiddler of the Year
  Shetland's Young Fiddler of the Year is an annual competition held over two days organised by the Shetland Folk Society.It is open to fiddle players 16 or under from Shetland with around 80 entrants each year...
  
   competition
• Festival Interceltique de Lorient
  Festival Interceltique de Lorient
  The Festival Interceltique de Lorient or Gouelioù Etrekeltiek An Oriant was founded in Lorient, Brittany in 1971 by Polig Montjarret...
  
  , France, Winners of “La Trophe La Bolee de Corrigans” (1994)
• Scottish Folk Awards “Best Live Act” (2003)
• Australian Entertainment Industry Association's Helpmann Awards nomination “Best Contemporary Music Concert Presentation” (2003)
• Band member Catriona McKay won "Instrumentalist of the Year" in the Scots Trad Music Awards
  Scots Trad Music Awards
  The Scots Trad Music Awards celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention.-2010:...
  
   (2007)
• Scots Trad Music Awards
  Scots Trad Music Awards
  The Scots Trad Music Awards celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention.-2010:...
  
   nomination "Best Live Act" (2005)
• Scots Trad Music Awards
  Scots Trad Music Awards
  The Scots Trad Music Awards celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention.-2010:...
  
   nomination "Scottish Folk Band of the Year" (2007)
• Scots Trad Music Awards
  Scots Trad Music Awards
  The Scots Trad Music Awards celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention.-2010:...
  
  winner "Album of the Year" for All Dressed in Yellow (2009)