Ian Bairnson is a Scottish

Scottish people

The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, famous for being one of the core members of The Alan Parsons Project

The Alan Parsons Project

The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....

. He is a multi-instrumentalist, who has played saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

 and keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

, although he is best known as a guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

. He is also known for preferring the sound of a sixpence to a plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...

.

Bairnson grew up Levenwick

Levenwick

Levenwick is a very scenic small village about south of Lerwick, on the east side of the South Mainland of Shetland. It is part of the parish of Dunrossness and the Levenwick Health Centre provides medical support for the Dunrossness area....

 in Shetland before his family moved to Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Midlothian

Midlothian

Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....

, Scotland when he was nine years old following the death of his father.

He was a session guitarist

Session musician

Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

 before joining up in 1973 with former Bay City Rollers

Bay City Rollers

The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...

 musicians David Paton

David Paton

David Paton is a Scottish bass and guitar player, most notably with three different bands: Pilot, The Alan Parsons Project, and Camel. He has also worked as a solo artist, session musician, and sometime vocalist...

 and Billy Lyall

Billy Lyall

Billy Lyall was a Scottish musician.Born William Lyall in Edinburgh, Scotland, Lyall was a keyboard player and vocalist with Pilot, and an early member of the Bay City Rollers. He also contributed to The Alan Parsons Project with fellow Pilot members, and released a solo album, Solo Casting in 1976...

 in the band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

, Pilot

Pilot (band)

Pilot was a pop rock musical group, formed during 1973 in Edinburgh, Scotland by the former Bay City Rollers members, David Paton and Billy Lyall.-Career:...

, and contributed the harmony guitar parts to their hit

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

 single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "Magic

Magic (Pilot song)

"Magic" is a popular song from 1974, and was the first hit single for the Scottish band Pilot. It was written by Pilot's Dave Paton.It charted most successfully in Canada, where it reached #1, topping the RPM national singles chart on July 19, 1975, and received a gold certification...

". During this time with Pilot, he first collaborated with Parsons, the record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 on their debut self-titled album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

. It was this relationship that helped incorporate most of the band's members (bassist/lead singer Paton and drummer Stuart Tosh

Stuart Tosh

Stuart MacIntosh is a drummer, songwriter and vocalist.Also known as Stuart Tosh, MacIntosh recorded and toured with a succession of well-known and respected bands during the 1970s and 1980s, including Pilot, The Alan Parsons Project, 10cc and Camel. Stuart now lives in the Bridge of Don area of...

) into the Alan Parsons Project. He played the distinctive guitar solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 on the track

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" from Parson's I Robot

I Robot (album)

I Robot is a progressive rock album recorded by The Alan Parsons Project, engineered by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson in 1977. It was released by Arista Records in 1977 and re-released on CD in 1984 and 2007. It was intended to be based on the I, Robot stories written by Isaac Asimov, and Woolfson...

album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

.

As a guitarist, he has been featured on every Project

The Alan Parsons Project

The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....

 album, including the 1984 side project Keats

Keats (band)

Keats was a short-lived British band which produced one eponymous album in 1984. It was an Alan Parsons Project offshoot. Its members were Colin Blunstone , Ian Bairnson , Pete Bardens , David Paton and Stuart Elliott .-Track listing:...

. He has also been featured on albums like Kate Bush

Kate Bush

Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...

's The Kick Inside

The Kick Inside

-Personnel:*Kate Bush: Piano, Composer, Keyboards, Vocals, Background Vocals*Ian Bairnson: Guitar, Vocals, Background Vocals, Bottle*Paddy Bush: Harmonica, Mandolin, Vocals*Barry DeSouza: drums*Stuart Elliott: Drums...

(notably playing the guitar solo on "Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights (song)

"Wuthering Heights" is a song by Kate Bush released as her debut single in January 1978. It became a No.1 hit in the UK singles chart and remains her biggest-selling single. The song appears on her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside. The B-side of the single was another song by Bush named "Kite" -...

") and also with the band Bucks Fizz

Bucks Fizz (band)

Bucks Fizz are an English pop group who achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comprised four vocalists: Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and...

 (he wrote two of their Top 20 hits, "If You Can't Stand The Heat

If You Can't Stand The Heat (Bucks Fizz single)

"If You Can't Stand the Heat" is a single by UK pop group Bucks Fizz. It was released in November 1982 and became the group's fifth top 10 single in the UK. The song was written by Andy Hill and guitarist Ian Bairnson...

" and "Run for Your Life").

Currently he lives in Spain, where he owns a recording studio. He is a session guitarist and has been touring with a number of different bands, the latest being Junk

Junk (band)

Junk is a British pop band. Their song "Life Is Good" has famously appeared in numerous films, including the 2003 movie Agent Cody Banks, the 2006 movie The Benchwarmers, the 2002 movie When In Rome, the 2007 movie "A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper", Veronica Mars, the series 10...

(Bairnson, Jesús Gabaldón, Pau Chaffer, Sarah Rope and Ángel Celada).

External links