Troy Donockley

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Troy Donockley (born 30 May 1964) is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist most known for his playing of uillean pipes.

Donockley with You Slosh in 1991

Early life and career

Donockley was born in Workington, Cumbria; his parents were members of a band called Travelling Country. At the age of 16 Troy joined them, playing at many venues in West Cumbria. His father's record collection was broad and gave his son a love of classical, rock, country as well as traditional music. He is a multi-instrumentalist and a master of the uilleann pipes. His ambition as a teenager was to travel the world as a musician, but hated "empty pop created by cynical twerps".^{[citation needed]} The strangeness of the sound of the uilleann pipes enabled him to become a session musician with prog-rockers The Enid in 1987 on their album The Seed and the Sower.

Celtic-folk music

Donockley on guitar with You Slosh in 1991

In 1987 he formed Celtic Rock band 'You Slosh,^[1] recording Glorious Racket with them in 1989. In the following year he recorded as a session musician with celtic-folk band Iona. This was at the very beginning of the boom in celtic-folk bands, and both ventures were very successful. Donockley recorded one more album with You Slosh in 1991 plus nine more albums with Iona. He became an official member of the group in 1995 and left the band in 2009. Máire Brennan, a member of the best-known celtic-folk group, Clannad, called on Donockley to be a session musician on Two Horizons. Kathryn Tickell plays the Northumbrian smallpipes: Donockley made Debateable Lands^[2] with her in 1999, contrasting two types of pipes.

Together with Adrian Edmondson, Donockley founded the band The Bad Shepherds in 2008, performing punk and new wave classics on folk instruments.^[3] They have a CD out in 2009 on Monsoon Music.

Maddy Prior and Barbara Dickson

Both Barbara Dickson and Maddy Prior lived in the north of England, and Donockley met them both. Alongside her easy listening albums, Dickson also recorded folk albums. In 1994 and again in 2004, Donockley was a session musician for Dickson's folk albums and then went on to produce three of her albums including her latest "Words Unspoken (2010) . After recording Flesh and Blood with Prior in 1997, Donockley also became co-producer of her next four solo albums.

Session work

Donockley has recorded as a session musician with Roy Harper, Midge Ure, Del Amitri, Alan Stivell and Status Quo. Bruce Johnson of the Beach Boys has used him. Five albums by prog-rockers Mostly Autumn feature him, as do Welsh prog group Magenta on two albums. He also performed on "Etarlis," a 2007 release by Mermaid Kiss and on Dark Passion Play, a 2007 release by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Occasionally he also accompanied the band on their Dark Passion Play tour and features on the music video for the single "The Islander". When the band released their latest album Imaginaerum in 2011 he was asked to play a wide array of instruments including, uillean pipes, celtic bouzouki, tin and low whistles and was even asked to supply some Cumbrian chanting on the song, "The Crow, The Owl, and the Dove." He also joined the band on the Imaginaerum World Tour. He can be heard on recent movie soundtracks "Robin Hood" (Ridley Scott 2010) and "Ironclad" (Jonathan English 2011). Notably, he also performed at the Scottish leg of Live 8 with Midge Ure.

Classical ambitions

Donockley has composed music for choir and orchestra. He has gone to great lengths to find the right kind of studio production. The Unseen Stream (1998) and The Pursuit of Illusion (2003) put the uilleann pipes in a sound mix that has never been heard before. His latest work is the lavishly produced and packaged "The Madness of Crowds" (2009.

Discography

as session / guest musician

• The Enid - The Seed and the Sower (1987)
• Iona - Iona (1988), The Book of Kells (1992), Beyond These Shores (1993)
• Barbara Dickson - Parcel of Rogues (1994), Full Circle (2004)
• Kathryn Tickell - Debatable Lands (1999)
• Mostly Autumn - The Spirit of Autumn Past (1999), The Last Bright Light (2001), Passengers (2003), Storms Over Still Water (2005), Storms Over London Town (2006), Heart Full Of Sky (2007), Glass Shadows (2008), Go Well Diamond Heart (2010)
• Roy Harper – Royal Festival Hall Live - June 10th 2001 (2001)
• Mermaid Kiss - Etarlis (2007)
• Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (2007)
• Magenta - Metamorphosis (2008)
• Nightwish - Imaginaerum (2011)

as band member

• Iona - Journey Into The Morn (1996), Heaven's Bright Sun (1997), Woven Cord (1999), Open Sky (2000), The River Flows (2002), The Circling Hour (2006)
• You Slosh - Glorious Racket (1989), Lift Me Up (1991)
• The Bad Shepherds - Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera! (2009), By Hook or By Crook (2010)

with Maddy Prior

• Flesh and Blood (1997)
• Ravenchild (1999)
• Ballads and Candles (2000)
• Arthur The King (2001)
• Lionheart (2003)

with Dave Bainbridge

• When Worlds Collide (2005)
• From Silence (2005)
• From Silence (DVD) (2005)

as Soloist

• The Unseen Stream (1998) (remastered 2005)
• The Pursuit of Illusion (2003)
• The Madness of Crowds (2009)

References

External links

• Donockley's Official Website

0111.jpg Donockley strangling the goose]