Colin Mackenzie: guitar, mandolin, fiddle, harmonicas, percussion
and vocals.
Alistair McDougald: banjo, guitar, percussion and vocals.
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BIOGRAPHY
With many years of experience entertaining corporate, hotel, pub and club customers in and around Scotland, the hallmark of Yard Of Ale is their versatility in both material and instrumentation. Acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins, fiddle and harmonicas along with some nifty three part harmony and plenty of good crack between numbers has established the band as a complete entertainment package. Their repertoire and it's presentation is a refreshing slant on popular folk music which has proved to appeal to the most varied of audiences.
Yard Of Ale are currently playing a mixture of traditional and contemporary music mainly from Scotland, Ireland and America with material suitable for any venue. From the Corries to Credence, the Dubliners to Dylan, shows can be "themed" for any occasion.
Yard Of Ale are the popular hosts of the highly acclaimed Caledonian Folk and Blues Festival in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where they have performed annually since it's inception in 1994. The band are featured regularly on Forth 2's "Ken's Ceilidh" and were invited guests (first foot) on Central FM's "Hogmanay Show" in 2004. Normally headlining their own shows, the band have also supported Michael Marra and the Alexander Brothers at some of their recent shows.
HISTORY
Yard Of Ale formed originally in 1972 and had ten successful years on the pub and club circuit, winning the TV Times "Pub Entertainers of the Year" award, doing well on ITV's "New Faces" and appearing on many television and radio shows including STV's "Thingummyjig" and BBC Scotland's "Scottish Radio Orchestra Roadshow". During this time they also supported, amongst others, Matt McGinn, Hamish Imlach, and Billy Connolly and enjoyed an extended run at the Edinburgh Festival with the legendary Tim Hardin.
Thereafter they went their separate ways........Alistair performing solo on the club cabaret circuit, Colin forming and playing with North Sea Gas folk group and Ian Lawson, the band's original guitarist, leading a successful rock band.
In 1992 the group reformed for a project in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Bill Hill in which they performed acoustic music spanning 30 years........Skiffle, Folk, Protest, Calypso, Country and Contemporary.
Since then the band have been in great demand for concerts, folk festivals, corporate functions, pub and club gigs all over Scotland and when on tour in Ireland.
Peter joined the band when Ian retired in 1998. Having spent many years as a singer/guitarist playing solo on the folk and country scenes, Peter's experience has added yet another dimension to the band.
"One of the hits of this year's festival" - Danny Kyle, BBC Radio Scotland.
TECHNICAL
Yard Of Ale travel with professional self contained sound and
lighting systems suitable for indoor and outdoor use.
