Findlay Napier

Napier grew up in Grantown on Spey. In 1996 he moved to Glasgow to join the BA (Scottish Music) course at the RSAMD (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). He graduated from the RSAMD in 1999 playing with a series of Scottish traditional music bands in Glasgow. In 2000 he had been working as Margaret Bennett's accompanist and had toured with her in Scotland and France. After working on the "In the Sunny Long Ago" with producer Martyn Bennett he was invited by Gillian Frame, Hamish Napier and Simon McKerrell to join Back of the Moon. That year Back of the Moon recorded their debut album "Gillian Frame and Back of the Moon". Back of the Moon toured from 2000 till 2007 releasing three albums and finishing with a final gig in the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. on 21 November 2007.

Findlay was approached by producer and engineer Nick Turner to begin a songwriting project which they later named "Queen Anne's Revenge". They began writing on the evening of 14 December 2003 and had written four songs by the next morning including "Ship in a Bottle" and "Out All Night".

Before the demise of Back of the Moon, Napier began working on a project called Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers. As the project developed it moved further from traditional material towards a contemporary Indie Folk sound.[1][2]

With help from Creative Scotland and Hands Up for Trad Findlay began a mentoring project with singer songwriter Boo Hewerdine. The pair ended up writing seventeen new songs and recording and releasing an album called VIP: Very Interesting Persons. Each song on VIP is about a real life character who has led an interesting life. Hewerdine produced Napier's second solo album "Glasgow" a collection of covers and original songs about the city.

Findlay met and co-wrote with Megan Henwood and Rebecca Loebe these collaborations led to Loebe and Napier's 2018 EP and tour "Filthy Jokes" and Henwood and Napier's 2019 Story Song Scientist EP and tour.

Findlay has hosted the 'Late Night Session' at Celtic Connections since 2011 and was the creator and musical director of Hazy Recollections [3] a mini festival within a festival that celebrates and connects acts whose music meets at the boundaries of the indie, folk and roots scenes.

Findlay runs songwriting retreats with Karine Polwart and Bella Hardy and is the director of Glasgow Songwriting Festival.

• Katie Morag (TV series) Struay Pictures 2014– Actor, Sven, Katie Morag's Uncle
• "Fonn Fonn Fonn" Moja TV 2014– Musician, Straight Guy
• "Garaids" BBC Alba 2008– Performer, Assistant Musical Director
• "Around Scotland" BBC Education 2007– Musical Director, presenter
• "Scotlands Music with Phil Cunningham" BBC Scotland 2007– Performer
• "" MnE- 2007– Arrangements, Guitar, Backing Vocals

• Official website
• Glasgow herald: From The Blue Nile to the Blue Lagoon, Glasgow inspires musician Findlay Napier
• Scotsman: Findlay Napier on his new album Glasgow, a homage to the Dear Green Place