Musical Guests

Bill Adair

As well as being a fine guitar player BILL ADAIR is one of Scotland’s busiest and most respected singer/songwriters.

Combining influences from folk and blues, Bill’s music addresses universal themes of love, work, loss and redemption. Equally at home singing a traditional Scottish ballad, playing blues from the Mississippi Delta or performing one of his own songs, Bill's performances are complemented by a natural story-telling style that is both thought-provoking and entertaining.

From his home base near Glasgow, Bill is in constant demand as a solo singer at festivals and folk clubs all over the UK and has also gained a reputation as an interpreter of the poems and songs of Robert Burns and performs at Burns Suppers throughout the country.

In September 2008 Bill released Along The Miners’ Rows, to critical acclaim. The CD, was written and recorded to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Auchengeich mining disaster, and featured a range of songs written by Bill including Along The Miners’ Rows, How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live and The Day That All The Lights Went Out.

April 2010 saw the release of Bill Adair’s second album for Sad Jeb Music, Dusty Boots on a Gravel Road, which contains both new songs by Bill and some fresh interpretations of works by Robert Burns, Ewan MacColl, Billy Edd Wheeler and Robin Laing.

For all press inquiries, interviews, features and bookings please contact Bill at mail@billadair.net or call 07913 901835.

John Lilly

John Lilly is a multi-talented acoustic music performer from Charleston, West Virginia, specializing in Americana, country roots, and traditional folk music. He writes new songs that sound as old as the hills, and performs older songs like they were made yesterday. According to one reviewer, “If Hank Williams had a sunny disposition, he’d be John Lilly.”

John has released five self-produced CDs. “Haunted Honky Tonk” achieved the #1 position on both the Freeform American Roots (FAR) and the Euro Americana radio charts in November 2007. “Broken Moon,” released in 2000, earned enthusiastic reviews and widespread radio airplay. Bluegrass Unlimited magazine called it one of the “most unusual and interesting acoustic disks of the year.” John’s second CD, “Last Chance to Dance,” released in 2003, debuted at #1 on the FAR radio chart and rose to #4 on the Euro Americana radio chart. His 2005 CD release, “Blue Highway,” is a collaboration with legendary Tennessee fiddler Ralph Blizard. John's latest CD, "John Lilly Live on Red Barn Radio," released in 2010, features Lilly in an intimate solo setting.

John is recognized internationally as a powerful performing songwriter. In 2005, he won the national Ghost Writers In the Sky songwriting contest, sponsored by HankFest, a Chicago-based festival honoring the music of Hank Williams. John won a customized guitar for his original song “Blue Highway.” He was a finalist in the 2002 Chris Austin Songwriting Competition at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, chosen from 853 entries and placing third in the Country category for his song "Broken Moon." John Lilly’s 2008 Mountain Stage radio performance is available at NPR Music.

John was born in Illinois in 1954 and has traveled and performed widely. A former member of the Green Grass Cloggers dance team, John spent years playing traditional string band music with groups including Ralph Blizard and the New Southern Ramblers. He is a former a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, and is currently editor of West Virginia’s Goldenseal magazine.