Shetland-Music.com

Another of the finest fiddle prospects to come out of Shetland for a number of years.

Ross, who hails from an incredibly musical family, began playing the fiddle at the age of 8, although his musical interests were ignighted long before that - pictures are said to exist of him at a much younger age in the company of great, late fiddlers Willie Hunter and Shaun McGuire.

Initially tutored by Bernadette Porter at Brae High School, Ross no doubt also gained significantly from the fact that his mother Margaret Scollay was, and still is, a prominent fiddle tutor in a number of Shetland schools. Shortly after he moved to a school in Lerwick his mother also became his 'official' fiddle tutor, while he additionally studied violin with local tutor Alan Gifford.

Over and above playing the fiddle, Ross is also a highly proficient guitarist and a better than average drummer too.

In 2003 he won the title of Young Traditional Fiddler of the Year and came second in the open section of the Shetland Young Fiddler of the Year.

Soon afterwards he left Shetland to take up a place at the 'National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music' at Plockton - the first young musician from Shetland to do so. Inevitably this was a challenging and rewarding experience for Ross and one that very much expanded not only his talents but also his musical horizons.

The following year this was further enhanced when he gained a place to study traditional and folk music at Newcastle University, where one of his tutors was fellow Shetland musician Catriona Macdonald.

While studying at Plockton, Ross had been part of a group formed withing the centre named 'Fiddle De Fiddle Dum' who, after moving on from Plockton, maintained their musical relationship, eventually renaming themselves 'Bodega'.

In 2005 'Bodega' reached the finals of the 'BBC Radio 2 - Young Musician of the Year' Competition - going on to triumph in the grand final held at the Sage in Gateshead.

Part of their award were appearances at a number of high profile festivals including the Cambridge Folk Festival, while appearances at Glasgow's Celtic Connections and the Heb Celt Festival in Stornoway also followed. Almost inevitably they have subsequently gone on to perform at many other national and international events.

The group released their eponymous debut album on the Greentrax label in 2005

Ross is also a member of the Shetland group Gaddery who toured America in the early part of 2006 and look set to make a return visit to the States in the not too distant future.

In whatever guise you happen to see or find him you can be sure of one thing - its very likely to be an exciting one and a pretty rewarding experience.

Links

• Bodega at Footstompin