Robin Williamson

Cover of Ring Dance (1998)

Robin Williamson (born 24 November 1943, Edinburgh) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, songwriter and storyteller.

He became a professional musician at the age of 16, and in the early 1960s traveled to London with Bert Jansch to play the metropolitan folk circuit. By 1965 he had returned to Edinburgh and formed a duo with Clive Palmer, specialising in fiddle and banjo arrangements of traditional Scots and Irish songs. Joe Boyd signed them to Elektra Records in 1966, by which time they had recruited third member Mike Heron. As resident band at Clive’s Incredible Folk Club in Glasgow, they called themselves the Incredible String Band.

Between 1966 and 1974 the Incredible String Band, based around the duo of Williamson and Heron, released some 13 albums, becoming one of the most popular, best-loved and influential groups of the era. For more information, see ISB main entry

Williamson released his first solo LP, "Myrrh", in 1971 when still a member of the Incredible String Band. After the band split up in 1974, he began living in Los Angeles and, for a while, turned his attention to writing, co-writing an espionage novel, "The Glory Trap". By 1976 he had returned to music, forming The Merry Band, who released three albums "Journey’s Edge", "American Stonehenge", and "A Glint At The Kindling".

After the breakup of the Merry Band, Williamson returned to the UK and started to tour solo, offering sets dominated by traditional stories set to song. Releases of this period include "Songs of Love and Parting" and "Legacy of the Scottish Harpers". Williamson's concern with the British bardic tradition also manifested itself in several books and tapes containing spoken renditions of traditional tales. He has also written a tutorial book of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes (ISBN 0-8256-0165-7)

In the late 1990s he took part, with Palmer and Heron, in a reformed ISB.

Discography (incomplete)

for Incredible String Band albums see main ISB entry

• Myrrh (1972)
• Journey’s Edge (1977) (with The Merry Band)
• American Stonehenge (1978) (with The Merry Band)
• A Glint At The Kindling (1979) (with The Merry Band)
• The Legacy of the Scottish Harpers (1980)
• Songs of Love & Parting (1981)
• Five Bardic Mysteries (1985)
• The Island Of The Strong Door (1995)
• Ring Dance (1998)
• The Old Fangled Tone (1999)
• The Seed-at-Zero (2001)

External links

• Official Robin and Bina Williamson website