Jim Malcolm was brought up in Perthshire and Angus and was steeped in the traditional music of Scotland from an early age. He learned to play guitar while at school and by his early twenties was winning songwriting competitions and playing in folk clubs all over Scotland.
His career began to take off when he hosted the open stage at Edinburgh Folk Festival, and through his own playing there secured a contract with Greentrax for his first solo album. This brought in bookings at folk clubs and festivals in Britain and abroad, and established Jim as one of the leading songwriters in the traditional idiom in Scotland. He was dubbed: "The new male voice of Scotland."
Jim has given songwriting and song accompaniment masterclasses at many festivals, including Scotland's foremost festival, Celtic Connections in Glasgow. STV broadcast a documentary on Jim and Angus singer Jim Reid for its Artery series, and their singing was featured in the "best of" programme which rounded off the series. He was one of twelve leading Scottish singers who performed Andy Thorburn's epic work Tuath gu Deas, and has featured on volumes four, five and six of Linn Records Complete Songs of Robert Burns, produced by Dr Fred Freeman. Jim also sang in the Northern Nights series on Grampian TV and STV.
In January 1999 Jim joined one of Scotland's most popular international folk acts, the "Old Blind Dogs" from North East Scotland, and has since worked with them all over the UK, in France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, USA, Canada and Bulgaria. To date career highlights also include solo tours in USA, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Ireland and England, solo studio spots on Travelling Folk, an appearance on STV's Hogmanay show and a tour in Uganda. His song Neptune featured on an award-winning documentary about a North Sea oil spill.
A busy year of touring on both sides of the Atlantic, 2004 finished on a high when Jim won Songwriter of the Year, and Old Blind Dogs won Scottish Folk Band of the Year, at a glittering awards ceremony in Edinburgh in December, all organised by the Scots Trad Music Society.
www.JimMalcolm.com