Judges
John Carmichael
John is one of the best known and popular band leader/entertainers in Scotland today with many recordings to his credit. He has produced, presented and played on Television, Radio and in theatres all over the world. He was the Accordion and Fiddle Association of Scotland’s guest of honour in 2004 and was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Perth Accordion Festival Hall of Fame in 2010.
A former Scottish Accordion champion, John plays regularly for the Queen at Balmoral Castle and has toured with many of Scotland’s top artists including Jimmy Shand, Andy Stewart, Kenneth McKellar, Calum Kennedy amongst others.
John has adjudicated on many occasions at the All Scotland Accordion Championship as well as the National Mod and the Musselburgh Festival.
Marie Fielding
Born in Edinburgh, Marie has played fiddle music from an early age and continues to follow a successful full time career as a musician, composer and fiddle tutor. She is an experienced Adjudicator having judged at many festivals over the years including the semi-finals of Young Traditional Musician of the Year and the semi-finals of the Trad Awards.
Having recently invested in a Ewen Thomson fiddle from Shetland and a Noel Burke bow from Ireland, Marie is enjoying playing more than ever and is in great demand performing with a vast range of top names from the Traditional music scene. Particular highlights for Marie over the past year have included featuring regularly on BBC Alba, playing for the Queen at Balmoral, recording with singer Jim Malcom, recording a new album with her band “Tribute” and performing at Celtic Connections and the Trad Awards, not forgetting numerous Take the Floor sessions and the 40th Anniversary NAAFC concert.
Marie has recently published Book 1 of her own compositions and now has her own record company, Rumford Records. During 2012 she plans to release another album, An Tra`, with accordionist Tom Orr, showcasing the best of Irish and Scottish music and musicians, as well as a Suite, composed by Marie.
As a lecturer at The Conservatoire in Glasgow and Fiddle Tutor at The Tolbooth, Stirling, Marie is passing on her knowledge of Traditional and Contemporary Music to a new generation of musicians
Alan Gardiner
Alan started playing accordion at the age of 10 and was tutored firstly by Alastair Gillespie in Biggar and latterly by the late great Chrissie Letham in Edinburgh. He started performing at functions aged 14 and went on to form his own Scottish Dance Band which has broadcast on “Take The Floor” since 1988.
The band have recorded three CDs and have played at a number of functions overseas including New Zealand, Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, Spain, Portugal and even the Isle of Mull!
Alan took a break from “serious” playing in 2000 but returned in 2009 and now plays at a number of events each year, purely for fun.
Graham Geddes
As a youngster Graham studied accordion under Peter Farnan and thanks to Peter’s guidance, Graham’s hard work and the support of his parents he was leading his own band by the young age of fourteen.
In the 1980’s Graham’s Scottish Dance Band played regularly on Take the Floor as well as appearing weekly on Grampian TV.
Graham then decided to expand his musical ability to include voice and piano studying at Trinity College London and subsequently taught himself the saxophone.
He has been running his own Aberdeen based function band for over 35 years performing all over Scotland and even finding time to tour North and South America, Canada, Europe and the Far East. For the Queen's 80th birthday Graham undertook the enormous task of lining up over 250 musicians to perform at Balmoral Castle where 7,000 people came to honour Her Majesty, a feat of which he is justifiably proud.
In summing up his career Graham reflects that "Diversifying my music has given me the opportunity to become a full time professional musician in Scotland, loving what I know and do best."
Gary Donaldson
Gary has been playing the accordion since the age of 7. He was initially taught by Mrs. Galea in Kirkcaldy before moving to the John Huband Music School in Muirhead where he was taught by Bobby Campbell and Dave Donaldson (no relation). In his early years he was a regular competitor at the Perth festival as well as various other competitions.
At the age of 15, along with his brother Colin, they made two LPs as the Donaldson Brothers, as well as their debut broadcast on Take the Floor and for several years they remained firm favourites on the Accordion Club and concert circuit.