Troy Donockley
Composer, arranger and orchestrator. Instruments: Uilleann pipes, Celtic whistles, Ebow and electric guitars, keyboards and percussion. Vocalist.
Troy was born on May 30th 1964 in Workington, Cumbria. His father and mother were members of a band called Travelling Country. At the age of sixteen Troy joined them, playing at many venues in West Cumbria. His father’s record collection was broad and gave Troy a love of classical as well as traditional music. He is one of the few Englishmen who are masters of the Uilleann pipes. Additionally he plays guitar, flute, bouzouki, low whistle and keyboards. His ambition was to travel the world as a musician, but hated ‘empty pop created by cynical twerps’. The strangeness of the sound of the Uilleann pipes enabled him to become a session musician with prog-rockers The Enid in 1987 on their album The Sower and the Seed.
In 1987 he joined You Slosh, recording the album Glorious Racket with them in 1989. In the following year he worked as a session musician with Christian Celtic folk band Iona. Troy recorded one more album with You Slosh in 1991 plus nine more albums with Iona. He became an official member of the group in 1995. Máire Brennan, a member of the best-known Celtic folk group Clannad called on Troy to be a session musician on her album Two Horizons.
After recording Flesh and Blood with Maddy Prior in 1997, Troy became co-producer of her next four solo albums. He also produced Barbara Dickson, in particular the exceptional Nothing’s Gonna Change My World album of classic Lennon and McCartney songs. He has also recorded a joint album with Midge Ure of Ultravox entitled Duet in May 2006. Five albums by prog-rockers Mostly Autumn feature Troy on pipes and whistle. He also performed on Etarlis, a 2007 release by Mermaid Kiss, and on Dark Passion Play, the 2007 release by Finnish symphonic-metal band Nightwish with whom he also tours. Together with Adrian Edmondson, Maartin Allcock and Andy Dinan, Troy founded The Bad Shepherds in 2008, performing punk and new wave classics on folk instruments. He also performs with and scores musical works for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
So far, Troy has released three solo albums: The Unseen Stream (1998), The Pursuit of Illusion (2003) and The Madness of Crowds (2009).