Ian Bairnson

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Legendary guitarist Ian Bairnson (born August 3, 1953 in Levenwick, Shetland Isles, Scotland) has been one of the most sought after sessionists in the music industry, working with a myriad of artists from a plethora of musical genres. Producer, engineer, and composer and long time collaborator Alan Parsons has said of Ian, "he is arguably the best guitarist in the UK".

Although born in the Shetlands, Bairnson grew up in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

His commercial success started in 1974, with the band Pilot. During this time with Pilot, he collaborated with Parsons, the producer on their debut self-titled album. It was this relationship that helped move most of the band's members (bassist/lead singer David Paton and drummer Stuart Tosh) into The Alan Parsons Project.

His guitar work, emphasis, and influence is evident all throughout the Project's long history, however critics feel his strongest performances came from the early 1990s, when the Project became the Alan Parsons Band. Critical acclaim is drawn to songs from the album Try Anything Once (especially "Mr. Time" and "Jigue"), as well as songs from the follow-up album On Air (especially "Cloudbreak" and "Blown By The Wind").

[edit] Collaborations

Besides working with Alan Parsons, Bairnson has also worked with the following artists:

Yvonne Keeley, Scotch Mist, Jack Harris, David Courtney, William Lyall, Marylin Miller, Arlan Greene, Hudson-Ford, Paul McCartney & Wings, Don Black & Geoff Stephens, Steve Harley, Kate Bush, Rab Noakes, Chris De Burgh, Chris Rainbow, John Townley, Lenny Zakatek, Eberhard Schoener, Maximum Penetration, Les Lavin, Jon Anderson, Bucks Fizz, Elaine Paige, Paris, Mick Fleetwood, Bob Fish, Bananarama, Esther Ofarim, Bardo, Panarama, Akira Inoue, Prelude, Rick Cua, David Van Day, Julia Downes, Andrew Powell, Bobby Gee, Keats, Kenny Rogers, Mari Iijima, Uwe Buschkotter, David Sylvian, Anri, James Reyne, Nobuhide Saki, Thomas Anders, Masamichi Sugi, Eric Woolfson, Yukio Sasaki, Yui Asaka, Kyoko Koizumi, Chage & Aska, Marie Claire, Tom Jones, David Paton, Tam White, Marian Gold, Stefano Pieroni, Beverley Craven, Jim Diamond, Marajan, Takafumi Ishida, Mary Mac, Jargon, Manolo Garcia, Alfonso XII, Carola, and Liverpool Express.

Bairnson's proficiency as a saxophone player was made evident on The Time Machine, his collaborative effort with Parsons. More recently, he is doing session and touring work with a number of different bands, the latest being that of the band Junk (Ian Bairnson, Jesús Gabaldón, Pau Chaffer, Sarah Rope, Ángel Celada).