Alasdair Fraser
Fiddles & Figures
by Robert Kaye
Widely regarded as a leading performer, recording artist, and teacher of the rich fiddling tradition of his native Scotland, Alasdair Fraser is renowned for his expressive playing, engaging personality, and deep understanding of Scotland's music. Ostensibly, he's an important figure in the current Scottish cultural renaissance. In constant demand for solo engagements and concerts with a variety of ensembles, including his own band, Skyedance, Fraser's touring/teaching schedule includes appearances in Spain, France, Cyprus, Venezuela, Australia, Denmark, Canada, the U.S., Britain, and beyond. He has been featured on over 100 television and radio programs in the U.K. and U.S., including "Songs of Scotland" on the BBC, CBS's "Sunday Morning," and NPR's "Thistle and Shamrock." His solo album, Dawn Dance, won the Indie Award for Celtic Album of the Year in 1996.
But there's another side to Fraser that many people don't know. "I once had a previous existence as a petrol physicist in an oil company," he admitted. "When I was growing up, I always played music. But I was also into the sciences, math, all that stuff." Adhering to "some good Scottish counsel of the time," he pursued music as a serious, but loving, hobby, and later graduated from Edinburgh University with a major in physics. "I fell for that advice," he said, "and got a 'serious' degree. I always liked to ask questions, I guess, trying to figure things out." Hence, the natural sciences offered some appeal. While crunching numbers at school, he also performed with the university orchestra and played in the many pubs peppered around Edinburgh, having a great time, he admitted, with all his extracurricular music making.
Fraser's talents didn't go unrecognized. He won awards in both '73 and '74 in Scotland's National Mod Federal Champion, Open Competitions. But as far as his professional aspirations, "I wasn't sure what I was doing, I was just kind of blinkered at the time," he said. Upon graduation, Fraser took a job with British Petroleum doing oil exploration. He worked in London and even spent some treacherous time out on the petrol rigs stationed in the North Sea. "One of the first things they do to a young rookie coming out is make you climb to the top of the derrick in the middle of this floating semi-submersible oil rig."
All this time Fraser was questioning what he was doing, not just clinging desperately to a piece of metal atop the turbulent North Atlantic, but in his career in general, uncertain if he saw himself in the petroleum industry. Or any career outside of music.
He was just about to leave his "day gig" when his boss offered him a transfer to live in San Francisco and work in the petroleum fields of Alaska. In 1981, Fraser moved to California, where he flew to the Great White North a couple of times per week. All the while he was fiddling away during his free time, both in the streets of San Francisco and on the tundra of Alaska.
But he remained a torn man. "And one day. after all the soul searching about oil and just asking myself, 'What am I doing? Am I scientist or a musician, or what?' I had one of those penny-drop experiences. And I realized there's not one person on this planet that isn't influenced by music. I remember thinking this and going, 'Wow… Everybody uses music. It's in their lives.' And I realized then and there that music was a fundamental thing. It wasn't a luxury item. It wasn't just a hobby...for me, anyway. It wasn't something that was just stuck on." Fraser quit his job the very next day.
This is an excerpt. Read the full article in Dirty Linen #89 (Aug/Sept '00).
