About me

    EP ‘WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW’ listen via spotify, apple music, iTunes etc.. This EP has been a labour of love, a reaction and cathartic response to real emotion. The EP features longterm collaborators Siobhan Wilson on cello, Jerry Burns on vocals and Kieran Heather on guitar, bass and synth, Kieran also recorded and mixed the whole EP.

The EP has already had extensive radio play on BBC Radio Scotland and Radio6 Music

Alistair’s singing has lead him to be invited to collaborate on stage with established musicians such as Karen Matheson, Craig Armstrong, Siobhan Wilson and Jerry Burns. Over the years he has supported Tiny Ruins, Alice Boman, Weyes Blood, The Trembling Bells and Jo Mango amongst others. He has just completed his Masters of Design at the Glasgow School of Art in ‘Sound for the Moving Image’ adding another element to his creative side.

Alistair’s second album was released in 2015, under the record label ‘JULY MOON RECORDS’. Alistair collaborated with talented friends to be involved in his creative process. The cast is a stellar one which hopefully proves the worth of thisrecording. ‘July Moon’ was rated amongst the ‘Top 50 albums of 2015’ in The Herald. 

Louis Abbott lead singer from Admiral Fallow produced the album and layed percussion, Jamie Savage, part of the Chem 19 empire was the engineer and Kenny Macleod mastered the final product. Craig Armstrong, world renowned film composer arranged the strings on the opening track ‘Deep Blue Sea’. Following this collaboration, Alistair was invited to perform at Craig’s concert during Celtic Connections 2015 at the Royal Concert Hall featuring the Orchestra for Scottish Opera and other amazing guests. Alistair’s staple guitarist on the recording and on stage is Kieran Heather, fiddle player Kristan Harvey, full time member of the group ‘Blazin Fiddles’ plays beautifully on this recording also.

Alistair has been booked for numerous festivals and concerts including various venues at Celtic Connections, Moniaive Folk Festival, The Insider, The Pleasance Sessions, and many others.

Alistair has been featured on many radio programmes including Tom Robinson’s Radio6 MixTape, The Iain Anderson Show, The Roddy Hart Show, Take the Floor, Travelling Folk and Global Gathering. BBC World on 3 and several other world wide radio stations. Alistair has also been featured on National BBC TV.

Finalist in the BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2011 and 2012 which led to performing in the magnificent City Halls, being featured on TV, and taking part in The Young Trad Tour around Scotland. He was nominated in the Up and Coming Artist category at the BBC ALBA MG Trad Awards 2012.  Male Vocalist of the year 2012 at the FATEA awards.

His debut album was recorded in winter of 2011 and released on the record label Greentrax in early 2012. The album was recorded and produced by ‘Burns Unit’ fame Mattie Foulds and features Aly Macrae, Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson. These talented people helped create an album of refreshing, traditional and original songs intertwining dark ancient ballads alongside folk classics and self penned material. The album had widespread coverage, reviews, and a 4 star review in the ‘Scotsman on Sunday’

Quotes

 

“127 poised and gorgeous seconds of Prelude by the Glasgow songwriter Alistair Ogilvy“

      Tom Robinson BBC Radio6 on the ‘what am I supposed to do now’ EP

“Plenty of promise in the strong tunes and atmospheric lyrics, full of references to the sun, moon, sea and other big stuff often referenced by Scottish writers”

Ian Croft  ‘R2 Magazine’ ****

If you are given JULY MOON by Alistair Ogilvy then you certainly should give it a whirl.

Ian Ambrose ‘Maverick Magazine’ ****

Alistair Ogilvy, July Moon (July Moon Records)

“Singer Alistair Ogilvy certainly has the knack of gathering good folk around him. Following his Mattie Foulds-produced trad-repertoire Greentrax debut, Leaves Sae Green, this very different follow-up has Louis Abbott of Admiral Fallow in the producer’s chair, Hollywood score-writer Craig Armstrong providing the string arrangement for opening track Deep Blue Sea, and Gillian de Groote and Fiona Robertson of the BBC SSO joining Orcadian fiddler Kristan Harvey to play it. It is to Abbot’s credit that the many disparate elements of the sound-world of July Moon gel as an album. The Armstrong strings are as distinctively him as the accompanying vocals on that song are obviously those of his associate Jerry Burns. She teams up with Karen Matheson and Roslyn Potter to provide the big chorus on the title track, and Siobhan Wilson supplies writing and performing input to two tracks, with Mathieson returning to duet on Clasping Sea, which is almost a 1950s ballad. The rock muscle exercised on that, Left Over Shells and My Heart Aches begin to suggest some Mike Scott development in Ogilvy’s own writing, but it is yet at a formative stage. With such good company to surround his fine, if sometimes a little mannered, voice, he is surely on the right lines.”    Keith Bruce ‘ The Herald’

“Alistair Ogilvy is in the upper echelon of Scottish singers. His mellifluous tone wows all audiences before him and his love of singing makes everyone smile” 

Simon Thoumire.

“….Ogilvy’s youthful, expressive voice is remarkably fluent, and must garner many listeners….”
“….the wash of subtle colour that makes this album stand out from the contemporary crowd….”
“Here’s an unusually thoughtful album of songs…”
Norman Chalmers – (Scotland on Sunday) review of first album.
 
 “The young Glasgow singer Alistair Ogilvy is definitely a talent to watch…”

“Wonderfully characterful, minutely-nuanced Scots singing…”

(Sue Wilson, The Scotsman).
 “Alistair Ogilvy was a revelation – what a beautifully melodic voice he has, coupled with a real understanding of what he is singing…”
(Sheena Wellington).

“Alistair Ogilvy offers an album rich in flavors and moods, taking you on a journey, where the destination isn’t important”

forces parallèles – French album review website.
 
“….Alistair’s velvety voice really shines in the slower numbers where every note is relished….”
Shelley Rainey – ‘Bright Young Folk Website’
 
 
“….And nowhere was this more in evidence than in the line-up, which must surely  have been the envy of many much larger events, thanks in part to the  word-of-mouth the festival has generated among Scotland’s musicians as the hot  date of the summer. From high-profile post-rock/indie-folk headliners like the  Phantom Band and Admiral Fallow to the beautifully lyrical traditional and  contemporary balladry of Alistair Ogilvy”
Review by Sue Wilson from ‘Northings’ of the Insider Festival.
 
“The evocative piano introduction to “Wars O’Germanie” by rising singer Alistair Ogilvy puts me in mind of a young Sean Keane. No bad thing if you’re just starting out on a road that will hopefully prove fruitful in your endeavours as a performer.”
 
Review of 2012 album from Fatea magazine by Pete Fyfe
“He has a distinctively melodic and gently expressive singing voice with an attractive occasional vibrato, a voice which readily connects with its audience and which is nicely complemented on this his debut recording by the various contributions from his session musician friends Aly Macrae (piano, fiddle, mandolin, euphonium, pocket trumpet), Steven Polwart (guitars) and Inge Thomson (harmony vocals), and a deft production by Mattie Foulds”
Review of 2012 album from Fatea magazine by David Kidman