Biography

Alasdair MacLeod was born in Scalpay, Harris, and left the island as a young man to pursue higher education and later to build his career. His work took him to various places over the years, and he eventually settled in Livingston, West Lothian, where he works as a business advisor.

Alasdair began singing when he was around ten years old. A visiting doctor in Scalpay encouraged him by offering two shillings for a song – a remarkable sum for a young boy at the time. Aside from this early encouragement, his only public performances in childhood were one or two appearances with the school choir at the Lewis mods.

He began presenting in church when he was about nineteen, a role that deepened his connection to sacred music. Later, he recorded a tape of Gaelic hymns which went on sale just before Christmas. In its first week, more than twelve hundred copies were sold, demonstrating both the strong appetite for this kind of music and the popularity of Alasdair's singing.

Alasdair has a particular fondness for the older Gaelic hymns, such as Làmh a' Bhuachaille, which he values for the deeply personal expressions of faith they often contain.