Roddy Woomble

Roddy Woomble was born in Ayrshire in 1976.  During his childhood he and his family moved about frequently, living in France, England and America before settling in the Scottish coastal town of Carnoustie, where Roddy spent his teenage years before moving, at eighteen in 1995 to Edinburgh to study Photography.  It was at University in Edinburgh that Roddy met Colin Newton and Rod Jones and formed the group Idlewild.  The band have gone on to record and release six acclaimed albums and two compilations.  Two of these albums debuted in the UK top ten.  They have released twelve UK top forty singles and have toured throughout the world, as a headline act, and also as support to REM, U2 and the Rolling Stones amongst others.  In 2006 Roddy released his debut solo album 'My secret is my silence'.  The record featured Rod Jones from Idlewild, Ailidh Lennon and David Gow from Sons and Daughters and acclaimed folk musicians Andy Cutting, Kate Rusby, Ian Carr and Karine Polwart.  The album featured in many 'best of the year' polls and spent several weeks at number 1 in the UK folk charts.

'Before the Ruin', the debut album as 'Drever, McCusker & Woomble', was released to much acclaim in 2008.  Roddy's second solo album 'The impossible song & others songs' was released on Greenvoe/EMI in March 2011.  Other musical involvement:
•duetted with folk singer Kate Rusby on her album 'the girl who couldn't fly'.
•was the initial force and organiser of the 'Ballads of the Book' album, a collaboration between Scottish poets and writers and Scottish singers and bands.
•was a part of the 2007 Burnsong songhouse project along side Teenage fanclub's Norman Blake and Midge Ure amongst others.
•is a part of John McCusker's 'Under one sky' project, involving musicians from England and Scotland.
Roddy is also a writer and contributor to several Scottish publications.  He has also contributed to the Observer and The Sunday times.

Roddy has made many appearances on the radio, made spoken appearances at the Edinburgh book festival, the 'Aye write' book festival in glasgow and the 'word' book festival in Aberdeen.  Aside from all this, he likes to read and paint, and is a keen hill walker and supporter of Scotland's wild places.