Davie Stewart
Biography
Davie Stewart (born in Aberdeenshire in 1901; died 1972) was a Scottish travelling singer and accordion player.
He spent a large part of his life 'on the road' living on his music and his wits, turning his hand to a number of trades one of which was 'clock mending'. (Realising that a lot of stopped clocks were simply too dirty to work he dropped them in boiling water!)
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Discovered around 1953 by folklorist Hamish Henderson during fieldwork in Aberdeen, Stewart became a pivotal figure in the Scottish folk revival, performing at Travelling People's Song Association (TMSA) festivals from their inception at Blairgowrie and joining roadshows with artists like Jimmy Hutchison and Pete Shepheard.[
One of the small number of traditional singers who accompanied themselves on a musical instrument, his forthright style and occasionally unusual chords are instantly recognisable.
He was a big influence on singer Bob Davenport whose direct singing is equally uncompromising.
He played with Jimmy Blue And His Scottish Band and with The Travelling Stewarts.
His eponymous album, released posthumously by Topic Records in 1978, was reissued on CD by Greentrax in 1998.
Stewart died in 1972 in St Andrews while performing at a folk club.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.