Tom Fairbairn

Now based on the South Coast of England, Tom is originally from the north and specialises in folk, jazz-rock and collaborative projects with bands in various styles.

Tom was the fiddle presence in BBC Award winning dance band Whapweasel. He also regularly performs with MoonDance, Boka Halat, The James Asher Group, Firecracker and is currently collaborating with the Gambian percussionist Musa Mboob.

Tom is also active in the Musicians' Union, representing the Folk, Roots and Traditional Music section at the 2009 WOMEX Expo in Copenhagen. He is also an active campaigner on the British social dance scene.

"..superb fiddling" - FiddleOn Magazine.

I was born and brought up in Manchester, but currently spend much of my time gigging across the south of England. My life as a musician began aged three when I started playing the violin - I've been involved in music ever since, and it has been my full time profession since leaving education. I am honoured to work with Gambian master percussionist Musa Mboob on a variety of projects. I work extensively with Luton based guitarist Brian Heywood, with our ceilidh band MoonDance and other projects. Recently I have started playing live with The James Asher Group featuring carnatic singer Mahesh Vinayakram and flute virtuoso Navin Chandar. Over the last few of years I have also recorded and played live with: Boka Halat, Kandid, David Goo, enQ, Whapweasel, The Friday Lineup, Robb Johnson and The Bluetongue Bush Band - as well as many others.

As a choral singer, I recorded and broadcast with the choirs of Manchester Cathedral and St Nicholas' Cathedral, Newcastle - and with the Rodolphus Choir. I also work as a live audio engineer, mixing all types of music - but specialising in 'folk/world'. For composition, editing and mixing I use a ProTools rig. I have performed in: India, Australia, Malta, France, Germany, Sweden, Poland and Ireland.