Ronnie Browne

Ronnie Browne has had a major effect on the evolution of traditional Celtic music for nearly four decades. A founding member of The Corries, Browne joined with cambolin inventor, builder and player Roy Williamson to create one of the first of Scotland's great folk revival bands. Since Williamson's death, from a brain tumor in 1990, Browne has continued to perform and record as a soloist. The seeds for Browne's musical career were planted when he met Williamson and multi-instrumentalist Bill Smith at Edinburgh College Of Art and formed the Corries Trio in 1962. The group was expanded the following year with the addition of female singer Paddie Bell. Shortly after releasing three albums-"The Corrie Folk Trio With Paddie Bell", "The Promise Of The Day" and "In Retrospect"-in 1965, Bell left to begin a solo career. With the departure of Smith, the following year, Browne and Williamson continued to perform as a duo. In 1970, Williamson conceived and built the cambolins, a pair of instruments that were rarely played seperately. While Williamson's instrument featured a basic guitar fingerboard with a bandurria attached and sympathetic resonating strings, Browne's model was a basic guitar with a mandolin attached and four bass strings. Browne and Williamson became regular performers on Scottish television shows and movies. In 1983, they received an International Film and Television Festival gold award for their STV series, "The Corries & Other Folk". The duo reached their peak with the film, "The Bruce", which featured Browne's rendition of the Williamson-penned tune, "Flower Of Scotland", at the end of the movie. Browne appeared in the film playing the role of Maxwell The Minstrel. © Craig Harris /TiVo