Fergus McCreadie

Fergus McCreadie (born 12 July 1997) is a Scottish jazz pianist and composer. His style revolves around a fusion of contemporary jazz with Scottish folk music. He has released five albums to date as leader of a piano trio. His third album, Forest Floor, was shortlisted for the 2022 Mercury Prize, and won the Scottish Album of the Year Award and the Scottish Jazz Award for Best Album. He has also released three EPs, including one which was part of the soundtrack for the 2025 film Highest 2 Lowest.

Early life Fergus McCreadie was born 12 July 1997 in Jamestown, Easter Ross, Scotland, and grew up in Dollar, Clackmannanshire. McCreadie's first experience playing music was on the bagpipes, though he concedes he "was not good at that at all."

McCreadie attended Dollar Academy as a teen, then studied jazz at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Tommy Smith, where he also played in Smith's Youth Jazz Orchestra. At the conservatoire, he met bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson, the other two players in McCreadie's trio. The project was recorded on 21 August at Solas Sound in Glasgow, with Gus Stirrat as recording and mixing engineer. Spectrum Cultures Konstantin N. Rega called the album "a forceful work of beauty, patience, stamina and creativity." Stream was followed by an EP, Stream (Revisited), released on Edition on 4 April 2025.

On 24 June 2025, McCreadie announced his fifth album, The Shieling, set for release on 24 October by Edition. The lead single, "Wayfinder", was released on 25 July. The same year, McCreadie contributed multiple tracks to the soundtrack of the Spike Lee film Highest 2 Lowest, which were released as part of the film's official soundtrack album and a separate EP of just McCreadie's contributions, both released by A24 Music.

Style and influences McCreadie is known for combining contemporary jazz with Scottish folk music inspired by his homeland's natural landscape. McCreadie describes this genre crossover by saying "jazz is kind of a folk music in itself. It has a lot of the characteristics, and it's grown up in a lot of the same ways."

Accolades + Awards and nominations received by Fergus McCreadie Year Award Work Status 2015 Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year Himself 2016 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2019 Scottish Album of the Year Award Turas 2021 Cairn 2022 Mercury Prize Forest Floor Scottish Album of the Year Award Scottish Jazz Award for Best Album 2023 Scottish Jazz Award for Best Band Fergus McCreadie Trio McCreadie has also won the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year's under-17 category in 2013 and 2014, the Linda Trahan Memorial Prize University of St Andrews, and the Guy Barker Award at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Personal life As of 2022, McCreadie lived in Glasgow. Cairn (Edition, 2021) Forest Floor (Edition, 2022) Stream (Edition, 2024) The Shieling (Edition, 2025)

EPs Sketches (Edition, 2023) Stream (Revisited) (Edition, 2025) Highest 2 Lowest: Fergus McCreadie Trio EP (A24, 2025)

Singles + Fergus McCreadie singles Year Name Album 2020 "Cairn" Cairn 2021 "An Old Friend" "Jig" "Cairn (Live)" "Jig (Live)" "An Old Friend (Live)" 2022 "Law Hill" Forest Floor "Morning Moon" "The Unfurrowed Field" 2024 "Stony Gate" Stream "Snowcap" 2025 "Wayfinder" The Shieling