Johnny Cunningham


Johnny Cunningham was a Scottish folk musician and composer, instrumental in spreading interest in traditional Celtic music.
Johnny Cunningham was born on 27 August 1957 in Portobello, Edinburgh. Along with his brother, he was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but later became inactive.
He was a founding member of Silly Wizard, as well as a member of Relativity, The Raindogs, and Nightnoise. Throughout his career, Cunningham was also a fiddler, composer, and producer. His younger brother, Phil Cunningham, is a multi-instrumentalist best known for his piano-accordion and whistle playing. He is also a former member of Silly Wizard and was involved in promoting Scottish traditional music. Cunningham died of a heart attack on 15 December 2003 in New York City at the age of 46.

Discography

With Phil Cunningham
With Silly Wizard
With Relativity
With Nightnoise
With Celtic Fiddle Festival
With Susan McKeown
With Thomas Moore
With The Raindogs
With others
In the 1990s Johnny worked with the New York-based theater company Mabou Mines on a theatrical production, "Peter & Wendy". He composed music and lyrics for this musical adaptation of J.M. Barrie's play "Peter Pan," which won two OBIE Awards. The soundtrack album from this innovative production was recorded and released nationally in 1997. Productions of "Peter & Wendy" have been presented and revived numerous times.