Blair Dunlop (born 11 February 1992) is an English folk musician and actor.

Blair Dunlop
Dunlop in 2013
Born (1992-02-11) 11 February 1992 (age 32)
Occupation(s)Actor, musician
Years active2005–present
Parent(s)Ashley Hutchings and Judy Dunlop
Websiteblairdunlop.com

Early life and education

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Dunlop is the son of folk-rock musician Ashley Hutchings (formerly a member of Fairport Convention) and singer Judy Dunlop.[1] He received a scholarship to attend Foremarke Hall[2] in Derbyshire, which he attended from 2003 to 2005 and then moved onto Foremarke Hall’s senior school, Repton School.[3] As a young actor, Dunlop made his film debut with an American accent in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), directed by Tim Burton. Dunlop played the young Willy Wonka, a child with a burdensome set of orthodontic headgear under strict rule by his father who works as a dental practitioner. Dunlop was also on Rocket Man, a television show in his native UK.[4]

Professional career

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Blair Dunlop now works as a singer-songwriter and guitarist. He took over the running of The Albion Band from Hutchings in 2011 but folded the band in 2013 to focus on his solo career.

He has released one EP and three albums. His first full-length solo album, Blight and Blossom, was released on Rooksmere Records in 2013.[5] His second solo album, House of Jacks, was released in May 2014.[6][7][8] His third album, Gilded, was released on his own record label Gilded Wings Records on 6 May 2016.[9][10] This was followed up by the second album on his own label, Notes From An Island,[11] which was released in May 2018.[12] After a six year gap, Dunlop released his fifth studio album Out Of The Rain, produced by Jim Moray in May 2024.

Awards

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Dunlop won the Horizon Award at the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.[13] He also received the Special Jury Prize of the Premio Ciampi in the city of Livorno in Italy in November 2014.[14]

Discography

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Albums

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  • Blight and Blossom (Rooksmere Records) (2012)
  • House of Jacks (Rooksmere Records) (2014)
  • Gilded (Gilded Wings Records) (2016)
  • Notes From An Island (Gilded Wings Records) (2018)
  • Out Of The Rain (Gilded Wings Records) (2024)
  • Bags Outside The Door EP (Rooksmere Records) (2011)
  • Blair Dunlop / Larkin Poe (Rooksmere Records) – 6-track mini-album collaboration with Larkin Poe (2013)
  • The Mark Radcliffe Folk Sessions (Delphonic Records) (2013)

Other releases

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References

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  1. ^ "Judy Dunlop – Biography & History – AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "Stage fright for young Willy – Tes News". www.tes.com.
  3. ^ "Repton to Candleford". repton.org.uk.
  4. ^ Sonic007 (4 December 2005). "Rocket Man (TV Series 2005– )". IMDb.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Blair Dunlop – Blight & Blossom". www.rooksmerestudios.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  6. ^ Gallagher, Alex (10 March 2013). "New Album: Blair Dunlop – House of Jacks". Folk Radio UK. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  7. ^ Denselow, Robin (22 May 2013). "Blair Dunlop: House of Jacks review – impressive range from young songwriter". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  8. ^ Dunlop, Blair (May 2013). "House of Jacks". Blair Dunlop. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  9. ^ "FATEA – Home". www.fatea-records.co.uk.
  10. ^ Morgan, Clive (25 April 2016). "Blair Dunlop performs No Go Zones in an exclusive acoustic session" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Blair Dunlop: Notes from an Island (Album Review) – Folk Radio". 11 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Notes from an Island – Blair Dunlop".
  13. ^ Bowdler, Ben (30 January 2013). "And The Winners Are… BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2013". Properganda Online. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  14. ^ "Ventesima edizione, dal 25 Ottobre al 8 Novembre 2014". www.premiociampi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 4 January 2017.
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