Lynda Anderson was born and raised in a remote Shetland village called Voddycoke which is just south of Yell and it was there that she began her fiddling career under the guidance of the legendary Wullie Hunter. Her talents extend beyond music and the legendary Donald Macphee has captured this in a tune called "The Walking Duvet" after her extraordinary capacity to sleep for weeks on end. Lynda developed this habit from extensive sessioning in the pubs and clubs of Shetland and is currently undergoing electric shock therapy to deal with her sleep addiction.
Thankfully, her fiddle playing has remained intact and Cannach are all the richer for her talents as can be heard in the debut album "The Moons of Glenloy" in which she charges fearlessly from one tune to the next with power and grace.
At present Lynda is preparing for her final year at Aberdeen University where she is studying immunology.
Judith was brought up in Glenrothes and is very proud of that fact. She is a multi-instrumentalist who performs on the cello, whistle, flute, and sings most of Cannach's songs. Her voice has been described as "naturally beautiful" "stunningly pure" and "traditionally sweet" which is a far cry from the quotes about Donald and Garry's voices who have been described as "geese farting in the fog", "like mating whales", "stop stop please stop"..... the list is endless. Needless to say Judith is a prime asset to the band and her versatility allows for unlimited arrangements.
Judith has a degree in English so she is pretty clever as well.
Donald Macphee is the band's trustee mandolin player who has provided the sensible calm and order to the band and forces the other members to tow the line of sobriety (with varying success). His nimble fingers fire through the tunes in a frenzy-like fashion unbecoming of his "mild mannered janitor" exterior, then in a burst of madness pops into a filing cabinet and reappears wearing a judo suit! This man is unstoppable when he gets his teeth into a tune.
Donald writes his own tunes and is a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen specialising in cements and silicate chemistry.
Garry Hunter used to play banjo with the band but since the departure of Norry the guitarist, has taken the role of chief rhythm meister with aplomb. Alongside Macphee he writes many of the band's tunes and has even had a pop at a song or two, one of which has been used on the debut CD. Garry is a committed Wallace and Gromit fan and tries to intertwine the finer aspects of the plasticine pair into his compositions especially in the beautiful slow airs "We've forgotten the crackers Gromit" and "My turn for breakfast Gromit lad"??!
Garry also has a degree in chemistry making this band a right bunch of smart alecs altogether.
