Ian Bairnson

Who is Ian Bairnson?

Ian Bairnson is a Scottish musician, famous for being one of the core members of The Alan Parsons Project. He is a multi-instrumentalist, who has played saxophone and keyboards, although he is best known as a guitarist. He is also known for preferring the sound of a sixpence to a plectrum.

Bairnson grew up Levenwick in Shetland before his family moved to Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland when he was nine years old following the death of his father.

He was a session guitarist before joining up in 1973 with former Bay City Rollers musicians David Paton and Billy Lyall in the band, Pilot, and contributed the harmony guitar parts to their hit single, "Magic". During this time with Pilot, he first collaborated with Alan Parsons, the record producer on their debut self-titled album. It was this relationship that helped incorporate most of the band's members into the Alan Parsons Project. He played the distinctive guitar solo on the track "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" from Parsons' I Robot album.

As a guitarist, he has been featured on every Project album, including the 1984 side project Keats.