Cluny Macpherson

Cluny Macpherson spent his pandemic years making sourdough, feeding stray cats, mending himself from a handful of heartaches, and writing songs about at least two of these things. Be it on banjo, guitar, mandolin, or upright bass, Cluny has a proclivity for creating tunes that split open hearts and patch them back together again. From his earliest memories soaking up the Bluegrass Album Band in his dad’s Volkswagen in Newmarket, ON, Cluny was primed to make music. Coming of age in Toronto, he honed his craft learning as many country, blues, and bluegrass tunes as his fingertips could handle. Eventually, Cluny made his way to Clayoquot Sound on western Vancouver Island and spent most of his 20s cooking brunch, waiting tables, and carefully studying his musical heroes: Stevie Wonder, Tony Rice, Aretha Franklin, and George Jones, to name a few. He’s shared the stage with the likes of Grammy nominee Jesse Cobb and acclaimed country artist Ridley Bent and collaborated regularly with Canadian Folk Music Award winner and fiddler Miriam Sonstenes.
These days, Cluny spends his time thinking about how to reinterpret outdated lyrics in old country songs, writing fresher lyrics that don’t have this problem, and waiting for his sourdough to rise. His latest album, the tongue-in-cheek titled Instant Classic, was recorded on Mayne Island at Fiddlehead Studios. Cluny is looking forward to hitting the road in 2024 and celebrating the release of Instant Classic wherever that may take him.