Jim Sutherland is a Scottish composer, working internationally out of his studio in North East Fife, Scotland to deliver music that crosses continents and defies genre.

Alongside his extensive work for film and TV, he creates large scale arts events and collaborates with some of the world's top music artists and. Jim also works on smaller bespoke projects and has and strong personal interest in encouraging new and emerging artists and working across artistic disciplines.

When Fish Begin To Crawl
A polymath at heart and an accomplished filmmaker, Jim co-directed the 65-minute film triptych "When Fish Begin to Crawl" with Morag McKinnon. In addition to being responsible for the editing of the film, which spans three screens, he composed and produced the award-winning score, recording it with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Throughout 2024, the film, which has been featured at over thirty international film festivals, has garnered numerous accolades, including ten awards for best music and several for best eco film and best music film.

Accolades
Sutherland has collaborated across platforms on a dazzling array of award winning projects from multi-platinum awarded albums to OSCAR winning films. His productions have topped the Billboard world music charts and his compositions have been recorded by hundreds of artists around the world. Dazed and Confused Magazine called him an 'impressive ideas powerhouse’ for his work in pop music. As a lyricist and songwriter, his songs have enjoyed top 30 placings in the UK singles charts and a number 2 placing in the UK Dance Charts for a collaboration with Todd Terry on Jim’s song Winter in My Heart.

He was awarded Composer of the Year at the Scots Trad Awards for his work on Struileag, a massive international Gaelic diaspora project. Initiated by Jim, Struileag resulted in a book, a CD, a TV arts programme and an internationally streamed show at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, of which the Head of BBC ALBA, Margaret Mary Murray, said was a ‘watershed moment in Gaelic music’.

The art critic and novelist John Berger dubbed Jim a “Conjurer of the ear” in a Scotsman interview during a collaboration on the Europa Prize winning film ‘Play Me Something’, for which Jim wrote the score, while Hamish Henderson, the founding father of Scotland’s twentieth century folk renaissance, recognised “A wondrous musical mind at work” in Cencrastus Magazine. The Gold and Platinum disks on Jim’s studio wall were awarded for his work with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on the ‘No Quarter’ album which led to appearances on Top of the Pops and Jules Holland as well as MTV Unplugged. The folk tunes, he wrote during his time performing with the trailblazing 80s folk bad ‘The easy Club’, of which he was a founder member, continue to be performed and recorded by hundreds of artists worldwide. To this day you’ll hear Jim’s tunes performed by people who may not even know their provenance, Jim’s influential music has truly entered the living tradition.

High profile commissions

Sutherland has also composed and produced music for over 80 Film and TV projects over three decades. He produced two songs for the OSCAR-winning Disney/Pixar film BRAVE and created music for other films including Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and What We Did on Our Holiday. Notably, he made 40 pieces of diegetic music, including four choral pieces, for the Netflix movie Outlaw King (2018). The project involved directing 120 musicians from across Europe. He also composed the station idents and continuity music for BBC ALBA TV channel (2019) and scored ‘Festival,’ which won best film at the British Comedy Awards.

In 2013, Jim was commissioned to compose two pieces that celebrated Marseilles as European Capital of Culture composed for an orchestra of musicians from all around the rim of the Mediterranean. That same year he was also commissioned to compose Scotland’s gift to Derry as UK city of Culture. This piece was performed at a large-scale event celebrating the inauguration. In 2012 Jim received a commission to write two pieces for the award-winning Chinese ‘Silk String Quartet’ for their winter tour. In 2009 he created The True North Orchestra (a 30-piece orchestra of Scots musicians from the traditional, classical and folk spheres) to perform his specially commissioned score for Aisling’s Children during The Gathering 2009, a show enjoyed by an audience of 9000 at Edinburgh Castle's Esplanade.

La Banda Europa

Over the winter of 2006/7, Jim curated La Banda Europa, a remarkable ensemble of 35 virtuoso musicians playing indigenous instruments from their respective European countries—bagpipes from seven countries, Swedish nyckelharpas, Armenian duduks, Turkish drums, Hungarian and French hurdy-gurdies, Serbian brass, and many others. This project offers a unique opportunity to compose innovative music that explores creative possibilities arising from cultural intersections. In 10 years of collaboration, highlights included collaborations with The Vienna Boys' Choir and Lieux Publics as well as commissions from Newcastle Gateshead Initiative and the world renowned Celtic Connections. Brexit brought about the demise of the orchestra and Jim premiered three new commissions on the final gig at Celtic Connections festival in January (2017). Fiona Hyslop: Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Culture called it "A solidarity in symphony”

Music production

His production work on Countess of Fife's "Star of the Seas" in 2023 garnered significant praise, with the album reaching No. 7 on the Scottish album chart, No. 2 on the indie breakers chart, No. 21 on the UK album chart, and No. 18 on the UK indie chart. Jim's production for Andrew Cronshaw’s album "Zither" topped the International World Music Charts in 2020. The SANS album, produced by Sutherland and featuring Finnish language, won the Etno category at Finland's Emmas in 2018.

Moreover, his work on Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band's album "Big Machine" earned critical acclaim, entering the UK album charts at number 26 in February 2017. His single-microphone recording and production of Aberfeldy's debut album "Young Forever" was released on Rough Trade, with the track "Summer's Gone" featured in a USA Diet Coke campaign in 2007. Jim also currently produces for hip-hop artist and Orwell Prize-winning writer Darren McGarvey (AKA LOKI). His expansive folk music production portfolio includes influential genre defining artists like Shooglenifty, Salsa Celtica, Cathy Anne McPhee, and Alyth McCormack, solidifying his legendary status in the genre.

Performance
Jim has performed and recorded with: Mumford and Sons, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Dick Gaughan, Eliza Carthy, Jack Bruce, Emmy Lou Harris, Billy Bragg, Shotts and Dykehead pipe band, Van Morrison and The Chieftains, Maddy Prior, June Tabor, The Bundhu Boys, Ali Farka Toure, The Easy Club and many others.