Ian W Brown
His songs are drawn from the stuff of life – they celebrate the dreamers, the schemers, the in-betweeners – carefully cultivated, self-deprecating everyman tales that draw on his dealings with the entertainment business, with a nod to his roots in farming.
‘What do you call a songwriter without a girlfriend, lad?’ asked the careers officer when Ian told him of his chosen path. The answer? ‘Homeless.’ Ian took the hint and became a full-time pig farmer and part-time songwriter. But, contrary to popular myth, it’s the latter not the former that has driven his success in the shark-infested waters of showbusiness as a songwriter, scriptwriter, record label owner, music manager, producer, agent and plugger.
Ian has more than 30 songs featured in films… and counting. His songs have been sung by not one, but two Oscar winners – Meryl Streep and Jessie Buckley – and can be heard in Mother’s Pride, the new Brit-com starring Martin Clunes, Jonno Davies and James Buckley, as well as the two Fisherman’s Friends films. In the first, Daniel Mays plays a better looking version of Ian.
It’s also quite likely that Gregor Fisher’s downtrodden manager character in Love Actually was based on Ian’s heroic propulsion of a one-time prog rocker to the top of the Christmas charts in real life in 2001.
His co-written film script, The Video Help Service (VHS) became the hit stage musical Now That What I Call a Musical.
Although his passport once listed his occupation as ‘Songwriter/Pig Farmer’ it’s now more than a quarter of a century since Ian hung up his wellies to have another crack at saving the world with a song. In that time, and to that end, he has managed artists, co-produced films, released records, toured the UK, co-written a number one single (Sandi Thom’s ‘I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker’) that earned him an Ivor Novello nomination, the lead song in long running West End musical Dreamboats and Petticoats and The Fisherman’s Friends’ classic ‘No Hopers Jokers & Rogues’. His songs have also been recorded by Jason Donovan, Pixie Lott, Don Diablo, Drumsound & Bassline Smith, Shaun Escoffery, Michael Ball and Meryl Streep.
But his proudest achievement is co-writing the song ‘Union of Different Kinds’, recorded by The Fisherman’s Friends and performed in schools and by community choirs across the UK. The song promotes acceptance and the joy of diversity in all things from politics and religion, to culture and even football.
From time to time, Ian performs the songs that have been successful and many more that haven’t, in venues up and down the land, from Edinburgh Festival, to folk clubs in London, Blackpool, Salisbury and beyond… Very often the stories behind the songs last longer than the actual songs, but there’s heart and art in all of them.
How else would he have come to write ‘I Can’t Stand Sheep’ for celebrity farmer and TV personality Kaleb Cooper of Clarkson’s Farm fame; or negotiated music deals for TV adverts from beer-battered cod to family planning condom campaigns in Finland, even a swing version of Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed a Girl’ to promote cheese strings?
Real life is way more weird and wonderful than people think – you just have to know where to look. Talking of which, Ian’s memoir, A Pig Farmer’s Guide to Rock ‘n’ Roll, is due out in early 2027.
Quotes
‘Ian Brown is a revelation.’ - Maverick Magazine
‘You never wrote that did you?’ - Darcus Beese OBE, former President, Island Records
‘Good song that.’ - Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam