Pictish Trail
Pictish Trail, the alias of Isle-of-Eigg psych-pop wonder Johnny Lynch, has resolutely furrowed his own path, steadily creating a unique catalogue of recordings and performances, while eschewing the blueprint of the predictable singer-songwriter in favour of something untidily intriguing.
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Biography
Pictish Trail, the alias of Scottish pop sensation Johnny Lynch, has resolutely furrowed his own path, steadily creating a unique catalogue of recordings and performances, while eschewing the blueprint of the predictable singer-songwriter in favour of something untidily intriguing.
His forthcoming sixth full-length album Life Slime, is now available to pre-order as a fan first / tour exclusive pre-release Primordial Blue-In-Pink Goo Edition on vinyl and CD via Fire Records and Lost Map Records (full album release date TBA). Pictish Trail is touring around the UK throughout the remainder of 2025, including intimate solo shows in small rooms around lesser-visited corners of rural Scotland, plus support slots for folktronica legends Tunng.
Pictish Trail’s 2022 album Island Family, drew acclaim from The Observer, The Times, Mojo, Uncut, Loud & Quiet, and BBC 6 Music. It was followed in Autumn 2024 by Follow Footsteps – an EP of reworked Island Family tracks. Pictish’s earlier albums Secret Soundz Vols. 1 & 2 (2008, 2013) were gloriously eclectic slices of lo-fi folk-pop, later reissued on deluxe double-vinyl by Moshi Moshi in 2014. His third album Future Echoes (2016) received widespread acclaim and was shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY Award), winning the public vote. In 2020 Johnny released Thumb World, a voyage to the outer rings of Pictish Trail’s mind at its darkest, funniest and most inventive.
Pictish Trail has toured the world as both headliner and support for the likes of Belle & Sebastian, Pavement, Mogwai, Sea Power, and KT Tunstall. He’s performed at major festivals including Glastonbury (Park Stage), Field Day, Camp Bestival, Deer Shed, Celtic Connections, Blue Dot, the Edinburgh Fringe, and every single edition of Green Man Festival to date (all 22 and counting).
When not putting out his own music as Pictish Trail, Johnny Lynch is a fulcrum of the British independent music community. Through his label Lost Map Records, he champions a diverse and idiosyncratic array of extraordinary talent, helping to elevate the likes of Rozi Plain, Seamus Fogarty, Bas Jan, Callum Easter and Free Love.
“One of my favourite artists” Lauren Laverne
“Mysterious, cinematic, pop melancholia” The Guardian
