Part I: Behold the Knight
The history of Scotland’s most revered progressive rock band, Comedy of Errors, begins in Glasgow in January 1984…
» Continue reading Part I: Behold the Knight
Part II: The Knight Returns
A hiatus of almost two decades ensued, during which Jim’s muse did not abandon him. His own account of the wilderness years is permeated with his finely honed sense of self-deprecating irony…
» Continue reading Part II: The Knight Returns
Joe Cairney (vocals)
Joe discovered his true vocation when fronting his brother’s cover band, GTF Agency, alongside Mark Spalding, Steve Stewart and John McPhee. When John responded to an advert in a music shop in Glasgow, he was contacted by Jim Johnston and Mike Barnard, who were looking for a drummer. John replied that he also knew a bass player (Steve) and a singer (Joe). This marked the beginning of Joe’s long and illustrious career with Comedy of Errors, taking him from rehearsals in the disused stables on Mike’s parents’ farm to the stages of some of the world’s most prestigious prog festivals, including Loreley and RoSFest.
In 1989, he left the band to join the Fire Service, the 16 weeks required for training considered too lengthy an absence by a young band hungry for success. They changed musical direction, veering towards heavy rock with new vocalist John Cowden, but ultimately Comedy of Errors lost their way without Joe’s unique and distinctive voice and presence.
A long hiatus followed, during which Joe joined Grand Tour, the studio project by Hew Montgomery, who also founded Abel Ganz together with Hugh Carter. In 2007, Joe performed live with Abel Ganz for the first and only time at the legendary King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. News of his long overdue return to the stage reached Jim, who already had the germ of an idea to resurrect Comedy of Errors. These plans matured over a lengthy conversation during a Pendragon gig at The Ferry in May 2009.
Joe has provided vocals for all six of Comedy of Errors’ studio albums to great critical acclaim and is much loved by fans the world over. With his consummate stagecraft, he radiates authenticity, intelligence and empathy, effortlessly conveying the emotional core of the compositions.
Photo by Marc Auger
Jim Johnston (keyboards)
In his carefree childhood days, Jim was more passionate about playing football with his pals than taking up piano lessons. The lure of the ivories proved ineluctable, however, and while in the Boys’ Brigade, he would mess about on the piano rather than joining in with the rough and tumble. He was even known to sneak into church on occasion to play the organ. Falling under the spell of the great classical masters, he spent his teenage years listening to Mahler, Vaughn Williams and his ultimate musical hero, Beethoven.
At a time when purchasing a synthesiser practically required taking out a second mortgage, Jim wore down his parents’ resistance until they invested in a Crumar. While casting a covetous eye over the latest keyboards in Thompson’s Music Shop in Glasgow, he struck up a friendship with fellow student Mike Barnard, putting up an advert for a drummer in the window in the time-honoured tradition of the pre-internet era. John McPhee answered the call, recommending a bass player and a vocalist of his acquaintance. So Comedy of Errors, Scotland’s finest progressive rock band, was born.
Following Joe’s departure to join the Fire Service and a brief flirtation with a heavier style better suited to new vocalist John Cowden, Comedy of Errors dissolved in 1992. Eschewing the vacuous posturing and hair metal then in vogue, a triumph of coiffure over substance, Jim spent many solitary hours studying advanced harmony and counterpoint, jotting down his ideas on scraps of paper in sure and certain hope of the band’s resurrection.
Jim’s confidence did not prove misplaced, as news of Joe’s spectacular return to live performance reached him. They met up at Pendragon’s gig at The Ferry in May 2009 and work on Disobey commenced shortly afterwards.
Since 2011, Jim has written the music and lyrics for six studio albums, with a seventh on the way, a corpus of unsurpassed intelligence, emotional sincerity, profundity, elegant complexity and awe-inspiring excellence. Unafraid to tackle the grand themes of human existence, the timeless and sublime beauty of his compositions has assured his place in Scotland’s musical pantheon.
Photo by Marc Auger
John Fitzgerald (bass)
John’s introduction to music came through learning to play trombone in a brass band.
At the tender age of 14, he attended his first ever live performance with his brothers. The line-up consisted of Joe Zawinul, Bobby Thomas Jnr., Wayne Shorter, Peter Erskine and Jaco Pastorius, Weather Report in their prime. This left a profound and indelible impression on John, shaping his tastes and convincing him of the merit of pursuing excellence.
Having previously collaborated with drummer Bruce Levick, when Hew Montgomery was unable to commit to a busy recording and gigging schedule following the release of the band’s ‘debut’ album, John was uppermost in Bruce’s mind as the ideal replacement. Bruce gave him a copy of Disobey, which John took with him on holiday in late June of 2012. His inaugural gig followed in September at Summer’s End Festival in Lydney, a vote of confidence which he immediately repaid a thousandfold.
Although he considers electric jazz as his natural home, he combines a keen ear with rich melodic warmth and an intuitive synchrony within the rhythm section of Comedy of Errors. When playing live, he always strives to strike the perfect balance between reproducing the structure and essence of the studio version and lending fresh inflections with his special gift of lyricism, deep insight and unobtrusive humility, always ensuring the mellifluous flow of the compositions. John exudes a quiet and dependable authority indispensable to the band’s signature sound. He is a man of few words, but when he speaks everyone listens.
Photo by Marc Auger
Colin Fraser (drums and percussion)
Colin first crossed paths with Comedy of Errors in 2012 when they supported Pallas at The Classic Grand. This was the first of several joint appearances, prompting one reviewer to state: ‘Comedy of Errors are becoming a perennial support at Pallas gigs and no one in the hall tonight was complaining’*.
Having complemented each other so perfectly on stage, it was the logical choice for Comedy of Errors to turn to Colin in their hour of need when Bruce Levick had to pull out of Loreley in 2017. With time constraints allowing for only a single rehearsal, Colin rose to the challenge unfazed, assimilating the entire set of complex material with breathtaking speed and consummate professionalism, delivering a bravura performance to the delight of the audience.
Colin again stepped up to the plate in 2025 when Bruce definitively left the band in July. Fate ordained that he would once more be called upon to pull out all the stops with a single rehearsal behind him, as Comedy of Errors headlined the inaugural Wha’s Like Us All-Scottish Progfest at The Drygate a month later. Yet again, he demonstrated his complete technical mastery, combining raw energy and power with the subtlety and nuance required in the more introspective passages.
Colin is currently recording drums and percussion for Comedy of Errors’ seventh album.
Photo by Marc Auger
* David Wilson, Get Ready to Rock!, Gig review: PALLAS – Classic Grand, Glasgow, 20 February 2015, https://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2015/02/gig-review-pallas-classic-grand-glasgow-20-february-2015/