Donald Barr was Principal Teacher of Music in Buckie and Speyside High Schools and was, until recently, conductor of Buckie Choral Union. He is leader of the popular music and dance group the Speyside Fiddlers. He travels around Scotland giving the illustrated talk including the talk on which The Spey is based has been giving to a wide variety of groups in the Speyside area over the last four years.
Brian Barr is semi-retired television producer based on the Isle of Bute, currently involved in filming a Lottery-funded digital archive for the island. He co-wrote The Story of the Scottish Daily News (Canongate), was a feature writer for The Herald in Glasgow and an occasional contributor to the Guardian. He produced and directed many TV programmes including Panorama and Assignment (BBC) and Undercover Britain (Channel Four).