Allin Cottrell was born and raised in Scotland, but moved to North Carolina in 1983. He teaches economics at Wake Forest University, but can often be found playing old-time backup guitar or blues guitar (and, when the opportunity arises, Cajun accordion).

Allin first heard, and fell in love with, old-time string-band music via County Records re-releases of the classic recordings from the 1920s and '30s, when these became available in Scotland around the mid-1970s. Shortly afterwards, he was inspired to learn guitar.

After moving to NC, he was for many years guitarist with the Piedmont Hepcats (Ted Ehrhart, fiddle; Joe Newberry, banjo; Susie Crate, bass), a band which won a bunch of prizes at the Fiddlers' Grove festival and elsewhere. After moving to Winston-Salem in 1989 he joined the Pilot Mountain Bobcats. The Bobcats have played countless dances, fiddlers' conventions and radio shows in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, and have garnered many prizes over the years.

Allin and his fiddlin' wife, Nancy Crooks, have appeared at various events in NC (including WPAQ, Mount Airy) as the Camel City Sheiks (sometimes including banjo players extraordinaire Todd Woerner or Tom Mylet). The Sheiks play string-band rags, blues, and "obscure" music from Mississippi and Alabama.