Their repertoire included traditional Scottish folk songs 'Road to Dundee,' 'Caledonia,' 'Northern Lights of Aberdeen,' 'Bonnie Wee Jeannie McColl,' and 'Campbelltown Loch,' similar to Jimmy Shand or Andy M. Their manager, Ross Bowie, introduced them to Tony Hatch, who took them to London and secured them a recording deal with Pye Records. After Jack had completed his national service with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, they turned professional in 1958, their first show part of a summer concert at the Webster Theatre, Arbroath.

Their father, Jimmy, worked in the local steel works but their musical talents came from their mother, Helen, and they learned to play the piano and accordion. In the case of the Alexander Brothers, there were two such men in kilts Tom (born in 1937) and Jack (born in 1939) from Cambusnethan, near Wishaw, learned the trade of painting and decorating and had already begun performing as a singing duo in local talent shows when they were both teenagers in the early '50s. A man (Scottish folk performers usually being men) in a kilt and full Scottish regalia singing the songs that have been passed down from generation to generation reminds people of a simpler time when music was something made on the spur of the moment to have fun and enjoyment, and entertain a few listeners along the way. In some areas of the world, not only Scotland, traditional Scottish folk music is extremely popular.

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