Additional funds for grassroots and independent venues
An additional £7.1 million to secure the future of as many grassroots music venues and independent museums as possible has been announced by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.
The next phase of the Grassroots Music Venue Stabilisation Fund will provide £4 million to live music venues that were financially sustainable before coronavirus (COVID-19) to prevent permanent closure and stabilise until April 2021.
This fund will go live in January.
Meanwhile, the Museums Recovery and Resilience Fund will receive an extra £3.1 million to meet demand. This funding will help secure the future of Scottish independent museums put at risk by the pandemic and protect the vital role they play in communities.
This funding is part of the £185 million package of targeted COVID-19 support announced by the Scottish Government earlier this month.
Ms Hyslop said: “Culture and heritage are vitally important to all of our lives in Scotland, at this time more than ever.
“This additional funding for grassroots music venues and independent museums will build on previous support provided to reach as many people as possible. I do believe these funds will make a marked difference in ensuring our culture and heritage sectors survive the pandemic.
“We will continue to listen to the needs of the sector and do everything within our powers to support them through this crisis.”
Beverley Whitrick, Strategic Director at Music Venue Trust said: “We have worked closely with the Scottish Government on the funding required to sustain grassroots music venues across Scotland.
“We are delighted that further support is forthcoming to secure these vital cultural spaces through until the spring.”
JP McGivney at Bridge Street Social, Aberdeen, said: “The first round for funding for Grassroots Music Venues was essential for us, and it was targeted to last only a short time.
“As restrictions have not eased, it became clear we would need further support to prevent permanent closure, so news of a second phase of this fund is very welcome.”
RESIDENTS at a care home have been treated to an exclusive digital concert by one of Scotland’s most exciting jazz stars, Georgia Cécile.
Georgia, with her boyfriend and jazz pianist Fraser Urquhart, pre-recorded a 30 minute performance of her favourite songs specifically for customers of Blackwood’s Broom Court care home in Stirling.
The 31-year-old, who was named best vocalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards last year, was eager to get involved with the project when she heard about it through the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.
Georgia said: “It’s been a crazy year for musicians and performers across the world. I really miss performing live so I was thrilled when the opportunity came up to perform virtually for a new audience at Broom Court.
“Together, Fraser and I pulled together a set list of some of our favourite tunes and we self-recorded the event from our home. The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and Blackwood were amazing in working out all of the IT requirements to make sure residents at Broom Court could enjoy the concert.”
The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival worked with Georgia and Blackwood to record, create and stream the concert direct to Broom Court care home, which accommodates and cares for residents with a wide range of disabilities.
Agnese Daverio, programme and production manager with the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, said: “Organising digital concerts has made us realise how many people might not be able to access concerts and live music – whether we’re in a pandemic or not.
“It’s really important for us to reach out further and share this music with people who can’t get to venues, because they should be able to enjoy and get involved with jazz.
“We’re always looking to challenge any preconception that enjoying jazz might not be accessible, for whatever reason – whether that’s financial, physical, or even geographical limitations.
“Bringing jazz directly to the residents at Blackwood is really important and part of the overall work we’re trying to do – bringing jazz to audiences who might not have the chance to enjoy it live. We’re looking forward to organising future concerts with Blackwood.”
Broom Court is one of Blackwood’s three care homes, which are designed to provide integrated accommodation and care for customers with a range of physical disabilities. 24 hour care is also offered for customers with more complex disabilities who have higher support needs.
Flora Hay, Care Services Manager at Broom Court, said: “The jazz concert was fantastic and thoroughly enjoyed by our residents. Due to social distancing we had a small number of residents attend the concert, which was shown on a brand-new smart TV we had installed for the occasion.
“Our residents absolutely adored listening to Georgia and Fraser perform – one of our residents in particular was overjoyed and said she loved it. She has quite complex needs and really enjoys music, so it was a really lovely event to organise.”
Blackwood aims to help people live their life to the full, by providing services which support individuals in exercising their right to have choice and control over their lives in a home which is suitable and adaptable to their needs.
As Blackwood works in 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, it is more widely dispersed than most other care or housing providers and has embraced the challenges of taking housing and care into innovative areas at a time when funding is increasingly limited.
AS a result of the current pandemic, a film studio for recording music performances has been set up in An Tobar, with the cameras being remotely controlled, recorded, and edited by operators in Perth and Linlithgow, without having to step foot in the venue.
Over the winter, Music For Winter Solitude, a series of music performances are being created with the first release by Whyte going out live on An Tobar’s Facebook page, Vimeo, and YouTube channels, on Thursday 3 December at 8pm.
For nearly 25 years, An Tobar has welcomed many great musicians to its tiny venue in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull.
With music from all genres, it has enjoyed concerts by Laura Marling with the singer saying that ‘An Tobar was her favourite venue’, John Renbourn, Amy MacDonald, Frightened Rabbit, The Scottish Ensemble, Tommy Smith, Dougie MacLean, Idlewild, Phil Cunningham & Aly Bain, Karen Matheson, British Sea Power and many more.
2020 was looking to be a good year for the venue, having won the ‘Venue of the Year’ award at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards and a great programme had been lined up to celebrate this accolade. Then Covid-19 hit, and everything stopped. After a month, it became clear it was going to be some time before gigs were possible in the way they had been before.
Gordon Maclean, director of Music, had an initial plan to aim for a period of documentation with musicians still being allowed to work in isolation at An Tobar.
The venue has a long history of producing remarkable records and the studio has always worked alongside the performance season. He thought, maybe it could film musicians working in the studio and sought advice from Gary Ebdy, a lighting designer for concerts and live events and Dr Tom Spink, a senior researcher in Computing Systems Architecture at the University of Edinburgh.
Gordon Maclean, director of Music at An Tobar said: “Having worked with Gary Ebdy from Lunas Live in the past, I was looking for some advice about setting things up and our conversation took a creative path until we arrived at the current set up where we use five remote-controlled cameras to record an in-studio performance.
“I’m upstairs in the studio control room and the band is in the live room so our interaction is minimal. Gary, Tom, and I complete most of the setup before the musicians arrive.
“The musicians live in local holiday houses in isolation and contact between them and local people is virtually non-existent. We all felt it was vital that musicians should feel safe working here and that the Mull population would feel safe having them on the island.”
He added: “This production facility has been made possible through generous support from Creative Scotland who have invested in their portfolio organisations to allow them to rethink how they produce work in a world with no audience.
“With the arts in a precarious situation, we are so grateful that it has allowed us to create opportunities for self-employed artists and crews.”
The design needed to be a robust system that worked within the constraints of the available broadband connection at the venue.
This involved developing an architecture that allowed access to the cameras and recording equipment remotely, and reliably – should they encounter connection issues. The system communicates with a cloud server down in London, which then relays information back to its operating locations in Perth and Linlithgow.
From there, they can watch live camera feeds, and adjust camera positions by sending commands back to Mull (again, via London). Effectively, when a keyboard button is pressed, the signal travels down to London, back up to Mull, and into their operating equipment – all in the blink of an eye!
The communication needs to be super-low latency so that they can effectively operate the camera equipment, and observe what’s going on. They’ve had to build on several technologies – from camera hardware, through to low-latency networking protocols to bring this together.
This new digital format will result in the following performances:
Thursday 3 December, 8pm: Whyte (FREE)
Thursday 17 December, 8pm: Duncan Chisholm (PAY WHAT YOU CAN)
Thursday 7 January, 8pm: Rachel Jack with her band (PAY WHAT YOU CAN)
Thursday 21 January, 8pm: Pete Harvey and the Pumpkinseeds String Quartet performing a new piece commissioned by An Tobar (PAY WHAT YOU CAN)
Thursday 4 February, 8pm: Roddy Woomble (PAY WHAT YOU CAN)
Deacon Blue’s ‘Dignity’ has been named as Scotland’s Greatest Song. Ewen Cameron today announced the iconic tune was a clear winner on his breakfast show ‘Ewen Cameron in the Morning’ following the public vote.
Dignity was the first song ever released by the band in 1987 and the iconic tune has remained a firm favourite throughout the years. The signature song was also played by the band at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
In an interview with Ewen Cameron, Ricky Ross, said: “Thank you so much to everyone for voting for this song. I know that people take this song to their hearts and we are very grateful for that and on behalf of all of Deacon Blue I thank you for making Dignity Scotland’s favourite song.
“It is a lovely thing that people have taken it on board as it was never really a hit record. It was one of these songs that crept up and it got released and then re-released and eventually re-released and it sort of became a folk song in people’s hearts and it is lovely that it has stayed with people
“I phoned Dougie to tell him, he and I started this band 35 years ago and it funny that this is a song that we cobbled together in a wee rehearsal room one day.
“I lost my mum this year and it is the kind of thing that she would have loved to have heard. It’s an amazing story and I’m very, very proud.”
Ewen Cameron said: “There was an incredibly strong shortlist showcasing the best of Scottish talent and Dignity by Deacon Blue is a brilliant winner. I don’t think there can be anyone in Scotland who doesn’t know the words to this anthem or find themselves singing along when we play it.
“I have to say though, as much as I love The Proclaimers, as a Hearts fan, I was slightly relieved that ‘Sunshine on Leith’ didn’t take the honours. However, I have to confess that is a great song and a very worthy runner -up!”
The ten songs were selected by four judges including Jackie Bird, singer and actress, Clare Grogan as well as journalist and presenter, Gordon Smart and Aarti Joshi of DF Concerts after many hours of debate and discussion.
Head Judge, Jackie Bird, said: “It was wonderful to be part of a debate that took our minds off the rotten stuff around us all at the moment and gave us some fun and something to be passionate about. I know that during the voting various songs took the lead, but Dignity was always going to be one of the hot favourites.
“Like all the best songs it tells an authentic story and is ultimately an uplifting tale of hard work and hope. The song carries such a universal message, no wonder it’s hi-jacked by live audiences around the world. Well done to all our talented artists who made the top ten and to Ricky and Deacon Blue for giving us a classic.”
Dignity was selected from a shortlist of ten songs and the closely fought battle saw Sunshine on Leith by the Proclaimers in second place with Baker Street by Garry Rafferty in third. The other seven contenders on the shortlist were:
Whole of The Moon: The Waterboys
Loaded: Primal Scream
Tinseltown in the Rain: The Blue Nile
In a Big Country: Big Country
This is the Life: Amy MacDonald
Black Eyed Boy: Texas
Somewhere in My Heart: Aztec Camera
Victoria Easton-Riley, content director at Greatest Hits Radio Scotland, said: “Scotland’s Greatest Song has just underlined how passionate the Greatest Hits Radio Scotland listeners are about Scottish music and artists.
“It has been fantastic to see so many of them vote and interact with our stations and presenters on social media. Our presenters have loved being part of this campaign too.
“Thanks to Audio Frontier for pulling this exciting project together. And of course, a huge congratulations to our winner, Deacon Blue. A great choice from our listeners!”
The project is the brainchild of Glasgow-based audio specialists Audio Frontier, which has won a funding bid for the programmes through the UK Government’s Audio Content Fund.
John McInally, of Audio Frontier, said: “‘It’s been a real pleasure to work on this project alongside the Audio Content Fund. It’s been a great way to celebrate St Andrews Day and Dignity is a worthy winner, though I’m sure the debate will continue!”
Emergency funds from the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland are enabling youth arts and music organisations to roll out new activities and initiatives for young people in the Edinburgh area.
Drake Music, Tinderbox Collective and Starcatchers* are among 18 youth music and wider youth arts organisations receiving a share of £1,053,000 to deliver a range of local and national projects, all of which target priority groups of children and young people and provide important work for freelance artists.
Thursa Sanderson, Chief Executive, Drake Music Scotland said: “This funding will enable us to forge ahead with Sound Explorers, a new programme of online activity. It responds positively to the changed learning landscape for young people with additional support needs – offering an interactive and fun way to make music.
“It will directly tackle the lack of access to music making for young people with disabilities and additional support needs caused by the Covid pandemic removing the barriers for those isolating at home and those in the classroom.”
Jack Nissan, Director, Tinderbox Collective said: “The Youth Arts Targeted fund is an invaluable support that will enable us to provide a range of music projects, youth clubs and creative opportunities to hundreds of children and young people at this time, both on-line and in person, as we adapt to the changing circumstances of the pandemic.
“It is so important that all young people have access to positive, social and creative activities like this, and that we do whatever we can to keep these going at this time.”
Rhona Matheson, Chief Executive, Starcatchers said: “On behalf of Starcatchers, Imaginate and Lyra I am delighted that we have secured the Youth Arts funding to deliver the Where We Are project together.
“As well as providing children and young people with the opportunity to engage with, and participate in creative activities in their own communities, it will also provide more than 15 jobs for artists and freelance practitioners over the next year.
“Given the challenges we are all facing as a result of the Covid pandemic, this is an exciting opportunity to initiate a new project that fosters collaboration, creativity and connection.”
Opportunities for young people are also being provided on a nationwide basis through other Fund recipients including Engage, Film Access Scotland, National Piping Centre, National Youth Choir, Scottish Book Trust, Scottish Brass Band Association, Scottish Music Centre, Scottish Youth Theatre and Youth Theatre Arts.
Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop said: “Youth music and youth arts organisations across Scotland are playing an important role in the lives of young people during these difficult times.
“This funding will support these organisations to expand their work and provide creative opportunities to young people as well as work and income for the artists and practitioners working with them through these projects.”
These awards are the first to be announced from the Scottish Government’s £3million funding package for Youth Arts. Further announcements will follow regarding recipients of at least £1.2million through the Access to Youth Arts Fund, the £700,000 Small Grants Scheme and £50,000 assigned to the Time to Shine Nurturing Talent Fund.
Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “All the emergency funds currently being delivered by Creative Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government are vital in addressing the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I’m particularly pleased that we are able to announce today the first recipients of this Youth Arts funding which will reach some of the children and young people most adversely affected by the pandemic and provide important work for freelance artists whose opportunities have been so severely impacted by Covid-19.”
The full list of Fund recipients:
Organisation (Trading name)
Local Authority Area
Funding Amount
Drake Music Scotland
Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Highland
£61,880
Engage
National
£40,744
Fèisean nan Gàidheal
Highland, National
£30,000
Fèis Rois
Highland
£64,820
Film Access Scotland
National
£40,744
National Piping Centre
National
£37,477
National Youth Choir of Scotland
Aberdeen, Glasgow, National
£64,820
National Youth Orchestra of Scotland
Glasgow, Stirling
£30,000
Scottish Book Trust
National
£64,820
Scottish Brass Band Association
National
£50,680
Scottish Music Centre
National
£64,820
Scottish Youth Theatre
National
£64,079
Sistema Scotland
Dundee, Aberdeen
£50,805
Starcatchers*
Edinburgh, Fife
£193,605
Tinderbox Collective
Edinburgh, Perth and Kinross
£64,820
Toonspeak Young Peoples Theatre
Glasgow
£44,448
YDance
North Lanarkshire
£35,892
Youth Theatre Arts Scotland
National
£48,939
Total: £1,053,393.00
*Starcatchers led consortium working in partnership with Imaginate and Lyra.
Updates on all emergency funds are being published regularly on this website and publicised through media and social media communications.
Photograph: Anne Binckebanck, courtesy of Drake Music
Here’s how to watch the exclusive performance on Monday 16th November, 4pm
Clyde 1and Forth 1 are set to broadcast an exclusive session from multi-award-winning global star, Sam Smith on Monday 16th November.
Music fans will have a chance to catch Sam perform a selection of tracks and to listen to an exclusive interview in a special show hosted by Garry Spence from 4pm on Clyde 1 and Forth 1. They can also watch the exclusive performance online via the stations’ Facebook pages.
Speaking about the event Sam Smith said: “We are all trying to find new ways to be together remotely during these strange times, and I am so excited that I’m still able to perform and share a moment with all of you.
“I’m incredibly thankful to everyone who’s supported me and my music over the years. This performance is for all of you xx”
Garry Spence said: “We might not be able to bring you to Sam Smith, so we’re bringing Sam Smith to you. Sit back and enjoy an incredible performance and interview from one of the UK’s greatest. You won’t want to miss it!”
Sam Smith’s highly anticipated new album ‘Love Goes’ is out now.
For more information you can listen to Clyde 1 and Forth 1 on FM, DAB, online, via the station App and on your smart speaker.
Sam Smith’s performances will also be broadcast on MFR, Northsound 1, Tay FM, Radio Borders and West FM.
The debate over which song should take the title of ‘Scotland’s Greatest Song’ is set to begin as the shortlist of ten is unveiled.
The ten songs were selected by four judges including Jackie Bird, singer and actress, Clare Grogan as well as journalist and presenter, Gordon Smart and Aarti Joshi of DF Concerts after many hours of debate and discussion.
The top ten songs have been named as:
Dignity: Deacon Blue
Whole of The Moon: The Waterboys
Loaded: Primal Scream
Tinseltown in the Rain: The Blue Nile
Baker Street: Gerry Rafferty
Sunshine on Leith: The Proclaimers
In a Big Country: Big Country
This is the Life: Amy MacDonald
Black Eyed Boy: Texas
Somewhere in My Heart: Aztec Camera
The shortlist was announced by Ewen Cameron who was joined by the judges on his breakfast show, ‘Ewen Cameron In The Morning’ across the Greatest Hits Network including Forth 2, Clyde 2 and Tay 2.
A podcast has also just been launched where the judges talk about their struggle to narrow the list down to just ten.
On Sunday 15th November from 4pm to 7pm the judges will also come together for a special one-off show across the Greatest Hits stations in Scotland. Hosted by head judge, Jackie Bird, she will be joined by her three fellow judges to discuss their shortlist, how they came to their decisions and to play the final ten.
One of the judges joining Jackie will be Gordon Smart, who said: “It was a such a pleasure to debate ‘Scotland’s Greatest Song’ with two women I love and respect, Clare Grogan and Aarti Joshi. If it wasn’t for Jackie Bird, we’d still be arguing about our top 10 now!
“It was a reminder of how incredible the canon of work Scotland has produced really is. I’ve not slept well since for excluding some brilliant stuff from bands and artists I love. If you like our final choice, I was Gordon Smart. If you don’t, I’m Ewen Cameron.”
Aarti Joshi, of DF Concerts also commented: “I was honoured to be helping to decide ‘Scotland’s Greatest Song’. We were feeling the pressure as judges to choose the final ten songs, especially when this country has produced so many absolute bangers.
“The rest of the panel are really excellent people so locking horns with them was fun with lots of discussion, swearing and laughter – I can’t wait to hear what the public have got to say!”
Voting will open on Sunday 15th November and the winner will be announced by Ewen Cameron on ‘Ewen Cameron in the Morning’ on St. Andrew’s Day.
You will be able to listen on AM*, online, on DAB radio, via the station app or on your Smart Speaker.
*West Sound Dumfries is on FM (and not available on DAB). Northsound 2 is a digital station and not available on AM.
A COLLECTION of lost recording sessions – featuring tracks from a sample of the most talented indie bands gigging across Scotland in the early ’90s – is finally set for its well-overdue release.
It may have taken 30 years, but the recently-recovered and now digitally-remastered compilation album – called ‘The Lost Café Sessions’ – will be launched across all major streaming platforms later this month, on the 22nd of October 2020.
Originally recorded at The Sound Café Studios, near Edinburgh in 1991, the project was conceived by two aspiring music entrepreneurs from Fife – Jim Russell and Ian Harrower – and the album was planned as an expansion of their then student music promotions company called Smithfield Entertainments.
Beset by challenges and lack of funding, their ambitions to complete the CD release of the album back in the autumn of 1991 were abandoned.
Over the years, the master tapes were misplaced, eventually lost and the recordings, along with the duo’s dreams to launch an indie record label, faded to memories.
Early, during the lockdown in 2020, however, a copy or the original master tapes tuned up, recovered by the former studio owner and sound engineer, Dave Gray, and lurking in a cardboard box at the bottom of a dusty storage cupboard in his home.
And so, at a time of COVID, and with musicians across the country stuck at home, the boys began rekindling old friendships and connections and gaining permission from the copyright holders now scattered across the globe to upload those lost sessions.
The lost Café Sessions will now appear on iTunes and Spotify and most of the digital streaming platforms from the 22ndOctober.
The album is also available on the favoured platform of many musicians – Bandcamp – where people can make a direct donation to the album’s dedicated charity partner, Siblings Reunited (SC043937).
Jim Russell, who for many years has worked in the scientific software industry, commented: “Sadly, we have learned that a few of the musicians involved in the original recordings are no longer with us.
“Part of the motivation, then, to complete the album launch that we first imagined all those years ago was to pay a wee tribute to them and remembering their boundless youthful ambition, creativity and talent.”
Ian Harrower, who works in festival and event management, commented: “It’s been brilliant catching up and making contact with all those folks that we used to organise gigs and tours with.
“Each of the tracks still sound strong to us and even though we have been listening now with ears that have matured over 30 years. We hope people will enjoy reconnecting with bands that they may have followed or enjoying a wee musical trip down memory lane remembering live music venues, live music in pubs and the sounds of the music scene in Scotland across the 1990’s.”
A podcast produced by Jim’s son, Liam Russell, currently studying an MA in Radio, Audio and Podcasting at Sunderland University – and featuring interviews with many of the musicians who were involved – has also been recorded and will be released along with the album on release day, 22 October.
Start Spreading The News – #EJBFOnline launches today!
A four day online feast of content marks the dates of our 43rd Festival – (Thursday 23rd – Sunday 26th July).
Featuring new sets made under lockdown, solo home videos, a selection of great content from our video archive and a host of talks, radio programmes, DJ sets and that lockdown staple: a quiz!
Spanning traditional jazz to the avant-garde, the festival features Scottish jazz luminaries and some international friends – we hope you enjoy.
We are very excited to present an online Festival to mark the dates of the 2020Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival.
From 23 to 26 July this year, we will stream a variety of gigs across our website and social media channels – all for free! We look forward to sharing more details of the programme with you in the coming weeks – keep an eye on the website!
At this time of year, many of you would be buying tickets for the July festival. Each year income from ticket sales represents 45% of our annual income and the cancellation of the festival will result in the loss of all earned ticket income in 2020. As a charity, we rely on the generous support of our funders and donors to help us bring this annual celebration of Jazz and Blues to life.
Would you consider supporting us through this difficult period? You can do so by making a donation or, for those of you who would like to get closer to our work, we are very excited to launch a new EJBF Patron Scheme.
All funds raised will help EJBF to begin planning for the 2021 Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival and Edinburgh Festival Carnival, as well as supporting our learning programmes, such as our online schools, and our talent development programmes for Scottish artists.
To make a donation or to find out more about becoming an EJBF Patron please click here.
