Born To Be Wide is set to return with a special evening celebrating the Scottish capital’s music scene, both past and present. Taking place at the Fruitmarket Gallery on Monday 22 August, it will begin with the book launch of Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits, which charts the city’s musical history.

Co-authors Jim Byers and Fiona Shepherd will be in conversation with Born To Be Wide founder, Olaf Furniss, and will be signing copies on the night. They will highlight some of the featured stories, how the book was conceived and how the music scene can continue to thrive. Members of the audience will also be encouraged to share their own recollections and perspectives.

Following the conversation, guest DJs including individuals featured in the book and pillars of today’s music community, will play their favourite records by Edinburgh acts.

“We are really looking forward to bringing together many of the people who have helped make a scene over the decades, along with those who are its dynamo now,” says Furniss.

“Edinburgh has an incredibly varied musical lineage, from the Bay City Rollers, to The Exploited, Shirley Manson, Young Fathers and one-off chart-topper, Aneka. In the 70s it hosted Eurovision, as well as the many punk bands who were banned from Glasgow. And the legacy of its pioneering club nights in the 80s and 90s continues today with two of the UK’s biggest electronic music festivals, Terminal V and The Fly.”

Supported by Creative Scotland’s recovery fund and hosted in partnership with the Fruitmarket Gallery, Fringe Central and EHFM, the evening also provides an opportunity for anyone visiting the city to connect with the local music community.

Co-author Jonathan Trew, who along with Alison Stroak completes the team behind the book, has welcomed the opportunity to host a launch, which was originally due to take place in 2020.

“We wrote Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits to celebrate the city’s quirky, less well-known musical stories as well as its more famous names,” he says. “This Born To Be Wide evening will give an insight into what makes the capital’s music scene unique and how we can promote it in the future.”

Born To Be Wide started life in 2004 as an informal social night for the Scottish music scene and soon began attracting interest throughout the UK, with leading music industry figures and local scenesters invited to play self-indulgent DJ sets.

The organisers have a long-track record of hosting one-off events during August. These have included a panel discussion in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament, as well as the Edinburgh Nights, which would present ten local acts playing ten-minute taster sets.

Born To Be Wide has also hosted several talk shows at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, featuring authors of music-based books, including journalist Sylvia Patterson, artist manager Simon Napier-Bell and broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove.

Ticket money from the forthcoming evening will be donated to the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) and Attitude Is Everything. The former provides an extensive range of health services for musicians and the latter aims to improve access to live music for deaf and disabled artists, industry professionals and audiences.

The Fruitmarket Gallery is wheelchair accessible and the venue has three accessible toilets. Full access details are available at http://www.fruitmarket.co.uk/accessibility.

If a guest is unable to attend without the support from a personal ticket/companion, then a free companion ticket can be provided upon request. Every effort will be made to provide a BSL interpreter if requested in advance. Please contact hello@wideevents.co.uk

EVENT DETAILS

Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, EH1 1DF

Tickets – £6/£4 from http://www.borntobewide.co.uk

Monday 22 August

19.30 Doors open

20.00 in-conversation with the authors Jim Byers and Fiona Shepherd

21.15 Guest DJs (names TBC) play their favourite tracks by Edinburgh acts

23.30 Close

ABOUT BORN TO BE WIDE:

Born To Be Wide started life in 2004 as an informal social night for the Scottish music scene and soon began attracting interest throughout the UK. In 2008, co-founder Olaf Furniss began adding panels featuring key music industry figures, who were also encouraged to partake in self-indulgent DJ sets. Any songs are allowed, except tracks by the Morrissey, The Smiths and Joy Division.

In addition to hosting over 100 panels and in-conversations in Edinburgh, the evenings have also taken place in Dundee, Glasgow and on one occasion, Mexico City.

Born To Be Wide has a long-track record of hosting one-off events during August including a panel discussion in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament and the Edinburgh Nights which would present ten local acts playing ten-minute taster sets.

It has also organised several talk shows at the Edinburgh International Book Festival featuring authors of music-based books, including Sylvia Patterson, Simon Napier-Bell and Stuart Cosgrove.

Born To Be Wide events have been held in partnership with numerous organisations and companies including the Association of Independent Music, the Festival of Politics, the German Consulate, the Musicians’Union, Edinburgh International Book Festival, EmuBands, the Entertainment Retailers Association and Heart Of Midlothian FC’s Big Hearts Community Trust and the Scottish Music Industry Association.

Parent company, Wide Events CIC, also hosts the award-winning Wide Days convention,  the Off The Record youth days and bespoke workshops for other conferences, festivals and organisations.

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