MUSIC NEWS Scotland

Voting closes tonight at midnight for The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Longlist, and fans have a chance to support their favourite Scottish album – vote now at http://www.sayaward.com

The online vote is FREE to enter and allows for one vote per person, but fans will need to be quick as they’ll only have 72 hours to cast their votes to influence which albums secure a place on the highly-anticipated SAY Award Shortlist, to be announced on Thursday 7th October. The Longlisted album which secures the most public votes is guaranteed a place on the Shortlist and a minimum prize of £1,000, with the remaining nine Shortlist spots decided by this year’s esteemed panel of judges.

This year saw an incredible 327 album submissions, all of which were released during the pandemic – artists on this year’s Longlist includes Biffy Clyro, The Snuts, Joesef, The Ninth Wave, Carla J.Easton, TAAHLIAH, Bemz and many more. Boasting one of the most lucrative prize funds in the UK, The Scottish Album of the Year Award celebrates, promotes and rewards the incredible strength, passion and diversity of Scottish music.

Following a digital edition in 2020, the event returns as a physical ceremony, welcoming guests to Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on Saturday 23rd October. For the first time since the award’s inception, music fans are able to join the celebrations and purchase tickets to attend one of the most exciting nights in Scotland’s musical calendar! Tickets are available to purchase now via sayaward.com.

The SAY Award Longlist for 2021 is as follows:

AiiTee – ‘Love Don’t Fall’

Andrew Wasylyk – ‘Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation’

Arab Strap – ‘As Days Get Dark’

Bemz – ‘Saint of Lost Causes’

Biffy Clyro – ‘A Celebration of Endings’

Carla J. Easton – ‘WEIRDO’

Erland Cooper – ‘Landform (Feat. Marta Salogni)’

Fergus McCreadie – ‘Cairn’

Jenny Sturgeon – ‘The Living Mountain’

Joesef – ‘Does It Make You Feel Good?’

Kübler Ross – ‘Kübler Ross’

Lizzie Reid – ‘Cubicle’

Matt Carmichael – ‘Where Will the River Flow’

Mogwai – ‘As The Love Continues’

Paul Towndrow – ‘Deepening The River’

Rachel Newton – ‘To The Awe’

Stanley Odd – ‘STAY ODD’

TAAHLIAH – ‘Angelica’

The Ninth Wave – ‘Happy Days!’

The Snuts – ‘W.L.’

• Thank you to the Scottish Music Centre for sponsoring our ‘Latest News’ blog ….. find out about their work @ http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com

Featuring Exclusive Performances From Previous Acts Who Have Graced The Stage And 2021 Artists – It Is Set To Be An Unmissable Weekend!

#TRNSMTATHOME

This should have been one of the biggest weekends in the UK’s festival calendar, and to mark it Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival have announced a weekend of non-stop festival fun.

Determined to give TRNSMT fans a festival experience this weekend, ‘TRNSMT AT HOME’ will kick off on the TRNSMT Festival Facebook and YouTube pages at 5pm on Saturday 11 July featuring exclusively ‘made at home’ content from TRNSMT acts including Fontaines D.C, The LaFontaines, Joy Crookes, Dylan John Thomas, The Ninth Wave, Luke La Volpe, Kawala, Charlotte, Spyres and more.

Following this stream, BBC Scotland will air a ‘TRNSMT Takeover’ on Saturday 11 July at 9pm featuring highlights from the festival’s star-studded history including Biffy Clyro, Lewis Capaldi and Radiohead.

After marking the 2020 festival weekend in style – whatever the weather! – fans can now look forward to TRNSMT 2021 with acts including Courteeners, Liam Gallagher, Lewis Capaldi, Ian Brown, Foals, Rita Ora, Sam Fender, Snow Patrol and more set to make sure the 2021 edition is worth waiting for.

TRNSMT will be premiering a ‘TRNSMT AT HOME’ stream, hosted by presenter Laura Boyd. The stream will feature exclusive content from some of the most exciting artists set to perform at TRNSMT 2021 plus some TRNSMT alumni. Streaming from 5pm on Saturday 11 July on Facebook and YouTube, fans can expect performances from the likes of Fontaines D.C, Vistas, The LaFontaines, Joy Crookes, Dylan John Thomas, The Ninth Wave, Luke La Volpe, Kawala, Rascalton, Aaron Smith, Another Sky, Voodoos, Tamzene, Charlotte and Spyres. The chance to catch some of the best stars in the music scene, ‘TRNSMT AT HOME’ will feature some outstanding musical performances as a taster of the festival’s return to Glasgow Green in 2021.

The festival fun doesn’t stop there – TRNSMT Takeover on BBC Scotland, hosted by presenter and DJ Edith Bowman, will feature highlights from some of the most iconic performances from previous years, on what would have been Saturday night at TRNSMT 2020. Edith will present a three-hour long highlight show from TRNSMT’s star-studded history as fans tune in for performances from all three years of the festival, including Biffy Clyro, Lewis Capaldi and Radiohead. Keeping festival spirits high in the comfort of their very own home, fans can tune in from 9pm on Saturday 11 July to BBC Scotland and iPlayer for the very best of TRNSMT.

Entertaining the nation on what is normally one of the biggest weekends in the UK’s festival calendar, TRNSMT has something for everyone this weekend and fans should stay tuned to the festival’s social channels for even more activity #TRNSMTATHOME.

The full list of acts announced for TRNSMT 2021 are ::

Friday 9th July features Courteeners, Ian Brown, Sam Fender, Blossoms, Yxng Bane, Inhaler, House Gospel Choir and Sports Team on the Main Stage while Little Simz, Joy Crookes, The Lathums, The Regrettes, Red Rum Club and Shambolics play the King Tut’s Stage. Playing the River Stage are The Ninth Wave, Voodoos, Gallus, Another Sky, The Mysterines, and One Nine.

Taking to the Main Stage on Saturday 10th July is Liam Gallagher, Foals, Keane, AJ Tracey, Twin Atlantic, Beabadoobee, Picture This and Vistas, and on the King Tut’s Stage is Jimmy Eat World, Declan Welsh & The Decadent West, Dylan John Thomas, The Murder Capital, Georgia, Miraa May and Mike McKenzie. On the River Stage; Orla Gartland, Rascalton, Pip Blom, The Hara, Vukovi, Spyres, and St Martiins.

Bringing the festival to a close on Sunday 11th July, the Main Stage line-up includes Lewis Capaldi, Snow Patrol, Rita Ora, Amy Macdonald, Declan McKenna, Jay1 and Sea Girls, while the King Tut’s Stage will feature Loyle Carner, Joesef, Ash, Ryan McMullan, Ms Banks, Kawala, Lyra and Tamzene. Playing the River Stage are Saint PHNX, Chloe Moriondo, Aaron Smith, Charlotte, David Keenan, Luke La Volpe and Sara ‘N’ Junbug.

Tickets for the 2021 festival are available to buy from http://www.trnsmtfest.com

http://www.trnsmtfest.com

http://www.twitter.com/TRNSMTfest

http://www.facebook.com/TRNSMTfest

* Thank you to the Scottish Music Centre for sponsoring our ‘Latest News’ blog ….. find out about their work @ http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com

 

MUSIC VENUE TRUST WELCOMES £2.2 MILLION FUND FROM SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT FOR GRASSROOTS MUSIC VENUES

‘Fund will stabilise venues in short term and prevent permanent closures’

Scottish grassroots music venues will receive £2.2 million from Scottish Government to stabilise venues and prevent permanent closure. Announced today (10 July) by Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop, the fund was agreed with Music Venue Trust and will support grassroots music venues until October.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues across the UK and 74 member venues in Scotland, has been working with Scottish Government since venues were forced to close due to lockdown in March.

“Music Venue Trust is delighted to have agreed this funding with Scottish Government, and we thank them very much for their commitment to grassroots music venues. This funding will stabilise venues in the short term and prevent permanent closures, and we can begin to plan towards reopening every venue safely” Beverley Whitrick, Strategic Director, Music Venue Trust.

Grassroots music venues are the ‘research and development’ hub of Scotland’s music industry and invaluable community hubs. The internationally established definition of GMVs can be found here. MVT expect venues which fit these criteria to be eligible for the fund which is intended to cover fixed costs which include rent, non-furloughed staff, servicing debts and utilities.

Nick Stewart from Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh said: “This provides a lifeline for venues like Sneaky Pete’s whose future hangs in the balance. With no income in the pipeline and no reliable timeline for opening, venues’ staff have been distraught, especially as other enterprise or arts funding schemes were inaccessible to them. This will provide well-earned relief for these venues, and not before time. At Sneaky Pete’s we can begin to plan our recovery now, so that we can bring back music to our community who have really rallied behind us in an incredible way. We’re over the moon that we’ve been assured we can survive to eventually get back to making more paid performance opportunities for musicians. I think this time has really seen audiences realise how much they value their local music venues. We get supportive messages every day from music fans aching to see us reopen. They say you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone, but thanks to this great news we are still here!”

MVT previously called upon Westminster for an immediate cash injection of £50m for UK GMVs and a cut in VAT on tickets and orchestrated the #saveourvenues campaign which, to date, has raised £2.5m in donations and grants. They were also key players in the ongoing #letthemusicplay campaign with the wider live music community, which has seen a huge outpouring of support from artists and the public.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic MVT have taken numerous, proactive steps to help venues cope with and mitigate the impact of the crisis including:

· Offering practical tools and information so the GMV sector knew exactly what it had to do, what support was out there and how to get it.

· Appointed Coordinators across the UK to ensure venues were fully supported to access every lifeline they could, including supporting grant applications, attracting matched funding, creating opportunities and activating fundraising events.

· Delivered information, advice and guidance direct to every level of government and to the sector so the size and scale of the problem could be fully understood

· Directly intervened in potential venue closures, reaching agreements with landlords, services and suppliers to give the sector the chance to make it to 30 June and providing financial support to venues to pull them back from the cliff edge

http://www.musicvenuetrust.com
http://www.twitter.com/musicvenuetrust
http://www.facebook.com/musicvenuetrust

* Thank you to the Scottish Music Centre for sponsoring our ‘Latest News’ blog ….. find out about their work @ http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com

Music at Paxton Chamber Music Festival is launching an online series called In Conversation With… that sees Artistic Director Angus Smith chat to some of the festival’s artists and collaborators.

Despite the festival being cancelled this year due to Covid-19, Music at Paxton has been working behind the scenes to keep the festival spirit alive. Artistic Director Angus Smith will be chatting with some of the artists and collaborators in a series of Facebook Live conversations that will bring the festival into your living room.

Launching In Conversation With… on Friday 26 June at 2.30pm is Live Music Now Scotland Director, Carol Main MBE. Music at Paxton has partnered with LMNS since the festival launched in 2006, presenting free Paxton Plus concerts in the lead up to the main festival in July, and featuring LMNS artists in the main festival programme.

Festival General Manager Elizabeth Macdonald said: “We may not be able to connect in person, but we’re doing the next best thing. Music at Paxton is adapting to the lockdown with free Facebook Live interviews/performances, archive content, New to Classical Music featuring videos from a number of the industries key voices, including Keith Bruce and Charlotte Gardner, and Tales from the Tweed featuring local businesses connected with the festival. We’ll be announcing the schedule on our website, Facebook and Twitter and are especially pleased that our long-time partner Carol Main is launching In Conversation With…”

LMNS supports talented young professional musicians in performing/training opportunities, while taking inspirational live music experiences to a wide audience. In Conversation With… series is an opportunity for festival goers to support and connect with some of this year’s artists. Sally Simpson and Catriona Hawksworth, a fiddle and keyboard duo, and Eddie Seaman and Luc McNally, a pipes and voice duo, were due to feature in the main festival programme. Join us on our Facebook page to watch Sally and Catriona on 2 July and Eddie and Luc on 16 July.

As a charity, Music at Paxton relies to a major degree on the generous support of individuals. In order to get through these extraordinary times, and to ensure that we can once again share the joy that live music brings in the unique Paxton setting, we need those contributions more than ever. We would be enormously grateful if you would consider making a donation to help us fulfil this aim.

Donate @ http://www.cafdonate.cafonline.org/12660#!/DonationDetails

Here’s how to watch Music at Paxton Facebook Live In Conversation With… on a number of devices and websites:

On your Smartphone or Tablet :: If you are joining us on Facebook via your Smartphone or Tablet we recommend using the iOS or Android app for this platform. Follow us here to be notified each time a broadcast starts.

On Your Computer :: If you’re joining us from a laptop or desktop computer, you can choose to watch on Facebook – look out for the posts each week promoting the next Facebook Live.

Join us on Friday 26 June at 2.30pm for In Conversation with ….. Carol Main MBE.

http://www.musicatpaxton.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/musicatpaxton
http://www.facebook.com/MusicatPaxton

• Thank you to the Scottish Music Centre for sponsoring our ‘Latest News’ blog ….. find out about their work @ http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/

 

Scottish musicians become patrons of Music Venue Trust ::

In the week of the Save Our Scottish Venues Festival, Music Venue Trust are proud to add 3 new Scottish artists to its existing patrons. Joining KT Tunstall and Be Charlotte are Luke La Volpe, Honeyblood and The Jellyman’s Daughter. All 5 Scottish patrons are performing on Friday 19 June in support of over 60 venues across Scotland – tickets are available from …..

https://www.universe.com/events/save-our-scottish-venues-tickets-edinburgh-307Q9X

Stina Tweeddale aka. Honeyblood said, “I honestly don’t know where I would be without the grassroots venue touring circuit in the UK. Not only as an artist but as a music lover, these places are the building blocks of the musical community. A venue is so much more than a room where gigs take place – it’s walls soak up every show that goes on within it, creating a history of live music right before our eyes and ears.”

Emily Kelly and Graham Coe of The Jellyman’s Daughter said, “When we first formed The Jellyman’s Daughter we cut our teeth gigging in a wide array of Edinburgh’s amazing venues. Getting these first few gigs under our belt was essential in the development of our sound and learning how to perform live. Sadly so many of those venues have had to shut their doors. In the last few years alone we’ve lost The Electric Circus, Studio 24 and The Picture House (which turned into a Spoons) to name just a few that were once the heart and soul of our wee music scene. Also, when touring internationally, approachable independent venues are vital in providing a platform for us to reach new audiences. If we don’t save these venues, where are up-and-coming bands going to get their start, and how can we nourish and promote fresh new talent? It is really important to us that we do all we can to help grassroots venues thrive in what is now a really tough climate.”

Luke La Volpe, who has already organised 2 successful fundraising events for Music Venue Trust’s #saveourvenues campaign said, “It’s an absolute surprise and honour to be invited to be a Patron for the Music Venue Trust. When I looked at who else they have as patrons I was in shock. The past few weeks have been difficult for absolutely everyone on the planet and I was thinking of ways I could do something positive and all I really have to do that with is music. When I came across the MVT and found out what they do for Grassroots venues it was a no brainer to put something together to help them and spread awareness.

Every artist starts off in these grassroots venues, including all the other MVT patrons, however big they’ve got, and without them you have no music business. I’m glad to be part of such a great initiative and will do my bit to ensure that the venues survive and can have us all back playing in front of people before too long.”

Save Our Scottish Venues kicked off on Thursday 18 June with an exclusive set from Fran Healy (Travis) which was free to view at https://www.facebook.com/musicvenuetrust/.

The main ‘Save Our Scottish Venues Festival’ starts at 8pm on Friday 19 June with 3 stages of music and chat. Line-up and ticket details here: http://musicvenuetrust.com

See Music Venue Trust website http://musicvenuetrust.com/patrons/ for details of all patrons

• Thank you to the Scottish Music Centre for sponsoring our ‘Latest News’ blog ….. find out about their work @ http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/