Dave Christopher was one of the finest songwriters to come out of Edinburgh. But you won’t find him on YouTube or Spotify. Until recently you wouldn’t find him anywhere online. Only a few cassettes and singles in the hands of friends. His life negotiated personal tragedy and challenges that few have faced, but towards the … Read more
Recently I’ve been going through a lifetime of photos. I came across this one from my first stint as an English teacher in Cairo in the 1970s, and looked up the diary I kept then to find the story. This is pretty much word for word what it says: From ‘Here be Dragons’ a Readers … Read more
One of the things about making a lockdown project of clearing and cataloguing a lifetime of photos – four lifetimes if you count my wife and our children – is that memories get triggered. Daily. Nightly even, when you’re trying to sleep. One thing that’s come to mind recently is the fascination with death that … Read more
For the third year running I attended the Glasgow Songwriting Festival last weekend. It followed the same format as previous years – you stay in a group of about eight and spend a two hour session with each of the four tutors over the Saturday and Sunday – but unlike previous years in the unique … Read more
If you follow us on Facebook you might have seen this, but here’s a quick look at the end of our set at the Cowshed in Edinburgh last week where we were blessed by some pretty snappy dancers. I think it may be the first time we’ve had dancers! We’re back at the Cowshed tomorrow … Read more
Last week I had a gig on the Isle of Coll. Or rather I didn’t. But it was OK. Here’s the story … Aspiration A bit of background. For the last year or two I’ve been trying to build towards a tour of small venues in the Scottish Highlands. The appeal was pretty romantic – … Read more