Emergency Scottish Government funding to deal with impact of coronavirus pandemic awarded to music venues in the Highlands
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Four venues in the Highlands have received over £200,000 from an emergency fund to help prevent closure of grassroots live music venues due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In Inverness city centre, Hootenanny was awarded £66,200, the Tooth and Claw £59,996 and The Gellions £50,000.
The Aros Centre on the Isle of Skye was awarded £28,000.
They were among 82 venues across Scotland which have received a total of £4 million in the second round of awards through the Scottish Government’s Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund delivered by Creative Scotland.
James Carr, venue manager at the Tooth and Claw in Inverness, welcomed the funding.
"It means the world to us here at the Tooth and Claw to again be supported by the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland through the Grassroots Music Venue Stabilisation Fund," he said.
"It will allow us to return and continue to support the local grassroots music scene and the extremely talented individuals that take to our stage.
"Like the general public, we cannot wait for the return of live music."
Alan Morrison, head of music at Creative Scotland said: "We’ve now been without live music for much longer than anyone could have imagined.
"Covid-19 has hit the music industry hard and we all look forward to the day when musicians and audiences can get back together – in the same place, at the same time – to ignite the special spark of live performance.
"Grassroots venues are where talented musicians test and perfect their original material, where careers are borne and local scenes have their deepest roots."
It is the second of two funding rounds.
To date, over both funding rounds combined, 85 venues across Scotland have now received a total of £6.2 million through the fund with £2.2 millon awarded in the first round in September.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "This is an incredibly difficult time for the live music sector and it is important that we support our grassroots music venues – which are key to our rich and diverse music scene – to survive until they can reopen.
"This fund, part of our ongoing commitment to support cultural sectors during the pandemic, aims to do that by ensuring financial support reaches a wide variety of music venues across the country.
"I thank the music sector for continuing to work with us to identify the most effective ways to help it."
Related story: Tooth and Claw announces temporary closure
