Artyness columnist Liza Mulholland back home says 'No guns is something of a relief'
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There’s nothing like being away to really make you appreciate what you have back home!
No sooner did I touch down in Glasgow (no hurricane this time!) and was whisked up the road to Inverness, than I was in the middle of NC50, a new festival featuring 50 local bands and artistes across the city’s music bars.
Dreamed up by Steve Robertson of Hootananny and Don Lawson of Johnny Foxes, the two-day festival created a great buzz in all the venues and just what was needed ahead of clocks going back and Autumn truly settling in.
I had gigs with both bands I play in, and it was such great fun to be back playing with my good friends. Here’s hoping it becomes an annual event; a perfect format to showcase local music and bring audiences out mid-week, with all bars busy even though they were ‘school nights’.
Another element of Scottish life I now appreciate even more is the fact this is not a gun-toting country. While sitting chatting to a man, while in Detroit, whose parents had emigrated from Lewis on the Metagama in 1923, like my grandparents and introduced by a mutual friend, we got talking about issues of personal safety in that city.
He casually mentioned that he carries a gun, and that ‘everyone here has a gun’.
It shocked me that there in the hotel, people around me had guns under their jackets or in their handbags. I suppose I should not have been so surprised but the reality of it hit home in that moment and made me feel more than a touch uneasy.
To be back in my hometown where folk know each other, make music together, where there’s a strong sense of community, and no guns, is something of a relief. We have our problems too of course, and not everyone in our music community is a ‘good guy’, as issues around sexual harassment, predatory behaviour and violence by male folk musicians have recently revealed.
Those bad apples aside, we are lucky to enjoy a vibrant community of musicians, technicians, engineers, promoters, and venue owners, and one lady who does a power of work to promote traditional music and help build that sense of cultural community, is Alison Mackenzie of Croy Live.
Alison has hosted dozens of concerts in Croy Hall in recent years (if you’ve not been, it’s a lovely wee village hall and, what’s more, there’s always tea and homebakes!) and on Friday (Nov 4) Glasgow band TRIP (pictured) will be onstage. Hugely-talented and exciting, this is a band not to miss. Doors open at 7pm and if you haven’t booked in advance, best take cash for tickets and teas!
Another great concert on Wednesday, November 16 is With Love To Ukraine in Eden Court’s Empire Theatre. A stellar line-up including Julie Fowlis, Duncan Chisholm, Ukrainian musicians, and many more.
Another not to miss.
