Hometown gig at Nairn Little Theatre on Saturday is a first for Steven
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Steven Barclay returns to his hometown of Nairn on Saturday for an acoustic gig – one man and guitar – at the Little Theatre. It’s also his first time appearing on that stage.
But it will be one of the final gigs on his 17-date Many Wonders tour with his solo project The Chosen Lonely that has included his first English dates and which ends in Thurso. He was also invited to headline Glasgow’s The Hug & Pint as part of their Freshest New Bands series in April, before he played to a near sell-out crowd in Glasgow’s innovative arts space The Dream Machine, where he treated the crowd to an audiovisual experience, performing EP Video Hair in full alongside the original footage.
Q You have been doing a tour through the spring over the year, organised by yourself. I know it’s been going well. But you decided to postpone the most recent one, Sheffield. You posted about it?
A I put the whole tour together myself. I’ve had help from people, but in terms of everything from poster design to promotion on social media, organising support acts, I’ve often got outstanding tasks not completed. Having to move flats in June too when it was the busiest month for the tour, I hadn’t slept very well before having to head down to Sheffield and back for these north shows coming up. So I thought if I postponed the Sheffield date, at the end of two sleepless nights, it was the obvious one. But there was a part of me felt it was important to explain. I could have just said ‘I’ve cancelled Sheffield’, but I thought there might have been people planning to come along and I wanted to give an explanation. I think there was definitely a moment of thinking ‘There must be others planning releases and thinking life is very busy and it might be helpful to hear they are not on their own’. Sometimes I think I have all these expectations and ambitions in terms of audience reach etc, but I have to remember – I am just me. I can’t achieve everything on my own and it adds something to maybe remember the next time to just allow for unexpected life!
Q Are you glad you decided to explain the reasons why?
A Touring has its positives and its negatives, it is nice to be doing it. But I’ve probably learned some limitations during this tour. It had seemed very manageable, but life comes up with unexpected turns. The tour was ambitious, but I had almost accounted for the unexpected when I postponed the gig. I dare say there might be other artists out there who might be trying to do the exact same thing. And I don’t know if this is going to come across as dramatic or anything – it’s not as if I’m sitting here talking about losing the will to live. But days crop up where probably for an hour or two I feel that everything is getting on top of me, but luckily those moments are passing. A few shows over the tour I’ve been reminded, standing and having a conversation with people at the merch stand after the set, how enjoyable and how important live music is.
Q You are back in Nairn where you are from on Saturday?
A That was one of the first shows I booked! I think it will be really nice and there is a similar one the following Saturday at Skye Bridge Studios, a somewhat similar space, a seated auditorium.
Q You have local support?
A Lilura – Jemma Tweedie and Kenna Ross are from Nairn. And I have Daniel Gunn too. I’ve always kept an eye on his stuff.
Q You tour on public transport?
A It’s been quite fun – it’s let me play a wide variety of venues. It has been good doing it on my own. Before the end of the year, I want to go out with a band. This tour has opened me up to the possibility of doing both. It’s been fun meeting people and seeing some new cities and towns. Even if I am kind of seeing the train station, the High Street and the venue!
n Last dates of The Chosen Lonely tour are – Little Theatre, Nairn, on Saturday; Skye Bridge Studios, Kyle, Saturday, June 17; Mr Cs, Thurso on July 8.
