Post by Traditional Music Forum on Jan 25, 2021 16:49:49 GMT
A weekly two minute catch-up for members from the
TMF Director's desk
These are some of the things that have caught my attention this week.
This time of year is when all kinds of rituals are fired up, like the Whittlesea Straw Bear, the Mari Lywd in Wales, and, closer to home, the Burning of the Clavie in Burghead, all of which have been cancelled because of the virus. Just caught up with this though earlier this week. Margaret Bennett and students from the RCS did a version of the traditional folk drama, Galoshins, managing to make it flourish online. Great fun.
A lot of back and forth this week between the EU and the UK government about who is to blame for passing up the opportunity to allow musicians work-permit free touring in Europe, culminating in a promise by Boris Johnson to revisit the matter. In the meantime it is emerging that France will not be enforcing the work permit requirement for people travelling 'for a sporting, cultural or scientific event, a seminar or trade show, the production and broadcast of cinematographic and audiovisual works, modelling, IT/ asset management/ insurance/ finance/ design/ engineering audit or expertise missions'. Full details of the French position here.
Also worth checking our for information about what in EU-speak is known as 'cultural mobilities' is the On the Move website and network.
'Decomposed' by Kyle Devine is an interesting read about the impact of recorded music on the environment and how it exploits natural and human resources: lac beetles, oil, miners, factory workers, scientists behind the finished product. He looks at three main materials recorded music has taken: shellac, plastic, and digital packets, the people, resources and ecology behind them.
A timely programme on BBC Alba, Ceol is Cradh, presented by Mischa MacPherson, about mental health in the music business.
Strength to TMF trustee, Iona Fyfe, who has been tangled up in some Twitter nonsense, fending off trolls who've been attacking her and poet, Miss PunnyPennie, for their Scots language work ('It's not a real language' etc). They've been giving a good account of themselves though...
Somewhat surprised to get an enquiry from the Daily Telegraph about sea shanties, and then discovered that they have become an unlikely internet sensation thanks to Nathan Evans, a postie from Airdrie, whose performances on TikTok have been picked up by millions of people across the world, some of whom have been adding their own harmonies to Nathan's original. TikTok is a social media app too far for me, but there's lots on Twitter, if you look for #SeaShanties.
Most weekly classes are getting under way this week, all online of course. SCaT in Aberdeen is adding a special mandolin workshop hosted by Laura Beth Salter to its regular programme.
Looking for material for my SMG guitar class I was reminded of this earworm, Tommy Bhetty's Waltz, by Altan.
Very sorry to hear about the passing of Achiltibuie's Ali Beag MacLeod, melodeon player and Highland gentleman. His relation, musician Kevin MacLeod described him beautifully. ‘He has roots coming out of his feet straight into the sand and seaweed of Achiltibuie […] you go out on the boat with Ali and he can tell you all about the coastline, the names of places, and people who lived there in every small corner.’
All the best
DF
David Francis is Director of the Traditional Music Forum
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