Post by Traditional Music Forum on Feb 22, 2021 16:38:25 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.
Big news this week for TMF members, SEALL, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, Fèis Rois, and An Lanntair, all of whom are part of successful bids to the Culture Collective fund, which has been set up to enable artists and local communities to work together to respond to the impact of the pandemic. Huge congratulations to them. The funding, which is at a decent level, will make some really exciting ideas a reality.
Great excitement here too, because Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS), of which the TMF is part, was also one of the 26 successful applicants. The money will enable projects in five urban areas high on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), in Kilwinning, Dumbarton, Barrhead, Edinburgh and Falkirk, as well as contrasting communities in Cabrach in Moray, the rural/urban overspill of Newtongrange/Newbattle in Midlothian, and the towns of Cumbernauld and Kinross.
I mentioned the PRS Limited Online Music Licence a couple of weeks ago, the announcement of which caused a considerable furore with a range of comments and reactions from the frankly ill-informed to the considered and constructive. In the latter category is a long letter to the Performing Rights Society composed by Karine Polwart. The letter and the rationale for writing it are on Karine's public Facebook page. The issue will affect you if you organise online gigs, festivals, workshops, possibly even private tuition, and she's asking people to take a look, circulate the letter and sign it if you wish.
Had a long chat with Iain Johnstone, the hard-working and visionary festival organiser behind MOKfest and many other initiatives in Argyll and the Mull of Kintyre in particular. The conversation was ahead of an event that the TMF, led by Stonehaven Folk Festival, is organising next week, a forum of Scottish folk festivals to look at some of the issues giving organisers concerns: social distancing and audience capacity, performer safety, local authority support. In a bit of synchronicity I was invited to give a Scottish perspective at a meeting of English festival organisers, scheduled ahead of the Association of Festival Organisers online conference this weekend (20th).
The situation for musicians gigging in Europe came under the scrutiny of a Westminster committee this week. The UK Government, which failed to deal with the issue in the trade deal, is now saying that bilateral discussions on work permits are the way forward. When asked how many of those discussions are under way, the Minister Caroline Dinenage said, 'To my knowledge ... there are no current negotiations taking place', but 'there may be informal conversations happening'. We're all rightly appalled at the straits the seafood industry finds itself in, but it's worth pointing out that the music industry is considerably larger and has not been able to garner anything like the same support (limited though it is) to help steer it through post-Brexit morass.
i-Portunus is a fund operated by the EU, the Goethe Institute and L'Insitut Français which supports mobility for artists and cultural professionals for travel for international collaborations, professional development opportunities, residencies, conferences. The good news is that it is still available to UK citizens. The music call ends on February 28th though.
The TMF Board met this week, and welcomed a new member, Pamela King, treasurer of Edinburgh Folk Club when she's not being Professor of Mediaeval History at Glasgow University. The meeting was notable in that, for the first time since the Forum was constituted in 2009, there was a 100% attendance, an unexpected by-product of lockdown and Zoom culture.
A warm welcome to new TMF members, North Sea Gas, this year celebrating forty years on the road. They are currently working on a new album to mark the anniversary.
January 22 was the date on which the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came into force. To mark the occasion, songwriter Penny Stone asked a selection of singers to record themselves singing Hamish Henderson's anthem, 'Freedom Come All Ye'. We've gathered them together on the TMF website, where you can hear versions sung by Margaret Bennett, Robyn Stapleton, Eileen Penman and many more.
RIP Marc Ellington, the American singer, and member of the 60s folk-rock coterie, who bought Towie Barclay castle in Aberdeenshire back in the 70s, and became a well known figure in Aberdeenshire life. Folk who attended the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival will know him as he was the MC and announcer whose disembodied voice resounded through the town, describing events as they unfolded.
All the best
DF
David Francis is Director of the Traditional Music Forum
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