Post by Traditional Music Forum on Sept 9, 2021 9:44:58 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.
The TMF AGM had a good attendance last weekend, followed by two talks and discussion around two important non-musical subjects that affect us all, namely health and well-being and the climate crisis. It was a good prompt to thinking about how we can do more in our trad music community to address these issues as they affect us. Thanks to David Culbert from Help Musicians Scotland, and Caro Overy from Creative Carbon, and also TMF members Christine Kydd and Katch Holmes for their contribution.
On the business side of things we were sorry to lose Christine, Blackford Fiddlers' Andrew Bachell and Live Music Now's Carol Main from the board as their six year terms came to an end (the maximum sentence...). Huge thanks to them for their service and support over the years. Delighted to welcome new trustees, Nichola Bremaneson from management company and label, The Bothy Society, and musician and Gaelic activist, Brian ó hEadra.
Some initial excitement over a UK Government announcement that it had negotiated 'visa-free' touring for musicians with 19 members of the EU. That was swiftly punctured when it emerged that nothing had changed. The announcement was simply a clarification/clever re-packaging of the current situation (take your pick). Each of those 19 countries still has its own visa and work permit rules, and carnets and VAT on merchandise are not going away.
More sleight of hand with the announcement of a £750m government backed insurance scheme for festivals - which only comes into force next month when the festival season is effectively over. There's also some concern that it only covers for another lockdown and not for the effects of any new social distancing regulations that come into force.
The Musicians' Union has set up a Safe Space scheme where musicians can share in confidence instances of sexism, sexual harassment and sexual abuse in the music industry. There is an anonymous reporting tool and the scheme also offers support, advice and information.
First time in an audience for an event this week since March last year, an experience being shared by more and more people as restrictions ease. The occasion was the opening of an exhibition at the Storytelling Centre by Scots-Bulgarian painter, Diana Savova, which was marked by a short dance performance by Highland dancer, Alexis Street, and Bulgarian dancer, Ariana Stoyanova at the end of which they swapped some steps from each other's tradition. Piper James Macdonald Reid, who has a long association with the Balkan countries, did the musical honours.
A query this week about songs pertaining to Peterhead and Fraserburgh. I was able to supply a few obvious ones (Bonnie Ship The Diamond, Ewan MacColl's Song of the Fishgutters, the two Johnny Ramensky songs) and point towards the collection of songs on Tobar an Dualchais of Jamie Taylor, a farm servant from Longside. There must be more though, especially from the Broch. Let me know if you have any ideas and I'll pass them on.
I love this version of Roddy McMillan's 'Let Ramensky Go' by Claire Hastings and her band, recorded at The Barn in Banchory.
A couple of meetings this week with the Royal High School Preservation Trust, which is seeking to acquire the iconic building on Edinburgh's Calton Hill as a music education centre. Delighted to say that they want traditional music to be a feature of any future activities (and rightly so). We should know by the end of the year whether their tender bid has been successful.
Some great stuff from the STV archives has been made available on YouTube, including an 80s Corries series with some heavy duty guests (Judy Collins, Loudon Wainwright, Christy Moore to name a few), a Travellers documentary, and a fantastic tribute to Norman Buchan, featuring many dear departed performers.
All the best
DF
David Francis is Director of the Traditional Music Forum
Copyright © 2021 Traditional Music Forum, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email as a member of Traditional Music Forum
Our mailing address is:
Traditional Music Forum
c/o Scottish Storytelling Centre
43-45 High St
Edinburgh, Scotland EHI15 2AU
United Kingdom
Add us to your address book
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp