Over the last few weeks I have seen so many great gigs..Leonard Cohen,The Proclaimers,Lou Reed,Neil Young and last week-end Tom Waits.......What a blast!
While Cameron,Salmond and co. gloat at Gordon Brown's hammering from the right wing press and general lack of charisma( now a sin in politics)while saying NOTHING about their own ideas,poets of a certain age say it like it is.
Edinburgh has seen some great concerts over the years, but the gigs at Edinburgh Castle and at the splendid Edinburgh Playhouse this summer have been nothing less than sensational and not being a critic I won't bore you with any kind of review...there are plenty on the web and some good stuff on youtube....check it out.
It gives me some respite from my gloating nationalist friends in this neck of the woods who would have us separate from the rest of Britain in some kind of mistaken belief that Scotland would be a better place...Jeez how I hate nationalism.Remember the 30's (no I thought not )but the world was going through some very tough times then and nationalism reared it's very dangerous head in Europe in the mistaken belief that separatism was the answer.BULLSHIT!! We should be working together..we are a small planet..with limited resources which we should share with each other and I for one feel it is time for the internationalists to stand up to the media moguls and their overpaid hacks who are fueling the notion that English(the tories) and Scottish(snp)nationalism is better than the troubled government we have at the moment.....too simple......Listen to the poets...they don't lie !!

Just back from sunny London after enjoying an amazing reunion at The Cross Keys in Chiswick where I met up with about a hundred 'Island' people from the 60's and 70's who got back together just for 'the hell of it'.Phil Lowrey,one of those Island people from that time,contacted a couple of old friends and suggested getting together 'for old times sake'...and it grew. I can't think of any record label in the world that could muster this kind of affection...but then Island Records is the 'Real Deal'..I loved them then( my Bruce's days...special mention to Phil Cooper)
and I love them now.
I keep getting sent demos ( or.. hey man check our myspace )and I keep liking what I hear...well actually most of it is crap,but there are some little gems in amongst it.
If you like young rock bands ,for example,then this week Talk In Code is what turns me on.
Being in London over the weekend obviously I could not be at T in the Park, but I did catch a lot on late night TV and was blown away by The Chemical Bros./REM and of course THE WONDERFUL Primal Scream...not the same as being there,but hey.
It's shit that little knife weilding cowards spoiled the party........what happened to love and peace? Thank the paramedics for saving the young guy who was stabbed and getting him to hospital in time to save his life.I hope the ugly little thugs that did this get caught and that the 100,000 plus music lovers who otherwise had a great time come back next year.
I'm going to do some 'Astral projecting'...it's sunny this evening and Edinburgh looks sensational.....Long live the (international) revolution !

Born to be Wide is becoming the place to be on the first Thursday of every month ... I think I may have said that before, but it's true. If music is your thing, and it should be, the Voodoo Rooms is an ideal spot for the new bohemians to meet and last Thursday the M.U. supported evening was a gas, with a very vibrant and enthusiastic press representation from the List, the Glasgow Herald, Is This Music, the Scotsman, etc delivering a truly upbeat message ... I like it!
With Labour doing itself no favours at the moment it's allowing the smug, and quite frankly inadequate, Nationalists a free rein with the Scottish media who seem afraid to challenge the ego that is Alex Salmond. Labour has a chance of restoring some common sense at the upcoming by-election in Glasgow East later this month. I think the good people of Glasgow might show the rest of us that it's not the Government that is puting the price of food and oil up. I think it's time to give Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling a break. Xenophobia sucks, long live internationalism.Margaret Curran is a good woman and a good polititian and would get my vote over the right wing sentiments of the tories and nationalists.(political rant over)
A sell out T in the Park, and more sell outs at this year's Castle Concerts in Edinburgh, show that the live music scene in Scotland is alive and kicking! I know Glasgow has always been a great showcase for the Scottish music scene,and still is, but Edinburgh's Cabaret Voltaire and Voodoo Rooms are showcasing an amazing number of new and exciting bands from all over Scotland and abroad - check em out. And of course the P.R.S. Tent at Fringe Sunday is now a major event on the callander in August and is a must during the Edinburgh Festival. See you there.....

It's been a long time, but then Aberfeldy have been going through a few changes in line-up and are now about to release some new songs and will be doing their first gig in some time at the very cool Leith Festival (June 4th @ The Dockers Club). Although they have not been gigging much they have been writing lots of new songs some of which were debuted at the Voodoo Rooms last Christmas and there will be a few releases coming soon ...check Aberfeldy's MySpace for updates.

Been to so many great gigs in the last year - Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Proclaimers, Average White Band and lots more....spoken to lots of students about the wonderful Music Business and the massive changes that are taking place.....mostly good in my opinion..i.e. more power to the artists. If you are not a music student but like to mix with music type people then Born to be Wide at the Voodoo Rooms on the first Thursday of every month is the place to hang out. It is very cool and it is FREE.

Labour is still the best option, don't listen to the right wing propaganda!

Long live the revolution.

'Summer's Gone', from Aberfeldy's debut album 'Young Forever', has been picked for a new diet coke commercial going out in the States. The first showing was at the Oscars and its now being shown during Amercian Pop Idol. See it here (middle clip, called 'Frames')

It makes up for weeks of swallowing dust and straining muscles stripping out our new home.

Aberfeldy headlined at The Garage as part of Celtic Connections and were in scintilating form enjoying a great reception from a Glasgow audience,spoiled for choice at what I thought was the best line-up and most vibrant Celtic Connections ever.

I'm so glad I caught the Tune Up tour gigs too, last month, Riley Briggs, Boo Hewerdine, Sophie Bancroft, Niki King, Geoff Martyn, David Scott, Emily Smith and Marc Pilley, all respected songwriters, came up with a fantastic range of great new songs, beautifully performed, a few of which can be found on www.youtube.com/jules2view



A few weeks ago I was dead chuffed to be invited to the Edinburgh City Chambers where the Lord Provost Lesley Hinds held a civic reception in honour of Shirley Manson, who was in great form and told me she can't wait to get back on the road with the new stuff she's been recording for her first solo album ...me too !!

Bruce.

October is a long time ago and In The City/Mexico/Paulo Nutini/Christmas/Hogmanay.....and thousands of square miles of ice have come and gone,and the world goes on at a suicidal pace.
It's a New Year and we (me and Aberfeldy)are going to be doing it all from home with all our emphasis on Scotland for the first few months of 2007........Burnsong/Celtic Connections/Tune-Up tour of the Highlands and Islands and new music(waxing lyrical) on a new Edinburgh record label....(watch the Aberfeldy web pages for details in the next week or two).
It's 300 years since we allowed our king to become king of England too and we've kicked ourselves ever since,but we never lost our identity and that shows most of all in our cultural activities which we take round the world in one form or another,but is best experienced here in Scotland.From The Shetland Isles to Dumfries old and new festivals of music,theatre,dance,film,literature and poetry are springing up all the time...too many to list but suffice it to say if you are interested ,you'll find them.
I should be writing an informative blog in the next week or two........in the meantime....make love not war...

An exciting weekend coming up as Aberfeldy fly out to Mexico on a trip organised by the British Council (www.aberfeldys.com) and I go on my regular trip to the home of the coolest music convention in England - In The City Manchester.

Live music is enjoying a bit of a boom and with new festivals springing up all over the U.K. it's a great time for artists and public alike. Although record sales are maybe slipping a bit,the insatiable appetite for music from music fans is stronger than ever....it's just how we get it that's changing and how we pay for it. New artists coming into the industry now have 'tools' that just did not exist to them a few year's ago and with MySpace and YouTube and artist's own websites they (the artists) have far more opportunities of doing their 'own thing' and reaching a very sophisticated world-wide audience without the inconvience of having to seek 'the record deal'. Some, if not most, artists will still take the conventional route and look for a cool record company to help them reach as many people as possible with their music and in my opinion the good record companies will always be around...and that is a good thing. I just believe that because of the changing world what we need is not 3 or 4 major companies controlling the global music market but thousands possibly millions of record labels where selling a few thousand records is profitable. Like minded labels would form alliances around the world where the 'bottom line' is the mutual love of music.

Publishers and collection societies are now in a position where they can really influence the future as income streams from music become more and more diverse and I look to them to unlock these streams that keep emerging (easier said than done).

Aberfeldy are taking part in Oxfam's nationwide fund-raising campaign on their return from Mexico, playing at their 'home from home' the Bongo Club Edinburgh on the 27th Oct.

The Scottish Arts Council and Regular Music are setting up a tour for Aberfeldy in April next year, as part of the Arts Council's excellent Tune Up series. This will take in Orkney and Skye as well as several other Scottish places the band have not played before.

Riley has been having fun making a tour video, you can see it on YouTube....watch for more film stuff from the Feldys over the next few months.

I'm off to pack my bag for Manchester.....maybe see you there !