Love and kindness in a time of Covid19
With Spring greening, human life is in lockdown. How will we survive this unprecedented crisis? Abi Rooley-Towle sees hope in the power of kindness, community love and care. […]
Abi’s five secrets of creative collaboration in rural Scotland
Wanted: collaborating musicians with didgeridoo, duduk, fiddle and guitar. But how to find them? Singer songwriter Abi Rooley-Towle shares secrets of her debut album and the challenge of finding the right mix of creative collaborators ‘in the middle of nowhere’. […]
This is not a love song: just saying Scotland needs the Ironworks
Where did Johnny Rotten have one of his best gigs? Which venue was pivotal in Rachel Sermani’s career? Where did Gerry Cinnamon nearly take the roof down? What’s the best place to play in the Highlands? […]
Who’s it for? The meaning of welcome at Dundee ‘People’s Museum’
The young dads, a group of single parents, needed somewhere to take their kids at weekends. Why not try the museum, asked the outreach worker. “Oh no”, the young dads say. “That’s for posh people.” But then, persuaded, they come. They see among the displays Dundee football, factories, familiar faces, and they say, “Wow! This is about us. My dad, my granddad, worked in that mill….” […]
Murmur memories of Leith: audio documentary
The sign by the door says BATHS in big white letters. A voice in my ear says this is it. This is where Gina had her bath the night before she got married. What? Here in a swimming pool? […]
Introducing Abi: ‘accidental singer-songwriter’
How to make a music career in the middle of nowhere? Ask Abi Rooley-Towle. She writes her haunting songs and stories from ‘a tumbledy cottage’ roughly half way between Elgin and Forres on that sturdy north-east shoulder of Scotland. […]
Where’s the heart of Glasgow’s historic environment?
Up or down? What does the future hold for Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street? Could this fire-haunted place become the centre of Glasgow City of Music? […]
Rip It Up and Open Up: museums for everyday people
A gateway opens. Where does it lead? To a wider world? To inspiring people in unexpected places? To be honest right now I have no idea, but I’m tentatively opening the gate…. Why? […]
Young Fathers: win-win for Scottish can-do creative spirit
The audience falls silent as Alloysius Massaquoi takes the mic. ‘You’re hearing right,’ he says with a smile, ‘I’m a black guy with a Scottish accent. I’m not here to take your jobs, or steal your women…’ A pause, the smile grows wicked… […]
Just do it: A Wall Is A Screen in Leith
How to create a pop-up, open-air short film festival? Just do it. When darkness falls city streets and blank walls take on a different identity. Is that a threat or a promise? […]
Journeys into space: Architecture Fringe 2018
Where shall we begin? In an echoing Cumbernauld underpass maybe. Or with street artists painting forgotten parts of Kelty. Among poets of diversity congregating in Dunoon. Or with female dancers challenging the granite-grey masculinity of Aberdeen? […]
Zombie treasure hunt: infectious outbreak of fun
Gloriously gruesome stuff. No shortage of blood and gore in the usually shiny clean shopping centre, and the air filled with ghastly shrieks. Clearly security staff had been well briefed. No-one turned a hair as a young woman gorged on a corpse in the doorway of Carphone Warehouse. […]