Here’s good news for the arts. And –  we’re delighted to say – specially good news for music, in our latest blog from Joe Carr-Hollands on The Year of Creative Scotland 2012 which begins a minute after midnight on Hogmanay… 

Creative Scotland have announced they will be investing £6.5 million in the new government initiative The Year of Creative Scotland 2012, beginning on Sunday 1 January 2012 and running to Monday 31 December 2012.

Not short of ambition, TYOCS 2012 aims to highlight and enhance the best of Scotland’s cultural and creative vitality. That covers a wide range of creative industries – art, architecture, and textiles – including one of Glasgow’s greatest creative assets: music.

An exciting programme of musical events will run throughout the year and one highlight must surely be the customised train service from London King Cross to RockNess festival. The RockNess express will feature onboard music and serve the best of Scottish food and drink – will those uninitiated to Scottish jingles, scran and bevvies,  be introduced to Mogwai, pie and beans and buckfast?

Another interesting element to TYOCS 2012’s programme is the decision to fly Glasgow-based music festival Celtic Connections over to Chicago in September 2012, bringing the windy city a warm blast of the best of Scottish music and hopefully attracting a greater number of international visitors back to Celtic Connections 2013.

Furthermore some of Glasgow’s great music venues such as the Barrowland and King Tuts Wah Wah Hut – both of them among highlights of the Glasgow Music Tour – will be given greater publicity in the hope that they can attract even bigger crowds from all over the UK and beyond.

Celebrating music, connecting people and places – all this is right up our street. So in all modesty, we think our Glasgow Music Tour is the essential companion for visitors or locals who want to find out that little bit more about Glasgow’s fascinating musical heritage and its exhilarating music scene.