A song about romance at ‘the dancing’. I have recently been part of a project with two other musicians through Live Music Now Scotland​, performing in care homes and day centres around Paisley and Johnstone. We had an informal chat after each concert, where lots of memories of the area were shared. The dance halls … Continued

(Photo: Harp Bazaar pupils win at the Mod) Harp Bazaar was founded in 2014 by harpists Heather Downie and Pippa Reid-Foster. They met whilst Heather was teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Pippa was a student studying for a Masters. Harp Bazaar is all things harp related; courses, workshops, competitions, music books, CDs … Continued

In 1992, Dr Jo Miller gathered a few learners to teach Scottish fiddle by ear.  This was the start of Glasgow Fiddle Workshop (GFW) now Glasgow Folk-Music Workshop.  GFW now has a weekly membership of over 350 learners, a Board of volunteers who ensure our efficient day to day running (with the help of a part … Continued

The Certificate in Scottish Studies was established in 2014 to allow students in schools and colleges the opportunity to study subjects which are Scottish orientated.  This reflects  demands to make the curriculum more Scottish.     In the 1980’s the Scottish Consultative Committee on the Curriculum (SCCC) gathered evidence from teachers and others on whether the … Continued

This year, Scottish Culture and Traditions (SC&T) is celebrating 20 years of providing adult evening classes in the full range of Scottish traditional music, song and dance and we estimate that over 2500 people have been through our classes since we started in 1997.  We believe it is important to keep our traditions alive and are … Continued

Riddell Fiddles is a community music group based in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. Originally started in September 2003 when there was little provision in the area for traditional music learning and playing the group has become part of a popular, fun and creative flow across much of Scotland. During their existence the group have … Continued

It all began back in 1931 at the close of the National Mod in Dingwall, when a group of enthusiasts, mostly women, met to form a Society to promote the clarsach and its music. Quiet, steady work by dedicated volunteers through ensuing decades, eloquently described in the recently published book “In Good Hands” by Stuart … Continued

The Scots Language Centre was founded to do everything possible to promote the Scots language. Scots is one of three native languages spoken in Scotland today, the other two being English and Scottish Gaelic. There is a long history of Scots language in many diverse kinds of song.  The Scots Language Centre website has a lot of … Continued

Who in their right mind would want to start a folk music magazine? Few, if any, folk magazines started out as serious business projects – most evolved out of some other related activity.  For The Living Tradition, now a highly respected, 68-page, bi-monthly, A4 glossy, traditional music magazine, that related activity was in folk club … Continued

Ciara MacTaggart reports on the event to launch the album Mac Ìle celebrating the music of the late Fraser Shaw. The village hall of Bruichladdich opened its doors to friends and soon-to-be friends of Fraser Shaw’s music, for it was the night of the Mac Ìle album launch. The first launch that is, which took place … Continued