Archives for March 2012

Some splendid stuff on Friday's Tom Morton show regarding secret documents. Including this tale from John Welsh:

"In the 70s I collected anything to do with the Sex Pistols, this collecting included all any newspaper or magazine item. One day a friend pointed out that a specialist magazine called "Razzle" had a five page feature about the band among lots of artistic images of gymnastic ladies. I tried to smuggle the magazine into my archive but for some reason got no further than the kitchen where I hid the mag under the fridge. The next morning as I left for school my mum said she was going to wash the kitchen floor including pulling out the fridge, UH OH, when I got home all was fine though Dad was in the dog house for some reason..."

The Tom Morton Show: Mon-Thurs 1435-1600, Fri 1405-1600.

I've just sat down at the screen to knock out the blog after filling the garage with jerry cans of diesel. Of course I should say "the double garage" because that's what they've all got round my way and we were just saying at a kitchen supper the other night - me and my entrepreneur pals - how much influence we now have on government policy after making our enormous donations.

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Jodi Picoult is a name. A pretty darned big name. 18 best-selling novels under her belt to date and a firm favourite with book groups worldwide, she is an extremely prolific and talented writer who's nailed the art of telling a great story while airing some of society's most intractable ethical issues. I knew all this; we've spoken before when I recall being struck by her warmth, integrity and intelligence. What I didn't know was that Jodi Picoult is the most accommodating guest you're ever likely to have on air. Proof of that came on Monday's Book Café when the world renowned author howled like a wolf! Why? Because she could and because I asked her to. Oh, and it wasn't ANY old wolf howl. She gave us a range of options.. from the Alpha or Beta wolves in the pack- we even got different moods! Moments like that are golden, even if passing dogs are confused for a while. Jodi Picoult has every right to howl like a wolf if she so wishes but there is a sound and sane reason for her acquiring this seemingly random skill. Her new book is called LONE WOLF; it's the story of a man who felt more at home living in the wilderness with a family of wolves rather than with his own wife and kids. Unfortunately there wasn't much more living in store for Luke Baxter, because in the first chapter he's involved in a nasty accident and left on a life support system in hospital.

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Here's the latest newsletter from our colleagues in radio drama, detailing the dramas and readings coming soon on the BBC radio network including a dramatisation of Alexander McColl Smith's 44 Scotland Street.

It's our good pal Karen Miller I blame and thank. I worked with Karen for one show only on Brand New Country and I heard her talk about Jim Lauderdale. Once you hear a name it's funny how it comes back again and again.

I remember talking to a music publisher once who looked after Buddy Miller. It's funny, he said, if people want to work with Buddy and he's not available then they usually end up with Jim. But the opposite is also true, he smiled, the ones that can't get Jim, get Buddy.

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Here is the latest recipe by Ghillie Basan from The Kitchen Café. To be downloaded, kept, cooked and enjoyed.

Hot humus with pine nuts

The Kitchen Café is on BBC Radio Scotland, every Wednesday 1315-1400.

What did you do this week? I spent most of mine locked in a very nice recording studio making music....I intend to carry this on with a short stop to play some country music on the airwaves on Friday. A lot of what I saw looked a bit like this:

Inside the studio

However, on my way back and forth to work I also got a chance to listen to some wonderful things including new music from The Pines, Andrew Bird, Norah Jones and a wonderful clash of Dr John working with Dan Auerbach from the The Black Keys.

How that all fits into Friday's stew is completely up to Richard Murdoch but I can tell you that we spent a few pleasant hours with Lindi Ortega a few weeks back.

She came into the BBC in Glasgow, cut a few live songs and I sat down for a long chat to find out more about what has brought her music to us. I think there will be much to enjoy for y'all come Friday night.

It all starts at five past eight on BBC Radio Scotland.

On Sunday

I'll be talking to Stephen Armstrong about his book and what it tells us of where we live. I'll warn you now, Stephen's country seems to be a slightly different one than the place George Osborne was describing on my radio this morning.

I'll spend a lot of the first hour with the remarkable Mary Lappin. Mary is a former primary school teacher who now lectures at Glasgow University - she is responsible for bringing educational programme, 'Seasons For Growth' from Australia to Scotland. Mary is enthusiastic to talk with and is passionate about her work - part of this passion comes from "living her faith everyday".

We'll talk to Syrian people exiled in Scotland about how they view events in their home land and as always we'll play great music. More from Norah Jones...why wouldn't you.....Arrested Development, Sam Cooke, Sean O'Leary and Tom Waits.

All from five past seven on Sunday morning. Join me if you can.

Independence for Shetland! Up Helly Aa, you Central Belt nationalists! And while we're at it: Independence for Orkney! Two separate independent archipelagos forming their own trading bloc perhaps affiliating with Norway or was it Denmark the Vikings came from? Or...two island groups remaining in the UK while mainland Scotland goes independent. Isn't it amazing. Just when you thought Scotland couldn't get any smaller, the two Northern Isles MSPs are floating (that's not my pun) the idea of a breakaway.

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Take a look at the weekly events guide listing music and ceilidh events taking place around Scotland, and don't miss this week's Take the Floor featuring music and chat from David Oswald and his Scottish dance band.

SATURDAY 24th March

Class

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Gaelic Song - 10am

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Fiddle with Karen Hannah - improvers' class - 11am

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Whistle with Helen Forbes - 12:30pm

Concert

Fife - Largo Ward Village Hall - Live Music - 8-11pm - *Tickets £5*

Glasgow - Whitecraigs Tennis Club - Hot Jazz with Alastair McDonald - 7:30pm

Scottish Country Dancing

Edinburgh - Cluny Centre, Cluny Drive - Dunedin Dancers hosting a Scottish country dance with Alastair Wood and his Band - 7.30pm

Perth - Perth Concert Hall - NAAFC - Ruby Anniversary Gala Concert - Featuring The Alexander Brothers, Bill Black and Koda - 7.30pm

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All tastes and ages catered for.. that should be our brand slogan on the Cafes! Monday's Book Cafe focussed on teenagers and pensioners with two striking new novels. The first, THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY concerned a sixty-five year old man who since retiring had done very little except mow the lawn. His relationship with this wife was tense too. Then an unexpected letter arrives, from an old friend called Queenie, telling him that she is dying from cancer.

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Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, RM Hubbert & Friends, Chris Isaak, Rachel Sermanni, James Vincent McMorrow, Nanci Griffith, The Twilight Sad... those are just a few of the Americana, country and indie musical guests we've welcomed to BBC Radio Scotland over the past few months for sessions and interviews.

Worry not if you missed any of the above, we've added them to our Ricky Ross Music Collection, a constantly evolving collection of our interviews and sessions including content from our coverage of the 2012 Celtic Connections Festival.

Here is the latest recipe by Michael Smith from The Kitchen Café. To be downloaded, kept, cooked and enjoyed.

Breaded Venison Collops with Bacon and Juniper Cabbage

The Kitchen Café is on BBC Radio Scotland, every Wednesday 1315-1400.

'Emerald' was very much the theme of my weekend just gone - St Patrick's Day Celebrations in Belfast and then catching the truly fabulous performance of Dutch Jazz singer Caro Emerald at Glasgow's ABC on Sunday night...

As usual I wrapped 'All Night Long with Ravi Sagoo' for the week on Friday morning followed by the usual routine of hitting the gym (summer is just round the corner and one needs to get the Beach Bod toned up a tad!) and then bed. However, needless to say, I only slept a few hours such was my excitement and anticipation for my flight over in the afternoon to the Emerald Isle to indulge in the St Patrick's Day festivities...

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FRIDAY 16th March

Ceilidh

Edinburgh - Lauriston Hall - Ken Gourlay and Willie Fraser Ceilidh Band - 8pm

SATURDAY 17th March

Accordion and Fiddle Clubs

Uist and Benbecula - Church of Scotland Hall, Benbecula - Ceildh Night - 8pm

Ceilidh

Banchory - Woodend Barn - Chilli and Ceilidh with Clachan Yell

Stirling - Albert Hall - Anne Bone MacLean, James Graham and the Stirling Junior Gaelic Choir - 7.30

Class

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Fiddle with Karen Hannah - improvers' class - 11am

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Whistle with Helen Forbes - 12:30pm

Concert

Fife - Largo Ward Village Hall - Live Music - 8-11pm - *Tickets £5*

Glasgow - Whitecraigs Tennis Club - Hot Jazz with Alastair McDonald - 7:30pm

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The daffodils and the hyacinths are coming through in my spring bulb pot at the front door - makes me look like a gardener when in reality I bought it last winter already planted and just plonked it on the step. So not so much a gardener then, more of a plonker. I've also stopped pretending I can cure the mossy lawn...it's more of a swamp I have to re-seed every year. Instead I've hired a company to come regularly and treat it. When it looks like Wimbledon, I'll take the credit. So not so much of a plonker either.

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Where is your favourite place in Scotland? What makes it special to you?

Scottish Book Trust and BBC Radio Scotland invite you to write about your favourite place in Scotland, whether it's a remote beauty spot or an urban hideaway, a famous landmark or a favourite café. We want to get Scotland writing, inspired by our country's best-loved places.

Write a story, poem, song lyric, diary entry, letter or sketch about your favourite place,

submit it on our website and your story could appear in a book or be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.

Check the website for stories, poems and songs by celebrities and listen to BBC Radio Scotland's Out of Doors programme to hear more.

To find out more, read others' pieces and write your own, go to The Scottish Book Trust - My Favourite Place. For full terms and conditions visit the BBC Radio Scotland website.

My Favourite Place ambassador Sally Magnusson took Mark Stephen on her favourite walk in Scotland as the competition was launched on Out of Doors...

Here's Sally's story in full:

Of Mice and Haggises by Sally Magnusson

There is a particular quality of evening light in early summer, just before the day turns. Every line you see - the branch of a tree, the curve of a distant hill - is sharpened in it. The green of the fields is emerald-bright and the blue of the sky (of this you are sure) is the acme of all blues there ever were. You walk along, spirits soaring with the joy of it. Suddenly everything makes sense. And then, by infinitesimal degrees, the light begins to fade, the lines start to blur and smudge, the grass confesses to a hint of brown and someone has taken a rubber to the sky. That time of utter clarity, that ecstatic Wordsworthian moment of seeing into the life of things, is no more. You call the dog and remember the ironing is waiting.

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For this week's programme I've been speaking to Scottish crime writer Alex Gray. Alex tells me she wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. She got her first story published in Bunty when she was nine and wrote her first novel at twelve. But life took her along various interesting paths before she came back to her vocation: she was a founding member of the famous Battlefield Band, she had a spell living in Zimbabwe, she worked for the DSS, trained as a teacher, and sang in a choir.

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God gave me you for the ups and downs, God gave me you for the days I'm down, and when I think I've lost my way there are no words left to say, it's true.....God Gave Me You.

Now how comforting was that to Asma Assad as she listened to the song her murderous husband sent her recently via iTunes? Poor old Blake Shelton (for it was his recording of God Gave Me You) - can't imagine he'd ever have imagined his song would be bought by a Syrian dictator, but it was. It's one of the odd things of the modern world. Music gets everywhere.

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Everyone has a place where they feel at one with themselves and the world around them. Where daily concerns are thrown into perspective. Where you can breathe. I write this from the island of Gigha, the most southern of the Hebrides, which lies 3 miles off the Kintyre peninsula. This week, residents celebrated 10 years of community ownership, which for them - in practical terms - means warm and energy efficient houses and the promise of a future for a community they love. The community here is diverse. The Chair of the Gigha Heritage Trust, Alistair MacNeill, can trace his ancestry to the fifteenth century. German born Lukas Lehmann, Trust Manager, chose to come and live on Gigha after working and living all over the world - he says that Gigha is a model of sustainability. Don Dennis grows exotic orchids here from which he extracts flower essences for export. All these interesting individuals share something though - a love of their island environment.

Gigha: top left: south pier, top right: view of Gigha from the ferry, bottom left: prefab houses, bottom right: daffodils in front of Achamore House. Photos by Mark Stephen.

Over the next six months, we are going to be celebrating the diverse environments of Scotland on Out of Doors and across BBC Radio Scotland, and we'd like everyone to get involved. My Favourite Place is a writing competition which aims to encourage people to write about the place they love to be in Scotland, be it a café, a loch, or a particular walk. Anywhere that is meaningful for you. We have a host of well kent faces pioneering our cause too - this week, Sally Magnusson shares her thoughts on her favourite daily walk. Over the coming months, we'll hear from poet Liz Lochhead, song writer, Aiden Moffat and novelist, Alexander McCall Smith. But mainly we want to hear from you. So, no excuses - get thinking. And get writing.

My Favourite Place is a partnership between the Scottish Book Trust and BBC Radio Scotland. It will launch on Saturday 17th March on Out of Doors.

Out of Doors will include a special feature on Gigha from 6.30 on BBC Radio Scotland on 17th March.

We've added a couple more Jazz House Pocket Legends to our collection...

Flautist and tenor saxophonist Herbie Mann:

Trad jazz icon Acker Bilk:

The Jazz House, Wednesdays 2005-2200.

Both the Book and Culture cafés this week were having a bit of a love-in with poetry. On Monday we spoke to young novelist and poet, Joe Dunthorne. He's had two books out - the first, SUBMARINE, was made into a bitter sweet teen angst movie and there are lines from it that replay in my head to this day (none of them repeatable!) So this is a guy with a sense of humour who's able to flip between fiction and poetry with ease. Joe's appearing at this year's StAnza International Poetry Festival in St Andrews where he's got a screening of that movie, Submarine and he'll also be taking part in an event called Psycho Poetica. Now that sounds interesting! A dozen or so poets are taking sections of Hitchcock's most chilling film and give it the poetic treatment.

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Here is the latest recipe by Sue Lawrence from The Kitchen Café. To be downloaded, kept, cooked and enjoyed.

Plum oatie squares.

The Kitchen Café is on BBC Radio Scotland, every Wednesday 1315-1400.

Margaret-Anne Docherty has sent us this heads up about the new BBC Radio Scotland Comedy Stand-Up Workshop:

Hello my name's Margaret-Anne Docherty and I'm the senior producer in charge of Radio Comedy.

I just wanted to tell you about an opportunity that BBC Radio Scotland Comedy are offering over the Glasgow Comedy Festival. It's a stand up workshop with a difference - we are looking for people who think that they can write and perform topical/satirical material.

Scotland is changing and evolving politically and we think that our satirical side should get an airing, and we don't mean in a parochial way - it should be Scotland looking at itself and the World.

I suppose we are looking for the next Armando Iannucci and, believe me, if we find the right kind of people we will be delighted to get into a development process with them.

So if you think you fit the bill and you've got something you really want to say find out how to apply and have a read of the terms and conditions.

Entries can be submitted from 15 March - midday 26 March 2012.

Best of Luck to all!

Margaret-Anne

They looked like the four horsemen of the apocalypse, hunched tightly together and fighting in close formation, swiping and slashing as the challenges came at them, barking out their battlecry: "Referendums are nothing but trouble....!"

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Here is the new BBC Radio Scotland Take The Floor events guide. Featuring the latest traditional music, Scottish country dances and folk music events throughout Scotland over the next seven days. Don't forget to listen in to this week's show which includes music from Neil Barron's Scottish dance band.

FRIDAY 9th March

Ceilidh

Old Kirkpatrick, Napier Hall - 7.30pm - *Tickets £5*

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This Friday on Another Country we get to do something which makes everything worthwhile. Sometimes there are days when you chase your tail around, and sometimes there are times when you really wish you'd be born in another time or another place. But this Friday I will drive to the studio knowing that my guest for the evening - and playing live in the studio with her Blue Moon Orchestra - will be Nanci Griffith.

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The last moments of Monday's Book Café sounded like a trailer for Born Free. I know now, thanks to veteran conservationist Dame Daphne Sheldrick, that although elephants never forget ( apparently true!) they can also be dodgy on the details of facial identification. Daphne's colourful and touching memoir is out (AN AFRICAN LOVE STORY) and it tells us of her time spent in Kenya's Tsavo National Park working as a conservationist with her husband.

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Here is the latest recipe by Michael Smith from The Kitchen Café. To be downloaded, kept, cooked and enjoyed.

Smoked salmon salad.

The Kitchen Café is on BBC Radio Scotland, every Wednesday 1315-1400.

Lauren Mackay who helps produce the comedy programmes on BBC Radio Scotland has just sent me this info:

For the past few months I have been lucky enough to be working on a brand new comedy panel show for BBC Radio Scotland and the time is nearly here for the recording. The Guessing Game will be hosted by the fantastic Clive Anderson and we already have some brilliant guests lined up to take part - Rory Bremner, Phil Jupitus and Susan Calman to name just a few.

Clive Anderson

Tickets have just gone live today on the BBC ticket line so make sure you don't miss out by grabbing yourself some seats now: it is going to be a great laugh and we might even need a little audience participation if you fancy it!

Tickets are available here, for free

We are all now very aware of how important social media is today. Only in the last 10 days a councilor got into hot water for calling an MSP a P**** s (whatever could he have meant?!), broken legged rugby players condemned for abusing American presidents and other players withdraw their Twitter accounts because of abuse from fans. Through it all musicians try to punt their material to the world. It's like knocking on a huge door and not really knowing who is on the other side. Friend or foe??

You are probably wondering what this has to do with music but bear with me....

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Some deja vu this week. First I heard Daydream Believer and was whisked back to my early teens when the Monkees burst on the scene. We've forgotten now but there wasn't much in the way of television for teenagers then and we only really saw the Beatles on Top of the Pops or the other music show Ready Steady Go. In fact I remember pop shows with people like Dave Clark, the Kinks and Cilla appearing at the cinema. But the Monkees popped up every Saturday in the living room and we loved that air of impudence and optimism they generated. Farewell Davy Jones.

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FRIDAY 2nd March

Festival

RSCDS - Glasgow - Music Festival and Dance - Wardlaw SCD Band, David Cunningham and his Band

Live Music

Darnick - Darnick Hall (near Melrose) - Riddell Fiddles - ***Tickets £3***

The Border & Strathspey & Reel Society

Melrose - The Wynd Theatre - The Waverley Railway Company with special guests Piper Donald Swanson, Singer Anne Murdy and 'Wee Hamish McEvison' - 7:30pm - ***Tickets £6***

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All this week on BBC Radio Scotland we've been looking at some of the options available to pupils who are currently deciding which Higher subjects to choose.

On Monday Fred MacAulay spoke to BBC Scotland education correspondent Seonag MacKinnon about the Scottish education system.

He then invited invited teachers to pitch their subject to pupils considering their options:

On Tuesday's Culture Café, Clare English and her guests discussed the importance of studying languages:

And, on Wednesday's Kitchen Café Pennie Latin looked at home economics. How has it changed in recent years? Does it matter if there is less actual cooking being taught in class or is it more important that the subject moves with the times?

You can find many more educational resources at BBC Scotland Learning.

For this week's show I've been speaking to Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar. Mark's wanted to be a superhero ever since he can remember. He grew up drawing pictures of them for his family, and eventually for a living. And it's been quite a living. He's now a big player in Hollywood where they can't get enough of the comic genre.

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Another busy old week on the shows. Monday morning found me making my way to Edinburgh where I was to record a couple of interviews on site before and after the Book Café. I'd just got back from a visit to the Museum of Scotland (Fascinating Mummies exhibition - fabulous!) when I was pitched into the run-through for the Café. First on the bill, a man we've interviewed a few times before - apparently he likes our show - Jonathan Safran Foer. If I thought my life was chaotic at the moment, it pales by comparison with this American author. He's in London at the moment, attending the Jewish Book Week with a new version of an ancient religious text THE HAGGADAH which he's edited. But while we talked about that and his great interest in the aesthetics of the books he produces, Hollywood had been considering the film version of his post 9/11 book EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE. The film missed out on the Best Picture prize at the Oscars but what an honour to be nominated anyway. I asked Jonathan about that and he was pretty self-effacing, claiming that the book and the film were two very different things. It's rare to hear a guest thinking on their feet as they speak - most authors just rattle away, at ease talking about their latest work. Goodness knows they have so much experience of attending readings and touring book festival but this interview was slower, more measured in pace and tone.

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