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Green Day’s poster for their Wee Red Bar gig. As Edinburgh Music Tours gear up for launch on Saturday 16th June, we look back at one of Edinburgh’s more unlikely gigs: Green Day at the Wee Red Bar. These days, the American punk band have sold some 85 million records; been awarded five Grammys and…

The new buzzword in music conservatoires is ‘portfolio’. I thought that was something tucked under the arm of an art student in bygone times. However now, it is regularly linked with ‘career’. I guess that’s what I’ve had since leaving said conservatoire decades ago, back when it was still the RSAMD. Hi everyone, my name…

Stage invasion at Stranglers gig in Glasgow City Halls, June 1977. One of the great things about doing our music tours is hearing our guests’ gig stories. The tours are packed with anecdotes about famous gigs but it’s always good to hear the different stories from people who were actually at them. It is amazing…

Hi, I’m Tracyanne (Camera Obscura) and I want to tell you that I have a new record coming out. Myself and Danny Coughlin from Crybaby have become Tracyanne & Danny. After hearing a rumour we were all Indie purists up here in Glasgow, Danny from Bristol sent me a handwritten letter along with a C90…

Young Fathers play Hidden Doors in Leith. We have a Hidden Doors comp and a quick interview with Young Fathers about working in Leith. The stars have aligned… We’re not ones to play favourites but it has been a joy to watch the rise and rise of the brilliant Edinburgh trio Young Fathers. To date,…

We’re very excited about the 32nd Glasgow Jazz Festival,  the longest-running music event in the city. To celebrate its return we have a competition on our Facebook page to win a pair of tickets to see the fabulous Orchestre Poly-Rythmo at the Old Fruitmarket on Friday 22nd June.   From Wednesday 20th-Sunday 24th June there…

The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Taking place from Friday 13th to Sunday 22nd July, the programme features a panoply of promising newcomers; music legends who have marked the Festival’s history as well as a host of famous names making their Edinburgh debut. Among the many highlights are Kurt…

We’d like to thank the Fans of Barrowland Park who gave the park a spring clean last weekend. With the help of a dedicated band of volunteers and the great team from Glasgow City Council, they sowed wild flowers, dug over the tree pits, topping with them up with mulch, and edged the grass borders….

For the first time in 30 years, Edinburgh International Festival is putting on shows at Leith Theatre. Called Light on the Shore, this special season aims to celebrate the remarkable variety and collaborative nature of Scottish popular music. At present, we don’t have exact dates for the gigs but we understand that the season is timed to…

Stuart David is a musician, songwriter and novelist. He co-founded the band Belle and Sebastian and went on to form Looper. He grew up in Alexandria, on the west coast of Scotland – a town memorably described as looking like ‘a town that’s helping the police with their inquiries’. His memoir, In the All-Night Café: A…

We invited Francis Macdonald to tell us a little bit about the making of his gorgeous album Hamilton Mausoleum Suite. Francis has kindly given us a signed copy of the vinyl and the CD, which we’re giving away in a competition on our Facebook page. Over to Francis… The slow-germinating seeds of inspiration for my latest album were sown…

It may have come to your attention that the mighty Franz Ferdinand are poised to return with a new line-up. The band’s latest configuration features Julian Corrie, aka synth pop maestro Miaoux Miaoux, on keyboards and vocals and Dino Bardot, once of glam indie pop trio 1990s, on guitar. They also have a brand spanking new…