Francis MacDonald

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…

Glasgow Music City Tours is pleased to present Cover Stories, an illustrated discussion on the art of the record sleeve, as part of Merchant City Festival 2016. Our guest panel of writers, artists and musicians will be discussing the art of the  record sleeve. We would like to extend huge thanks to; Manda Rin, Niall Smillie, Nicola Meighan and Francis…

Glasgow is a great place for music. But don’t take our word for it – listen to what some of the city’s musicians have to say on the subject. We’re pleased to introduce the first in a series of (very) short films we’ve put together, in which Glasgow musicians talk about making music and going to gigs in town. First up is Mr Francis Macdonald – composer, label impresario behind Shoeshine Records, and drummer with popular beat combo Teenage Fanclub. For more on Francis, check out his website. Huge thanks to the legend that is Scott Paterson, director, interviewer and general man behind the camera for all of these films. We’ll be putting up another little video soon…watch this space! (Meanwhile, you can check out our other clips here.)

This Saturday, December 12, marks the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth. To mark the date, we asked a rat pack of musicians, writers and other upstanding citizens to pick us out one favourite Sinatra recording and give us a word or two on why. In response, they’ve come up with an LP’s worth of tracks for us. Pour yourself whatever you’re having while we slip Side One on the Dansette… “Michael & Peter” chosen by Duglas T Stewart Sinatra has sung so many great songs by truly great writers, many of the greatest ever, the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hart & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Jobim and a personal favourite writer of mine, Rod McKuen. But even so I didn’t have to pause to think twice about what was my favourite Sinatra track. “Michael & Peter” is from 1970’s album Watertown and was written for Sinatra…

Today we’re delighted to bring you Part Two of our guest blog from the multi-talented FRANCIS MACDONALD – Scottish BAFTA nominated composer and songwriter, record label manager, and general music gentleman around town, who’s worked with everyone from Alex Chilton, Edwyn Collins, Belle & Sebastian and The Pastels to Kevin Ayers, Kate Rusby, Max Richter…

We’re delighted to welcome the first of our guest bloggers: the multi-talented FRANCIS MACDONALD – Scottish BAFTA nominated composer and songwriter, record label manager, and general music gentleman around town, who’s worked with everyone from Alex Chilton, Edwyn Collins, Belle & Sebastian and The Pastels to Kevin Ayers, Kate Rusby, Max Richter and the Cairn String Quartet….