The Word on the Streets 5 Winter/Spring 2015/16

Issue 5 Winter/Spring 2015-16

FREE MAGAZINE PLEASE TAKE ONE

STAR STRUCK The stunning space age artwork of Simon Atkinson

ADRIAN WISZNIEWSKI CALLS IN AT AYR SKETCH CLUB

THIS SIDE UP: THE ARTS PARTS

Contributors: Craig McAllister Ryan McDougall Alistair Mulhearn Bobby Johnstone

One of Scotland’s most esteemed artists visits Ayr Sketch Club: P10 Christ Taylor – a year of living prosperously.

Hipshot Theatre welcomes its first exhibition: P8-9 Gaiety Theatre - The safety curtain comes down for refurbishment, but the shows must go on: P17

Craig McAllister – the day Johnny Freckin Marr played my guitar: P12

Advertising: 01292 268671 0798 543 9752

Close to Home: An Exhibition of Work

by Peter Tudhope and Martin Berwick 14 January – 29 February 2016 Free Entry

January - Classes for Adults Expressive Life Drawing with Peter Tudhope Sunday 17 January 2016 11am – 4pm £22.50/£21 (concession) (materials supplied)

February - Classes for Adults Painting with Gillian Park: Drawn to the Darkside Sunday 7 February 2016, 11am – 4pm £35 (to book email gillian@gillianpark.co.uk).

Practise working from dark to light by painting winter treescapes on black gesso in acrylic. (materials supplied)

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Place Partnership means a £400k boost to the arts in South Ayrshire: P12-13

January - Exhibition

February Classes for Children and Young People Creative Kids Club (ages 7 – 11) Wednesday 3 February – Wednesday 23 March 2016 4pm – 5pm £40/£35 (concession) or £5/£4 (concession) per session Are you daft about doodling or crazy about crafts?

Learn create and discover with art and craft classes.

Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine Exhibition Programme January - March For further information please call the Harbour Arts Centre on 01294 274059

www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk

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OTHER SIDE UP: THE MUSIC BOOK

Design and Production: Raspberry Horse Ltd 97 Crofthead Road Ayr KA7 3NE

Losing Ground chew the fat with Ryan McDougall: P10-11 X Factor’s Sam Callahan calls in at Ayrshire College with a song: P6-7

Editor: Gerry Cassidy M: 0798 543 9752 E: gerry@thewordonthe streets.co.uk

Seaside Sons tell what it’s like to play support for your idols: P14-15

word on the streets

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the

March - Exhibition Here, There and Everywhere: An Exhibition of Work

by Ron Smart 10 March – 18 April 2016 Free Entry

Tribute to Mum is a £200 Imprint winner for Joan A POEM written in memory of her late mother has won Joan Elliott first prize in a literary contest.

Chicks, a reflective piece which recalls an everyday scene from her childhood, was praised by the judges for its power and compassion.

As she was presented with her prize

by Imprint senior judge Zoe Strachan, a novelist and lecturer at the University of Glasgow, Joan commented: “I wrote this six weeks after Mum had died and was aware that this was the first time that I had ever thought of her in the past tense.”

Saying that she was honoured and very surprised to win, she laughed: “Mum would be really pleased that she had earned me £200.”

Once again, the final of the Imprint poetry and prose competition was dominated by entries from the hugely successful Ayr Writers Club – of which Joan Elliott is a former e-member. The top prize in the prose section went to

the club’s Dorothy Gallagher, with two other members included in the shortlist of five; Yvonne Jack with The Barn and Pearl Willis with two entries, Life Lines and The Schorcher.

The poetry shortlist also featured three AWC members, Greta Yorke with a Peace of Eden, Jennifer West with the Cormorant and Pat Young, whose Meg O’Shanter’s Tale - From the Horse’s Mouth was a hilarious take on Burns’ epic Tam O’Shanter from the horse’s point of view.

Runner-up in the prose section was Gail Hogg, a member of Inky Elbows Writing Club, which meets in the Tower Room at Kilmarnock Train Station, with Wash Day Blues.

James Conn’s poem, Let It Be Me, was runner-up in the poetry section.

Event organiser Margaret Patterson praised the high standard of entries from more than 150 writers who submitted work for the contest which is run annually by East Ayrshire Council.

Vital message in a mermaid’s tale ENVIRONMENTAL activist Linda Lunan’s first book is helping children to become aware of keeping shorelines free of discarded waste.

Amara Mermaid and the Seaside Trash is a charmingly told story about how litter can have a seriously detrimental effect on wildlife.

The book, in A4 format and beautifully illustrated throughout by local artist Anna Rickards, is part of wider environmental project under Linda’s guidance.

In a joint venture with Lisa McRuvie, she is aiming to open a shop in Troon to promote the protection, preservation and purity of Troon shoreline.

The A.L.L. Seashore Hub will be run as a social enterprise from premises in West Portland Street and will act as a centre for culture, arts, photography, writing and music with an emphasis on involving the under-25 in art and culture. The centre is scheduled to open in March 2017. Linda’s book is available to order for £10 at 01292 739014 or from the website at www. anluchtlonrach.net/amaramermaid.asp

Develop skills at free theatre workshops A FREE workshop aimed at people interested in developing their performing arts skills is being offered by Capall Dorcha Theatre Company.

The Ardrossan company, who perform several professional shows a year in North Ayrshire, have been awarded funding for their Intro 2 Shakespeare workshop. The two-hour course is beng offered at Ardrssan Civic Centre on January 19 between 6pm and 8pm.

Artistic Director Barry Robertson said: “We are excited to be bringing this workshop to Ayrshire. Our Shakespeare workshop will allow young people in the area to work with professional theatre

practitioners and will allow participants in the area to take part for free in Ardrossan.”

Project Coordinator Laura Frood of Ayrshire Youth Arts Network said: “‘The Ayrshire Youth Arts Network is an Ayrshire wide initiative formed in 2014.

“Our aim is to increase the participation of young people in the arts across Ayrshire – with a particular focus on those who may be excluded through economic disadvantage, geographical isolation or disability.

“AYAN is delighted to be supporting Capall Dorcha in this new project.”

Further information and booking details

are available at: www.capalldorcha.com or by email from ensemble@ capalldorcha.com Capall Dorcha are also planning to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016 with a special Easter workshop aimed at children throughout North, South and East Ayrshire.

The week-long event will give those taking part the opportunity to work with theatre professionals and the chance to produce short scenes from Shakespeare’s most famous work in an outdoor setting. See the Capall Dorcha website for details.

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Ayrshire College student Commis Chef at Trump Turnberry

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Crafttown Village High Street of the Year Award is won by West Kilbride

JUDGES said West Kilbride shone out among the competition as it claimed the village prize in the Great British High Street 2015 contest.

The local community were an inspiration to others for the way they had used creativity and enthusiasm to turn the village’s fortunes around from a depressed, failing town to a bright, thriving place.

In the space of 20 years, West Kilbride has been through a virtual rebirth. The row of 21 closed businesses along the main street has been revived with the opening of a series of arts and craft workers’ shops and studios and the achievement of becoming Scotland’s first designated Crafttown.

Winning the competition came as a huge surprise to Crafttown executive director Maggie Broadley who laughs as she recalls: “The announcement was totally unexpected, to the extent that [during the awards] we were sitting at the back of the room when everyone started cheering us and we had to move fast to

Art techniques open doors of opportunity

is a UK No1 get up to collect the award.” The award, said Maggie, was further encouragement and endorsement of the great job that is being done by local people, the crafters and the whole community.

“It will help to present to a wider audience what we are doing, not just across Scotland but to the whole of the UK. “It is a springboard to get more collaboration going and the support we have been shown by people voting for us shows we have partners across Scotland.”

There is a cash prize for the village, a share of the £80,000 prize pot which will be divided

among other category winners.

“We don”t know how much that is,” said Maggie, “but it will be reinvested back into the work that is going on in the community.”

A record number of high streets entered this year’s contest, said the organisers.

Judges were impressed by the nine exceptionally well presented craft centres on the High Street, the Barony Centre and the work of West Kilbride Community Initiative Limited’s Environmental Group.

A TEAM of young people have been learning new crafts and art skills in a project set up by the Ayrshire Arts Youth Network and involving glassmaker Leona Young and master printmaker Ian McNicol.

Over a series of six sessions, they enjoyed hands-on experience of various aspects of producing new works of art exploring the techniques they picked up from the two established artists.

Ian McNicol is employed by the Glasgow Print Studio while his wife Leona has a glassmaking studio at their home in Ayr. The trainees looked at printmaking and etching under Ian’s guidance while Leona taught them to make highly decorative pieces such as hanging decorations, colourful coasters and vases.

By the end of the course, the young artists had created a colourful collection of pieces, some of which were sold to the public with all profits going to Ayrshire Cancer Support.

Trainee Jack Higgins said: “I have really enjoyed doing this, particularly the glass painting. The course has given me experience and practice of working in a studio. I have not always been interested in art but I heard about the course and it sounded like fun.

“I am glad I did it. I have now got a new interest.”

Another trainee, Rebecca Smith, was hoping the experience would help her compile a portfolio which she could use to study art at college.

Her artist mum, Tracy Smith had already shown Rebecca some basic glass art techniques which she was able to develop during the course.

The Ayrshire Youth Arts Network is an initiative funded by Creative Scotland to help connect and promote youth arts in and around Ayrshire.

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Burgh Organist Matthew Hynes, top, puts the organ through its paces.

The organ has a number of “voices” enabling it to create tones ranging from thundering bass to a trembling piccolo

In fine voice after a century of music THE magnificent Edwardian organ in Ayr Town Hall is among the finest examples of its kind in the country.

And with its season of regular weekly recitals, there can be few played so regularly.

It is looked after by Matthew Hynes, a freelance musician and graduate of RSAMD – now the Royal Scottish Conservatoire – who is the official Burgh Organist. He commented: “It is not massive in terms of stops, but when it was installed in 1904 it was the best that money could buy. The town’s

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original organ was destroyed in a fire in 1897 and it was so good that when the Town Hall Committee decided to replace it they decided to go back to the company who had supplied the first one.”

Lewis and Co in Brixton, London, were among the finest organ builders of their time, having supplied instruments for St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow and the chapel at Mount Stuart, the ancestral home of the Marquess of Bute.

Fort, Seafield and Wallacetown

Community Council arrange and anual series of organ recitals in Ayr Town Hall on weekdays from March until October every year when people travel from far and wide to hear the organ’s beautiful tone played by the hands of an expert.

Since the organ has never been properly retored in its 111-year history, Matthew says it will at some point have to be dismantled for a complete overhaul.

The organ’s final performance of 2015 is at Ayr Choral Union’s Christmas concert on December 13.

Jacqui is Rozelle’s mask hero ARTIST and puppeteer Jacqui McColl helped a team of young artists to bring the outdoors inside when she presented a series of mask-making workshops at Rozelle House.

As part of the roving 202/20 Vision exhibition which called at Rozelle between October 8 and December 16, Jacqui’s classes chose the changing seasons as their theme as they set about creating stunning colourful masks learning techniques such as decoupage and paper sculpture along the way.

Jacqui, pictured right with examples of the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter masks created during the workshops, is a freelance artist who works a gallery assistant at Rozelle.

A graduate of Glasgow School of Art, she is also a board member of Glasgow Mask and Puppet Centre and has extensive experience of events and puppet exhibitions.

One touring exhibition she ran featured the work of a dozen puppet-making companies and featured characters from Spitting Image, the Muppets and Muffin the Mule.

Jacqui’s workshops were art of a wider programme of events around the 20/20 Vision exhibition. Other events included Rosie Mapplebeck’s story sticks, felt flower making with Sandra Taylor, a workshop to recycle old satellite dishes into fire pits and printwork with Rose Harvey.

As well as a bookbug story and rhymetime session for youngsters, there was also a family fun weekend inside a yurt where visitors could enjoy crafts, recycling, music and stories and exploring the outdoors. Artist Gillian Beech held sessions on chair decoupage.

Rozelle’s Christmas Craft Fayre runs until December 24.

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The importance of being Tim

Chris Taylor takes a rest from panto – to bury himself in hard work 2015 has been a fantastic year for Chris Taylor. He has toured the country with starring parts in two of the Scotland’s most successful plays of recent years, sold out the Gaiety with his own variety show, established a home for his Hipshot Theatre Company and started writing a book – from Soldier to Stage – about a dramatic and traumatic period of his life.

But for the first time in four years, he won’t be rounding off the year with a comic role in panto. Instead, he’s busy preparing for his second Gaiety Theatre variety show before getting stuck into a few projects of his own.

But it wasn’t new work that he was most looking forward to when we met up, but his son’s sixth birthday. “I have missed the wee man’s birthday every year because I have always been either in rehearsal for panto or working. I’ve missed his parties, I’ve only seen him for a couple of hours, so this year I have promised him I am taking time off.”

Also for the first time, he confesses: “I am not stressing about paying my rent and it is the first year I have not been tapping off my maw,” he laughs. “Hipshot Theatre is running at a profit now – just – so I am hoping to be comfortable. That is, happy that if I see a gig I want to go to I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to get the cash for a ticket.”

One of the happiest collaborations he has enjoyed this year has been with playwright and author Des Dillon, who wrote the outrageously successful I’m No a Billy, He’s a Tim and its sequel, Billy, Tim and the Wee Glesga Ghost – and if it hadn’t been for Chris having a brass neck and scraping up the cash to go and meet the author he might not have been part of their success.

He recalls: “I emailed him, asking for the rights to Billy and Tim and his response was: ‘Aye, nice try mate, but I hold the rights to that because it still sells out everywhere it goes.’ And I said, ok, fair dos, do you have anything else?”

They arranged to meet at a chippie in Girvan, half-way between their homes,

but Chris did not even have the cash to get there, so he took a gamble on this being a chance he couldn’t afford to miss.

“I went out and pawned my telly and got a hire car to go down there. And to make a good impression I bought him his dinner. He got a chicken supper, the bastard. £7.80 or something, it was. I’ll never forget that!

“He is an amazing guy. You talk to him and walk away inspired. We got on straight away, it was half an hour before we even started talking about anything to do with the theatre.

“He told me I looked like a Catholic and he made me audition in the café. He made me call him a dirty Hun bastard or something like that and then he gave me the understudy part for Billy and Tim, just an hour or so after meeting me.”

Dillon’s later play, The Wee Glesga

I offered to buy Des Dillon’s dinner and he got a chicken supper. £7.80 it was. I’ll never forget that.

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Ghost, was first up for Chris and he played the part of Celtic fan Tim opposite Rangers fan Billy – played by Glasgow actor David Alexander – when the play made its debut at the Pavillion Theatre in Glasgow.

A tour of Scottish theatres with I’m No a Billy He’s a Tim followed, finishing up at Livingston in November.

The play follows two rival fans who end up together in a police cell on the day of a Celtic-Rangers clash and is full of spiky banter. Although hilarious, it tends to divide audiences with cheers and jeers depending on their own point of view.

Chris says: “It was great fun.The audiences were brilliant and the last night in Livvy was mental, although not as bonkers as the night we did it in Airdrie.

“Airdrie, is a big, big Rangerssupporting town and I wouldn’t say I was intimidated or scared, but I was very aware of my audience. After all my lines there was complete silence and when Billy got one back at me they were cheering like mad.

“It just wasn’t the kind of audiences I’m used to playing to – they’d heckle you.

The tour was great, though, sold out just about everywhere.”

Now, however, Chris is determined to concentrate on producing his own work.

“When I was younger I was a wee show-off, I just wanted to do it for the fame. Now it is different. This year is going to be more about my stuff because I am rewriting one of my plays, Labour of Change, and hope it will be suitable for the Pie and a Pint slot at Oran Mor in Glasgow. It was the second play I wrote and is the one that has gone down best.

“This is something I have not been doing, I have been writing plays, getting a good reaction and then moving on to something else instead of trying to push it. So instead of pushing other people’s plays and paying other people for the rights I am going to focus on my stuff.”

First up is the Chris Taylor Show 2 at the Gaiety on Saturday January 9.

Chris says: “It is selling well, which I am quite chuffed about. It is a variety show. We have Abbie Watson, as choreographer and lead vocalist.

She is amazing. Louis Jenkins is also playing. He is a brilliant singer songwriter, absolutely brilliant. I went round the pubs looking for the right person and I heard him. What really got me was hearing him sing a song from Frozen, Love is an Open Door.

“We also have the Infinity All-Star Cheer-leading Squad, an award-winning choir from Monkton, and Barry Carson from Trusty and the Foe. He is doing comedy and performing. His comedy timing and his dry wit are spot on. Davy Alexander, who was Billy in Billy and Tim is in it. He is a really great singer, an entertainer. Last time I had a crooner, but this time I wanted more of an entertainer, a Robbie Williams type of entertainer.

We will have music from the Beatles and Queen and the Youth Theatre will be in it. We are also bringing back former members of the Youth Theatre. Joely Campbell and Lucy Pye are doing a really brilliant sketch, which I don’t want to say much about, but they are going to be my surprise act. I’ll be doing a bit of stand-up, some comedy, and I’ll be compering it.”

And if 2016 is as good for Chris as 2015 was, he won’t be tapping money off his mum for some time to come.

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IN THE COM OF TRUE GE Adrian Wiszniewski visits

A SCOTTISH artist of world reknown delighted Ayr Sketch Club members and guests when he delivered a fascinating presentation on his life and work.

‘

It is not an exaggeration to say this is creative genius on display, of the sort seen in Picasso and Matisse

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Adrian Wiszniewski engaged his audience from the off, with his open and friendly manner, providing anecdotes of his early Glasgow School of Art years, delivered with a gentle, subtle wit.

Here was a heavyweight of the Scottish artscene as raconteur, yet making political points and social comments in works which contained many layers of meaning to which he went to great lengths in explaining the thoughts and ideas behind them.

He is a figure who embraces the human spirit and you could see from his work that there is evidence of a celebration of diversity. He is a master of Adri- line and colour, and can hold his own with any an past masters of the last century.

Although Glasgow born, he is now Renfrewshire based.

He studied Architecture and Fine Art Painting in the early 1980s, and then saw a meteoric rise to fame, through Wiszniews- his connection with the New Glasgow Boys – ki comes to Stephen Conroy, Ken Currie, Peter Howson

Ayr Sketch

Report by BOBBY JOHNSTONE, President, Ayr Sketch Club and the late Steven Campbell – which brought them all to national and global attention. Since then, with many international awards under his belt, he has carved out a successful career, taking on projects as varied and challenging as neon-lit signage, tapestry rugs, civic sculptures, scripting plays for Glasgow’s Oran Mor and doing a spot of novel writing, resulting in being shortlisted for an international book prize.

Proof enough that he is an artist in the fullest sense, an artist who is prepared to cross different disciplinary boundaries in the pursuit of his craft. He has involved himself in book illustration, printmaking, public and environmental projects; benefiting hospitals, cafes, nightclubs, churches and inner city recreational parks. It is not an exaggeration to say this is creative genius on display, of the sort seen in Picasso and Matisse, who worked with ceramics, murals, and stained glass.

His work is recognised throughout Europe, Japan and Australia, and his work hangs alongside the best of Western art in the Library of Congress in Washington and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It can

MPANY ENIUS Ayr Sketch Club Wiszniewski’s work hangs in galleries across the world.

The work shown here has an Ayrshire theme: The Poet Farmer, right, and Tam O’Shanter, below also be found in the permanent collections of many of the best galleries and museums in the world. At this present moment he is exhibiting in Berlin.

Through his talk, it was easy to ascertain that here was a man who enjoys what he is doing, is adventurous, relishes a challenge, and with an ever-present awareness of mortality, is at pains to cram and do as much as he possibly can in whatever time he has been awarded.

Adrian shared with everyone present, that he is producing a set design in collaboration with a company for their ballet Parade, the 100th anniversary of the first performance of an Erik Satie production, which will be seen at the Edinburgh Festival in 2017.

He also has a two-month residency on the horizon at the House for an Art Lover, in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, where he will work on some monumental paintings. Also in the pipeline is an excursion to tour Scotland and New Zealand, courtesy of a Creative Scotland Award to depict national identity through landscape. A subject which is not a familiar one in the back catalogue of Adrian Wiszniewski.

At the end of the evening, everyone accorded Adrian their thanks and went back home, bolstered by being in the company of a living, creative giant.

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• Young actors take a well-earned bow after performing for guests at the Gaiety Theatre Studio

Partnership will bring arts boost Arts and culture throughout South Ayrshire will receive a massive £400,000 boost as the newly established Place Partnership gets under way.

Launched in October by Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, the Place Partnership is a joint venture between Creative Scotland, South Ayrshire Council and a variety of arts-related interests from throughout the area, brought together under the umbrella of the South Ayrshire Arts Partnership (SAAP).

Among the supporters are the Gaiety Theatre, the University of the West of Scotland, Ayrshire College, Rozelle, representatives from Ayr Arts Guild and individual artists.

The Place Partnership will provide funding and support towards a range of activities and events to boost local involvement in creativity. Creative Scotland has granted £200,000 to the venture, with the remainder coming from South Ayrshire Council and the partners involved in the SAAP. Set up in 2013, SAAP was key to securing Place Partnership and is keen to develop arts and cultural activities and encourage creative practitioners to set up business in South Ayrshire. It is expected that this will boost jobs in the creative sector as well as attract visitors keen to view intriguing artwork, exhibitions, performances and much more.

The Cabinet Secretary, who spent her childhood in Ayr, commented: “It is lovely coming home and also lovely to see how the area is changing. This is the Land of Burns, which has inspired me all of my life.”

Referring to the Place Partnership, she said: “The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland can access, enjoy and participate in cultural activity - not just for enjoyment but also for the clear economic and social benefits this brings. The South

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Ayrshire Place Partnership will help us to ensure that no-one’s background is a barrier to taking part in cultural life, helping to tackle inequality, encourage creativity and nurture the ambitions of our young people.”

Kerry Walsh, Chairman of SAAP, commented: “The Place Partnership is making a big difference to how arts and culture are developed and supported in the community.

“Partners have been working on a plan and programme of activity for the past year that will boost the sector and put South Ayrshire on the creative map, ensuring arts and culture are accessible to all, encouraging creativity in young people and promoting South Ayrshire as a centre of creative excellence.”

During the launch, the Cabinet Secretary toured a series of arts projects in and around Ayr, calling in first at Dunure harbour where local children had helped to create two giant seahorse sculptures under the direction of weaver David Powell. The seahorses are to be given a permanent home on top of the harbour wall.

The launch party were treated to a performance of a remarkable play written by Victoria Bianchi telling the true story of two suffragettes who cycled to Alloway from Glasgow with the intention of blowing up Burns’ Cottage. Musicians Jamie McGeechan and Mark McCrone provided a musical interlude to the play.

A visit to Rozelle followed, with a walk round the 20/20 outdoor nature exhibition and a stroll through the grounds followed by a trip to the Gaiety Theatre, where the group were given a tour of the theatre and treated to a short play written and very ably performed by local schoolchildren Ms Hyslop’s tour ended with a reception at the UWS campus in Ayr where entertainment was provided by students of music.

the WORD on the Streets

• FROM TOP: Causeway playwright Victoria Bianchi, centre, with actors Pamela Reid and Annaliese Broughton; Fiona Hyslop views wall art at Rozelle; a musical interlude provided by UWS students; a visit to WW1 tree sculptures at Rozelle; Caroline Lorimer, David Overend and Kerry Walsh from SAAP at Rozelle

the WORD on the Streets

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Shhh!

The irritating chirrup of mobiles on the airport train reminded me of how Prof had once dealt with a guy on the phone in the quiet coach. A polite request then he just grabbed the phone and turned it off. That worked. I asked him what he would have done if it hadn”t.

“I would have done the phone or him some damage,” he said very quietly. It was the quiet coach after all. ***** “Welcome back, Rashid. How was Chile?”

“Chilly!” Prof smiled indulgently.

“Fantastic place for an observatory though, the Atacama.”

“I hear you had communications problems.”

“Juan needs you to know about that.

He’s sent the others home to report in person too. You know we were collecting broad range megadata. . .”

“Megadata collection is not my thing.

Juan got into that after he went back.

How is he, by the way?”

“Fine. Worried but fine and concerned you know about this. Our plan was to aim the dishes at an area, which SETI and the extrasolar galaxy planets guys thought might be interesting.”

“KIC 8462852?”

“That’s the one. You remember that the observatory has been elaborately isolated from terrestrial electromagnetic influences. EM clean, as much as we could make it. There’s a phone line, narrow band walkie talkies and just the short wave radio transmitter to the next observatory. That’s it. The whole thing is run by OCCAM, the observatory’s main computer. Isolated from the internet.

“Not even a microwave oven.”

“Not after the trouble they’ve caused.”

“So what happened?”

“We were happily hoovering up celestial

a short story by JAMES ROSE

remains, however improbable, must be the truth. So I want you to run the checker on the stored data.’

“We objected that data aren’t operating systems. Then the implication slowly dawned on us and we looked up at the giant antennae pointing at the sky, pointing at where they said there might be an anomaly – for which read planets, advanced civilizations, little green men.”

“Juan thought the virus came in from space?” I nodded. “Are you sure the virus didn’t get out.”

“I think we’ve been lucky. Lucky it was an EM clean site that picked it up.

It doesn’t affect phones and, of course, it turned off the transmitter, so we don’t think it spread. The next observatory was still transmitting.”

“So what’s the hypothesis?”

“Intergalactic entities that rely on their EM senses and transmitters to navigate and communicate through space. Suddenly, from the beginning of the last century, they get blasted by this crescendo of unfiltered, unrestrained, exploding EM activity from this piddling planet, polluting their environment, disrupting their lives, as we do to the pilot whales, perhaps leading them to crash into each other, plunge into stars, black holes, and what have you. If you were them, what would do? Prof, we are the guys talking loudly on the phone in the quiet coach.”

“You want me to have a word with the Chief Scientific Office? Get an international approach? They”ll want to study the virus.”

“We destroyed it. Too dangerous to be let out. However, the message is clear. One of the Americans called it the STFU virus, an acronym I’m not going to explain, but if we don’t and they’re anything like you, Prof, I think we should be very worried.”

panwavelength data and eyeballing it for patterns, anomalies. Nothing. Dumped it into OCCAM for him to look at. Stands for Observatory Computation, Control, Analysis and Management. Anyway, OCCAM, or Roger to his friends, got nothing, so we stored the data. After that things went wrong. Anything that transmitted, switched off. Phone lines fine, computing, walkie talkies all worked, apart from a programmable one that stopped working after linking in to Roger.

That told us something. The engineers found a software malfunction in the main transmitter but couldn”t reprogram it and thought Roger must have got a virus.

“Juan said that was impossible, “Unless someone’s smuggled in a contaminated USB stick and that’s instant dismissal and a long walk down the mountain.”

“I was only musing when I said that it reminded me of the cyber attack on the Iranian nuclear centrifuges. Highly selective virus.”

“Stuxnet.”

“That’s the one. So Juan got a potent new virus checker sent up the line. We ran it on Roger and found a completely unknown rootkit virus in the operating system. We started looking at each other accusingly.

“Who would do this? The Russians, the Chinese? Pointless, as we share all our data. Perhaps we weren’t the target but we still couldn’t find how the virus got in. You remember that Juan is a bit of a Sherlock Holmes buff. You find them all over the world, don’t you? It still came as a surprise when, in his best Basil Rathbone voice, he said: ‘When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever

First Flight

Nicola Prigg

Today I fly for the first time.

Take my first faltering footsteps On the rung to climb Up to see you once again

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Today I leave Earth’s gravity To soar amongst the birds.

I fall back to Earth As I race to meet you.

Today I fly for the first time.

Today I leap amongst the stars.

the WORD on the Streets

Sofia Eclipse JAMES ROSE Through the long, dim hours of a summer’s night A child moves slowly to the world, Daughter of life and wisdom, Born into her full vigour, Her face pristine.

Through the misty haze of an autumn night, A shadow sweeps across the moon, Mother of myth and magic, Risen in her full spendour Her face suffused.

Through the sky-borne jaguar’s fearful night The infant cries against the shade, Bearer of pain and portents, Banishing its grim darkness, Her face at peace.

The Astronomical Clock of Prague FIONA AITCHISON Built in Medieval times, This clock which on the hour, chimes.

Holds twelve apostles in its grace, Who pass along the southern face, Of ancient Prague’s Town City Hall.

Saints and sinners stare in thrall, At the Astronomical Clock.

Vanity, mirrors his face, so vain.

An Angel spreads her wings again.

Around the dials of brown and blue, Astronomer, Philosopher, Chronicler too, Announce the hour with thought and prose, As the Golden Cockerel quivers and crows, On The Astronomical Clock.

Death holds high, his hourglass, Sifting seconds till the last.

Beckons forth the next in line, The Turkish man denying time.

Greedy Miser shakes his stick, To the never ending tick, tock, tick, Of the Astronomical Clock.

Gold hands depict moon and sun, Upon each hour, the bell is rung.

A Zodiac, regroups the stars, Charts the universe past Mars.

Counts the years on a calender dial.

It’s why we stand in awe awhile, At the Astronomical Clock!

the WORD on the Streets

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Artists launch into cyberspace AN online gallery launched in Ayrshire is benefiting hundreds of artists across the country.

John Atchison, the founder and creator of scotlandsartists.com said the idea cam about during a conversation with an artist friend.

“It initially stemmed from my combined interest of website design and art appreciation. My friend was keen to show his work to a wider audience but had neither the time nor the experience to create his own website, so the idea was born.”

Today, almost 400 artists are registered with scotlandsartists.com which is free to join and provides an online platform for artists of all mediums to showcase their work. The criteria to

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become a member is fairly wide; encompassing any Scottish born artist and any artist who lives and works in Scotland.

Apart from no joining fee there are other incentives for artists to become part of this growing community gallery.

Artists are set up with an individual profile page and

up to five images of their work displayed at a time.

Members of the gallery are also given the opportunity to update these images once or twice a year.

This additional service is also free of charge as it keeps the gallery fresh with new art all year round.

Scotland’s Artists is a

vibrant, up-to-date way for the general public to view and purchase Scottish art produced by some of the country’s most talented artists.

The gallery offers an online purchase facility for those artists who choose to sell original artwork and prints from the site. John can provide a giclée quality print service to artists as well as cards in a range of sizes.

In an age of huge artistic competition, this online community gallery gives exposure to both established and new artists in a range of mediums from fine art to wood carving.

If you meet the criteria and wish to become part of Scotland’s Artists’ online community, you will find an application form on the website at www.scotlandartists.com

THE SHOWS MUST GO ON! Ayr Town Hall steps in as temporary home while Gaiety main hall closes for upgrading AYR Gaiety Theatre’s main auditorium is to close as major restoration work begins in February 2016.

But South Ayrshire’s finest theatre will carry on with a full Spring and Summer programe, using Ayr Town Hall as their temporary home.

Meanwhile, the Studio Theatre and the Restaurant at the Gaiety will remain open for business as usual.

Highlights of the programme for Ayr Town Hall include a spectacular Gala Concert with Heritage Opera; an exhilarating new musical account of the life of Robert Burns A Man’s A Man; an intimate evening of mystique and magic from Paul Daniels & Debbie McGee, and the very latest acclaimed show for children – Hairy Maclary’s Cat Tales.

In addition, there are celebratory shows such as We’ll Meet Again and The Rat Pack and Judy for all to enjoy.

The Studio Theatre welcome a three-

week season of collaborations with Òran Mór’s award-winning theatre programme A Play, A Pie and A Pint, alongside the hugely popular Murder Mystery and Studio Jazz nights.

A theatre spokesperson said: “The Gaiety has made fantastic progress in the three years since reopening in 2012 - we’ve offered a huge variety of performances from professionals, national companies and local amateur groups within the theatre and extended our outreach work with younger and older audiences through Gaiety Act Out. “We’d like to take this opportunity to recognise the incredible level of support we’ve received from the local community, arts groups, patrons, the dedication of the staff, volunteers and trustees and the generosity of benefactors who continue to have such confidence in our wonderful theatre. We look forward to seeing you over the coming season.”

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2001: A SPAC Artist Simon Atkinson travels back in time to restore iconic 20th ‘STAR struck’ is probably a fair enough description of artist Simon Atkinson as a child. Already a huge fan of the Gerry Anderson space-themed TV animations such as Thunderbirds, he went to see the spectacular and ground-breaking 2001: A Space Odyssey at the age of eight and was hooked. He had seen the future– and his place in it.

While such interests might inspire some young sci-fans towards an aspirational and unattainable career as an astronaut, young Master Atkinson knew what he wanted to do and it didn’t involve leaving Planet Earth: he wanted to be a model maker. And so it turned out. An accomplished artist, he now runs the HND model making programme at City of Glasgow College with colleague David Allen.

But a it’s little bit of retro time travel to an earlier project which is occupying Simon’s mind these days. He has restored a series of illustrations he completed two decades ago featuring spacecraft from what is arguably cinema’s most iconic sci-fi film and is making them available to the public to buy.

Back in the early 1990s, photographer Piers Bizony contacted Simon out of the blue with a dream proposal.

Simon recalls: “I had been trying to flog a couple of paintings I had done of 2001 in a shop in London and Piers spotted them.

He got in touch with me saying he had always wanted to do the definitive book on 2001: A Space Odyssey.”

He didn’t need to be asked twice. “It turned out it was a pivotal movie for both of us,” Simon adds. “It was one of these things we didn’t expect to make any money out of, but we still wanted to do it and see how far we could go with it.

“We didn’t have very much information and we didn’t know who was still alive from the original production.

“So I did some initial art work, a couple of elevations from one of the spacecraft featured in the film, and Piers reprinted it as a sort of calling card and used it to contact the surviving crew. It worked a treat.”

As a result, Harry Lange, a NASA astronautical designer who was art director for 2001, met up with Simon and Piers. “He had tons of drawings from the film hidden at his house and he gave us the names of a lot of people who were still alive at that time, including Stanley Kubrick, the director. Kubrick was not interested in helping with the book, but we later heard that he had bought 50 copies of it, so we took that as some sort of endorsement.”

The book, 2001: Filming the Future, with Piers Bizony’s words and Simon’s illustrations, was a great success and was popular with film and science fiction fans across the globe. It did wonders for Piers, who has gone on to write several dozen space related books and has even delivered lectures at NASA. But beside the benefits that being involved in such a successful venture bring, Simon says the thrill of working on the project was in itself rewarding enough. “We both loved it because it was

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like modern archaeology, looking into the background of this incredible film. We met science advisors and technicians – pivotal people who had worked on the film. We met [US space scientist] Frederick Ordway, who was hired by Kubrick as a scientific advisor because he actually worked for NASA. He had links directly with the Aerospace propulsion laboratories in Pasadena and all three different NASA sites. He got all the aerospace technicians of the time involved in the film and that is what makes this a unique film – because it is not just another sci-fi fantasy film, it actually had input from the space industry

the WORD on the Streets

CE GALLERY Century impressions of how life would be in the new millennium

Buy a piece of film art

Simon’s art work hangs in the office of US actor Tom Hanks, who is a huge fan of 2001. Arthur C Clark, who wrote the story, also owns one. A limited edition of 250 of Simon’s restored works are available to buy as mounted Giclee prints on 260gsm art paper, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. You can order copies online at www.satkinsoncreativearts.com

and that is why the spacecraft designs are still tops. You can’t fault them in terms of how the technology is portrayed. When you watch it you know that what you are watching was how everybody in the space industry thought things would be in 2001.”

The attention to the most minute detail makes Simon’s artwork so impressive, but there were no technical drawings available for the spacecraft which appeared in the film, so how did he perfect his artwork? Simon says: “We wanted to do really accurate views that hadn’t been seen before. I had a video copy of the

film and I used to run it and run it and run it. I basically watched the film and worked out the pivot positions and so on. I made a cardboard cut-out with pins to see how it extended out and eventually got to the point of working it all out.”

The book wasn’t Simon’s first encounter with science fiction productions. He began his career as an apprentice model maker with a London company called Space Models straight from school in 1976. He recalls: “I was a big fan of Space 1999 and this company had made the major models for that. I was a big fan of it and here were all these huge models lying around, it was dead exciting.

“I was taken on as a sort of apprentice and of course I didn’t realize that what the apprentice did was sweep the floor and make the coffee, so I was getting very frustrated. I used to constantly hassle the four partners for the chance to work on models to the point where they would shout at me and tell me to get back to sweeping the floor.

“Of course what I didn’t realize was that all that time I was spending around the model makers I was picking up loads of stuff, which is the point of being an apprentice.

“After about a year I had progressed on to working on some of the commercial production models the company made for travel agents’ shop displays, then at one point the workshop foreman came and got me and said I was wanted in the office. So I got led through to the workshop, past about 14 model makers and they were all going: ‘Ooh..!’ and I think I’m about to get the boot because I hassled them too much. So I walked in and there was a roll of drawings on the table. One of the directors said: ‘Right.

You’ve been hassling us all this time. There’s a model. Muck this up and you’re out!’ It was a Blake’s 7 model, the London, the prison ship which appears in the first episode. So I made the model and it went great, which was fantastic.”

Simon’s career has taken many twists and turns – as well as taking him halfway around the world, spending several years in Australia before moving back to the UK in 2003.

Speaking of his lecturing work, Simon says: “I love it. I love working with students and of course I don’t have to make models for crazy deadlines now. You might not think it but it is quite a stressful profession because you’re usually working with clients who want things done in two seconds flat.”

Simon says his favourite work has been film-related. “I enjoyed working on Blake’s 7. I also worked on the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me and later on when I set up on my own as a freelancer with a guy called David Wightman, we worked on Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. We made great big architectural works for that. We worked on one piece for about two months and it was on the screen for about four seconds. Even so, the buzz of seeing your work up on the big screen is very exciting. It has been a cracking career.”

You can see more examples of Simon’s work on his website at www.satkinsoncreativearts.com

the WORD on the Streets

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THIS SIDE UP: THE MUSIC BOOK

One of Scotland’s most esteemed artists visits Ayr Sketch Club: P10

Contributors: Craig McAllister Ryan McDougall Alistair Mulhearn Bobby Johnstone

Losing Ground chew the fat with Ryan McDougall: P10-11 X Factor’s Sam Callahan calls in at Ayrshire College with a song: P6-7

Christ Taylor – a year of living prosperously.

Hipshot Theatre welcomes its first exhibition: P8-9

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Craig McAllister – the day Johnny Freckin Marr played my guitar: P12

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Seaside Sons tell what it’s like to play support for your idols: P14-15

OTHER SIDE UP: THE ARTS PARTS

Design and Production: Raspberry Horse Ltd 97 Crofthead Road Ayr KA7 3NE

Gaiety Theatre - The safety curtain comes down for refurbishment, but the shows must go on: P17

Editor: Gerry Cassidy M: 0798 543 9752 E: gerry@thewordonthe streets.co.uk

Place Partnership means a £400k boost to the arts in South Ayrshire: P12-13

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LOVE MUSIC

NORTH AYRSHIRE LIBRARIES NOT JUST ABOUT BOOKS!

Treehouse buzzing with quality acts

Brownbear plan single and album BROWNBEAR’S long-awaited debut album is to be released in 2016, preceded by a single, says the band’s Matt Hickman.

Looking back on support slots for The Libertines and touring Scotland with The View, Matt says: “We had a crazy gigging year in 2014, so it was nice to knuckle down and make the first album.

“The album is finished and we are really happy with how it sounds, we really can’t wait to get it out! The first single will be early 2016, news on that is coming very soon with the album to follow at some point next year.

“We want to make the most of it and hopefully get it out to as many people as we can and see how people respond both new fans and folks who have been supportive of us right from the start. It’s been

great to get back to gigging,” he added. Among their other recent gigs, Brownbear supported The Enemy in a wild night at The Garage in Glasgow and appeared with Reverend and the Makers at King Tut’s, before going on to headline their own date at the famous Glasgow venue on December 11.

“It’s an iconic venue for so many reasons,” says Matt. “Great atmosphere, great sound, great set up. There is something really special about it.”

And he had good news for local fans.“We are in talks just now for an Ayrshire show so watch out for an announcement on that very soon. Ayrshire is home for me and it’s where the band started so it always feels right to do shows in Ayrshire.

THE BUZZWORKS After Dark spots at The Treehouse in Ayr are promoting some of the best of Ayrshire’s music and introducing quality performers from further afield.

Hosted by Chloe Marie, the Wednesday night events feature a wide variety of artists covering all genres from strident rock to pensive folk via parlour jazz, indie and electronica.

One recent event featured Stewart Horn with expert renditions of jazz standards that would have been equally at home on a luxury cruise liner, Cat Atkinson with her gossamer voice and gentle guitar belying the fact this was only her second live gig and Louis Jenkins, whose distinctive style and tightly constructed songs were sheer pleasure.

December highlights include the superbly eccentric The Banana Sessions, who will be performing from their long-awaited second album Be Bold and Brilliant on the 16th. Sharing the bill that night will be Up In Smoke, an acoustic/blues/hip-hop influenced trio from Cumnock and the tremendous Duffy’s Gypsy Band, whose Eastern European influenced sound is always worth listening to.

Later in the month, on the 23rd, Mark Copeland, surely one of Ayrshire’s finest singer songwriters, brings his act to The Treehouse. Originally from Irvine, he has spent some tine living in London and played a guest spot at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. Also playing will be Flew the Arrow, Taylor Buntain and Louis Jenkins. The Fabulous Duffy Gibbons Band round off the year on December 30. Find out more on the Buzzworks After Dark Facebook page.

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the

word on the streets

Tut’s date for Chloe and Echo Valley TICKETS are going fast for Chloe Marie’s debut headlining slot at King Tut’s on Friday January 12 as part of their 16-day New Year’s Resolution. She has played the iconic venue before, but this will be her first time as the main attraction. Echo Valley will headline on January 6 as part of the blockbuster event. Meanwhile, the finishing touches are being put to Chloe Marie’s debut EP with a launch being planned for an Ayr venue in January. Watch her Facebook page for details. More Echo Valley on Page 7.

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Write with a brief CV to gerry@raspberryhorse.co.uk Closing date: January 5 2016

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Rising, not falling FALL of Eve’s impressive first album, Eternal Embrace owes it existence to the band’s growing army of faithful fans.

Following on the release of their first EP, Calls From The Horizon in 2013, the Irvine outfit launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the album.

And the fans didn’t half show their faith – they contributed 150% of the target.

The result of their generosity has been more than repaid in this cracking debut album.

Ten power tracks that will rock you to your soul and back are harnessed into one, pulsating entity. It’s the intense, creative piece that the band have been threatening to produce and is a perfect showcase for their strong

songwriting skills. Released in September, the album has met with a very positive response from fans and critics at home and abroad.

Thanks to their storming live performances, The Fall Of Eve are fast making a name for themselves far and wide.

Already copies of Eternal Embrace have been shipped to more than 20 countries.

Their status as serious players on the rock scene was only strengthened when they opened the two-day female fronted metal festival Dames of Darkness in Bilston in May of this year.

Evangeline’s vocal range is impressive as she focuses the energy of the band with deft skill. Impressive.

Definitely worth checking out.

POP GO THE HEPBURNS The joy of ripping it up with a fresh Orange Juice vibe “UNASHAMEDLY pop” is how bass player James Fletcher describes the sound of Dirty Hepburns, an Ayr four-piece who look to be really going places in the short time they have been together.

And if their Soundcloud uploads are anything to go by, he’s spot on. This is ear candy you’ll want to hear again and again. They play instantly accessible songs hanging on Ryan McCullagh’s jangly guitar, Barry Carson’s silky vocals with some sweet harmonies thrown in.

Although all four have known each other for quite a few years, they only got together as a band in May. Since then they have been gigging around, including a slot at Prestfest which led to them supporting Gun at Live at Troon in September. They have been steadily building a following to such an extent that they headlined a sell-out gig at the Record Factory in Glasgow at the end of November.

Singer Barry brings his experience as one half of the fantastic Trusty and the Foe while Eleanor Deeming was drummer with Janice and the Boowops, an all-girl band with a 60s sound.

“We’re all big fans of the Postcard Records era music, all those great Scottish bands,” says James.

“A few years ago Barry and I were in Play It Again Records in Glasgow looking through all the singles. They were all 69 pence then we came to Rip It Up by Orange Juice and that was £2, so we thought ‘Wow, this must be good.’

“After hearing it we decided this was

exactly what we needed, to be an outand-out pop band.

“You look around and a lot of bands are all about ‘the look’ and what we liked about Orange Juice was how they came out with great tunes.”

Dirty Hepburns’ great songs are created by Barry and James, with one early favourite – To Our Delight – produced by Kevin Burley, who worked on the first two Glasvegas albums.

“We put that up on Soundcloud just to see what kind of feedback we would get and it has been very positive,”

James adds. The band are currently in talks with a couple of promoters with a view to support slots for a couple of big names. Meanwhile, you can check out their music on Soundcloud where they have four tracks to listen to: the poppy To Our Delight with its nod to The Smiths; Love Left Money On The Stairs which reinterprets the energy of those early 80s bands; Fürst Bismarck, a melodic acoustic guitar based tune highlighted with gentle harmony; and a demo version of Stolen Bicycles, which has become a soulful singalong closer to live gigs.

5

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X FACTOR SONG FOR Students at Ayrshire College’s Ayr campus were treated to an intimate four-song performance from former X Factor contestant Sam Callahan.

Sam, 21, appeared on the tenth series of the show in 2013 and has just released his debut EP, Bigger Things.

Ayrshire College’s Routes to Business & IT class got in touch with the singer-songwriter to ask if he would perform at the College.

The audience heard renditions of Valerie and Stand By Me before Sam played two of his own tracks: This One’s For You and Bigger Things.

After the performance, the College’s students were given a chance to ask Sam about his experiences as an X Factor finalist.

He said he’s still in touch with young runner-up Nicky McDonald and planned to meet up with him while he was in Scotland. Sam also revealed the biggest influences on him as an artist right now are Ed Sheeran and The Script.

His song This One’s For You is dedicated to his 21-year-old friend

2016 means a new sound and a new look for Echo Valley

Band member Shaun McCluskey gives us a run-down on recent changes

SAM IS ON STUDENTS Jade who has sadly been diagnosed with cancer for the third time.

All proceeds from the EP will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Speaking after the performance, Sam said: “It was cool.

Everyone was really chatty and coming over for a selfie!

“At the moment I’m doing school tours and radio tours to promote my EP, which is very exciting for me because it’s the first time anyone’s heard my own music.

“The X Factor was the best experience of my life so far, hopefully I can do all the arena tours again but this time for my own music with people appreciating what I do and what I’m about.”

Routes to Business & IT student Euan Bryce, 20 from Troon, initially got in touch with Sam to arrange the visit.

He said: “Sam’s a really good singer and he’s someone that I look up to. He’s got great music and I was a big fan of him on The X Factor. He did brilliantly today, I loved when he sang Stand By Me - I was singing along with him!”

ECHO VALLEY have had a bit of a wild year. But a great one nonetheless, which has seen us support some of our favourite acts - Peace, Pretty Vicious and has also seen us venture out of the country to places like Marseille and Carlisle.

Back in March, we supported Peace two nights in a row at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. When we started, they were our biggest influence - so it was surreal to be asked to support them not once, but twice. They say never meet your heroes - but ours were pretty cool!

We spent a week in the summer in the south of France during Fête de la Musique. If you’re not familiar with the festival, look it up! It’s basically, a nationwide music festival that is quite possibly the biggest party in the world - or at least in Europe.

We’ve spent the majority of this year working away on an EP, with the first single being released at the beginning of January to coincide with our King Tut’s headline show on Friday the 8th of January.

Several months back, we parted ways with our drummer David, and this will also be our first show under our new line-up.

We’re continuing to write new songs at the

moment - for those of you who haven’t been at a show for a while then you’ll most likely be in for a shock when you hear our new material. It’s a stark contrast to what we’ve done before and are using this opportunity as a clean slate to finally release music we’re happy with.

Earlier this year I began organising gigs in West of the Moon in Ayr. Over the last couple of months we’ve hosted the likes of Pronto Mama, Huxtable, We Came From Wolves, So Many Animal Calls and Bella and the Bear.

They’ve been successful so far, and we’ve begun booking up next year’s shows already. We have a few in the pipeline that I’m excited to be able to announce, so keep your eyes peeled.

We’re hoping to continue to develop these shows next year and want to showcase the best talent within Scotland’s grassroots music scene.

Is there someone you’d like to see in Ayr? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter - @ shaunmccluskey / @liammccluskey And to keep updated on all things Echo Valley like us on Facebook at www. facebook.com/echovalley and follow us on Twitter @echovalleysucks

7

IT’S SHO ‘

I have served my time. I have slept in skips and pawned stuff to get to gigs and I don’t have to go and play in some pub on a Tuesday night anymore. I’m just not doing it. Unless they offer an over-inflated fee, of course

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WTIME! Tragic’s music and art take centre stage LIFE can be a bitch for aspiring musicians, especially those with real talent, those who seem destined at any moment to springboard straight into the bosom of well-earned fame. So many rash promises, so many false dawns, so many disappointments. Ask Tragic O’Hara, one of Ayrshire’s most creative artists, who has been notably absent from the scene for the past couple of years.

We met as he was preparing for his comeback with his first ever exhibition/show at Hipshot Theatre in Alloway Place, Ayr. It will showcase his art and be his first public performance as a musician for quite some time.

He cites a couple of events that put him off performing for a while. He opened for erstwhile LIbertines and Babyshambles front man Pete Doherty at the Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh after the singer heard Tragic’s music blasting from the speakers at the home of a mutual friend. It was an offer Tragic couldn’t refuse.

“Pete Doherty came in after the show, talking about things we could do. The next night I was playing to four people.

“There was one guy saying he could make me Jesus – but I remember what happened to him: they nailed him to a tree.”

It hasn’t all been disappointments, of course, a spell with Strange Empire for a year looked promising, but came to an abrupt end when life intervened. “Paul, Joe and Dens from Mr Kill asked me to play bass for them,” he says. “We did some great things, we toured with Turin Brakes and we recorded some stuff. Then Kirsteen told me she was pregnant and I hit the panic button. I thought ‘Oh shit! I’m going to have to get a job in a bank.’”

It was all the encouragement he needed to put away the guitar and start looking for paid work in his other passion: art.

So how did he establish himself as an artist, we wondered.

Did he go to art school? Tragic chokes on his coffee. “No!,” he laughs. “I was a vandal. I was into skateboarding and skateboarding and tagging kind of go together, so me and a couple of mates used to buy cheap cans of paint and go out spraying walls.

“I nearly got lifted by the polis at one point,” he laughs.

“We had been tagging on a high aqueduct sort of thing and I joked that it would be funny if the polis were waiting for us when we got down. And they were. We just went racing away and we both jumped over what looked like a low wall, but there was a drop at the other side and we ended up in a burn. We crawled out the other side and hid in the bushes.”

And what age was the young rascal when this sort of thing was taking place, we asked. “I was 22,” he roared. “That was it. The next day I phoned my mate and said: ‘I’m never doing that again. I don’t want to be the 22-year-old who gets arrested for drawing a dick on a wall!’”

The idea that he could make a living out of his artwork came gradually to Tragic. He says: “A guy approached us

and asked if I would like to do some work at the cycle path in Irvine near the Mall. He had spoken to the people who own the Mall and they agreed to pay for the paint. That was my first job. Then later the Mall commissioned me to do other work and I began to realize that people would pay for this kind of stuff.

He founded Model X Media with multi-skilled friend Graham Byron and during the past couple of years, Tragic’s art has been appearing across Ayrshire as new clients came forward. So, with Model X Media ticking over quite nicely and commissions coming in for artwork, Tragic says he has not been playing much guitar at all recently.

“At home I just can’t take it out while Aran is around or he’s all over it like a rash, trying to pull off the strings and detuning it. Then when he’s in bed he’d scream the house down if he heard me on the guitar.

“So these days it’s just much easier to draw while I’m sitting on the couch. When the wee man is asleep I just take the book out and draw. That’s what it has all been about for the past couple of years.”

But now, he says: “I’m starting to get the itch back again – but I don’t want to play in a pub. Without sounding arrogant, I feel I have I have served my time. I have slept in skips and pawned stuff to get to gigs and I don’t have to go and play in some pub on a Tuesday night anymore, I’m just not doing it.

Unless they offer an over-inflated fee, of course.”

The new home for the Hipshot Theatre is the obvious choice for Tragic’s show. He has already completed a couple of sets of stunning wall art in the premises and is planning to finish a few more before the show opens.

“It will be both an exhibition and a performance. More of the walls are going to be done and I have a load of stuff from a couple of small exhibitions that I haven’t told anybody about and that will be going up as well.

“I’m looking at installing some pieces and we’ll light it up to make it look bad ass. I’ll be playing as well, because I have got new stuff I want people to hear. I want to use that as a sounding board.

“Part of the reason why I’m doing this is that I’m trying to take myself seriously. It’s also about proving to myself that I can do it. It’s part of the West Coast attitude. You don’t want to big yourself up too much in case people come along and tell you you’re a dick. But, honestly, I don’t care what anybody thinks about me now. I paint and I play music and I’m good at both of them, so why not do the two of them at the same time? I can’t count, I’ve not got a five-metre swimming badge, I’m not athletic. Music and painting are the only two things I am good at.”

For someone who has managed to make a career out of vandalism, he has not done too badly. So the moral of this tale, children, is: Don’t listen to boring adults. Crime does pay.

• The Thief – The Art and Music of Tragic O’Hara takes place at Hipshot Theatre, Ayr on December 12.

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SINGLES, VIDEOS

Losing Ground get to work on I CAUGHT up with some of the guys in Kilmarnock’s Folk-Punk group Losing Ground, who released their second EP in March.

So what’s on the cards over the next few months? A couple of pints and a chat at The Brass and Granite and they were happy to tell me about some exciting things they’ve got in the pipeline.

Ryan: So basically, what’s been going down with you guys the last while?

Losing Ground: We’ve not really gigged much. We were recording at m19, doing a single. We’ve been putting a lot of time into that, and it’s a lot of pressure to sell tickets to make your gig a success. The last gig we had was at Record Factory and we were recording the next day and we’re going: “This is too stressful to then go and do something that’s ultimately

10

quite difficult.” So we thought we’d just give ourselves a bit of breathing space.

We’ve got our single mixed and mastered and we’re gonna do a video for it. We’ve also got two or three electronic artists who are remixing it. So we’re gonna hopefully release a single with two or three B sides on it that are a wee bit different.

Ryan: So, are you planning any tours anytime soon? Or a single launch?

Losing Ground: We’ve got a headline slot on the 21st of December at King Tuts.

So we’re hoping to have the physical release of the single at Tuts that night, but we’re hoping to have the video launch a couple of days before it to build up some momentum. No tour in the pipeline, though.

Ryan: Considering you’ve only been going for three years, you’ve acquired a relatively large fanbase. Did you anticipate that it would go as well as it has so far?

Losing Ground: It’s a double-edged

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sword. Like, I feel on one hand as if we’re really, really lucky, everywhere we’ve been. Like it’s hard to go to Perth and stuff and expect folk to come and see you.

It’s been pretty emotional when we’ve done that kind of thing, ‘cause there’s so many folk about who are here to give us a hand. There’s folk from here and folk closer to there who are our friends.

I’ve been in bands before and I’ve been let down by folk not coming to see us and stuff. But I feel like this is something different because I think this might lead to something. But I feel as if everywhere we’ve been folk make a big effort to come and see us.

Ryan: You’ve got quite a wide variety of influences. Can you name some of these?

Losing Ground: It’s really hard because we all listen to different stuff. Some bands will overlap and stuff, but it’s hard to pick one band who we all listen to. Out of all

LOSING GROUND Members: Andrew, Blair Connell, David, Jack Genre: Folk/Punk Home Town: Kilmarnock

Interview by RYAN McDOUGALL Picture by ALISTAIR MULHEARN

& ROD STEWART plans for the coming months five of us, we could go to almost every gig in a pair, if you know what a mean?

You could put on any kind of gig, and guaranteed two of us would go to it. We all listen to punk, but even at that it’s such a broad spectrum.

Ryan: Ideally, if you could tour with one musician or band, dead or alive, who would it be?

Losing Ground: Spinal Tap. A f*ck*ng awful, and very good answer at the same time. But only when they were sh*t*, see at the end of the film where they were playing in zoos and kids’ clubs and all that? That’s when I’d want to tour with them. Other than that, there’s this band called Apologies, I Have None. They’re dynamite. Never played Scotland. I’d love to tour with them, because they’re great and I actually also think that it’s realistic. I think Twin Heart are taking us away for a weekend next year or so!

Ryan: So, who are some of the bigger bands you’ve toured or gigged with in the past?

Losing Ground: My favorite band that we’ve ever gigged with was Alana Amram and the Rough Gems. They’re kinda folky-Americana, verging on rock. There’s four or five of them. They have everything, punchy rocky stuff going on, and this enchanting, eerie, folky sound. They were just amazing, man.

Ryan: Would you say you guys have got pretty big ambitions?

Losing Ground: We’re all totally grounded. Like, it’s hard to say without sounding big-headed, but I certainly don’t think I’d be doing it if there wasn’t more in it than what we’re doing now. I love exactly what we’re doing and how it’s going and I would do this, as it’s going, for the rest of my life. I dunno if age comes into it, but we’re all in the right place at the

moment to really make it something and I don’t think we’d all be putting so much money into it every week if it was just a f*ck about.

Ryan: So, generally speaking, what would you say the future holds for you guys at the moment then?

Losing Ground: We’re trying to get booked at Rugby Park with Rod Stewart as support. The next few months feel well-planned out, and that feels good for us. We’ve also been guilty of instant gratification. Like, if we record something we’re like: “Get it out so people can listen to it!” This new single, it’s almost been a month since we’ve recorded it, and we’re sitting here thinking: “Cannot wait for people to hear this!” It’s called The Weight of No Words, and it’ll hopefully be out in the middle of December. After that, we’ll see how it goes, man. Anything can happen!

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11

JOHNNY MARR Where: Grand Hall, Kilmarnock When: October 15 2015

CAPTAIN

Review by CRAIG McALLISTER Picture by STEWART WESTWOOD THERE was a defining moment that Thursday night in October when Johnny Marr was up in space somewhere, out among the stars and playing his melodies gifted from the Gods, showering the faithful at his feet with little arpeggiated notes of joy.

It all happened midway through his celebratory, revelatory gig in Kilmarnock’s Grand Hall, and midway through a pulsing take on Electronic’s evergreen Getting Away With It. Recast as an electro throb (“This is a disco song from Manchester”) with jagged, edgy guitars, it was accompanied by a pair of stark blue flashing strobes, marching in time to the guttural punch of the bass. As the song reached its peak, somewhere a flick of the switch turned the venue from rave central into a spangled, sparkled music box. The light changed from stark blue to glitter ball white just as the music shifted from electro pulse to pure Marr; his chiming, echoing notes cannoning off the turn of the century walls and out into the ether. Surrounded by a swirl of mirrored light careering from a pair of over-sized disco balls and out on the edge of the six-foot-high stage, lost in his own music, it did indeed look like Johnny Marr was up and out on the edge of the universe, elevated and God-like.

My day with Johnny was a day like no other. I’d interviewed him two weeks previously (in itself a wonderful thing – a whole hour chatting to, lets be clear here, my hero. Some folk go potty for Page or cuckoo for Clapton. I’ve always been mad on Marr. I’ve tied my fingers in knots for the last 30 years, hopelessly failing to emulate the riffs that sound-tracked

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my teens. To many like me, The Smiths were our Beatles and our Stones and there I was, shooting the breeze with Johnny about the time he wrote Bigmouth Strikes Again. I even had the cheek to offer Johnny some advice on how to use a capo. “Run that past me again… right, upside down… top string open… I might try that!” I’d have died happy after that, but the best was yet to come.) The telephone call gave me something of an ‘in’ when it came the day of the gig. At the end of our interview, Johnny had promised to sign my guitar (after quizzing me on its vintage and punk credentials), and I’d carefully left it by the mixing desk, within eyesight at all times.

Some folk will tell you that the room changes when a famous person enters.

In typical Johnny fashion, he made his announcement via his guitar.

With my back to the stage, a quick blast of distorted blues gave way to the recognisable riff of The Headmaster Ritual (from The Smiths’ seminal Meat is Murder LP). I tried to act non-plussed in front of

the tour manager, but my eyes gave it away. He stopped our conversation and wandered off, leaving Johnny playing to an empty Grand Hall, save myself and a disinterested sound engineer by the mixing desk.

Stone me! It’s Johnny Marr! With cool hair. Calling his technical team over he explained what he wanted. “When I play with this pedal (Clang! Tchk Tchk Tchk Tchk Tchk… ) I want those little blue lasers. When I use the reverb (Clang!

Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun…) I want the subtle wash.” The whole show, it struck me there and then, is as choreographed as a Legs ‘n Co dance routine. Albeit a post-punk riot of Marr originals and Smiths’ classics, but a scripted, well-rehearsed version of spontaneity nonetheless.

Once happy with the instructions given to his lighting guys he bounces off the stage, keenly aware of my presence.

“Johnny!” I call out, and he comes over.

“We spoke on the phone a couple of weeks ago.”

“Craig?!? Great to finally meet you!

MARRVEL

Great article, brother! How’s your little lad? Still playing his guitar? Did you bring yours then?” and before I’m fully aware of the situation I’m actually in, he’s leading me across to the mixing desk where he’s spied my guitar case. “Go on then! Let’s see it!” and he takes it out of the case.

“A Telecaster… I like it… a ’78 you said?

Californian? Great – a proper punk guitar!”

He puts it on and asks: “What’s your favourite Smiths tracks?” He plays a few Marr-esque open chord runs up and down the neck while I stand and gawp, trying to take it all in. He lets me video him playing it too. This is all too much. We get pictures, he signs my guitar, he signs my Smiths vinyl, we hug, he says thanks again for writing a great article, (brother) and then he’s off to join his band for the soundcheck proper, where I watch from the balcony.

The gig itself? It’s super great, of course. A heady mixture of Messenger and Playland tracks, interspersed with choice selections from The Smiths’ back catalogue. Second song in is Panic and

the room goes berserk. Johnny is a whippet thin rod of electricity, darting from one side of the stage to the other. Pogoing here. Windmilling there. In profile. In sillhouette. In denim jacket. In spotty shirt.

Take your eyes off him at your peril. The Headmaster Ritual gets another outing.

There’s a fantastic breakneck galloping Bigmouth Strikes Again. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is mass communion.

You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby, surely the best Smiths track to never be a single, kicks off the encore, where he’s joined by his son Nile (from support band Man Made) on a surprisingly good take on The Primitives’ Crash.

By the last song of the night, Johnny has us in the palms of his teeny tiny talented hands. How Soon Is Now? is a wobbling, juddering juggernaut, Marr wringing sustained notes of feedback from his famous Sherwood Green Jag. I decide to throw caution to the wind and, relying solely on the AAA pass I’m proudly wearing, I’m off into the photographers’ pit, empty by law of the management since

the fourth song and hoping for a decent snap. As Johnny starts his de-tuning freakout, I rush in. “Johnneeeey!” I scream, and he looks my way – purely coincidental, but still – and stands right above me, posing for me, as my phone fires as many photos as it can handle. He looks down at one point and gives me a wink (!) and then he’s off back to the mike, my photos in the bag. It’s all quite thrilling.

There’s more conversation (“neat capo trick, by the way, I tried it out. I’m gonna use that on something!”) and pictures after the show. It’s after midnight by the time we pack up and I head home carrying a signed guitar, a couple of signed Smiths records, Johnny’s set list, his road tested and slightly chipped signature-bearing plectrum….and the red and white roses that dangled from his belt loop for the entirety of the gig. They’re now framed and sitting in front of me as I type, a faded and falling apart memento of a day that is forever etched on my memory. It’ll be quite a while before they’ve scraped me down from the ceiling, believe me.

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Cast are given a Seaside Sons land a dream support slot opening for their idols CAST’S October gig in the Citadel at Ayr harbour was the biggest music event in the town for many years.

Almost 1,000 fans turned up to hear the re-formed 90s rockers. In fact so many tickets were sold that the event had to be moved to the makeshift auditorium at the fitness centre when it was clear the original venue, the Town Hall, wasn’t going to be big enough to satisfy demand.

And among the adulating fans, few could have been more excited at the prospect of seeing their heroes than their support act, Ayr’s own Seaside Sons, every member of which had been a huge fan of the band since their first album, All Change, which was Polydor’s bestselling debut album of all time.

Following their own storming slot which went down a riot, Sons frontman Jason Skimming was back on the floor giving adulation with the crowd as Cast tore into a razor-sharp version of Time Bomb from their 2011 back-togetheragain album Troubled Times.

Tell It Like It Is, History, Promised Land and History harked back to the early days of Cast, sounding every bit as vibrant as they did 20 years ago.

Compared to You and the soaring Higher from Magic Hour demonstrated that Cast were still as solid and enervating as they ever were.

Jason said: “I have been a massive fan of Cast since around 96-97. I was just a bit too young when they first came out, but I got an Oasis album from my Christmas and that really kicked it off for me. I got into Cast and The Verve – all the Britpop bands – and although I never saw them live in the 90s I went to see them in Glasgow when they reformed in 2010. When the gig was announced

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we basically put everything on hold. We heard they were doing a grass roots tour and wanted to get local bands to support them. We are very Britpop influenced, so we really wanted to do this.

“When the call finally came through to say we were playing I think I did a lap of the yard celebrating.

“They are great guys, really down to earth. Brand new. We didn’t want to disturb them before the gig. They were ‘in the zone’, you know?

“But after the gig we got a chance to speak to them. Performace-wise, Cast were tremendous. Basically, they played a greatest hits set. I mean their guitarist plays with Robert Plant – that says

all you need to know about Cast. The whole night was incredible. Just to play alongside a band that you literally grew up with. Their first album, All Change, I listened to religiously for years. It’s 20 years old now and when you hear those songs in your home town, it’s something special.”

For Sons bassist Craig McGinn it was a night he will long remember. He said: “Actually one of the highlights for me was watching their soundcheck. I was loving seeing Skin playing the guitar and watching Keith on the drums. It was really nice to meet the guys.

“I am a big fan of John Power’s songs and just getting the chance to talk to

heroes’ welcome

him about songwriting and our personal favourite songs was amazing. During their set they played Baby Blue Eyes, which I love, and which is gong to be on their next album.”

Meanwhile, Seaside Sons have plans of their own to look forward to. They play The Market Inn on Saturday December 12 and the following Saturday they are putting on their own Christmas show in Rabbies, playing a mix of covers and their own songs.

“We don’t mind playing in pubs and playing covers,” said Jason. “It’s great fun and we always play a few of our own songs, too, so that is another way of getting our music across to a new

audience, to people who might not have heard Seaside Sons before.”

But the turn of the year will see a few weeks’ rest for the band after what has been a pretty full-on year.

Then it will be back to rehearsals for March of the Mods Glasgow Weekender on March 6, when they will be sharing the stage with The Skababs, Dogtooth, Berry Tweed & The Chasers and Cherry Reds. March of the Mods is an annual fundraiser for the teenage Cancer Trust, a charity that is close to the band’s hearts, says Jason.

“All the proceeds from our single Roll On Little Lady went to the Teenage Cancer Trust, it’s something we all

support. It was on the album and we had a video for it, so we thought we would release it and give all the proceeds to charity.”

In May they will be playing at From the Jam in Troon, another event they’re all ramped up to be playing, since they are all Jam fans.

In the meantime, they’ll be carrying on adding to their growing list of original songs. “In the space of three years we have written, released and recorded an album. We have got four new tracks recorded now and we cant decide whether to release them as an EP or keep then for another album.

“We rent a room at Sound Magic, so it’s ours for rehearsals and we’ll still be going in, maybe once or twice a week.

“I don’t play any musical instrument, but I have loads of lyrics written and melodies and likewise Craig has plenty as well, as does Pav and even Campbell our drummer is writing as well.

“We never credit individual songwriters because we are very collective in the way we do it so all our songs are written and performed by Seaside Sons. It is very much a group effort.”

2016 will also see a mini re-shuffle of band members. Craig, who started out on guitar but moved to bass when Pav joined the line-up will be returning to share guitar duties and a new bass player will be joining.

And they’re on the lookout for a keyboards player. “We had a stand-in for the Cast gig, but we want to bring somebody in on keyboards. We’ve been looking around, but they’re like hens’ teeth,” said Jason.

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Stu laughs on through the pain barrier STU WHO has been around. Countless Scottish and UK venues, trips to the States, regular TV spots and he has shared the stage with some of the best comics around.

Recently he topped the bill at Tarbolton Masonic – and what a joy it turned out to be for the 90 or so in the audience.

The master comedian has been gigging for coming up to 30 years, but his wit is as sharp as it ever was, and his withering comments to the crowd as acidic as always.

He’s a true professional, a fact never so obvious than when he suffered serious ill health a few years ago. He has since been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and says he is managing to keep it under control at the moment. At one point, though, he was being physically carried in to venues to perform.

“I was in agony,” he recalls. “They used to carry me in and I was in a terrible state, but I would have been worse if I hadn’t had the comedy to keep me going.

“Always, about 15 minutes before I was due to go on, the adrenalin would kick in and I’d be fine – but you should have seen me for the two or three days after that…”

There was no hint of discomfort when he leapt up to take the mic, delivering a frenetic stream of one-liners and sharp observations to the appreciative audience.

The Masonic, being the Masonic, was ripe for comic ribbing and Stu expertly kept the crowd onside, veering only slightly onto thin ice when he launched into a hilarious sketch on the Queen, his description of her as a hunched-up wee bauchle drawing the slightest ripple of disapproval from one or two.

Emcee for the evening was ex-cop Bill Dewar, another star turn whose chats with audience members turned up

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some comedy gold, particularly when he asked one woman her name. Enis, she answered. Slight pause.“Enis?,” he asked? “E-N-I-S? One letter short of ‘penis’? You must have suffered nob jokes all your life,” he added as she nodded in resigned agreement.

Glasgow comic Scott Agnew, who has been doing stand-up for around 10 years had some hilarious tales to share and was brave enough before what might have been a less than tolerant crowd to describe himself as a “six-foot-four poof”.

But the crowd lapped up the humour as he milked the gay jokes for all he was worth.

Young Rosco McClelland, who these days performs without the McSkeleton face make-up for which he has been known, is a complete natural. His selfdeprecating wit and unexpected punchlines were an absolute winner.

He drew some perhaps unexpected (perhaps not) cheers with his closing routine which involved an apparently true story of a guy who walking into a tattoo parlour asking for a tribute tattoo to his uncle Vincent Frame “but just the initials”.

“OK,” says the tattoo artist, “You want me to tattoo VF on you?” The guy answers: “No, I want to remember him by the name I always used, Uncle Vincent Frame.”

Large, good-natured cheer from the crowd as they imagined the UVF tatt – which was declined,incidentally.

Then came the twist. “I thought I would do the same and asked a tattoo artist to give me a tattoo to remind me of my uncle Boko Haram,” he said much to the hilarity of the crowd. The laughter turning to gasps as he lifted his tee-shirt to show that he had, indeed, had UBH tattooed on his torso.

If nothing else, that’s commitment to the strength of your script.

Sidesplitters are really pulling out the stops to put on top notch comedy in Ayrshire. Another recent winner was the

visit to The Ship Inn, in Irvine, of veteran comic Phil Differ, whose back catalogue includes material for virtually all of the formative comedy shows of the 80s when ”alternative” comedy truly came into its own. Naked Radio, A Kick up the Eighties, Spitting Image, Not the Nine O’clock News, you name it, Phil Differ was there, sometimes writing, sometimes, producing, sometimes directing.

He has been doing stand-up for the past 10 years and his laid-back style was a joy to behold.

Sharing the bill at the Ship was Chris Dinwoodie, whose close-up magic is as astonishing as it is funny. His act involves a lot of audience participation and the humour he extracts from his victims/ volunteers is every bit as funny as any

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Bucket gig done, Billy heads for LA

COMEDY KNIGHTS: Rosco McClelland, Scott Agnew, Bill Dewar and Stu Who prepared lines he might have. Definitely an act to watch.

Jim Smith, who describes himself as a Perthshire farmer, went down well with his audience-based act, although he fell foul of Emcee Billy Kirkwood’s earlier advice to audience members that they didn’t have to be truthful when offering information about themselves to a comedian. “Make it up,” he advised them.

“It’s sometimes funnier than the truth.”

Unfortunately for Jim, some of the crowd took this advice to heart and he came a cropper when he attempted to bond with a false Aberdonian in the crowd who had taken the advice at face value and plucked the North East town out of the air when asked where he came from.

“Eh…. I’m not really from Aberdeen,”

he eventually admitted when the comic attempted to draw him into an Aberdeenbased routine.

But the sign of a good compere is when the links in between acts are every bit as memorable as the main draw, and Billy Kirkwood is an old hand at nurturing a crowd.

Some of his links soared way into the realms of the fantastically weird, at one point resulting in the imaginary creation of a wonderful new gadget, the grildo.

Afraid I’m going to have to ask you to use your imagination to work out what on earth that might be, although audience members were treated to a mockedup version of what one might look like courtesy of a kitchen gadget and a black balloon. Hilariously crude.

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BILLY KIRKWOOD’S headline comedy gig at The Magnum was billed as the last ever comedy night at the fated Irvine venue. But that might not be the case after all...

The management have reportedly been so impressed by the sell-out evening that there is still hope yet that there could be more to come before the complex is closed for good. Which would be good news for many, not least Billy Kirkwood himself. “It is a tremendous place for stand-up,” he says.

“To be honest, this was a bucket list gig for me, something I’ve always wanted to do.

“The Magnum can hold its own against some of the bigger clubs around. The eye contact with the audience is great, there’s a wonderful atmosphere.

“To be honest, I had been looking forward to this so much I was abnormally nervous.”

He needn’t have been, of course. The night was a resounding success, with Facebook full of glowing tributes for days afterwards.

While Billy contemplates a quiet, relaxing time at home over the next few week with his family, he has a few major gigs to look forward to in late spring and early summer.

First up is a slot at the Malta Comedy Fringe at the end of April, where he will be playing in a tattoo parlour and a couple of months later he’s off to the States for a gig in LA. “I’m really looking forward to these,” he says. “It’s not the first time I have played in America, but it will be the first time I’ve been there on my own.”

Before then you can catch Billy at the Ship Inn, Irvine, on Jan 2 with Chris Forbes, Ray Bradshaw, Rhona McKenzie; The Carlton, Prestwick, with Jo Caulfield, Patrick Rolink, Chris Dinwoodie on Jan 29; Stewarton Social Club on Jan 30 with Jo Caulfield, Patrick Rolink, Christopher Macarthur-Boyd; and at the Ship Inn, Irvine on February 14.

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LET US SPRAY

Tragic gets his act together with an art and music show Pages 8-9

INSIDE: BROWNBEAR•LOSING GROUND•SEASIDE SONS