Over sixty budding young rock musicians from all over Shetland crammed into Aith hall on Saturday to take part in the latest rock music workshop run in an ongoing partnership between Shetland Arts Trust and SIC Community Services.

The workshops entitled ‘Solid Rock’ are funded by Youth Music Scotland and employ local experienced musicians, on this occasion Russell Gair, Alice Mullay, Jonathon Ritch and Stevie Hook, to tutor the younger musicians in a range of skills which include creative music making, group formation and integration, stage presence, improvisation, music technology, production and music business issues.

Each of the workshops, run throughout the various regions of Shetland, are followed by alcohol-free youth gigs. In Aith over 150 young people partied the night away to local bands Syzmik Klive, Juvenile Delinquents, Victims of Authority and The Rockies.

Shetland Arts Trust Music Development Officer said “These workshops and gigs are proving incredibly popular and beneficial and the enthusiasm shown by the young folk who take part in them, musicians and audience alike, is quite incredible. If they maintain this kind of attitude the rock music scene in Shetland, not to mention the local social scene, will have a very healthy future indeed. There are some incredibly talented young musicians on the scene today”.

Mr Gardner said the organisers were also delighted with the fact that given the numbers of young folk attending the concerts they had experience none of the difficulties associated with local gigs in the recent past, most specifically alcohol consumption. “The behaviour of everyone to date has been exemplary”, he said. “We are delighted with the way things are going and it’s great to see everyone having a good time with music as the common denominator”. “I would like to thank the SIC Community Services Division and especially their teams of youth workers for the work they’ve done to date to make these events such a success”

Further workshops are planned for the North Isles and North Mainland in the near future, while the ‘Solid Rock’ project will culminate in the Clickimin Centre in March when London based rock music organisation ‘Rockschool’ will visit the islands for a full weekend of tutorial workshops and gigs.

For further information contact David Gardner on (01595) 697550.