A campaign is being launched to urge Scotland’s village halls to unite if they want to take part in a major bid to bring world-class music and drama into the country’s rural heartland.
The initiative follows a series of successful promotions which prove that country folk as well as city dwellers respond when top class productions arrive on their doorstep.
There has been a string of recent successes and the organisers believe that there is scope for a whole network of venues to be established nationwide.
In Renfrewshire, audiences have been enjoying the very best of touring acts, many from abroad, since the Brookfield Nights series of events started. Well-established home-based names such as Michael Marra have appeared there too. Holding that up as an example of what can be achieved, local journalist and promoter Loudon Temple, has encouraged other communities to mount events.
Now, he hopes there may soon be even more, keen to join the initiative. “There are several groups already established and working together in different parts of the country, including the Promoters’ Arts Network and HI~Arts, both of which cover much of Argyll, Cowal, and the Highlands and islands,” he said, “but other areas could benefit from joining together.
“The Borders, south-west Scotland, central belt, Fife and Perthshire are all being targeted to try and create a nationwide circuit. “We are distributing letters to every rural community in Scotland,” he said, “to let those with a village hall which is possibly being under-used at present, know what is possible if there is a core of people prepared to get involved.”
“This is very much a ‘the more, the merrier’ scenario and clearly, the bigger the circuit we can create, the better, as far as touring artistes are concerned as it makes much more sense to come here for two or three weeks of work than for five or six days.”
At Brookfield, audiences have been entertained by some great acts, many from USA, Canada and Europe. Among those who have appeared there so far this year have been The Bills from Vancouver Island, The Willy Clay Band from Sweden, and the twelve-piece Master Musicians from The Crooked Road package from south-west Virginia, allowing Temple to convince other village halls to take the show as well.
“This was a true world-class group of musicians, he said,” and so well thought of that they filled better-known venues such as The Tron Theatre in Glasgow.
“But the show went to Traquair Village Hall in The Borders and to Strachur Village Hall in Argyll and it was standing room only in each.” Lucy Pappas and Stewart Cowe from the Borders, who promote live music and drama at venues in the south of Scotland, say recent experiences have shown there is a huge demand from rural communities for top quality entertainment.
"When we showcased the musicians from south-west Virginia who toured here in the summer, we could have sold twice as many seats due to the demand for tickets.
“It was a fabulous line-up and while most of those who attended lived locally, some travelled from forty miles away to catch the show,” said Lucy.
Her business partner added: “There is no doubt that many more village halls could be put to better use with a bit of vision and, possibly in some cases a bit of an upgrade.”
They both say there is a huge demand for roots-of-country American ‘ folk’ music such as bluegrass and old-time from the Appalachian mountains, and Scotland’s leading Americana music promoter, Billy Kelly agrees.
He maintains that the initial surge of interest created by the ‘Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?’ movie, got another huge boost when the Johnny Cash bio pic, ‘Walk The Line’ hit our cinema screens. “There was always a core audience in Scotland, but those films introduced a new generation to the music that was the starting point for modern day ‘country’.
“It has a spirit all of its own, can cross over boundaries and has the ability to bring different age groups together,” he said. That demand has brought some of the best artistes from America to tour here this summer and many will be turning up at village halls across the country as more and more get involved. Temple explained: “Bands such as The Crooked Jades, The Wilders and The Foghorn Stringband are well established on their home turf but have discovered there are audiences here who would love to hear them ‘live’ . The Crooked Jades arrived in July to promote their fifth album and record radio sessions. It was be the band’s first trip to the UK.
“They appeared at big outdoor events such as Brampton ‘Live’ in Cumbria and the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway, but also put on a stunning at Brookfield Village Hall as well.
“In August, The Wilders, from Kansas City arrived in Edinburgh for a Fringe run at The Spiegeltent but also played at Traquair and Brookfield village halls and old-time mountain duo Beverly Smith & Carl Jones from North Carolina, performed at Traquair, Brookfield and Langbank village halls when they visited in September.”
John Sheldon, secretary of the Scottish Bluegrass Association who has helped to arrange tours by these acts, says more and more Scots are falling in love with the energy that comes with the package when the music has a strong hillbilly flavour.
“From a perspective of cracking ‘live’ entertainment, it just doesn’ t get much better," he said. “It is absolutely fantastic that more of these performers will now be taking their music deep into the Scottish countryside.
“They will always want to play the cities and towns but it’s great to see some of the village halls being brought back to life too.”
