A Kick Up The Arts with Nicola Meighan

Alle afleveringen

65 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud

1. Hue and Cry: Everybody

   28 oktober 2026 · 31 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   I'm joined by a band that I've loved for decades this time around. When I used to build radios as a kid, I once tuned in to their huge hit, Labour of Love, via crystal radio earpiece on Radio Luxembourg, which felt like - and was - a kind of magic back in the day, and we've had loads of adventures on the wireless, and telly, since...

   Hue and Cry are back with a terrific album, Everybody, which explores their new-found, but deep-rooted, love of electronic music, via post-punk, soul, and synth-fired lust for life... they're on tour as we speak, so we talked about performance too, along with diversions into Pat's book of jokes, a clash between Violently and Labour of Love, Michael Bolton, the Pet Shop Boys, and my confession about Dr Robert Moog...

   You can listen to another recent chat we had for The Saturday Social on Central FM - where Pat reminisces about the band playing with Madonna at Wembley, snubbing George Michael - AND he makes his brother Greg cry live on-air - right here...

   If you've enjoyed this chat and fancy listening to conversations with other Scottish music favourites, there are episodes of A Kick Up The Arts with Deacon Blue, Del Amitri's Justin Currie, Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake, Emma Pollock, Horse, and loads more - including Kathryn Joseph and Lomond Campbell, which also has its fair share of synth chat... as does the episode with King Creosote...

   I've got lots of live event updates too, which I'll tell you all about soon, but it's best to keep an eye on my Facebook and Instagram posts for those, or sign up for the newsletter...

   Thanks as ever for listening, for sharing, for getting in touch - for all of that...

2. Frances Crawford: A Bad, Bad Place

   20 september 2026 · 20 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   Here’s a quick-fire episode, recorded in a rowdy Green Room at the Golden Lion, to celebrate the brilliant winner of two of Scotland’s most prestigious book awards at this year’s Bloody Scotland crime writing festival in Stirling.

   In what was a historic first, Glasgow author Frances Crawford won both the Debut Prize, and the McIlvanney Prize, for her exceptional novel, A Bad, Bad Place, which takes us back to Possilpark in 1979, via family, community, secrets, punk rock, murder - and a dog called Sid Vicious.

   I was a judge for the McIlvanney Prize this year, with Sally Magnusson and Gordon McGhie - which is both a blessing and a curse, on account of the thrilling quality of the books on offer and the difficulty of choosing between them - but Frances’ tale of twelve-year-old Janey, and her Nana, Maggie - bowled us over; and it clearly did the same for the debut prize judges. Guest programmer Denise Mina also seemed thrilled.

   It also won the McDermid Debut Prize at this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Awards, and her short story, The Dummy Railway - which gave rise to A Bad, Bad Place - won the Glencairn Glass Short Story competition at Bloody Scotland in 2022.

   Frances is a warm, bold, wry, moving and vital new voice in Scottish literature, this is a deeply human, and affecting, book - and it was a pleasure to sit down with her after the awards announcement for a blether…

   We’ll reflect more on the book’s content, and characters, in time, but - for now, here’s Frances, surrounded by very lively chatter, reflecting on how A Bad, Bad Place came to life…

3. Antigone at The Tron with Eilidh Loan, Holly Howden Gilchrist and Finn den Hertog

   17 september 2026 · 21 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   I’m revisiting a legendary old place of work in this episode, as I go back to Glasgow’s Tron Theatre to hear about a bold, fresh, and contemporary take on Sophocles’ epic Greek tragedy, Antigone…

   Lulu Raczka’s fired-up reimagining of the classic text is directed by Finn den Hertog, whose credits include Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Lear, Dundee Rep and the Royal Lyceum’s Sunset Song, and the Fifth Step with the National Theatre of Scotland…

   Finn’s first production for The Tron promises to be a thrilling two-hander - as two wild sisters fight for justice - thanks to actor, writer and director Eilidh Loan, who plays Antigone - you might have seen her in roles from Murder on the Heath and Doctor Who to A Castle for Christmas and Macbeth - or you might have caught her second play, Cathy, starring Elaine C Smith, at the Traverse during the Edinburgh Festival - it was wonderful…

   Holly Howden Gilchrist, who stars as her sister, Ismene, last bowled over Tron audiences in A Giant from the Bridge, and has also been terrific in Twelfth Night, Small Acts of Love, and more…

   Antigone, in association with Groupwork, opens on September 18 and runs till October 10, so move fast if you fancy getting along… I caught up with Holly, Eilidh and Finn in rehearsals last week, and we chatted more about what to expect - from sibling love - and sacrifice - to sticks of rock and maybe even conga lines… Then again - probably not..

4. Val McDermid and Jo Sharp: This Door of the Seas

   5 augustus 2026 · 42 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   I’m hearing from two brilliant women, and minds, who’ve joined forces to explore a wild - and under-documented, and misunderstood - chapter in Scottish history…

   In their superb new novella, This Door of the Seas, best-selling writer Val McDermid has teamed up with Geographer Royal for Scotland Jo Sharp - they’re partners in crime, and partners in life - as they trace the journey and tale of the Darien venture…

   It saw more than 2000 Scots sail into the unknown at the end of the seventeenth century, toward a horizon of hope and prosperity - but the challenges of Darien’s jungle-coastline, at the junction of North and South America, transpired to offer anything but that.

   It would eventually upturn the future of Scotland, bankrupting an already impoverished nation, and propelling it towards political union with England…

   This Door of the Seas is the latest in Birlinn’s excellent Darkland Tales, in which some of Scotland’s best-loved writers re-imagine stories from Scottish history, myth and legend through a contemporary lens - Val and I chatted about her Queen Macbeth Darkland Tale on a previous episode of A Kick Up The Arts…

   Val and Jo’s book is written as a series of letters home from expedition scientist Dr James Wallace - as addressed to his wife Eliza and to Sir Robert Sibbald, the very first Geographer Royal - and as uncovered by his ancestor, Beth Wallace, in the Spring of 2026...

   Val and Jo came through to Bridge of Allan to tell me all about it...

5. 30 years of Grid Iron Theatre / Mayflies

   4 augustus 2026 · 34 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   As we charge headlong into a month of madness at the Edinburgh Festivals, I’m joined by Scottish theatre revolutionaries Grid Iron to chat about their Fringe adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies; and about their 30 years - and counting - of bringing brilliant drama to our stages, and beyond…

   When Andrew launched Mayflies back in 2020, the novel’s tale of friendship, masculinity, youth, getting older and mortality - played out to a glorious 80s indie soundtrack - floored so many of us; as did Andrea Gibb’s TV adaptation, with Tony Curran and Martin Compston in the starring roles, as Tully, and Jimmy - aka Noodles…

   We meet them as young men in Ayrshire, and then again in later life, faced with a devastating diagnosis - and an impossible choice…

   As well as raising the roof in venues with shows like June Carter Cash - in cahoots with the National Theatre of Scotland - Grid Iron’s world-renowned site-specific theatre has included underground promenade trips like The Bloody Chamber, while their earlier reflection on young men, friendship and 1980s Ayrshire - Decky Does A Bronco - started life in a Paisley park…

   Mayflies is being staged in a converted warehouse, Brown’s of Leith - as adapted and directed by Ben Harrison, produced by Jude Doherty, and soundtracked by the legendary DPJ, aka David Paul Jones.

   I caught up with Ben, and Jude, to reflect on Mayflies, and three decades of Grid Iron…

6. Michael Pedersen: on Muckle Flugga

   22 juli 2026 · 54 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   I’m in conversation with one of our most thrilling writers, and humans, Michael Pedersen, live from the wonderful Bookmonger in Bearsden…

   Michael’s the Edinburgh makar, and a veritable cultural livewire, whose glorious poetry collections include The Cat Prince and Oyster. His prose calling card, Boy Friends, was published to huge acclaim in 2022, and the paperback edition of his utterly magical debut novel, Muckle Flugga, is out now.

   It’s stunning and tender, it’s a beacon of hope, it’s brimming with love, and life, and nature; it’s kindled by friendship, coddled in knitwear, rooted in landscape, charged by starlight.

   Just before we get to the chat - and thanks so much if you joined us in the lovely audience - I’m back with The Bookmonger in conversation with the brilliant Damian Barr about The Two Roberts, although we’re breaking out of the bookshop and holding that at Glasgow’s Royal College in St Vincent Street, on September 25th…

   Before that, Michael’s at Edinburgh International Book Festival with various former A Kick Up The Arts guests and wonders, including Gordon Buchanan and Hollie McNish - I’ll put a link to all the dates online…

   And I’ll be at EIBF too, hosting various parties in The Spiegeltent - come for A Kick Up The Arts with live music and conversation from Kathryn Joseph, Kirstin Innes and Lomond Campbell - that’s on August 25th (tickets here), and I’m also variously in conversation with The Beta Band’s Steve Mason, Val McDermid, Justin Currie, and Grant McPhee across the week - I’ll tell you more about that soon…

   For now though - to the Bookmonger, and Michael, and Muckle Flugga…

7. Bloody Scotland 2026

   8 juni 2026 · 27 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   I’m back in my Stirling local, the Golden Lion, for a whistle-stop tour of this year’s programme for Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, which launched a couple of days ago, and which runs from September 18th to 20th.

   After Thursday’s big announcements, and a conversation I chaired with the always-entertaining JD Kirk, I sat down with this year’s Bloody Scotland guest programmer, Denise Mina, festival director Bob McDevitt and best-selling author and board member Craig Robertson - along with two of the brilliant writers shortlisted for this year’s prestigious debut prize - Linda Duncan McLaughlin, for Original Sins - and May Rinaldi, for Liar Thief…

   We had a blether about this year’s line-up, which as ever includes unmissable book events, along with site-specific theatre, karaoke, courtroom drama, and incredible guests - along with new-writing initiatives like Crime in the Spotlight and Pitch Perfect, and the announcement of the gilded debut prize, and the McIlvanney Prize for crime fiction book of the year…

   I’m a McIlvanney Prize judge again, and we’ll chat more about all that soon enough, but for now, here’s a sense of what to expect if you come to this year’s Bloody Scotland in September… Which you totally should…

8. Emma Pollock: Begging The Night To Take Hold

   27 mei 2026 · 1 uur 3 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   The last 30-odd years of Scottish culture would look, and sound, wildly different - and woefully less thrilling - without musician and songwriter Emma Pollock - co-founder of the Delgados, and the Chemikal Underground label (whose bands included Arab Strap, Mogwai, bis) - and Chem19 Studios, which has welcomed Deacon Blue, Calvin Harris and Franz Ferdinand over the years.

   Emma's also an incredible solo artist, and we caught up at her kitchen table in Glasgow, to chat about her outstanding latest album, Begging The Night To Take Hold… Or rather, we tried to - but we ended up reflecting on the ritualism of coffee, science and magic, broken songs and silhouettes - and getting by one day at a time.

   We sang the praises of female and non-binary collective, Hen Hoose, too - which stars Emma among myriad other musical wonders. They're live at Edinburgh Queen's Hall this Thursday, May 28th - and I'll be onstage in conversation with them as well. There's also a screening of a film by Zoe Patterson Macinnes about the making of their fantastic album, The Twelve…

   Emma is the most warm, welcoming, insightful guest, and it was a pleasure to chat to her, as always. And also - if you're on the lookout for a song that fuses visual art legends the Glasgow Girls and Madonna's Dear Jessie, then - guess what - we've got you covered...

9. Agnes Owens: Out Of The Margins

   24 mei 2026 · 1 uur 26 min

   Afspelen
   Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

   This episode, recorded live, is dedicated to one of Scotland’s most brilliant, singular, and quietly radical voices…

   One hundred years ago today, Agnes Owens was born, and it was such a joy to be part of her centenary celebrations at Milngavie Town Hall last weekend, reflecting on the writer’s wit and wonder with literary dream team Dani Garivelli, Kirstin Innes, Heather Parry and Kirsty Logan…

   They’ve written new introductions to Agnes' first four extraordinary books as part of Polygon’s major reissue campaign - and they discussed Agnes' incredible work, and words…

   I was also joined in conversation by Agnes' son (and literary executor) John Crosbie , and Sorcha Dallas, who’s the custodian of the Alasdair Gray and Agnes Owens Archives.

   Alasdair illustrated some of Agnes’ covers, and is a name often connected to the writer, along with James Kelman - all three featured in the Lean Tales anthology - and the legendary Liz Lochhead… And I’ve always loved the quote from Ali Smith, that revels in Agnes’ “deadpan gothic” qualities…

   Later on in this episode, Dani, Kirsty, Kirstin and Heather discuss Gentlemen of the West, Like Birds in the Wilderness, A Working Mother and For the Love of Willie - all published in the 1980s and 90s - but first up, here’s Sorcha and John…

10. All Back To Mine with Neil Forsyth (Guilt, The Gold, Bob Servant, Legends)

    8 mei 2026 · 48 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    If you're a fan of Dundee burger impresario Bob Servant, Leith-set sibling thriller Guilt, and true-life Brinks-Mat heist drama The Gold - you are in for a treat...

    My guest on this episode is screenwriter and author Neil Forsyth, who created all of those titles and so much more... The Broughty Ferry native has just launched a brilliant new series, Legends, which stars Steve Coogan and Tom Burke, and is based on an early 90s operation where a gang of civil servants went deep undercover in a bid to win - the war on drugs...

    We talked about Legends, and truth, and fiction, and Brian Cox's role as Bob Servant, and Neil also gave us an imaginary evening of entertainment round at his place - Midori in hand, I have no doubt - and discussed his choice of a favourite Scottish album, film and book...

    Spoiler alert - they were Deacon Blue's Raintown, Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting - in all of its guises, including the Danny Boyle film adaptation - and John Niven's blindsiding memoir, O Brother, about the loss of his younger brother, who took his own life when he was 42.

    We met over a pot coffee in a very fancy hotel suite in Glasgow - which bought back classy memories - for both of us...

11. Broken Chanter: This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else

    17 april 2026 · 37 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    In this episode, I'm chatting with David MacGregor, aka Broken Chanter, about his terrific new album...

    The follow-up to 2024's Chorus of Doubt, it's a rallying cry for empathy, and a call-to-arms, to hold on to each other... it's inspired by the art of Arpita Singh, it's out now on legendary Scottish indie label Chemikal Underground, and it's called This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else.

    David invited me round for a coffee, and we chatted about the new record, and his bygone days in Kid Canaveral - and if you fancy seeing him live, he's at Vox Box in Edinburgh for Record Store Day (April 18th) along with previous A Kick Up The Arts guest Kathryn Joseph, then he's live in Dundee, Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Leith in the coming weeks - (full details here).

12. Justin Currie (Del Amitri): All Back To Mine

    1 april 2026 · 53 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    If you missed my sold-out conversation with Del Amitri's Justin Currie at the Edinburgh Fringe a few months back - or even if you were in our lovely audience at The Stand and fancy listening again - well, it's right here...

    I've spoken to Justin various times over the years - about his songwriting, about Del Amitri, and more recently about his best-selling book, The Tremolo Diaries, which reflects on life on the road, and his Parkinson's diagnosis - but this time round, we chatted about some of his Scottish cultural loves...

    It's part of a series, All Back To Mine, where a guest offers us an imaginary afternoon or evening round at their house, discussing a Scottish album they'd play us, film that they'd show us, and then a book for some bedtime reading...

    It's seen guests like Altered Images' Clare Grogan discussing Simple Minds, Aftersun and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake chatting about Orange Juice, The Wicker Man and Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain; Val McDermid singing the praises of Rab Noakes, Local Hero and James Robertson's And The Land Lay Still - and so many more fab guests with terrific recommendations...

    Justin came armed with a clipboard of notes, and waxed lyrical on his love of art-pop trailblazer Davy Henderson - of the Fire Engines and the Nectarine No.9 - along with Lynne Ramsay's film adaptation of Alan Warner's Morvern Callar - a psychological drama that sees the titular character waking up to find her partner's body, dead by suicide.

    Its disorienting exploration of grief sees Morvern hide the body, spend his money, and take ownership of his unpublished book manuscript.

    Justin also reflected on his new-found love of Muriel Spark, in particular her late-60s skewering of celebrity culture, The Public Image - a book that chimes with Del Amitri’s post-punk roots, given John Lydon also took his lead from the title when he named his post-Sex Pistols outfit Public Image Ltd…

    Thanks again if you…

13. Rory Watson & Alan Bissett

    25 maart 2026 · 40 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    We’re back in Glasgow’s magical Alasdair Gray Archive on this episode, for a chat with two brilliant Scottish writers, and literary leading lights - Rory Watson and Alan Bissett…

    Rory is a poet, academic and editor - and a former Professor of English at Stirling University, whose celebrated work includes books exploring Hugh MacDiarmid, Norman MacCaig, Scottish Literature, and he was the long-time General Editor of Canongate Classics, where his paths crossed with Alasdair Gray, among myriad others.

    His latest poetry collection, The Silver of Old Mirrors, is a stunning, glinting and gentle reflection on a life well lived, and a life well loved - and a well-thumbed family album that digs deep on landscape, tides, and time… He’s launching it in his home town of Stirling at the Central Library on April 8th…

    I’ve known Rory and his wife Celia all my life - their daughter’s one of my best and oldest friends - and even when I lived in London, I’d always visit them when I was home. One of those times, around 2001, we were chatting about books, and music - and Rory handed me something from a Stirling Uni student that he said he thought I’d love…

    He was bang on the money. It was Alan Bissett’s first novel, Boyracers - Alan thanks Rory for his support in the acknowledgements - and since that hurtling, exuberant thrill of a debut, Alan’s work as an award-winning writer and performer has revelled on the page, on the stage, and beyond…

    There’s been Death of a Ladies’ Man, and the unstoppable Moira Monologues, there have been plays exploring Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett, witchcraft trials, and Andrea Dworkin; not to mention a short film, The Shutdown - and an excellent pop collaboration with Arab Strap’s Malcolm Middleton…

    More recently, an imagined conversation between Billy Connolly and Alasdair Gray, inspired by a photo of them together at the launch of Lanark in 1981, has given rise to Alan’s acclaimed and hugely entertaining one-man show, When Billy Met A…

14. Preview: Glasgow Film Festival '26

    24 februari 2026 · 38 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    A few weeks ago, I was delighted to host the press launch of this year's Glasgow Film Festival, with new Head of Programme Paul Gallagher and Programme Manager Chris Kumar, at the GFT. We sat down afterwards to chat about some of the brilliant movies they're screening, and some of the myriad reasons that GFF remains a world-class festival, while also being deeply rooted in Scotland, and in its own city - as you'll hear.

    The festival opens in a matter of hours - on Wednesday February 25th - and it runs until the 8th of March. We touched on global premieres, Glasgow body-snatchers, two very different movies called Hen, and a retrospective of Marilyn Monroe - via Gaelic psalm singing, Caledonia Schemin', Carrie, Everybody To Kenmure Street - and special guests like James McAvoy, Bernard MacLaverty, and Lynne Ramsay who'll receive the festival's prestigious Cinema City Honorary Award.

    The Maryhill-born film-maker, whose outstanding work includes Ratcatcher, Die My Love, Morvern Callar and You Were Never Really Here, will lead a special In Conversation event, From Page To Pulse, on March the 6th.

    You can also delve into Moulin Rouge, a feminist film club, and the Scottish premiere of Broken English - Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s richly-layered portrait of pop cultural icon Marianne Faithfull, with contributions from, among others, Tilda Swinton, Courtney Love, and their regular collaborator and kindred spirit, Nick Cave.

    I’ll be hosting the Q&A with Iain and Jane after the screening - we go back decades - when Iain and I sat next to each other at Mute records in London - so I’m really looking forward to seeing their latest film, and to chatting with them. That’s this coming Thursday, February 26th.

    For now though, to a quiet but excited morning with Paul Gallagher and Chris Kumar, talking all things GFF - at the GFT…

15. A Play, A Pie, and A Pint: Spring 2026

    12 februari 2026 · 34 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Well, since the Spring is very nearly upon us, we’re celebrating the forthcoming season of Scottish lunchtime theatre phenomenon - A Play, A Pie, and A Pint.

    Founded by the hugely missed David MacLennan in 2004, PPP - as it’s fondly known - is the most prolific producer of new writing in theatre in the UK, bringing us 30-odd brand new plays every single year…

    The premise is therefore wildly creative, wildly thrilling - and wildly simple: a new play, every week, every season, for under an hour, with food and drink included with the price of every ticket. It’s a revelation, a wonder, a risk, a cultural institution, and a total joy.

    The new season kicks off later this month at its glorious HQ - Glasgow’s gilded Oran Mor - but many of the plays will also travel to spiritual PPP homes across the country - from Aberdeen to Dumfries; from Pitlochry to Paisley; from Edinburgh to Ayr - and they’re all worth your lunchtime…

    I caught up with A Play, A Pie, and A Pint’s fab Artistic Director, Brian Logan earlier this week - along with Associate Artistic Director Laila Noble, in her last few days in post before she brings all of her vision and dynamism to Ayr’s Gaiety Theatre, where she’ll be at the helm as Creative Director and CEO.

    We reflected on the general wonder of A Play, A Pie, and A Pint, and we whirled across the Spring season’s programme - from a comedy-drama inspired by a couple door-stepping a Beatle on the Mull of Kintyre, to a cabaret - and life-changing - swansong, in Funeral to my Boobs, via social uprisings, unsung Scottish football heroes, Hen Nights, dancing shoes, un-planned parenthood, self-discovery, lesbian bikers, and grannies in gay bars. All life is here. And there’s a free pastry, thrown into the bargain.

    Brian and Laila and I chatted in their precious free time between rehearsals, so we’re in a fairly echoey space - but they’re total legends, and their chat is great - and it’s all part of the magic, right?

16. Josie Long, Rachelle Atalla & Sorcha Dallas on Alasdair Gray

    9 februari 2026 · 39 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    We’re celebrating the wonder of writer, artist, Glasgow icon and cultural polymath Alasdair Gray - not for the first time, I grant you…

    The annual Gray Day takes place at Glasgow’s Oran Mor on February 25th, and - among other things - it’ll be revelling in Alasdair’s masterpiece, Lanark, on the 45th anniversary of its publication…

    Alan Bissett will perform another excerpt of his outstanding theatre work inspired by a photograph of Alasdair with Billy Connolly at the launch of Lanark back in the ‘80s - and there’ll be video contributions from Alan Cumming, who’s narrating the first full version of the Lanark audiobook.

    It’s curated, as ever, by the Alasdair Gray Archive’s incredible custodian, Sorcha Dallas - honestly, she is a legend - and this year’s Gray Day is hosted by comedian, writer and broadcaster Josie Long, who’s always worth seeing live, and whose recent short story collection, Because I Don’t Know What You Mean And What You Don’t, is wonderful…

    I sat down with Sorcha and Josie at the archive this morning, along with the brilliant writer Rachelle Atalla, whose unforgettable novels include The Pharmacist and The Salt Flats.

    Rachelle’s the recipient of this year’s Creative Commission, so she’ll read from a brand new short story, inspired by the work of Alasdair Gray - following on from the likes of Chitra Ramaswamy, Ali Smith, Denise Mina, Sara Sheridan and Michael Pedersen…

    Pour a coffee, pull up a chair, have a listen - and hopefully see you at Oran Mor on February 25th…

17. Denise Mina: All Back To Mine

    8 februari 2026 · 1 uur 3 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    My guest in this episode is an award-winning, best-selling writer and style icon - look, I’m just stating the facts here - whose terrific work includes crime fiction, comic books, theatre shows, and historical novels…

    Following titles like The Garnethill Trilogy, the Paddy Meehan and Alex Morrow series, Rizzio, Three Fires, Hellblazer and Conviction - the latter of which was celebrated as part of Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon’s book club - Denise Mina's latest novel is The Good Liar, and it’s as brilliant as it is thrilling…

    It’s out in paperback this month, and we chatted about The Good Liar, as well as Denise’s choice of a favourite Scottish album, film and book, in a conversation recorded live at The Stand in Glasgow - if you were in our fab audience, thanks so much for joining us…

    If you fancy hearing more from Denise, she’s in conversation with former podcast guest Val McDermid at Aberdeen’s Granite Noir on February 20th - I’ll be up there with Vera and Shetland creator Ann Cleeves on February 21st - and then Denise is at Greenock’s Beacon Book Book Festival with Louise Welsh and Kirsty Logan on February 22nd.

    Denise has also just been announced as this year’s Bloody Scotland guest programmer here in my home town of Stirling, following on from another previous podcast guest, Ian Rankin, who had the honours last year…

    For now though, to a chilly afternoon in Glasgow, and Denise’s talk about music, books, films, caravans, reading, writing - and the holiday that changed her life…

18. Ian Rankin: live from Dunfermline Carnegie Hall

    23 januari 2026 · 56 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    I’m delighted to be joined by one of our best-loved, and most successful writers, who’s sold over 30 million copies of his best-selling Rebus novels - not to mention theatre, TV and radio spin-offs, all based in Edinburgh.

    He’s also a broadcaster, a sometime rock ‘n’ roll star, and a Fifer with a fab taste in music - and a Knighthood to boot…

    He is of course Sir Ian Rankin, and this conversation was recorded at the Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline, as part of last year’s wonderful Outwith Festival…

    Ian recalled visiting the historic venue as a wee boy growing up in nearby Cardenden, and he reflected on some key cultural touchstones for him through the years - from the punk spirit of The Skids and the riotous language of A Clockwork Orange, to Muriel Spark’s darkest humour, and Alison Watt’s sublime visual art.

    We also discussed Ian’s latest Rebus best-seller, the thrilling Midnight and Blue, which sees his legendary detective banged up in an Edinburgh prison…

    There were various technical gremlins on the night, so this audio recording’s not the best quality - but rest assured it settles down after the first 30 seconds or so, so bear with us while there are a few doors banging and people getting settled down…

    And it’s well worth staying around, to hear Ian’s tales of rocking some bleach-spattered “sexy blue overalls” that he nicked from a local chicken factory - and selling one of his own paintings to Jack Vettriano…

    Renaissance man or what…

19. Horse: 35 years of The Same Sky

    15 januari 2026 · 50 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    My special guest on this episode is a woman - an icon - whose brilliant debut album sounded like nothing else when it hurtled into our musical landscape 35 years ago - and there really is still nothing like it…

    The record’s The Same Sky, the artist is the mighty Horse, and since that record’s release in 1990, she’s raised the roof, and fired up our hearts, with records like God’s Home Movie, and The Road Less Travelled…

    She’s shared a stage with Burt Bacharach, she’s toured with Tina Turner, and we chatted about all that - and about her early days making music with her former Horse collaborator Angela McAlinden… We also celebrated 35 years of The Same Sky, and looked forward to her Celtic Connections show, which is later this month…

    It’s at Glasgow’s Barrowlands, in cahoots with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, three decades since their first groundbreaking union at the legendary venue.

    We recorded this chat live at The Stand in Edinburgh a few months back - thanks so much if you were in our joyous audience…

    Horse played three songs live for us too - You Could Be Forgiven and Sweet Thing - I can’t include the full versions, because there are so many rights issues around music and podcasts that I’m worried this episode will get taken down if I push my luck…

    BUT - if you stay for our chat, then you’ll also hear Horse signing off with a stunning a capella version of Careful… Everything falls into place…

20. Sanjeev Kohli: All Back To Mine

    15 januari 2026 · 1 uur 12 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    In this episode, I'm joined by an actor, writer, comedian and TV star, thanks to roles in Look Around You; Fags, Mags & Bags; Dept Q; I Swear; the new Irn Bru advert - and of course, Still Game...

    He's also a synthesizer and keytar maverick who’s played on-stage with Wilco - but we'll come to that..

    Sanjeev’s starring in a new adults-only panto this month - Patter Productions’ The Wizard Wae The Big Baws - which is touring Greenock, Dumbarton and Glasgow this month, so we chat about that, and his life and work - and his choice of a favourite Scottish album, film and book…

    We recorded this live at The Stand in Glasgow - thanks so much if you joined us in the audience, to hear Sanjeev’s tales of stalking Chris de Burgh, twitter spats with Carol Decker, Bollywood fever-dreams on Still Game - and who’d play him in his biopic. Spoiler alert: it’s one of The Krankies…

21. Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) - All Back To Mine

    27 december 2025 · 1 uur 19 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    In this episode - recorded live at the wonderful Stand in Glasgow - I’m joined by a legendary musician, singer and songwriter who’s been associated with so many bands and artists that if I listed them all, we’d be here till next week…

    They include, however, The Pretty Flowers - with BMX Bandits’ Duglas T Stewart, The Soup Dragons’ Sean Dickson, and The Vaselines’ Frances McKee - not to mention The Boy Hairdressers, The Clouds, The New Mendicants, Jonny, Jad Fair, De La Soul, Butler Blake and Grant - and Teenage Fanclub…

    He is the glorious Norman Blake, and he chatted about his life and work - and a favourite Scottish album, film and book - via budgies, Bellshill, boiler suits, roller blinds, touring with Nirvana - and rock ‘n’ roll bungalows…

    He played us some fab songs live too, he told me he’d rocked up with his guitar tuned to Nashville - but music on podcasts is a bloody minefield for various rights reasons - so I can’t include them.. Trust me, they were awesome - and not least because I accompanied him, uninvited, on the tambourine…

    Go buy all his records though, and I’ll list some upcoming live shows after our chat. But for now - to a winter’s afternoon, on the Great Western Road, with Norman Blake…

22. Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival with Emma Pollock, Jo Mango & Amy Duncan

    20 december 2025 · 1 uur 4 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    This episode was recorded live at Glasgow’s Civic House a few weeks back, as part of the brilliant Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival…

    I was joined by three of Scotland’s most vital songwriters and musicians, for an evening of live music and conversation that reflected on the ways in which music and creativity can have an impact on mental health - for better, and worse - both on a personal level, and with regard to bringing about wider social change, and kindness, and understanding…

    Emma Pollock's a founder member of hugely loved Scottish band the Delgados, and the revolutionary label Chemikal Underground. She led the Music Like A Vitamin and Fruit Tree Foundation projects alongside Idlewild’s Rod Jones, which grew from previous work with the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, in association with the Mental Health Foundation.

    She’s just released an absolutely glorious new album, it’s called Begging The Night To Take Hold, and its release follows a period of huge personal upheaval, and an autism diagnosis…

    Jo Mango is a musician, songwriter and academic whose work ranges from touring with Vashti Bunyan to her involvement with incredible initiatives like Vox Liminis’ Distant Voices and A Giant on the Bridge - which explored experiences of the criminal justice system from various perspectives - and Listening To Voices, which engaged creatively with people who hear voices - often those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia…

    Jo’s forthcoming album, The Lightswitch, has a strong focus on mental health - exploring the ‘ghost voices’ of women who have left the music industry because of harassment, abuse or toxic environments…

    Amy Duncan, meanwhile, is a musician, singer and songwriter who I first met when she played in punk-folk outfit Swelling Meg with Cora Bissett in the late 1990s - and I loved them so much I put out their album… Since then, you might have seen Amy onstage brandishing her double bass in the National Theatre of Scotland’s awesome…

23. Jenny Colgan and Andrew Meehan: A Kick Up The Hearts

    20 november 2025 · 43 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    This week I'm hearing from two terrific writers whose latest books are perfect for cosy reading over the next few weeks - and beyond...

    Jenny Colgan is a best-selling author. whose latest - The Secret Christmas Library - follows accidental book detective Mirren, and Jamie, who's desperately trying to do his best on a crumbling family estate in the Highlands... It's a snowed-in, fired-up celebration of family, secrets, ancient novels, dogs, adventures, mysteries, castles - and devastatingly handsome men...

    Andrew Meehan has worked for the Irish Film Board and teaches Creative Writing at Strathclyde University, and his books include the wonderful One Star Awake and The Mystery of Love. His latest, Best Friends, sees seventy-somethings Ray and June falling into ways of life, and love, they never thought possible - via books and bikes and honey bees, and the wonder of hedges, knees, and surprises...

    Listen in, and catch Jenny and Andrew at St Andrew's Book Festival in London's St Columba's Church at the end of this November... I'll also be there, chatting with Irvine Welsh and John Niven together - we'll be there on Saturday night, that's November 29th at 8pm - and before that, at teatime - I'll be in conversation with Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi - aka the Witches of Scotland - about their publishing phenomenon, How To Kill A Witch...

    For now though, to a bright and frosty Edinburgh morning, with Jenny Colgan, and Andrew Meehan, and piping hot coffee and excellent pastries - to talk about life, love, getting older, memory and expectations, winters nights and travellers - and Italo Calvino gets a seasonal look-in too...

24. Gavin Mitchell: All Back To Mine

    11 november 2025 · 50 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    In this episode I’m delighted to be joined by actor, artist, comedian and Still Game favourite Gavin Mitchell who - among other things - is known and loved as Boabby the Barman…

    His work includes early roles on stage and behind the scenes at The Citz in Glasgow, via Velvet Soup, Monarch of the Glen, Bill Forsyth’s Being Human, Casablanca: The Gin Joint Cut - and various dramas with his kindred spirit John Byrne, including the Tutti Frutti theatre show…

    We recorded this conversation live at The Stand in Edinburgh as part of this year’s Fringe, and Gavin took us on an imaginary evening of entertainment chez Mitchell, discussing his choice of a Scottish album, film and book, along with his own life and work. Come for his Mick Jagger impressions; stay for the chat about Peter Pan: though I warn you; it gets pretty dark…

    If you’re a fan of Still Game incidentally, another legend - Sanjeev Kohli, aka Navid - joins me at The Stand in Glasgow on November 13th, at half two - we’ll be having a similar chat to this, and it’d be lovely to see you there… there’s more info at akickupthearts.org

    For now though, back to Gavin Mitchell, live in Auld Reekie…

25. Hollie McNish: All Back To Mine

    20 oktober 2025 · 57 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    In this episode, I’m joined by the brilliant poet Hollie McNish, whose latest collection, Virgin, is out this week. We caught up last night in her dressing room, ahead of a sold-out gig at Glasgow’s Oran Mor, kicking off her Scottish book tour.

    Virgin is a blazing, bright, riled love letter to the best of us - which is most of us - in the face of man-made constructs, expectations, blame, shame, and abuses of power. It features mashed potatoes, pomegranates, warm baths, pornhub comments, rebel yells, kissing trees, butter dishes and radical hope.

    (I’m also now madly in love with Benny from Accounts, incidentally - but you’ll need to read the book to find out why.)

    Anyway - we sat down for a blether, for an All Back To Mine special, where Hollie chose us a Scottish album, book and film…

    We spoke about love, life, words, power; women, children, masculinity; Shirley Manson, Michael Mullen, roller-skates, and Gregory's Girl.

    (You can also watch a very DIY film of our chat in Hollie's dressing room on YouTube, if you like!)

    Hollie's live at Toppings' St Andrews tonight (October 20), at Dunkeld's Birnam Arts on the 21st, at Mac Arts in Galashiels on the 22nd, at Portobello Town Hall on the 23rd, and then she's at Push the Boat Out with Michael Pedersen in Edinburgh on November 8th.

26. Gordon Buchanan: All Back To Mine (live from Edinburgh Fringe)

    6 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 1 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    While I’ve got your ear, just a quick reminder that on the afternoon of Thursday the 9th of October I’ll be in conversation with writer and legend Denise Mina - that’s at The Stand in Glasgow, it’s at half two - and it’d be lovely to see you there. You can get tickets for the price of a coffee via akickupthearts.org…

    There are also events coming up with Emma Pollock, Irvine Welsh, John Niven, Sanjeev Kohli and Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake, Michael Pedersen - and more chats with this episode's guest, Gordon Buchanan. I’ll tell you more about all those soon... sign up for the newsletter! Or you can find me on social media...

    Right now though, I’m joined by brilliant wildlife cameraman and film-maker Gordon Buchanan, whose hugely loved series include My Epic Camel Adventure, Life in the Snow, The Bear Family and Me - and Tribes, Predators and Me. Earlier this year, he published a terrific, enlightening and hugely engaging memoir - IN THE HIDE: HOW THE NATURAL WORLD SAVED MY LIFE - which is well worth reading if you haven’t come across it yet.

    We chat about all that, of course, and Gordon also reflects on a favourite Scottish album, film and book, in a chat that ranges from killer polar bears - and vicious pets - to pop goddess Sheena Easton, magical writer Michael Pedersen - and showbiz icon Sydney Devine…

    This conversation was recorded live at the Edinburgh Fringe - thanks so much if you joined us - and, as I always do, I got the audience to try and practice cheer before we brought Gordon out… But it didn’t really go to plan…

27. Bloody Scotland with Tariq Ashkanani, Dave Goodman and Claire Wilson

    14 september 2025 · 24 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    We’re back at Scotland’s Crime Writing Festival, Bloody Scotland, for this episode - which is a whistle-stop blether with three of the many, many excellent writers who’re in my home town of Stirling this weekend…

    Tariq Ashkanani’s latest wide-screen Americana novel, The Midnight King, hones in on a best-selling writer, a father, a widower, and a friendly man who - guess what - is also a serial killer.

    It won this year’s McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish Crime book of the year, leading on from Tariq’s 2021 Crime in the Spotlight slot at Bloody Scotland where upcoming writers are given a platform to read their work ahead of lead events onstage…

    The Midnight King also follows Tariq’s Welcome to Cooper, which won the debut prize in 2022. This year, that garland was bestowed upon David Goodman - another previous Crime in the Spotlight guest - thanks to his fab novel, A Reluctant Spy, which sees a man make a bit of a deal with the devil, or MI6 at least, in return for an easier life. Spoiler alert - that’s the last thing that happens.

    I caught up with Tariq and Dave on Friday night at Bloody Scotland, and when I got to the green room, I also bumped into the thrilling writer that is Claire Wilson.

    Her debut, Five by Five, is a trip deep into the prison system - and then some - and it transpired we’re also very closely connected through family, because we realised, literally while we were talking last night, that Claire has an incredible tattoo of Kathy Bates on her arm and - guess what, my wee brother did it years ago… Here’s to Tariq, David, Claire - and here’s to Bloody Scotland…

28. Ambrose Parry (Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman): All Back To Mine

    12 september 2025 · 1 uur 4 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Recorded live at The Stand, Glasgow...

    Scotland’s Crime Writing Festival, Bloody Scotland, kicks off tomorrow - that’s Friday September 12th, we’ll all be there and hopefully you will too…

    Ian Rankin’s the guest programmer, I’m chairing Ian and various actors who’ve played Rebus over the years at the Albert Halls tomorrow, and then I’m in conversation with Mark Billingham and Laura Lippman on Saturday, and there are so many terrific events taking place from Friday to Sunday…

    They’ll also be announcing this year’s winners of the McIlvanney and Debut Prizes, but honestly - just dive into all the nominated books, there are so many murderous thrills in there…

    To celebrate all of this, I caught up with a couple of brilliant, best-selling and award-winning crime writers earlier today… We were live with a really lovely audience at The Stand Comedy Club’s gorgeous new home on Glasgow’s Great Western Road…

    When I had the idea of trying to launch this podcast from my kitchen table almost exactly this time last year, I got in touch with a few folk that I really love, and I don’t think it would have got off the ground without them - and Chris Brookmyre was one of the first out the gates…

    Because along with shining a light on cultural goings-on across the country in arts spaces every week - or thereabouts - I had this idea to run a special series where guests spoke about some of their favourite Scottish albums, films and books…

    I called it A Kick Up The Arts: All Back To Mine, and Chris was the first person I asked. Thankfully, he said yes… if you fancy, you can listen back to that chat from last September, along with subsequent episodes with the likes of Barbara Dickson, Justin Currie, Grant Stott, Clare Grogan, King Creosote, Jonathan Watson, Val McDermid and telly and theatre legend Dave Anderson - who was in the audience at The Stand today, like the absolute cultural beacon he’s always been… He’s a huge fan of Chris Brookmyre too…

    Chris is an incre…

29. All Back To Mine with Grant Stott (live from Edinburgh Fringe)

    8 september 2025 · 54 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    This week, we’re looking back at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, where we had a brilliant run of live guests including Barbara Dickson, Gordon Buchanan, Gavin Mitchell, Horse and Justin Currie - thank you so much for joining us, if you came along…

    I’ll post those chats, and others, in due course, but this week, we’re hearing from actor and broadcaster Grant Stott, who regalled us with tales about music, showbiz and secretarial studies at The Stand, and he talked about his family and childhood too - which was particularly lovely, as his dad and pals from his primary school were in the audience…

    Before we hear from Grant, I’m delighted to say that this week I’m at The Stand in Glasgow, which has just moved into the gorgeous Webster’s Theatre on the Great Western Road, for the first of a few monthly Thursday afternoon shows, and I’ll be joined on Thursday September 11th at half past two by best-selling writers Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman, aka Ambrose Parry - you can get tickets via akickupthearts.org, and it’d be lovely to see you there…

    For now though, to a crowded room in Edinburgh just a couple of weeks ago, for a chat about Scottish music, memories, films and books with a TV, stage and radio favourite, the baddest panto villainess, and a former law enforcement officer with a penchant for pot noodles and vinyl… It could only really be one big tidy… And so it was… The legend Grant Stott…

30. The Countess of (Fay) Fife

    17 augustus 2025 · 19 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    This week, I’m at Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms, for a chat with the goddess - the countess - that is Fay Fife…

    The Rezillos and Revillos trailblazer - and the only person in the history of the universe to sing Top of the Pops on - yes - Top of the Pops… is playing at the Voodoo Rooms from August 12th to 17th- so we caught up for a coffee, to chat all about it…

    She’ll be raising the roof with her swaggering country insurgents The Countess of Fife, playing songs from the glorious album Star of the Sea, the equally fab recent Betwixt and Between - and who knows - maybe even a few teasers from the forthcoming LP…

    You can also WATCH this episode on YouTube! Just search for A Kick Up The Arts with Fay Fife... and thank you, if you do!

31. Esther Swift at the East Neuk Festival

    15 augustus 2025 · 38 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Recorded at the East Neuk Festival in Fife

    This week, I’m hearing from one of our most gorgeous, and inventive musicians, who’s a composer, harpist, singer, songwriter and - as it turns out - a pretty fierce conductor too.

    Esther Swift is at Edinburgh International Book Festival tonight (August 15th) - in a collaboration with Jackie Kay - so we talked about that, and Esther’s glorious album Expectations of a Lifetime…

    But we met after her superb Zulu Voyage community performance at this year’s East Neuk Festival in Fife - which told the story of a fishing boat; its lives, and loves, and journeys - and so we started with that…

32. Val McDermid: All Back To Mine

    31 juli 2025 · 1 uur 2 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    This episode was recorded live at the brilliant Portobello Bookshop, in (near!) Edinburgh - thank you so much to Euan and the gang for making us so welcome - as ever - and to everyone at Birlinn. And thanks to the legend Val McDermid - folk singer; football fan; Fun Loving Crime Writer; creator of heroes like Lindsay Gordon, Wire in the Blood’s Carol Jordan and Allie Burns - and a newly-appointed doctor of letters. But we’ll get to that…

    To celebrate the paperback edition of her excellent Darklands Tale. Queen Macbeth - and the fact that another of her many terrific protagonists - Karen Pirie - is back on our tellies, I sat down with Val for a chat about life, and love, and reading, and writing - and she also discussed her choice of a favourite Scottish album, film and book. In fact, she chose more than one almost every time...

33. Paul Black on Govan Fair Queen

    26 juli 2025 · 41 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    This week, we’re chatting about comedian, writer and director Paul Black's terrific new BBC short film - Govan Fair Queen - which sees nine-year-old Abigail reluctantly roped into entering the annual local pageant by her fired-up granny Linda - played by Elaine C Smith.

    It’s a really warm and funny love letter to family, community and pride, via footballers, flatpack furniture and crufts…

    And it also features surely the three greatest-named siblings you’ll ever hear…

    We recorded this episode in the Pearce Institute in Govan, and I also filmed it on my phone, so if you fancy watching Paul and I, you can watch us blethering over on YouTube…

    Before we dive in - quite literally, because, as you’ll hear, we found a bath on my ad-hoc TV set - just a reminder that I’d love you to join me in conversation with Gavin Mitchell, Gordon Buchanan, Barbara Dickson, Grant Stott, Justin Currie and music icon Horse at the Edinburgh Fringe in August - there are tickets and lots more info via akickupthearts.org

    But, for now - to Govan! And Paul Black...

34. Carrie Marshall & Laura Jane Wilkie

    17 juli 2025 · 53 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Before we get to this episode, recorded at the brilliant Glasgow Women’s Library, a reminder that A Kick Up The Arts is live at the Edinburgh Fringe in August…

    I’d love you to join me at the Stand, which is only a five-minute walk from Waverley Station, for lunchtime chats with guests Gavin Mitchell on August 18, Gordon Buchanan on the 19th, Barbara Dickson on the 20th, Grant Stott on the 21st, Justin Currie on the 23rd, and then - on the 24th - the iconic Horse will be celebrating 35 years of The Same Sky with chat and live music…

    Meanwhile, at Edinburgh International Book Festival, we’re having a party in the Spiegeltent on August 10th, with Emma Pollock, Cora Bissett, Chitra Ramaswamy, and Carrie Marshall - with live music from the Hen Hoose Collective’s Cariss Crosbie and more surprises…

    You can get tickets and more info on all of those shows via akickupthearts.org - it’d be really lovely to see you there.

    And musician and writer Carrie Marshall’s also a guest on this episode of the podcast, to celebrate her fab new book, SMALL TOWN JOY: from Glam Rock to Hyperpop: How Queer Music Changed the Sound of Scotland, which features interviews with Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry, Garbage’s Shirley Manson, and Horse, and so many other incredible voices.

    Her previous book, Carrie Kills A Man, is a tale of growing up in a world that doesn’t want you, how it feels to throw a hand grenade into your life, and ripping it up and starting again - from coming out to navigating parenthood as a trans woman…

    We’re joined by incredible fiddle player and composer Laura Jane Wilkie, whose gorgeous album, Vent, is centred around waulking songs - which were ancient women’s work songs from the Highlands and Islands, often sung while beating and softening tweed - and often infused with gossip, along with a sense of humour, love, safety, power, community - and freedom.

    Laura’s also performed with Man of the Minch - oh, he gets some love in here - along with The GRIT Or…

35. Jordan Young & Jemima Levick: Man's Best Friend

    26 juni 2025 · 37 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    We’re at one of my old places of work for this episode - The Tron theatre in Glasgow, to celebrate a terrific one-man play called Man’s Best Friend - you might have seen the dogs who’re ostensibly at the heart of it all over social media - and it’s there until the 12th of July, before touring Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Edinburgh, Greenock and Inverness in the Autumn.

    It’s written by Scottish theatre lodestar Douglas Maxwell, and directed by Tron artistic Director Jemima Levick, who was previously at the helm of Dundee Rep, Stellar Quines and Oran Mor’s Play, A Pie and a Pint. That’s where this production first came to life with Jonathan Watson starring as Ronnie - a man adrift, in the wake of loss and lockdown, save for the leads of the local dogs he takes to the park, and the memories that keep bringing it all back home…

    That role’s now reprised in an expanded version of the play, thanks to Jordan Young, a River City bad guy, panto good guy, and an actor who’s equally adept at physical comedy and quiet tragedy, whether that’s in Black Watch, Chemo Savvy, or right here, in his first one-man play - a comical, heartbreaking meditation on what we have, what we have to lose, and the loneliness of the long-distance dog walker…

    I met up with Jordan and Jemima at the Tron this afternoon, and we touched on all of that... But seeing as every podcast I record, I check levels and plosives by asking guests to say A Play, A Pie and A Pint, I did that again today - and it transpires, perhaps to little surprise, that nobody does it better than its former director…

36. Glasgow Jazz Festival 2025

    18 juni 2025 · 29 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Before we get wired into this week’s episode, I’ve just announced that wildlife cameraman, film-maker and rock ‘n’ roll lion tamer Gordon Buchnanan is the latest guest to join me for A Kick Up The Arts at the Edinburgh Fringe… We’ll be at the Stand on August 19th, and we’d love you to join us.

    My other guests that week - so far - are Gavin Mitchell on the 18thl, Barbara Dickson on the 20th, Grant Stott on the 21st, Justin Currie on the 23rd, and I’ll be announcing another guest soon… You can get tickets for all of those, right now, via akickupthearts.org…

    And before that - next month - Val McDermid and I are in conversation at the Portobello Bookshop - that’s on July 9th, and you should totally come to that too… same place for the tickets, if you fancy…

    I’m also delighted to be coming to Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Bute Noir, and I’ll tell you all about those events soon, or sign up for the newsletter for more - you know… news…

    But ANYWAY!

    This week, we're at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, as this year's 39th Glasgow Jazz Festival kicks off..

    The city's longest-running music festival runs until Sunday June 22nd, and among its wonders, it'll welcome Gil Scott-Heron's legendary collaborator Brian Jackson - a keyboardist, flute-player and vocalist who's also worked Stevie Wonder, Gwen Guthrie and Earth, Wind and Fire…

    He joins artists on the programme like Later With Jools favourites the Neil Cowley Trio, Colin Steele and his Quartet reimagining The Blue Nile - and incredible turntablist Mariam Rezaei joining forces with saxophonist Raymond MacDonald...

    With only a mere few hours till the opening events - and fresh from Alan Donaldson's excellent exhibition, The Glasgow Jazz Pictures - I met up with Glasgow Jazz Festival director Jill Rodger, and rising jazz star Marianne McGregor, who won best vocalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards in 2023, and who'll launch her new album - Make Believe - at the festival on Sunday...

    Jill, Mariann…

37. Bloody Scotland 2025: with Ian Rankin, Natalie Jayne Clark & Gordon Brown

    12 juni 2025 · 25 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Just very quickly, a reminder that I’d love you to join me for A Kick Up The Arts - live at at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll be at The Stand, with Still Game's Gavin Mitchell on August 18th, Barbara Dickson on August 20th, Grant Stott on August 21st, and Del Amitri’s Justin Currie on August 23rd - and I’ll be announcing more fab special guests soon…

    Before that, the awesome Val McDermid will join me at The Portobello Bookshop on July 9th… There are ticket links to all of those shows via akickupthearts.org…

    I’m also delighted to be coming to Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Bute Noir, and I’ll tell you all about those events soon, or sign up for the newsletter for more news - that’s also via akickupthearts.org…

    Right now though, we’re in my hometown of Stirling for the launch of the brilliant Crime Writing Festival, Bloody Scotland, which started back in 2012…

    I’m just back from the launch, which was great fun as ever… I was in conversation with globally best-selling author Linwood Barclay about his new supernatural thriller, WHISTLE, which is out now, and the event also saw director Bob McDevitt and this year’s guest programmer Sir Ian Rankin chat about what’s on this year’s bill…

    As they were discussing the programme, I realised we should do a launch episode for the podcast, so my daughter dropped off my recording equipment, and I cajoled Ian Rankin along with Bloody Scotland founder and author Gordon Brown - aka Morgan Cry - and writer Natalie Jayne Clark, to join me for a flick through this year’s brochure…

    Natalie’s terrific novel, The Malt Whisky Murders, is shortlisted for the festival’s 2025 debut novel prize. This year’s McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish book of the year will also be unveiled at Bloody Scotland, which runs in Stirling from the 12th to the 14th of September…

    And can I just say now that I’m really looking forward to chairing a very special Rebus event, which you’ll hear about during our chat, and also …

38. Kathryn Joseph and Lomond Campbell

    30 mei 2025 · 41 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Just very quickly, a reminder that I’d love you to join me for A Kick Up The Arts - live - at at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll be at The Stand, with Barbara Dickson on August 20th, Grant Stott on August 21st, and Del Amitri’s Justin Currie on August 23rd - and I’ll be announcing more fab special guests soon…

    Before that, the awesome Val McDermid will join me at The Portobello Bookshop on July 9th… There are ticket links to all of those shows here.

    Right now though, we’re in Glasgow’s glorious record cafe, Some Great Reward for a chat with Kathryn Joseph about her stunning fourth album, We Were Made Prey, which is out today on Mogwai’s Rock Action label.

    As with Kathryn’s previous album - for you who are the wronged - and its attendant remix EP, the new record’s made in cahoots with singer, songwriter, producer and synth wizard Ziggy “Lomond” Campbell, who runs a stunning residential studio near Fort William, The Lengths - although, as we’ll hear, their musical (dis)harmony actually goes back decades…

    Let’s just say - the campaign to find and hear the early bootlegs starts right here…

39. KELI (The National Theatre of Scotland)

    22 mei 2025 · 41 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    In this episode, we’re celebrating brass bands, activism, teenage angst and community spirit, thanks to the National Theatre of Scotland’s latest production - KELI, which opened last week at Stirling’s Macrobert Centre and Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum.

    It’s running at Dundee Rep this week, before marching on to Perth Theatre and Glasgow Tramway in June…

    Marking 40 years since the miners’ strike, it tells the story of a stressed, and funny, and fired-up seventeen-year-old - Keli - dealing with life, and college, and work - and a mum who’s really struggling - in a former mining town…

    She’s also a brilliant tenor horn player, and a member of the local brass band, who’re still going strong long after the loss of the coal industry that brought them together…

    The music at the heart of this has long been an obsession for writer and composer Martin Green, who also plays in folk visionaries LAU… and Keli closely follows on from his Radio 4 documentary series, Love, Spit and Valve Oil, and his interviews with trade-unionists, miners, music teachers and brass band players - not to mention a gorgeous album, Split The Air.

    The show’s musical director is Louis Abbott, of Admiral Fallow among other wonders, the play’s directed by Bryony Shananan, and it stars Liberty Black as Keli, Karen Fishwick as her mum Jane, and Olivia Hemmati as two die-hard, very different friends - Amy and Saskia…

    And it’s always a thrill to see theatre and screen legends Phil McKee and Billy Mack onstage - the former playing band leader Brian, the latter as the town’s fabled hero - the former miner Willie Knox. We’re also treated to performances by either the Whitburn Band or Kingdom Brass at every show.

    I loved Keli when I saw it in Edinburgh last week, and I sat down with Martin, Liberty and Olivia at the National Theatre of Scotland’s headquarters, Rockvilla, to reflect on Keli’s journey so far - ahead of the rest of the Scottish dates…

    akickupthearts.org

40. David Keenan on Volcanic Tongue

    13 mei 2025 · 50 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Just very quickly, a reminder that I’d love you to join me for A Kick Up The Arts - live - at at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll be at The Stand, with Barbara Dickson on August 20th, Grant Stott on August 21st, and Del Amitri’s Justin Currie on August 23rd - and I’ll be announcing more special guests soon…

    Before that though, the brilliant Val McDermid will join me at The Portobello Bookshop on July 9th, we’ll be celebrating the paperback publication of Queen Macbeth, and chatting about Val’s choice of a Scottish album, film and book - and it’d be fab to see you there.

    There are ticket links to all of those shows online here - but, for now, we’re back with the legends at Porty Books for a chat with another incendiary writer - and if you joined us for this event, thanks so much for coming along…

    We’re singing the praises of David Keenan’s latest mind-melding trip of a book - and they all are, incidentally - from his esoteric musical odyssey England’s Hidden Reverse, to the award-winning 1970s Belfast fever-dream For The Good Times - not to mention the iconic This Is Memorial Device - which a novel, theatre show, and online community devoted to post-punk, small towns, fanzines, mad dreams, and the infinite possibilities of - well, everything…

    David’s latest thrill, Volcanic Tongue - a time-travelling evangelist’s guide to Late 20th Century Underground Music - collects his music writing for The Wire among other publications, including deep-dives into the worlds, and lives, and music, and alchemy, of Sun Ra, Sonic Youth, Faust, John Martyn and Throbbing Gristle.

    It takes its title from the mythical Glasgow shop that David ran with his wife - the pedal steel phenomenon and musical visionary Heather Leigh - and it was also the title of a weekly newsletter - but we’ll come to that…

    Volcanic Tongue (out now, via the fab White Rabbit Books) is a psychoactive love letter to underground music, literature, science fiction, and to life’s wild moments …

41. Restless Natives: The Musical

    24 april 2025 · 38 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Before we jump on board with this episode, I’m delighted to tell you that the writer and legend Val McDermid will be joining me for A Kick Up The Arts live from Edinburgh’s Portobello Bookshop to celebrate her latest book, Queen Macbeth, on July the 9th. She’ll also chat about a favourite Scottish album, film and book - and we’d love you to come along. I’ll put ticket links everywhere…

    There are also tickets on-sale now for A Kick Up The Arts live from the Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll be joined at the Stand for a series of lunchtime chats with fab guests including Barbara Dickson on August 20th, Grant Stott on August 21st, and Del Amitri’s Justin Currie on August 23rd - and it’d be fab to see you…

    And, if you’re very quick, I’m at Paisley Book Festival this weekend, with fab songwriters and novelists James Yorkson and Malachy Tallack - they’ll chat about their latest books, and music, and they might even play us some songs - Paisley Town Hall, 4-5pm on Saturday April 26th, it’d be ace to see you there in person - the more the merrier - but we’ll also record it for a forthcoming episode of A Kick Up The Arts…

    Meanwhile - onto this episode, and it’s about a new musical theatre production that’s based on one of my all-time favourite films…

    Restless Natives hijacked my heart as a kid when it was released in the mid-1980s, and its politics, its love, its humour, its Big Country soundtrack, and it’s gorgeous protagonists - the Clown, and the Wolfman - and Margot - have been loved by so many of us ever since…

    Now the tale of the Highland Highwaymen - who hold up tour buses and charm everyone in sight - is coming to the stage, and touring Scotland. It’s kicking off at Perth Theatre as we speak, before travelling to Stirling, Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow in May and June…

    The new show is thanks to the film’s original creative team - director Michael Hoffman, producer Andy Paterson, and writer Ninian Dunnett, and it plays out to the tune of Big…

42. Live from the Glad Cafe with Michael Pedersen

    7 april 2025 · 56 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Before we get wired into this episode, I’m delighted to tell you that the podcast is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe this Summer! I’ll be at The Stand, which is a five minute walk from Waverley Station, with very special guests every lunchtime, from August the 18th to the 24th…

    So far, I can tell you that I’ll be joined by Barbara Dickson on August 20th, Grant Stott on August 21st, and Del Amitri’s Justin Currie on August 23rd - and I would love you to join us…

    I’ll be announcing other guests soon, but get your tickets for these shows in the meantime - they’re on-sale now, I’ll stick a link everywhere I can - within reason...

    Their chat’ll be a bit like the one you’re about to hear, as they take us to a virtual party round at theirs, with a choice of Scottish album, film and book - along with a wider conversation about their life, and work…

    Right now though - back to an earlier live event for A Kick Up The Arts: All Back To Mine - promoted by the excellent Sufrecs, and recorded at the Glad Cafe in Glasgow…

    If you were here for this - thanks so much for being such a fab audience… and you’ll already know that Siobhan Wilson and Raveloe played some stunning renditions of songs from my guest, Michael Pedersen’s chosen Scottish album…

    Spoiler alert, it was a classic from Garbage - so you’ll hear snippets of those through our chat, but follow Siobhan online to hear the full versions...

    Michael’s a brilliant writer, and person, who’s a poet, an author, and a cultural rabble-rouser…

    He’s also the Edinburgh makar, and the writer in residence at Edinburgh University, and he took to the stage beside me rocking the greatest top I have ever seen.

    Picture this - a painted shirt with pink and green love-hearts, orange and yellow smiling cats - and of course there was glitter. It was neon, in fact. I have never seen anything like it…

    Michael’s published three poetry collections, including Oyster and the Cat Prince, his prose debut, Boy Friends, was publi…

43. Ricky Ross & Lorraine McIntosh: Deacon Blue's The Great Western Road

    21 maart 2025 · 51 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Just before we get wired into this episode, a quick reminder I’ll be in conversation with the brilliant writer David Keenan - whose hallucinogenic books include Xstabeth and This Is Memorial Device - about his new collection of music writing, Volcanic Tongue, live from Edinburgh's Portobello Bookshop, on March 27th - there’ll be loads of tunes too - and we’d love you to join us…

    But onto this episode, and it's with a band I've loved madly since I was at primary school...

    It's 40 years since the early days of Deacon Blue, and over 35 since since their debut, Raintown, defined the landscape of 80s Glasgow, and its follow-up, When The World Knows Your Name, made the band a household name - and knocked Madonna off the top of the charts...

    They toured all the theatres, sold out arenas, broke our hearts - or certainly mine - when they broke up in 1994, and then they made up for it - and with each other - back in 1999...

    Their leading lights have changed since then... Bassist Ewen Vernal left for other musical adventures, and we lost beloved guitarist Graeme Kelling in 2004... But Ricky Ross, Dougie Vipond, Lorraine McIntosh and James Prime are still as fired up as ever - now further stoked by Lewis Gordon, and co-writer and producer Gregor Philp...

    They're back with a new album, The Great Western Road, which is a gift of a title for Deacon Blue and their driving take on their America: that big old street runs right through Glasgow - and across the band's history - like a stick of rock... And they were always big on going away, and coming home with souvenirs...

    When they announced the new LP, and released its lead single, Late 88 - their biggest chart success in decades - I'll tell you right now, I slid straight into Ricky's DMs, and told him how much I loved in an unsolicited ten-paragraph diatribe…

    That’s lower than the word count for the liner notes I wrote for the band's You Can Have It All and All The Old 45s releases a couple of years ago, b…

44. On Derek Jarman: with Gavin Mitchell & Matthew Arthur Williams

    13 maart 2025 · 44 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Just before we get wired into this episode, a quick reminder that I’ll be in conversation with the brilliant writer David Keenan - whose hallucinogenic books include Xstabeth and This Is Memorial Device - about his new collection of music writing, Volcanic Tongue, in Edinburgh later this month…

    It raves about, and roves across, artists like The Pastels, Nick Cave and John Martyn, and we’ll chat about all that for A Kick Up The Arts, live from the Portobello Bookshop, on March 27th - there’ll be loads of tunes too - and we’d love you to join us…

    Right now though, we’re in Glasgow for the terrific exhibition, Digging In Another Time: Derek Jarman’s Modern Nature.

    It’s inspired by the visionary English film-maker, writer, artist and gay rights activist’s diary entries of the same name - which detail his 1989 performance-installation at Glasgow’s Third Eye Centre, now the CCA - replete with two men in a bed, caged in by barbed-wire - and the planting of his radical, beautiful garden at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, established in the aftermath of his HIV diagnosis.

    He died in 1994.

    Alongside the artist’s own visceral paintings, and photos, and audio-visual wonder - and walls of homophobic tabloid coverage - the exhibition also features responses from contemporary artists, including a film by Tom Walker that digs into footage of Jarman talking at the Third Eye Centre, alongside thrilling work by Sarah Wood, Luke Fowler, Andrew Black - and a forthcoming live performance from Jade De Montserrat…

    It’s curated by Dominic Paterson, it runs until Sunday the 4th of May, and it’s free…

    There’s also a fab-looking programme at the city’s GFT over the coming weeks, including screenings of extraordinary Jarman films like The Garden, starring Tilda Swinton; Caravaggio - with Robbie Coltrane and Dexter Fletcher - and the stunning, revolutionary Blue, which features a Q&A with Derek Jarman’s long-term friend and collaborator, Neil Bartlett…

    I’ve been to the …

45. Live from Granite Noir: A Kick Up The Arts with Dawn Steele

    1 maart 2025 · 59 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Before we dive into this week’s episode - recorded live at Aberdeen’s Granite Noir festival - a reminder that if you’re in or around Glasgow on the afternoon of March 1st, we’d love to see you at the Glad Cafe for A Kick Up The Arts live with award-winning poet and writer Michael Pedersen - Alan Cumming loves him, Shirley Manson from Garbage loves him, Nicola Sturgeon loves him - everyone loves him, and little wonder…

    Michael will be chatting about a favourite Scottish album, film and book along with his wider life and work, and we’ll also have live music - playing covers from his chosen album - from the brilliant Siobhan Wilson and Raveloe. We’ll be there from half two onwards, Michael and the gang will hang around afterwards for a drink, and to sign books and records, and I’ll be DJing too - it’ll be a lovely afternoon, and we’d love to see you…

    But onto this episode, and the wonder that is actor Dawn Steele, who joined me and a glorious audience - thanks so much if you were with us - at Aberdeen Music Hall on Sunday…

    Dawn first arrived onto our screens, and into our hearts, as Lexie in Monarch of the Glen, followed by starring roles in Wild at Heart, Holby City, Shetland, and Aberdeen’s own Granite Harbour - and that’s not to mention various film and theatre credits, including John Byrne’s Cutting A Rug AND Tutti Frutti - and myriad connections to Aberdeen - but we’ll come to all of that…

    We were in the Music Hall’s Big Sky Studio, but Dawn whisked us away to her home - virtually speaking - for an A Kick Up The Arts: All Back To Mine special, choosing us a Scottish album to play us, screen classic to show us, and a Booker prize-winning novel no less, for some bed-time reading…

    We also touched on Dorothy Paul, Paolo Nutini, hyenas, crisps, and lemon trees - obviously...

    Anyway... What a woman… here she is - and thanks so much again, if you were in our fabulous audience…

46. Glasgow Film Festival special with Allison Gardner and Chris Kumar

    25 februari 2025 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Thanks so much if you joined us at Granite Noir in Aberdeen on Sunday, for a lovely live recording with actor Dawn Steele - that podcast is coming soon!

    And don’t forget, if you’re in Glasgow, I’m joined by writer Michael Pedersen and musicians Siobhan Wilson and Raveloe for A Kick Up The Arts live from the Glad Cafe, that’s on Saturday afternoon, March 1st - and then, the mighty David Keenan will be in conversation about his new collection of music writing, Volcanic Tongue, at Edinburgh’s Portobello Bookshop on March 27th…

    Right now though, in this episode, we’re celebrating the 21st Glasgow Film Festival - they grow up so fast - which runs from the 26th of February to the 9th of March…

    It’s Scotland’s biggest celebration of local and international cinema, and this year it’ll showcase 92 world, UK and Scottish premieres from 39 countries…

    It opens with the world premiere of Tornado, the latest epic from Fife’s John Maclean, who made huge waves with Slow West, following his time in pop voyagers the Aliens and the Beta Band. Tornado stars Tim Roth and Jack Lowden, and features gold heists, criminal gangs, and travelling puppet shows, played out in 1790s Britain…

    The festival closes with another world premier with distinct Scottish roots, thanks to Martyn Robertson’s incredible Make It To Munich, which follows teenager Ethan Walker’s charity cycle from Scotland to Germany, just months after almost losing his life…

    And in the countless screenings between those movies bookending the festival, there are worlds of possibility - from a free 'Coming of Age' strand with classics like Gregory’s Girl, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Lady Bird and Boys in the Hood, to a retrospective of Swedish actor, director and pioneer Mai Zetterling, including her 80s borstal drama - Scrubbers - starring Kathy Burke and Pam St Clement…

    There’ll be In Conversation events with icons Jessica Lange AND James McAvoy - and outwith the Glasgow Film Theatre, you can lose you…

47. Liz Lochhead & Steve Kettley

    15 februari 2025 · 1 uur

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    I promise I’ll stop going on about this soon, but I’m still very excited about the first three LIVE episodes of A Kick Up The Arts - at Aberdeen’s Granite Noir on February 23rd with actor Dawn Steele, at Glasgow’s Glad Cafe on March 1st with writer Michael Pedersen AND musicians Siobhan Wilson and Raveloe…

    PLUS - on March 27th, I’m joined by David Keenan to celebrate his new book of music writing, Volcanic Tongue, at Edinburgh’s Portobello Bookshop… you can get tickets online for any or all of them, or email nicola@akickupthearts.org

    For now though, listen on for a blether with a woman I’ve loved for as long as I can remember - for her poems, her plays, her performance, her absolutely brilliant spirit - and she is just the best company too...

    Former Scottish makar Liz Lochhead’s work includes groundbreaking theatre productions like Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off and Medea - though she’s not so keen on looking back on the sprawling, experimental Burns and MacDiarmid-inspired Jock Tamson’s Bairns - while an anthology of her poetry to date - over 50 years’ worth - A HANDSEL - was published last year…

    Liz studied at Glasgow School of Art, but music’s also been at the heart of so much of her work, from an early love of Joni Mitchell to her time with The Lost Poets, and titles like BAGPIPE MUZAK and IN PRAISE OF OLD VINYL, to collaborations with Michael Marra, Hector Bizerk, Andrew Wasylyk and Andrew’s indie harmonists, the Hazey Janes…

    Liz’s album with the Hazey Janes, The Light Comes Back, also featured her legendary saxophonist, Steve Kettley - you might have caught their fab show together, Somethings Old, Somethings New, among other adventures…

    Steve’s also played with Salsa Celtica and the Cauld Blast Orchestra, and worked with Niki King and Savourna Stevenson, along with enlivening countless theatre shows from Wildcat and Communicado, among others…

    The three of us got together in Glasgow’s Mitchell library to chat about all of…

48. Alan Bissett & Sorcha Dallas on Alasdair Gray

    11 februari 2025 · 47 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Just a reminder that I’d love you to join us for A Kick Up The Arts live in Aberdeen at Granite Noir festival with the fab actor Dawn Steele, that’s on February 23rd - then award-winning poet and writer Michael Pedersen will join me at Glasgow’s Glad Cafe on March 1st, with live music from the sublime Siobhan Wilson and Raveloe - and THEN literary livewire David Keenan launches his new new collection of music writing, Volcanic Tongue, at The Portobello Bookshop in Edinburgh on March 27th…

    ANYWAY! Onto this episode, and we’re celebrating the fantastical Glasgow polymath, Alasdair Gray.

    The writer, painter, playwright and poet has mapped out the city in vivid murals, the recent Hollywood adaptation of his novel Poor Things starred Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, and his landmark epic, Lanark, exists in a brilliant realm like no other - and it’s been a huge influence on many of the special guests who’re appearing at this year’s Gray Day celebrations, at Oran Mor on February 25th.

    The annual event takes place in what would be Alasdair’s 90th year - and it’s all beneath his celestial mural in the auditorium… Performers include comedians Ashley Storrie and Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, and writers Alan Bissett and Sara Sheridan, not to mention new animations and the involvement of composer, musician and visionary Scott Twynholm…

    I’ll be hosting proceedings, and if you move fast you can still get the remaining tickets.

    Gray Day is thanks to the terrific Alasdair Gray Archive, helmed by custodian and long-term friend of Alasdair’s, Sorcha Dallas - and in this year it’s in cahoots with Glasgow International Comedy Festival…

    Sorcha and she warmly welcomed Alan Bissett and I into that magical archive - as she always does - and plied us with coffee in Gray-inspired mugs, and we chatted a bit more about his legacy, his imagination, his roving work - and what’s coming up…

49. Maud Sulter: You Are My Kindred Spirit

    3 februari 2025 · 37 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Just a reminder that there are a few live events coming up, and I’d love to see you there - actor Dawn Steele - who’s starred in Monarch of the Glen and Shetland among others - joins me at Granite Noir in Aberdeen on Febrary 23rd, award-winning poet and writer Michael Pedersen’s with me at Glasgow’s Glad Cafe on March 1st - Siobhan Wilson and Raveloe will play some live music at that one too…

    And then, on March 27th, David Keenan will introduce us to his superb new collection of music writing, Vocanic Tongue, at Edinburgh’s Portobello Bookshop. There are tickets online - and we’d love you to join us…

    In the meantime, onto this episode, which celebrates the work, and living legacy, of Scottish-Ghanaian artist, photographer, film-maker and writer Maud Sulter, thanks to a brilliant - and free - exhibition that’s running at the Tramway in Glasgow until the end of March…

    Titled Maud Sulter: You Are My Kindred Spirit, it’s an immersive experience of moving image and spoken word archives, alongside photographs, montage and written works like her Alba Sonnets - and her voice rings out across the building…

    Maud was born in the Gorbals - not far from the Tramway - in 1960, and died after a long illness in 2008. She began her career as a writer, and award-winning poet, before expanding her practice to include photography and visual art, often addressing the erasure and representation of Black Women in the histories of these disciplines - and giving a voice to the marginalised.

    Along with the brilliant exhibition itself, there’s a live events programme, curated by Pelumi Odubanjo, which includes poetry evenings, collective readings, presentations, conversations and a rare screening of Maud’s play Service to Empire in the coming weeks.

    The live programme launched with a screening of Natasha Ruwona and Tomiwa Folorunso’s excellent short film, Maud, which invited Black women making art in Scotland to reflect on her life, and work, and influence.

    Many of t…

50. Bethlehem Calling

    24 januari 2025 · 36 min

    Afspelen
    Send us Fan Mail Lees meer

    Firstly! A reminder that A Kick Up The Arts is live in Aberdeen, at Granite Noir book festival, where my guest will be the fab Dawn Steele, star of Granite Harbour, Monarch of the Glen, Shetland and more - that’s on the 23rd of February, it’s in the afternoon, and we’re love you to join us.

    We’re doing another live recording at Glasgow’s Glad Cafe on the 1st of March with award-winning writer Michael Pedersen, and there’ll be live music from Siobhan Wilson and Raveloe - and then the awesome David Keenan will be chatting about his new collection of music writing, Volcanic Tongue, at The Portobello Bookshop on the 27th of March. I’d love you to join us for one of those dates - or all of them! You can get tickets online…

    Anyway, onto this episode, and I'm thrilled to be joined by some of the team behind the Scottish-Palestinian collaboration Bethlehem Calling, which is an evening of stories, music and pipers coming to Celtic Connections this weekend...

    It's based on the diaries of teenage girls who were encouraged by a teacher to write about their experiences of growing up in the West Bank during the second intifada (early-mid 2000s).

    Some of those women are also revisited in this latest production of a show that was first staged by the pupils themselves, and there are also present-day testimonies from current students at the same school.

    The resulting musical, audio-visual and verbatim theatre show features artists like Paul Thomson - who's played with Franz Ferdinand - and theatre makers Ben Harrison, Zoe Hunter and Reada Ghazaleh…

    And that’s not to mention audio visual designer Dav Bernard, and the spirit of the Palestinian Arab Orthodox Scout Pipers of Beit Jala, who formed 100 years ago - originally taught by Scots Guards - and whose skirling will ring out across the performance, despite several visa rejections this week...

    Bethlehem Calling's at Glasgow Tramway this Saturday, January 25th, but I snuck into rehearsals a couple of days ago…