Jacques Coetzer room to road press release

News Release (draft) Waterboys’ Room to Roam set to become anthem for Aberdeenshire town, Live performance with Mike Scott, artist Jacques Coetzer and Huntly musicians on 1 June 2008

What links Victorian writer, George MacDonald, Mike Scott of Waterboys fame and South African artist Jacques Coetzer? the answer - the Aberdeenshire town of Huntly.

George Macdonald, whose work has influenced many leading writers, notably CS Lewis, was born in Huntly and his poem, Room to Roam, (included in the 1885 collection Phantastes) has been said to encapsulate the diverse nature of the town’s community. In 1990 the poem was set to music by Mike Scott and recorded by the Waterboys becoming the title track of the album they released that year.

South African artist. Jacques Coetzer came across the link between MacDonald and the Waterboys as part of his research as artist in residence with Deveron Arts. Having met up with

Scott and talked to him about his residency project Coetzer was delighted when Scott then offered to give the song to Huntly as a town anthem. Local musicians and singers are now working with Scott and Coetzer in a series of music workshops, which will culminate in a communal performance of Room to Roam in the annual Entertainment in the Square event in Huntly on 1 June 2008.

“Room tTo Roam is amazing with a choir and a big band, like a mad carousel of music,” says Mike Scott, “and it’s great fun doing it with MacDonald’s own townspeople.”

Jacques Coetzer’s residency with Deveron Arts follows an international call for artists to work with Huntly on its branding and identity as the town goes through a period of change. His approach has been to involve as wide a group as people as possible in events and discussions and so explore the town’s rich diversity. “Huntly is a town of contrasts,” says Coetzer. “It has a large industrial area and is surrounded by farm land; it is a town with an amazing history, but one that embraces the here and now; it is truly Scottish and yet has many international residents. Above all Huntly a real family town and the one home that MacDonald talks of in his poem.” Music has proved a powerful way of linking past and present and expressing the town’s great sense of community – an 1895 poem in a 1990 setting will be performed communally in 2008.

Coetzer’s residency in Huntly also coincides with a major initiative being launched by The Lighthouse, Scotland’s National Architecture and Design Centre, looking at the future of Scotland’s towns. The Renaissance Towns initiative sees the future development of towns being firmly in the hands of local communities, engaging people in shaping their own future and creating the direction in which they want their towns to go. Huntly has been spearheading this approach for some time both through the work of the Aberdeen Towns Partnership and of Deveron Arts whose cultural vision, “the town is the venue”, is the subject of a book that will be published this year CLAUDIA I NEED A FEW WORDS HERE ON THE BOOK YOU AND NUNO ARE WRITING AND HOW IT SETS A BLUEPRINT FOR TOWN DEVELOPMENT. Claudia Zeiske, Director of Deveron Arts and Nuno Sacramento, in his role as Shadow Curator are currently writing a curatorial handbook entitled Artocracy: based on the case study of Huntly, the town is the venue as a microcosm of an utopia if the world was ruled by art.

Issued on behalf of Deveron Arts by New Century PR. For further information, interviews and images contact: Lesley Booth

0779 941 4474

Notes for Editors

lesley@newcenturypr.com

Entertainment in the Square is Huntly’s annual show case of local talent. For 11 hours, there will be non-stop entertainment on stage – Singers, Dancers, Musicians, Pipers – Traditional to Pop..

Room to Roam, George MacDonald, 1895 As set by the Waterboys, 1990 You go yours and I'll go mine the many ways we wend Many days and many ways ending in one end Many a wrong and its curing song many a road and many an inn Room to roam but only one home for all the world to win So you go yours and I'll go mine we'll wend Many days and many ways ending in one end ----o---Room to roam but only one home for all the world to win So you go yours and I'll go mine and the many many ways we'll wend Many days and many ways ending in one end Room to roam but only one home ending in one end