Spring 2016 Issue 6
Picture by Miff Morris N.H.C Music Photography
YELLOW
not mellow
Craig McAllister meets Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 - P12-13
INSIDE: PAUL CREIGHTON•LUTHER•CHLOE MARIE+MORE
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Chloe is Changing up a gear or two CHLOE MARIE sings about spreading her wings and flying in her latest single, Changing – and she was certainly soaring as she launched her new EP in Ayr’s Cafe Society.
Chloe and her guest musicians, including her very tight backing band, played a stormer in a night full of great songs and varied styles. Her band – Aimee Penman on keys and backing vocals, Brian Fleming on percussion, Oscar Wilson on bass, Emma Durkan on fiddle and backing vocals and Sean MacDonald on Lead guitar and backing vocals – didn’t actually play on the five-track CD but were superbly slick on the launch night. For the CD, Chloe was joined on acoustic and electric guitar by Scott Nicol, who co-wrote the album with her, and Samuel Gallagher who was not only responsible for the production but also played the rest of the instruments. Scott and Samuel also performed as several dozen guests arrived at Cafe Society to hear Chloe’s new songs for the first time. In between greeting guests and emceeing, Chloe found time to perform in various groupings – as part
of a duo with Mayghen Clark; part of a trio with Aimee and Emma; and as a beautifully harmonising trio with Aimee and Laura. Several band members also performed without Chloe, Emma Durkin’s spell on the harp being among the highlights. As for the EP, Changing is an upbeat collection of well crafted songs, the title track with its shades of Suzanne Vega being particularly infectious. Geraldine, a swiftly moving song lightly caressed by acoustic rhythm is another stand-out. Baby I will Follow You and Runway sit perfectly at home here while Without You In The Frame is a suitable showstopper to close the EP with its piano-laden orchestral production providing a storm before the calm of the final line. An accomplished guitarist, Chloe handily enough has a very decent voice to accompany her music– sweet and gentle when it has to be and rocky when she turns it up. She has been a favourite on the local scene for more than a year – now her growing band of fans have the chance to listen to her music at home too. Take that chance. One of these days she just might not be local any more.
Bellfield is the International Space station FOR a few years in the late 90s Space were just about as cool as the tail end of Britpop ever got.
Quirky Top 20 hits including The Female of the Species, Neighbourhood, Avenging Angels and The Ballad of Tom Jones, a No 4 hit with Cerys Matthews of Catatonia, kept them bobbing along in the pop consciousness. Their first two albums, Spider and Tin Planet both made the Top 5. Clever lyrics and haunting melodies made for good listening. Then Space came back down to Earth. The singles charted lower and lower until they stopped charting at all and the band resorted to releasing new songs to fans via the internet. But the recently re-formed Space are back and playing to audiences all over the UK with a few festival appearances lined up for the summer. Their April 23 date at the Bellfield Tavern in Kilmarnock is the only Scottish stop on their current 18-date pre-summer tour which takes them from Southampton through major English towns including London, Manchester and Birmingham and across to Belfast and Dublin before finishing at Stoke-On-Trent. They’re scheduled to play the Frodsham Summer Festival in July followed by an appearance at the PKD Festival in Fife on July 23. Their gigs feature a mix of all the old favourites with later material and who knows, maybe a new hit or two.
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New single brings Sonic Templars out of hibernation FOLLOWING a quiet period at the tailend of last year, the Sonic Templars are back, refreshed and fired up with a small artillery of new songs.
First up is Porcupine, the first single from the Irvine/Glasgow band in a year. It sets a new tone as the forerunner of their four-track EP, Ascension, expected later in the summer and is, says vocalist Stewart Bryden, a progression from their slick, guitar-led sound. “I feel we have done this with every new EP,” says Stewart. “Each one is a natural progression on what has gone before. It becomes a bit more polished.” Formed in 2012, the Sonic Templars have made quite a stir on the music scene as a gutsy live act with their well-crafted melodic tunes earning them plenty of acclaim. Founder members Stewart, Scott Tonner and Fraser Malcolm were joined by guitarist Stephen Crawford when original member Rory Durrant moved on. Stewart and Stephen do most of the songwriting, with Scott and Fraser making their own contributions as the newin the studio They started the year off with a cracker of a gig at King Tut’s as part of the venue’s New Year Revolution. “It was a great start to the year for us,” says Stewart. “We had been pretty quiet for a wee while before that, not gigging or recording, and the King Tut’s gig was our first for about four months. It was a great start to the year for us.”
SONIC THE PORCUPINE?
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SPACE ROCKERS
Mannequin Mannequin, so good they named them twice IT’S not every day you come across a song about a four-billion-year-old piece of debris. Unless listening to Mannequin Mannequin is a daily habit for you, of course. Chasm 17, the title of their first EP, released in March, is based on the story of a meteorite that crashed through the roof of a house in Fife in 1917. Lead singer Martyn Sargenson laughed as he said: “It’s a true story. It’s called the Strathmore Meteorite and I only found out about it recently. Google it.” We did. He’s not wrong. The band got together in March
last year (before that it was just me in a bedroom with a drum machine, says Martyn) with Stefano Facchini from Kilmarnock on drums and Paul Stockman, from Ayr, providing base. Later, Martyn’s brother Paul, like Martyn, from Coylton, joined on second guitar. They have played only a handful of gigs to date but are very much on the radar, having supported Twin Heart earlier this year and rocked King Tut’s for the second time at the beginning of March. They have also had national radio
play with Jim Gellatly including a Mannequin Mannequin track, The Embers, a few months back. The Embers appears on the new EP alongside Chasm 17, In a Shell, Bent Out of Shape and Landlocked. ”We’ve been recording at Gargleblast Studios in Hamilton with Andy Miller, who has recorded with quite a few Scottish indie bands and is excellent.,” adds Martyn, who describes the band’s sound as “alternative indie rock with fuzzy drums”. You can check them out for yourself at www.soundcloud.com/ mannequin-mannequin
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With the Dalai Lama and Ghandi’s grandson as fans of his work, Paul Creighton has a peace campaigner’s reputation that’s second to none ALL he is saying is give peace a chance, to misquote the words of one famous pacifist.
And like John Lennon, teacher, guitarist and songwriter Paul Creighton uses his words and music to spread a message of peace and understanding. In these troubled times, his CD, Travelling Shoes (A Journey to Peace), is a wonderful collection of tunes that underline his belief that people across the world should celebrate what they have in common rather than go to war over what separates them. He teaches Multiculturalism and Peace Studies – a curriculum he has developed himself – at Kibble, an education, respite and care centre in Paisley that caters for young people aged from 5 to 25. The 11 songs on the CD reflect the type of songs he and the students listen to as they explore cultural events of the past, ranging from the Highland Clearances through the Holocaust and across scenes of mass emigration, racial oppression and displaced people. Using music to educate is a favourite method of Paul’s at Kibble where he teaches 12-18-year-olds. He said: “The songs I use make it easier for the students to remember the message. They will remember songs more easily than they will a lecture. With every lesson I teach I try to find a suitable song and if I can’t find one we write our own.” In addition to music, says Paul, his students explore “film, food, stories and poems. They have guest speakers, educational visits and a firm belief that everyone has a voice, everyone is a pebble in the pond, we can all make a difference!” Every summer he spends time at Common Ground camps in the States, where African Americans, Native Americans and European Americans come together to explore what they have in common. “It’s a multi-cultural community,” says Paul, “and the emphasis is on finding out what various cultures have in common. I have always found that music is a great vehicle for breaking the ice and bringing people together.” It’s a belief that is shared by many experts in the field of teaching and among peaceworkers around the world, to which Paul’s collection of awards testifies. Through his peace-making work, he has met the Dalai Lama (“a
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What’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding? great, humble, very down-to-earth man” says Paul) and has worked with Arun Ghandi, the grandson of Mahatma Ghandi, an acquaintanceship he will be renewing when he meets with up him again at some point in the future to discuss turning Paul’s peace studies package into a global teaching plan. He was also presented with a World Peace Tartan Award in recognition of his peace studies work. But all of this is just a bit of colourful
background to what is a very listenable CD on which Paul is joined by local musician Steve McCann – with whom he can often be seen performing at Acoustic Bliss in The Twa Dugs in Ayr every Thursday night. Paul handles guitar,mandolin, mandola and vocals while Steve provides bass, guitar, dobro and backing vocals. Robyn Gray adds fiddle while Pater Harper is on drums. He has writing credits on six of the 11 songs which range from traditional
folk to more upbeat, rockier numbers, with suggestions of Christie Moore here and flashes of early Leonard Cohen there. The title track seems a bit autobiographical, tracing the life of a peace campaigner with a nice wee bit of philosophising with lines such as: “Peace is more than words, it’s more than talking, it’s a journey that we’re on. “These battered old shoes have kept on walking down that road since I was young.”
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N E W • D A T E • A N D • V E N U E
He’s in a much better place now, but Luther Hall says his new CD reflects a darker, less happy time in his life LUTHER HALL has never been happier. Life is good, he says, since he set up home with his girlfriend in Glasgow and landed a job as a chef.
Welcome
NIGH
And the CD he released at the time, I’ll Play Johnny If You Play Jane, reflected THE date and the venue for the his new-found inner happiness. “It was forthcoming visit of The Complete definitely a happy, loved-up album,” he Stone Roses has been changed. says. “It wasn’t long after I got with my They will now be playing on partner and it all came out in the songs June 24 at the Volunteer Rooms at that time. You write in response to in Irvine. Tickets for the earlier feelings you have at any particular time, advertised date will remain valid but the new CD is different – this one for the rescheduled gig or can be is not so much about my life but rather exchanged for a full refund. looking back at my life and at things I They’re reckoned to be among could possibly have done differently.” the best tribute bands in the UK This new raft of songs deals with – even former Roses bassist emotions, feelings and issues that Mani likes them so much he has troubled him in his younger life. appeared as a warm-up DJ for He adds: “I had a lot of nightmares and PUPILS from Carrick Academy in Maybole them and is reported to have said: night terrors and was sleeping badly. are being introduced to printmaking thanks “All the nightmares had very similar to a generous donation to the Maclaurin “They do our songs real justice. At by Ian.were alike, and trying to figure out themes, being trapped or being draggedGallerydreams times, they play even better than He has given the gallery a printing press under in the dark. There was even what was triggering them and was there we did.” He has also appeared with that he no longer uses and is now helping pop at it. It was real Holidays in Kirkcudbight rewarding. of these artwork that I did in Most second year and the schoolchildren something that was bothering me that I them as guest bassist playing She to explore their talents and Dumfriesshire, with etchings are more like serendipity stuff. using wasn’t printingpicking techniques. looking back I can see it all came from the up on. The Drums. “I Bangs had tried landscapes, their huge history of paintings to me and I had led bywhat Ian and same inspiration. was one dream Another “I’mprinting still notproject really sure triggered to developThere a practice. zoological and architecture art and Scottish Support is provided byScottish Glasgow set up in conjunction with Maybole and pulled under the all earth by one them it wasn’t as though I was having a “Although they are andindie/pop/rock everything kept outfit being Patersani; landscape eventually about being Carrick Youth Arts is helping recent school etchings, you actually rejected, so this is the first started feeding through his hand. particularly bad time, I wasn’t doing as leavers who are not yet in employment Than rockpaint the ink onto the plate timeLess in six yearsSober, I havea touring work, he says. “With night terrors sometimes you know well at school develop new skills. as I should have been but a band from Greenock and and then you take a print. hadpop a piece accepted.” “Even the drive to rewarding to watch the you are dreaming, it is quite these lucid but you “It islotvery of 16 and 17 year-olds tend to put their “And even though The exhibitionIrvine featured Glasgow, Saltcoats; hard rockers Oldleaving Ayr, I am development of both sets of young artists,” can’t quite wake up. It is a bit like a panic schoolwork on the back burner while they are made in editions of 10 three aspects of Ian’s work: always astonished at the said Ian. Bull Lee; and classic rockers Colour or so, noare twosleeping. are ever the architecure, abstract and beauty of the landscape, attack when you exploring life.them as much “Theare idea is to allow Trap from same, because you can landscape – butEdinburgh. says he the trees and fields and“I came across an old notebook whichautonomy “Speaking of Monsters is a little more as possible, under supervision, to never ink them up the had never considered the colours Contact The Music Room, Irvine -and the wasn’t exactly createlyrically their own work. a dream journal, complicated and maybe a bit same way. So yes, the but I landscape until he moved changing light and I just had 01294 2721117557 – fortodetails of Elliot from than South Ayrshire Council had –beenlandscapes writing stuff about how all the “Joan more vague the last one, but I is think have been with his family to Ayr from start doing landscapes
a master printer
Ian passes his skills to a new generation
last remaining tickets. and it has been really Glasgow 12 years ago.
quite a release for me.”
also involved and has been a tremendous help. She has been fantastic in the project.”
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to my
HTMARES you can take away from each song what it is about. There are a couple that are different but the majority are about the unreal fear that you can get in a dream. “You know that way when you are a bit uneasy about something but you can’t quite put your finger on it – it’s a bit like that.” The reflective songs aren’t entirely based on nightmares, though, says Luther, and one of that batch is, perhaps, one of his strongest song. “It is called The Garden and is about my grandad, who has had vascular dementia
for a few years. It is a degenerative illness and there is no cure. “I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents’ house when I was growing up and I always remember him taking me into the garden to play in the sun. “Seeing him lose all his memories and fading away physically and mentally has been really tough. It has caused fractures in the family as well. My grandad is 80 now and my grandmother is 76 and she can’t look after him all on her own. “Everyone has their own opinion on what should happen… it’s not that anyone
is in the wrong or is in the right, it’s just that everyone is thinking of what is best for someone they love. “In a situation like that there isn’t any solution, it is just about making it less terrible and that song sort of brings together the nightmarish element and the very real element of the album. “It is a lovely memory of being in the garden. I remember he used to pick me up by the back of my shirt while we were walking along – what I would refer to as him ‘hooking’ me. People walking by used to get such a fright when I would say to him: ‘Hook me, Grandad, hook me.’ “He was a rugby payer, he used to be a big guy, my Grandad. But he has faded away physically with dementia. “It is a nice song, but it is a sad song.” Luther describes his music as “rooted in a mix of classic Scottish folk and American roots music but with a more modern approach adding finger-tapping and harmonics and stuff.” He says he is influenced by bands like Mogwai and Sigur Ros, but he has great praise for a local musician, John Duffy, who invited him to record his first album at his home studio. “I cannot thank Duffy enough,” he says. “He did a huge amount for me. He recorded that whole first EP for nothing. He told me to come in and record it because he knows I will keep going back and tearing up songs unless I have got a date that they must be finished by.” Speaking of Monsters is now finished with a release date set for Spring.
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Bemz gets it
’
There should be a few tracks out in the next few months and a mixtape to follow
‘
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the WORD on the Streets
all rapped up Originally from London, hip-hop artist Bemz spent four years in Stranraer before arriving in Ayr to study music production at Ayrshire College. Liam McClurg caught up for a chin-wag. I find the writing process really easy and other times it can be very difficult. Usually when a lot of things are happening I have a lot of inspiration but too little time. Things that have inspired me to write are moving away, the passing of my brother, money and black culture. It’s all quite varied.
There doesn’t appear to be much hiphop culture in Ayr, which is a shame. Do you get a lot of support around here? And have you collaborated with anyone locally who stood out for you? • There are a lot of people who like hip hop in Ayr but doing hip hop here is stressful; there’s not a great love for the non-mainstream. I need to promote myself outside of Ayr using social media. I worked with a successful producer from round this way called Axor who is really good, he produced my Mula beat. There’s also a guy named Creep Woland who’s been really good and knows his stuff. For these people I am grateful as they put me on. In terms of support the DJs in Furys have played my tunes before, which is great. In terms of shows what have you done since you’ve been around? • I’ve only actually done a few shows. My first one was with my boy Dee and we smashed it. Played Soundwave in Glasgow, ParkFest in Stranraer and a Hip Hop night in Crumbs and Cocktails. Who/what would you say is your biggest musical influence if you had to pick? Both lyrically and style musically? • Predominantly, I listen to hiphop. I guess my biggest writing Influences right now are probably Isaiah Rashad, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Future but growing up in
In what way do you feel black culture inspires your writing? Especially in a predominantly white place?
Peckham I was brought up on grime music with artists like Giggs, Tinie Tempah and Kano. I also take stuff from Jazz in terms of beats as well as some Afro-beats and System of a Down. Do you feel there’s been any time since you started where your sound has taken off in a big way and you’ve gained an influx in support? • I’ve seen a huge improvement in my music and I feel as part of that process I’ve picked up a lot of support. I haven’t been releasing a lot so it hasn’t taken off massively as of yet. Its getting music to the quality where you can release it that’s important for me – you can’t just put anything out. Is there any particular thing in your life that makes you want to write? • There’s a lot of things, sometimes
• I often find it difficult to talk about black culture because a lot of my listeners don’t understand. What Kendrick Lamar is doing right now is great. I feel and I can connect well because although I’m not American I am a black man. In The Blacker The Berry he raps: So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street? When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me? Hypocrite! That line stands out for me because it touches on racism but also questions the other side which is the sensitivity of racism due to police violence in society right now. Do you have anything you are working on right now? • Right now I’m working on a sound. I have a mixtape fully written but I’m not fully happy with the way things are currently so there should be a few tracks out in the next few months and a mixtape to follow on from that. Then shows for that mixtape.
Check out the music video for Mula, filmed in Ayr: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKMGNtAkiww
the WORD on the Streets
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COLONEL MUSTARD & The Dijon 5 are a collective that brings to mind the fluid, expanding and ever-changing personnel of George Clinton’s Parliament and Funkadelic and the bunkereddown gang mentality of a scuffedat-the-knees Happy Mondays.
CRAIG McALLISTER explores the musical enigma that is Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5
42 Waggon Road, Ayr, KA8 8BA General Enquiries: 07830 155 062 (Baz) Rehearsing Info (6-6.30pm): 01292 263356 Recording Info: 07985 537 012 (Ally) http://www.soundmagicmusicstudio.com/
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They make brilliant, danceable pop, welded onto hard-hitting (and very funny) socio-political lyrics. They’ve been a fixture on the live music scene for the past couple of years, but just who are they? The recipients of 2015’s Best Live Act at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards are simultaneously everywhere and yet nowhere. Their Yellow Movement is all over social media like a big custardy rash and their tees are as instantly recognisable as a vintage Ramones shirt, yet dig deeper to find out anything about the band – when they were formed, for example, or who exactly is in the line-up – and you’ll hit a brick wall. Their Facebook page lists no fewer than 49 band members, although, with Sugar Ray Docken Leaf, Lady Rastaman and Ussain Bolt amongst the ranks, this should be taken with a large pinch of salt. Or perhaps that should be mustard. Detective work reveals there may or may not be 15 in the band. Clearly arithmetic wasn’t at the forefront of the Colonel’s thoughts when he was assembling his band. The Word’s Craig McAllister donned his yellow fisherman’s cagoule, packed a can of lemonade and a bunch of bananas into his Pac Man packed lunch box and headed off in search of founding Mustardonian, crowdsurfer and “Bez of the band” David Blair for the truth, the
Yellow
Embrace
whole truth and nothing but the truth. “We’re part of The Yellow Movement, an international collective that began in Glasgow,” he says. “We believe in the obvious things; equality, socialism, antidiscrimination. Help your fellow man in any way you can. The Yellow Movement aims to affect positive change, bring people together and make them happy. This is our manifesto;” Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 were put together by David with John McMustard, a lifelong friend since primary school. There are “definitely 15” in the group, including original member Dave Nelson who now also plays in Paolo Nutini’s touring band. “Like all the best bands, we’re a gang of pals. We are sympathetic to one another’s needs and telepathic when we play. We’re doing this for us.The fact that the public are on board with us is beautiful.” Vocalist John sports an out-sized glitter ball hat when performing live. All band members dress head to toe in various
the
shades of yellow. Out of their stage clothes, it’s a fair bet that most of us would fail to recognise any of them sitting next to us on the X77 to Glasgow. They don’t see themselves as ‘stars’. In fact, they probably need the audience more than the audience need them, and the bigger the audience, the better the band. “That’s why we’re such a hit at festivals.” outlines David. ‘The 6th Dijon’, as they’re referred to, give a focus and a purpose to the band’s existence. “We’ve been asked to play Hogmany in Peru this year. The Incas fly two flags. One is all yellow, the other is rainbow coloured. It’s an amazing coincidence. How perfect is that? How far can The Yellow Movement go? Where can’t it go?!? Your imagination is your freedom.” David talks at length, quoting Gandhi, Timothy Leary, John Lennon and Martin Luther King, throwing in statements and soundbites as freely as other musicians might throw hissy fits. Like all decent pop acts, Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 eschew fads and
fashions. They are the unfashionable fly in the ointment. Not for them a wellgroomed beard or the skinniest of jeans. Whether it’s the volume of musicians on stage with them, the width of their yellow slacks, the glitter ball hats or the crowdsurfing on yellow dinghies, everything in Mustard world is larger than life. That would also include the size of their audience. From humble beginnings a few years ago, Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 are now the first unsigned band to headline the Barrowlands. Their music, thanks to a publishing deal with Centric Music, is seeping into our collective unconsciousness via interpolations on Hollyoaks and Sky Sports. Slowly but surely, like a fine lemon curd across the landscape of musical conformity, the Yellow Movement is spreading. You can see what all the fuss is about when Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 play Bakers Niteclub in Kilmarnock on April 22.
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VINYL JUNKIE THE BEGINNER Liam McClurg
Vinyl Records: better listening or just the latest trend?
I
’m sure everyone has noticed the recent surge of popularity with vinyl records and turntables; to many they are just the latest in a line of hipster-vintage trends in music and fashion while to others this vintage audio is for better listening and a purer feeling. I’ve been collecting vinyl for over a year now (around the time it became popular) and I can say vinyl has made me think more about music and the difference between the way the speaker on my IPhone sounds and the sound of a hi-fi system. There is a sound you get with vinyl that a one point 1.5 inch speaker can’t reproduce. In comparison with CDs vinyl has a larger frequency range meaning you hear more but CD is cheaper, the difference isn’t huge and whether it’s worth the extra £15 is totally subjective. With CDs and DVDs recently disappearing and losing their money when second hand - one thing vinyl doesn’t do - it has become more socially acceptable to use apps such as Spotify to keep on track with your favourite artists or even to illegally downloading their music. When vinyl was at its original prime it was purchased on release and rated afterwards but in today’s society in fits in slightly differently; if someone thoroughly enjoys listening to something then it becomes more likely they will purchase the vinyl after listening digitally. Putting vinyl in a greatly important place in our society.
Personally I think going out and buying your favourite album on vinyl has a satisfying feeling that can’t be matched by saving it in to a music library, in the end of the day you can’t take ITunes out of a case and put it in a machine. How important vinyl is in music right now can’t be ignored but whether it is worth the hype is totally up for debate. For me it’s about the feeling of ownership.
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Paul’s a Rock IT’S a cold, dark Tuesday night in Auchinleck when you might expect any self-respecting teenager would be vegging in front of the fire watching telly or engaged in mortal battle with another hellfire demon on the X-Box.
But no. Here’s a group of young people practising their musical instruments, writing lyrics and singing songs that they have just composed. This is Rock‘n’Role Models at work, an award-winning company which thrives on helping young people to explore their creative side and encourage them to develop new talents. The man in charge is Paul Brunton a musician
and businessman who set up Rock‘n’Role Models with his partner and has just seen it collect the #GoDo Award from Entrepreneurial Spark. The young musicians at the Boswell Centre in Auchinleck were immersed in their songwriting tasks: Lucas and Keiran at one table cutting together a melodic rap about a demon cat; Charlotte, Samantha and Keira at another, working out notes on the cello to accompany a horror story; Jake and Terry working out chords to a revenge love song; and James, Luke, Greg and Dylan performing s catchy wee song they have just completed following on from the guitar masterclass they have just enjoyed with Colin Williams, a musician who has
Student Daniel goes live with BBC at Celtic Connections SOUND production student Daniel Maclean worked on two of the biggest gigs of his career to date when he landed the chance to help at Celtic Connections. Clockwise from left: Paul suggests a few chord changes; Jake and Terry; James, Luke, Greg and Dylan; Charlotte, Samantha and Keira; Chris, Lucas and Keiran
’n’Role Model benefited from similar music classes Paul has held in the past. The Auchinleck class – once a week for 10 weeks – is just one of the sessions that Rock‘n’Role Models offer across Ayrshire. “We inspire and engage young people in communities to take part in creative experiences,” says Paul. “And even though So even though I am a songwriter and that is what I am best at doing, we use all art forms. We are doing some really experimental stuff, but it all about inspiring people through songwriting creating an artwork or making videos. “It is all creative stuff. I don’t sit down and say to people this is how to play the guitar. I help them to express themselves and be creative.
My approach to music and art is all about self expression. Talking about the #GoDo Award, Paul says: “It is basically an entrepreneurial award so an arts company winning it is quite a big deal. We were up against 40-odd other companies in Ayrshire. RBS gave us a £4k cheque which will give us security over the coming year.” At the moment, Paul’s company work with young people, but they are looking at ways of bringing a new creativity to adult workers. “Applying creativity to everything they do can help a company to stay one step ahead,” he says. “If companies don’t innovate they will fail, so bringing the creative experience into the workplace can surely only help.”
Daniel, who studies at Ayrshire College joined a live production crew for the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2016 final. It was the second of two Celtic Connection concerts that Daniel, 21 from Cumnock, helped out at, as he had worked with the Wainwright Sisters just a week earlier. Both concerts took place at the Glasgow City Halls. Daniel said “For the BBC gig, we were focusing on the sound for the audience while the BBC crew worked on the broadcast element. It was a bit more complicated setting up compared to the Wainwright Sisters concert as we needed to split the signal with the BBC. So we were sending the microphone signals to them and they were putting it out live on the radio. “It was by far the biggest concert I’ve worked on. We’ve done a few gigs for college bands at West of the Moon but this is a much greater scale. I’ve seen some videos of the night and it sounded good! “Meeting other people who are working in the industry in a professional environment was fantastic. It’s a great way to build up contacts.” Daniel is now back in the recording studio at Ayrshire College as he continues his HND in Sound Production, but his Celtic Connections experience has him itching to get back out to working in music venues. Meanwhile Ayrshire College has established a brand new HNC Technical Theatre course. In a unique partnership, it will be delivered as part of year one of the University of West of Scotland’s BA in Technical Theatre. Running at the College’s Ayr campus, the programme features a work experience unit which will help develop a professional knowledge of Technical Production. The course can prepare students for possible work as a lighting operator, set designer, stage manager, make-up artist, lighting director or broadcast engineer to name a few. Anyone interested in applying for the course can visit the Courses page of Ayrshire College’s website and navigate to the Arts, Fashion, Music, Sound, Media, Photography and
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Warning: Men at work
ALT-ROCK Ayr trio Brothers have loads in stock for fans in the next few months, from gigs to tours and singles to music videos. The band – Fraser Donaldson, Cairns Azbraitis and Curtis McConnell are currently playing shows across Ayrshire and Glasgow. I caught up with drummer Cairns who told us: “We are planning on releasing four singles throughout the next few months, with a couple hopefully being accompanied with videos. We are working with our good friend Calum Farquharson from A Sudden Burst of Colour.
RYAN McDOUGALL checks out the busy schedule of alt-rock threesome Brothers “All the songs we have recorded have been played live a lot of times, so it’ll be good for people to be able to hear them recorded properly.” Brothers have also been kept going in regards to gigs this year, having played at West of the Moon in February supporting Hector Bizerk, and another on March 9 at King Tut’s
Wah Wah Hut. Not only that, but Brothers are planning on hitting the road throughout the year, spreading the Brotherly love across the UK. Cairns said: “We plan on putting together a couple of tours throughout the year, hopefully one in Scotland and one in England.” Needless to say, the trio have swooped into 2016 with a relentless work ethic, driven by passion and eagerness to spread the word and music of Brothers as far as possible. If you’re keen to hear their sound, you can check them out on https:// www.facebook.com/brothersmusicuk.
Bar & Grill Dance Club • Call in for breakfast, lunch or dinner • Regular live music and dancing
01563 541639 Student night every Thursday
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vis * neo it our n club80s
5-7 Marnock Place, Kilmarnock KA1 1DU
Ayrshire’s getting funnier by the day FUNNY thing about Ayrshire, it’s turning into one of the best comedy hotspots in the country.
Some of Scotland’s major acts are appearing at gigs across the county. Fred Macaulay makes an appearance in Prestwick in April, Stu Who performed recently in Tarbolton, Michael Redmond was hilarious in Ayr – and our own Billy Kirkwood hosts regular comedy nights around local towns when he is not gigging abroad or booked up on other showbiz dates across Scotland. The Ship Inn in Irvine saw another sell-out event in February when the hilarious Chris Broomfield was emcee for the night, welcoming a few of the circuits favourites, Rosco McLelland, Mark Nelson and Jamie Dalgleish. He opened the night with a warning that he was a bit deaf, so there would be no point in heckling if you were further back than three or four rows from the front - unless you put your hand up to let him know you had something to say. Needless to say there was no show
of hands throughout any of his linking spots, but there was no escape for the few unfortunates in the first few rows who became enmeshed in his ruthless routines.– or for the poor guy at the side who was there in a group with his mother as he was quizzed relentlessly about his sex life. And the success of the regular comedy nights at The Ship is being replicated at the growing number of comedy nights springing up across Ayrshire, thanks to the efforts of the Sidesplitters Comedy Club run jointly by Billy Kirkwood and Jamie Haining. Billy, an old hand on the comedy circuit and Jamie, a musician, bring their shared knowledge of the entertainment scene to great effect in the club, regularly attracting the calibre of comedians normally seen only at the comedy festivals in Glasgow and Edinburgh. In a new venture with the RAD Hotel Group, Sidesplitters organised a Valentine’s Night comedy evening at the Carlton Hotel in Prestwick where a sell-out 250 guests enjoyed a two-
course meal and a top class slate of comics including Jo Caulfield. On the back of that success, there’s a similar event lined up for the Lochside Hotel in New Cumnock on May 20. “We also have the regular Comedy Club nights at the Harbour Arts Centre where we host solo acts and we have started running nights in Stewarton and Dunlop. There is a real appetite for comedy in Ayrshire.” And there has never been a better time to catch some comedy, he adds. “Scotland is a hive of exciting talent at the moment. I particularly enjoy watching Rosco McLelland and Christopher McArthur-Boyd who I am sure has a future on TV.” Billy’s own popularity was borne out by the night he enjoyed at the Magnum Theatre in Irvine in December with an sell-out audience of 350 – the first capacity audience at the Magnum for quite some time. He is booked to play the Magnum again in September, which is likely to among the very last events there since it is scheduled to shut in January 2017.
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YOU might not give a second glance at the non-descript frontage of Soundmagic Music Studio. But inside, beyond the highspec recording studio it’s a kaleidoscope of coloured doorways leading to rehearsal rooms emblazoned with gigantic murals – John Lennon here, Hendrix there, the Pink Floyd hammers next door – with a chill-out area, a room that is being refurbished as a radio studio, a graphics room and an events room with a licensed bar.
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sound&
and I would both chip in £150 or so. That was fine for me. I was happy that we were more or less paying the bills,” says Baz. “I still had to work, but it wasn’t costing me any money to work at the studio.” His partner Brian was less content, though, having regarded the studio as a potential business that would return a profit. Baz continues: “Eventually Brian came to me one day and said I’m sorry, I have got too much going on and I just can’t deal with this any more, I’m pulling out.” There were no hard feeling, says Baz. “In fairness, his son was no longer playing in a band, so he didn’t have that interest. But Brian should be thanked an awful lot because for all those years, he just trucked along. He was the joiner who did all of this.” For the next year or so, Baz was in sole charge of the studio, scratching around to make ends meet. Then came a visitor who would change things for the better – a whole lot better. “One night, Alan Westwood came to see me. I had known him for about 10 years because he was the guy who fixed our amps. He was well known in Ayr because anybody who had a problem with an amp would take it to Alan to be fixed. But this time he
Join the Soundmagic Club
Now there is quiet speculation about developing an adjoining building into a venue large enough to cater for major acts. It has been a long time in the making and is the result of blood, sweat and tears of many enthusiasts along the way. But the studio in Waggon Road, Ayr, owes its existence to the frustrations – and vision – of Baz Thomson, a plumber by day and studio manager by night. Back in the early 2000s, his band Kinkystone (people used to think we called it after the Kinks and the Stones, but we called it that because we came from Kincaidston, he laughs) were having trouble finding rehearsal and recording space. “There was a wee place in West Sanquhar Road and it was one room with carpets on the walls and crap amps, but it was the only place in Ayr,” he recalls. “We were always in competition with this other band for studio time and they went and booked up the place for every Tuesday night, and that was bad news for us because we could only do a Tuesday because of the jobs we worked in.” There was only one thing for it as far as Baz was concerned. He’d have to build a studio of his own. He mentioned the idea to Brian Barr, the owner of a joinery and building firm, who was working beside him on a job. “Straight away, he said to me ‘I’ll come in with you, because our Scott’s in a band and I could be doing with getting a wee project anyway.’ So we went looking for a place and saw this old church in Peebles Street. We thought it would be kinda cool, so we went for it. We probably spent about a year painting walls and building rooms to get it open and then in June 2002 we opened. “Gradually we were getting more and more bands coming in and at one point there were 25 bands a week in just two rehearsal rooms and it had started to get a bit insane. There wasn’t room to move in the place, we just outgrew it.” It was time to move on to bigger and better things so, in 2006 they moved to their current building in Waggon Road. At that point it was a huge empty warehouse with one small room stuck in a far corner. But they set about building rooms and upgrading their kit as time went on. Although the studio was busy, the business was making very little profit and the extra it did make was being ploughed back into the studio. “Sometimes if we were a bit short for the rent Brian
n PART of the to create not ju and rehearsal but to provide minded peopl and swap idea or generally ju So the next create a Mem offer special d bands who sig Membership allows access nights held at there will be a rooms set up f where bands c perform for ot where everyon have access to details contac Music-Studio
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Michelle, Ally and Baz, the backbone of Soundmagic Music Studio
came up to me and said he wanted to be in 50-50 with me in the studio. “He said he knew about all the hard work that had gone into making the studio what it was and he wanted me to have the business valued and he would give me half the money. “This was turning out to be the best night of my life,” Baz laughs. “He said: ‘There are three reasons why I should come in with you. 1: I am great at fixing amps; 2: I am unemployed and have plenty of spare time on my hands and 3: I am a millionaire.’ “And I’m like Woo-hoo! You’re the man!” Alan told Baz that his health was not good and he thought he might not have long left to live. “We all thought he was exaggerating and told him not to talk rubbish and that he seemed fine. He died four months later.” But on Alan’s insistence, the partnership agreement included a clause which stated that in the event of anything untoward happening to either partner, any money invested in the business at that point should remain in the business. Alan’s money was just the shot in the arm the studio needed. Brian, although he was no longer
involved, was given “a wee thankyou” for the 11 years he spent with the business and the amps and recording equipment were upgraded. Now Baz and his staff – Ally Smith, the sound engineer, and Michelle “Click” Bryant – are discussing how to move forward with the business. They now hold twice-yearly one-day Bandwagon festival events when up to 30 bands play throughout the day in the studio rehearsal rooms. Their graphics room, which is currently being upgraded, personalizes cups and teeshirts for the bands who record there and can also produce CD labels and cases. Seaside Sons, who have a regular booking one night a week, had their artwork for their Out of Time CD created there. Ally, who has been with the studio for all but the first two years of its existence, adds: “We started off with a wee bit of kit but we have built that up over time. “Our facilities have got better all the way through and I have become more experienced, too. I left school at 16 and did a sound engineering course for three years and worked in a studio for three years after that before I became involved here. “The recordings are just growing and growing and it is all return custom we are getting, Now we are at the stage where we have got good gear. It is really high-end stuff.” Ally is dedicated to delivering the best job possible. He says: “Recording is all about performance and if somebody is not at ease you won’t get a good recording from them, no matter how good an engineer is. “It all about capturing a good performance and almost like making people feel that you are not even there. It’s a lot about making people feel at ease and our ethos is if somebody wants to come in and sing along to a backing track they get treated just the same as if they were the returning customer of the year. I can confidently say everybody that records more or less comes back.” As we wind up our chat, Baz is at pains to point out that the success of the studio is not all down to him. “There are many, many people who were involved along the way and who should be thanked. Apart from the three of us, we have had a few artists helping us out – Ali Logan, Ian Falconer, Joan Hollywood, Canadian Bob Murphy and Charlie Carson. Also, John Reid, the studio engineer who was here at the start and whose knowledge of recording was really important for us.” So the future looks sound for Soundmagic. Maybe one of these days Baz can relax and realise what an achievement he has made already. It doesn’t look as though he will be feeling that any time soon, though. He laughs: “It sometimes feels like I have been doing this forever. I feel as if I am climbing Mount Everest and think I am just about to get there all the time but I just can’t get to the top.” But if there ever is a top to get to, you get the feeling that Baz and his team will get there, no matter what.
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BAR & GRILL DANCE CLUB
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facebook.com/rockhard.neon 5-7 Marnock Place, Kilmarnock KA1 1DU
Issue 6 Spring 2016
FREE IRISH EYES
ARE SMILING MAGA ZIN
PLEAS
E TAKE
E
ONE
The Barony Centre plays host to a major exhibition of ceramic art Pages 6-7
Also inside this issue Armed only with knitting needles, wool and a foldup bike, Janet Renouf-Miller crossed Scotland spreading yarns Pages 8-9
Still Futures II at the Dick Institute where artists wonder whether a society of greed and inequality lies ahead of us
Page 10
Open Studios Ayrshire, Friday 22 - Monday 25 April. When local artists let us see what on earth they get up to. Pages 16-17
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BOOK UP FOR BOSWELL
SUSAN CALMAN, one of the UK’s favourite Scottish comedians, is among the star attractions at this year’s Boswell Book Festival.
Calman, whose autobiography is to be published in May, is among an impressive cast for this year’s festival, believed to be the only one in the world to celebrate the art of the biography. Susan Calman, a stalwart of the Scottish comedy scene, has become widely known and loved across Britain through regular appearances on BBC Radio 4 comedy, particularly Just a Minute, on which she has become a feisty competitor. Ayrshire author Catherine Czerkawska is to launch her new novel, The Jewel, at this year’s festival. Like her previous novel, The Physic Garden, it is historical and based on lengthy research into the
life of Robert Burns’ wife, Jean Armour. The author says of her subject: “Jean was a vivacious brunette with dark eyes, a kindly manner, a steadfast generosity and a very fine singing voice. “Moreover, she had a fund of songs and melodies with which to enchant her husband and it is clear from the poet’s own notes that she contributed lyrics and advised him about tunes from time to time. Describing her as spirited, indomitable and adored by Burns to the point of madness, she adds: “The more I found out about her, the more I found myself loving her, too.” (See No Wonder Burns Loved Bonnie Jean on p16 of our Arts section.) Organisers describe this year’s event as: “a truly stellar line-up of internationally renowned authors and genuine celebrities” They promise:
“We’ve a richer-than-ever literary mix this year, embracing politics, architecture, fine art, espionage, multiculturalism, human rights, health, gastronomy, modelling, theatre and music with lots of fun thrown in besides. “Comedians, landscape artists, leading children’s illustrators plus an interesting innovation from the Royal Drawing School are sure to delight.” Once again, the festival will take place in the sumptuous setting of Dumfries House, beautifully restored to magnificence through a trust which Prince Charles helped to establish. Tickets always sell like hotcakes, so best not delay if you don’t want to miss out on a fantastic weekend of events. Keep up to date with ticket details and the latest news on the Facebook page at facebook.com/boswellbookfestival.
Live and let spy PISTOLS, cocktails and a large dollop of sleuthing will be the order of the night when the Dick Institue becomes the setting for a murder.
To celebrate World Book Day, Live and Let Spy promises a James Bond-style night of glamour, glitz and quirky goings-on. The event takes the theme of spy stories and thrillers to challenge contestants to pit their wits against each other to be declared the Super Spy of the evening. The Murder Mystery evening is a Walking Theatre Company special in which the audience will be taken on a walking tour of
the scene of the crime. By piecing together clues and using a bit of imaginative thinking, the woud-be sleuths can solve the mystery and bask in the glory of their triumph. Dressing in Bond-style glamous is optional. The Walking Theatre Company is an Argyll-based team of professional actors who are in demand across the country for their fun, interactive and spontaneous events. Live and Let Spy talkes place in the Dick Institue library at 7pm on Saturday April 23. Tickets are £10 each. Visit eastayrshireleisure.com for booking details
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The sky Above You
THE MOON will be Full on March 23, three days after the Equinox, and Full again on April 22, May 21 and June 20, the day of the Summer Solstice. It will be New on April 7, May 6 and June 5. On April 10 the Moon will pass through the Hyades cluster in Taurus, passing close to the bright red star Aldebaran. The planet Mercury reappears low in the evening sky on April 8, to the right of the crescent Moon, and remains visible until shortly after its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun on the 18th. Mercury is not visible in May, except when it transits the Sun on May 9 (Caution required, see below). Mercury reaches greatest western elongation on June 5 but is not visible from the UK at the time. Venus is not visible in April, May or June. Mars is on the boundary of Scorpius and Ophiucus in April, coming to opposition on May 22, when it will be due south at midnight (GMT/UT), and closest to Earth on May 30. It will remain visible through the night in June but will fade in brightness as the Earth draws ahead of it. The Moon appears near Mars on April 25, May 21 and June 17. Jupiter remains brilliant in the south of Leo, setting about 5am in April, 3am in May and 1am in June. The Moon appears near Jupiter on April 17, May 14 and 15 and June 11. Saturn in Ophiucus rises half an hour after Mars in April, forming
a triangle with Mars and Antares in Scorpius, and visible all night in May and June. Saturn is at opposition on June 3. The Moon appears near Saturn on April 25, May 22 and June 18. Uranus is behind the Sun and not visible this quarter. Neptune in Aquarius returns to the morning sky in April, rising about 5am, at 3am in May and at 1am in June. On the night of June 25/26 Neptune will be occulted by the Moon, emerging around 00.20 BST, depending on location. The Lyrid meteor shower will peak on the night of April 21/22 and will be washed out by bright moonlight, but the Moon is not a problem for the maximum of the eta Aquarid shower, from Halley’s Comet, which peaks on May 5/6. Soon after noon on May 9 the planet Mercury will transit the face of the Sun, for the first time since 2003. It will impinge on the disc of the Sun at 12 minutes past noon and leave it at 7.42pm. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN THROUGH ANY OPTICAL INSTRUMENT. Safe methods to project the Sun’s image can be found in any astronomy textbook or guide to eclipses. l Duncan Lunan’s recent books Children from the Sky, The Stones and the Stars and Incoming Asteroid! What Could We Do About It? are available on Amazon or through booksellers; more details are on Duncan’s website, www. duncanlunan.com.
DUNCAN LUNAN
Astronomers welcome Lembit Opik
n Astronomers of the Future Club lectures will continue on the last Thursdays of the month at 7 pm in the R.S.A.S. Barassie Works Club on Shore Road, off West Portland Street in Troon, KA10 6AG. The Club has gained a new grant for speakers from South Ayrshire Council. The speaker for March (postponed from February) will be former MP Lembit Öpik, returning to talk this time about the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Subject to confirmation the April speaker will be Dr. Alan Cayless from Stirling Observatory, and later we will have Robert Law from the Mills Observatory in Dundee, talking about his recent visit to Cape Canaveral. Website for AOTF Club is: www.actascio.org/aotfclub.asp
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Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka helps to instal debris shields on the International Space Station
Dangers of the waste of space THE science fiction thriller Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, in which a missile strike on a disused satellite in deep space threatens to turn into a catastrophe featured in visiting professor Max Vasile’s recent talk to Troon’s Astronauts of the Future Club.
Professor Vasile leads a team at Glasgow University who are researching a method of deflecting objects which may be on a collision course with Earth. He told his audience that although the film both simplifies and exaggerates the issue, there are now tens of thousands of objects orbiting the Earth in addition to the 4000 or so satellites currently in use. Like asteroids they range widely in size, from the smallest paint flakes which can damage spacecraft windows, to full-size rocket boosters. Like asteroids, they are inert and often hard to detect and track, and like asteroids Professor Max Vasile: Space they all have to debris is a serious problem be detected and tracked, to discover which of them are on paths where they could pose a threat in the future. Professor Vasile who joined the university team from the European Space Agancy, said that many years of work internationally on reducing space debris had been set back by a Chinese anti-satellit missile test in 2015 and a chance collision of a US and Russian satellite in 2009 – and was once again a growing issue. The fear is that further collisions could lead to a cascade, generating so much debris that near-Earth space becomes unusable for both manned and unmanned spacecraft. The indications are that it wouldn’t happen as rapidly as in Gravity, said Professor Vasile but the danger is real and has to be addressed.
A class of their own
First class stomp
AYRSHIRE based writers LiterEight are about to launch their latest book. Stomping Good Stories for Children contains 35 imaginative and fun-filled stories for children of 5-8 years old. LiterEight member Helena Sheridan said: “We were delighted when friend and fellow writer Pam Ramage agreed to join us as guest author as she has written many children’s stories for magazines and books.” LiterEight members who have contributed stories to the collection are Catherine Lang, who also worked as co-editor, Fiona Atchison, Greta Yorke, Janice Johnston, Helena Sheridan and artist Maggie Bolton. “We are lucky to have Maggie as a member of our team,” continued Helena. “Her illustrations have really brought our stories to life. “Stomping Good Stories is quite a change from LiterEight’s previous publications, A Literary Confection, Dark Twists and New Horizons. “Our first three books featured short stories of crime, romance and humour,
STUNNING artwork from senior pupils of East Ayrshire high schools is on display in The Dick Institute, Kilmarnock. The show, featuring a range of artistic techniques, runs until Saturday March 26.
often with a twist in the tale, along with a selection of poetry. These books have proved very popular, especially when we perform our work at local events, but we decided to do something different this time. “As we have several children’s writers in LiterEight, we contacted Rosemary Kind, Managing Director of Alfie Dog Fiction, to see if she could help us create a book for a younger market. Rosemary agreed, and we began the process of writing and selecting stories for inclusion in the collection while Maggie created the accompanying drawings and cover art.” Children’s author Cathy MacPhail, who read over all of the stories before publication, enthused: “From rhymes to riddles, and frogs to fairies, from grannies who teach pirates about healthy eating, to giants who learn how to make friends, this delightful anthology of traditional tales has something for everyone.” The paperback edition of Stomping Good Stories for Children is available through Alfie Dog by contacting www.alfiedog.com
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Launch day, top, brought a steady flow of visitors to the Irish Ceramics show, the largest of its kind outside Ireland. Guests were captivated by a wide range of styles among the exhibits including this trio of little people, each armed with the ubiquitous mobile phone
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A broad range of crafts attracted attention from visitors including the Dragon Vase by Ian Carty, above, bought by Michelle Blunn THEY’RE an arty lot in West Kilbride. If they’re not winning UK Village High Street of the Year they’re staging ground-breaking exhibitions of stunning art.
This time, Craft Town Scotland’s Barony Centre is host to a fabulous display of Irish Contemporary Ceramics. It’s the largest exhibition of Irish ceramics outside Ireland to date and features over 140 works by 48 artists, curated by John Goode, owner of Mill Cove Gallery, Beara Peninsula, and supported by the The Design and Craft Council of Ireland. It captures a range of unique skills and showcases the most important professional contemporary ceramic makers in Ireland today, while raising the profile of some lesser known selftaught individuals. Among the diverse craft-work on display are designs commissioned exclusively for The Barony. Maggie Broadley, Craft Town executive director and one of the
Barony embraces the art of Ireland FIONA ATCHISON takes a look around a ceramics show at Craft Town Scotland
exhibition’s main organisers, commented: “The Barony Centre first exhibited a similar display in 2012 which was a huge success with audiences. This new show is more extensive and took several years and lots of hard work so it’s wonderful to see how well the opening is attended.” Maggie worked closely with John Goode, a leading expert in the field who also established the annual Irish Contemporary Ceramic Awards in 2008. His hard-cover book on Irish Ceramics is now in its second edition and copies are available for purchase during the exhibition. With ceramics to suit all tastes, and
prices ranging from £45 to £1600, even at the launch there was a profusion of little red dots indicating that a work is sold. Dragon Vase by Ian Carty was quickly snapped up by Michelle Blunn, who works in the Barony Café. Michelle, who had fallen for the beauty of the piece, was delighted with her purchase. The Barony’s lofty exhibition space is a stunning conversion of an old church where items are creatively displayed to take the eye in all directions. You will find daintily crafted birds, brightly painted bowls and vases to flamboyantly sculptured figures and lamps. A feast for the eyes. The show runs until March 27.
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Wheeling & dealing Textile artist Janet gets on her bike to swop workshops for bed & board NO, it’s not everbody’s cup of tea and cycling around Scotland for four months knitting just about everything you see might just sound a bit crazy to some people.
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Apply now for
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visit our website: www.ayrshire.ac.uk or call: 0300 303 0303 Ayrshire College is a charitable organisation registered in Scotland Charity No. SC021177
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But craft enthusiast Janet Renouf-Miller is content that she’s not the only crazy one around. She laughs as she recalls how she set out from Dalmellington on her 850-mile journey one Monday at the end of June last year. “I had only travelled a few miles when I saw a man coming the other way on a penny farthing,” she recalls. “He was doing John O’ Groats to Land’s End. I met a few people doing crazy things. I met a couple on Arran who were planning to do a worldwide trip in their Land-Rover and I men a guy who was walking round every inch of the British coastline. At that point he reckoned he still had anout 16,000 miles to go.” But it wasn’t sheer madness that drove Janet almost the length and breadth of the country, armed with a tent, a change of clothing, some knitting needles and some yarn. Knitting, spinning yarn and crocheting is apparently taking off in a big way in towns and villages around Scotland. There was no shortage of takers when Janet stopped off on her journey to hold one of the 21 mini workshops that peppered her route. “The workshops varied. On Mull I did one on spinning and
one on knitting. Others were on crochet. I held one at Kilmartin Museum near Lochgilphead and one on Arran.” The Borders Textile Powerhouse were so impressed with the workshop she delivered there they have offered to host an exhibition in October of all the work Janet did along the way. “I knitted worms, dandelions, bluebells, I knitted the bicycle, the Isle of Mull Ferry and things like seals on rocks. I visited a samba band in Stirling and just had to knit some drums.” She also began work on her own knitted version of the Glenfinnan Viaduct and confesses: “It was the most difficult thing I have done. It was so technical. I’m still finishing it off. It is a huge project, the length of my living room.” Janet made her trip on her beloved 14-year-old Brompton bike, chosen because it’s robust, folds in half and can be taken on public transport. She stayed in camp sites along the route, ocassionally in a b&b or in the home of fellow artists who would give her a meal and a bed for the night in exchange for a workshop. Janet’s book of her travels, Knit One Bike One, is published by the Low Impact Living Initiative, an environmental group, and should be hitting bookshelves this Spring. You can find out more about Janet’s adventures and how to order her book on her website: www.create withfibre.co.uk
“I knitted worms, bluebells, the bicycle, the Isle of mull ferry and drums”
Top: Janet returns in triumph after four months on the road. Middle: demonstrating techniques on the Great Wheel at Tomintoul Museum. Right: with friends at a knitting and crochet retreat. Janet even knitted a CalMac ferry and her own beloved Brompton bike.
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The future has arrived SEVEN Scottish artists put their comments on a future society on public view at an exhibition in the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock. One exhibit features portraits of the five richest pets in the world atop golden plinths. An adjoining note reveals the animals’ collective wealth to be in excess of half a billion dollars. Great inequalities in society surface in a number of the pieces, one depicting a landscape (one
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small section repeated below,right) where marauding giants ravage tiny inhabitants, suggesting a society where the bloated rich feed off the vulnerable many. Spread over two rooms, the work of the seven artists: John Ayscough, Martin Fowler, David Fryer, Chad McCail, Billy McCall, Robert Montgomery and Andrew Smith offer a thoughtprovoking look at where society may be heading. Still Futures II runs until April 30.
Chris’s night of 1,000 Ayrshire stars
IF VARIETY really is the spice of life then Chris Taylor is hotter than a vindaloo.
The multi-talented actor and writer was back at the Gaiety for one night only with his own show - and, just like last year’s inaugural Chris Taylor Show, it was a complete sell-out. The night was a superb showcase for local talent, something Chris, who runs his own Hipshot Theatre Group based in Ayr, is passionate about. He was like a proud dad as he introduced the Hipshot kids to perform highlights from Queen’s rock musical We Will Rock You to close the first half. And he showed another string to his bow, playing a menacing Khashoggi and singing with the youngsters. Other local acts included Abbie Watson, last seen as Princess Jill in the Gaiety panto, who showed off her singing and dancing talents, ably supported by her own dance troupe, The Hipchicks. All the routines were slick and superbly
THE CHRIS TAYLOR SHOW Gaiety Theatre, Ayr performed, most notably All That Jazz from Chicago. Actor/singer David Alexander got the party started with a rousing rendition of Shut Up and Dance and there was a stunning acoustic set by Prestwick singer Louis Jenkins. But Chris promised variety - and he didn’t disappoint! His comedy turns with Barry Carson were among the highlights of the show, particularly the baby and wedding sketches. I’m not sure how much was ad libbed on the night and how much was scripted, but it was all great fun, even if some of the skits went on a bit too long. “Classical cello duo” Due - Ayr teenagers Joely Campbell and Lucy Pye - got a huge cheer when they ditched Bach’s famous Prelude from Cello Suite No1 and rocked out to Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, ably assisted by drummer Andrew
Morrison. And the award-winning Infinity Allstars cheerleading group astounded with some terrifying lifts on the Gaiety stage. It was the first time they had performed in such a venue and some of their stunts were hard to watch for those of a nervous disposition - especially if you were sitting in the front row! The night ended in true Scottish style with a Bay City Rollers tribute and Chris inviting the audience to “Shang-alang”! Prestwick lad Chris gave up the reins of the production to director Martin Christie to concentrate on his own performances a move that more than paid off. The show moved seamlessly from act to act with each getting a huge reception from a very enthusiastic audience. As I put it to Chris, not many people can sell out the Gaiety these days and could he be the new Johnny Beattie? “I’ll take that,” he laughs. “He’s my hero!”
MARGRET CAMPBELL
All set for the ultimate test CHRIS TAYLOR is about to take on what he describes as “the most demanding acting part of my life”.
He is to play the part of the central role in the controversial Mistero Buffo, a play by Dario Fo which features one actor playing 26 characters at the Gaiety Theatre in June. The modern classic was written in the 1960s and has since been performed around the world. Among the characters are a mad woman, a peasant, a fool, Death – and also the Virgin Mary and Christ. After the play was broadcast in Italy, the Vatican called it “the most blasphemous show in the hstory
of television” – what better way to elevate a play to must-see status? Meanwhile, Chris is also working on sketches for a new show, the Taylor-Boyle show with actor mate Fraser Boyle who is known to Ayrshire audiences as an Ayr Gaiety pantomime dame favourite. The new show opens in September. Elsewhere, Chris’s Hipshot Youth Theatre is growing up, partly because so many budding performers want to carry on after they turn 16 – and also because so many adults want to join. Chris says: “I have had loads of people asking me if they could come along and a lot of them have never done this kind of thing before. It’s not
so much singing and dancing, it’s more about acting. We might read a script or do some improvisation – they might even write their own plays or put on published plays, we’ll just see how it goes. The classes will be taken by professionals – I will be doing some and Fraser Boyle will be involved. “Anybody who is interested can come along. They don’t need to have experience and they don’t have to be embarrassed about getting up in front of people. “It is all very relaxed and my motto is: If everybody looks like an eejit then nobody looks like an eejit. This a chance to get away from the 9-5 stresses and relax and have a laugh.”
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n THREE of Ayrshire’s favourite and most prolific authors grace the bookshelves again this Spring with new material. Catherine Czerkawska, whose historic novel The Physic Garden told a tale of anguished love, betrayal and moral outrage, returns to the past with her new novel, based on the wife of Robert Burns.
Michael Malone also delves into the past with Bad Samaritan when he returns to the first in the McBain-O’Neill series with a followup to Blood Tears in which DI Ray McBain becomes a murder suspect while investigating a string of Glasgow killings. Douglas Skelton delivers the final chapter in the Davie McCall
series – also a step into the past since Open Wounds, the fourth book in the series, was the first to be written, the other three having been requested by his publisher who read Open Wounds some years ago and suggested that it might be interesting to read the back story to the main characters as they appear in the final book.
The readers’ future is rooted in the past Fictional characters can sometimes seem to take on a life of their own, as anyone who has ever become engrossed in a novel might agree.
In the final instalment in the Davie McCall series old friends clash and long buried secrets are unearthed as McCall investigates a brutal five-yearold crime. Davie wants out, but the underbelly of Glasgow is all he has ever known. Will what he learns about his old ally Big Rab McClymont be enough to get him out of the Life? And could the mysterious woman who just moved in upstairs be just what he needs?
douglas skelton
Devil’s Knock is a treat for fans of tartan noir, crime and great writing in general. neil broadfoot
Having already established himself as a true-crime author, Douglas Skelton is hitting the heights in his secondary career as a novelist. the herald
Skelton’s visual language allows the reader to truly picture that shadowy figure closing in with the chib.
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COVER IMAGE: shuttERstOCk • AuthOR PhOtOGRAPh: GARy MClAuGhlIn DEsIGn: luAth PREss
the skinny
douglas skelton
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Davie McCall is tired. Tired of violence, tired of the Life. He’s always managed to stay detached from the brutal nature of his line of work, but recently he has caught himself enjoying it.
OPEN WOUNDS
But it seems even authors occasionally get the feeling that their characters are up to something the minute the writer turns his back. Explaining why the fourth book in the successful McBain-O’Neill series, published in March, is actually a follow-up to the first in the series, Blood Tears,author Michael Malone said: “I felt it was time to go back and see what was happening to DI McBain. “There were a couple of loose ends in Blood Tears which I always felt I wanted to go back to,” he adds. The new episode, Bad Samaritan sees McBain up to his detecting hurdies in a completely separate murder when evidence from a previous case which was dealt with in that previous book keeps turning up. Malone reveals that writing Bad Samaritan was not his speediest work. “I started it in 2011,” he says, but too much got in the way and it took me three years to write the final 30,000 words. I had five books out in that period. I had started a
Doug Skelton has been hiding from his talent for long enough. High time he shared it with the rest of us. quintin jardine
OPEN WOUNDS douglas skelton
Davie McCall is tired. Tired of violence, tired of the Life. He wants out, but it won’t be easy.
new job with Faber and was concentrating on that, so I never allowed myself the time to get on with the book. That changed when I was made redundant. I was doing about 500 words a day but when I got to the final section I was doing 1,500 to 2,000. When you get into that environment everything else gets put on hold.” Bad Samaritan is the first of two books Malone will publish this year. His second, A Suitable Lie, deals with woman-on-man domestic
abuse and is loosely based on a true story, a 6ft 4in rugby player and his 5ft 2in wfe. “This is a subject that just never gets spoken about,” he adds. A suitable Lie will be published in September. MEANWHILE Douglas Skelton is about to unleash the much anticipated next instalment of the Davis McCall saga. “Open wounds,” he says teasingly, “is the fourth and final book in the series... or
is it?” Suggesting that there just might be more than four books in the series he adds: “I have a reputation for killing the characters off, but the question is who is going to remain alive at the end?” Although Open Wounds was written before the other three books in the series, it had to be radically rewritten to take account of events which were covered in the first three books. Anyone who has read the earlier books – particularly the first, Blood City – will recall that they are teeming with characters, offering fresh opportunities for further details about their lives to emerge. The enigmatc Joe The Tailor might find himself revived in a future book, Skelton suggests. Meanwhile, the authos is fleshing out a new hero/anti hero who will make his debut in the enticingly titled The Dead Don’t Boogie. Dominic Queste is a former journalist who wanted to get into the movies. He has a bit of a history, being involved with drugs, but is clean now and thinks of himself as a bit of an investigator. “There will be plenty of humour in it,” Skelton promises. “There was some humour in the Davie McCall books, but there was always that gritty reality, too. This time it is much lighter.”
No wonder Burns loved Bonnie Jean Catherine Czerkawska on her new novel, The Jewel I SPENT most of 2014 and 2015 researching and writing The Jewel, my new novel about the relationship between Robert Burns and Jean Armour, the woman who became his wife.
Many biographers and critics have not been particularly kind to Jean. Even Catherine Carswell, in her celebrated Life of Robert Burns, was content to characterise Jean, outrageously, as a ‘young heifer’. Highland Mary seems to have been much more appealing to Victorian sensibilities: a heroine who died young and could be depicted gazing adoringly up at her lover in various portraits and Staffordshire flatbacks. Burns’s overheated letters and undoubtedly beautiful poems to ‘Clarinda’ are intriguing but we don’t know whether Nancy McLehose actually had an affair with the poet. Only the two people most closely involved could say for sure and neither of them ever did. The best known portraits of Jean Armour are images of an elderly woman, her strong face marked by ill health. But there is a much more sympathetic painting of her as a middle aged widow, probably in her forties. It’s by Aberdeen born portrait artist John Moir and is stored at Rozelle House in Alloway because it needs some restoration – a worthy candidate for an appeal, or funding application perhaps. Jean was a vivacious brunette with dark eyes, a kindly manner, a steadfast generosity and a very fine singing voice. Moreover, she had a fund of songs and melodies with which to enchant her husband and it is clear from the poet’s own notes that she contributed lyrics and advised him about tunes from time to time. She may not have been scholarly, but she was certainly literate. Later, her wisdom and strength of character in
coping with her husband’s serial infidelities, his moods, his illness and early death – not to mention the threat of poverty when the poet became too ill to work – speak to us of a woman of spirit and fortitude. And she did all this while bringing up a family of children including Rab’s daughter by another woman. Sadly, she always seems to be defined by images of an elderly woman, towards the end of a hard life, bravely lived. Even during her youth, she was judged by casual visitors to the Burns home, expecting the ‘Bonnie Jean’ of poetic imagination and finding a harassed wife with a newborn baby and a crowded household to run. Yet after the poet’s death, she had several offers of marriage, all of which she turned down. Jean was spirited and indomitable. Rab loved her, sometimes to the point of madness, although he occasionally shamed himself by damning her with faint praise to his aristocratic friends. But his genuine affection for her never seems to have wavered and nor did hers for him. The more I found out about her, the more I found myself loving her too. l The Jewel will be published by Saraband in May 2016 and launched at the Boswell Book Festival.
POETRY
IN THE WALLED GARDEN By Carolyn O’Hara Edged and buttressed in old stone smoothed and sculpted by craftsmen and climate the garden is caressed. Autumnal rays ignite iridescent glints on insect wings. Diamond bright sparks dart from thistle fountain illuminating inky shadows, sweetened still by beds of blooms, packed head to toe with weary beauty: copper, burnished gold and amethyst, vie for attention with indigo, emerald and lime. Butterflies in lively leap dodge spiky spheres atop tall black stems relics of Scotland’s national flower. Topiaried trees geometrically precise punctuate borders with pointed pirouettes, where fledgling foliage buddies up with ancient specimens, listening for centuries of wisdom whispered on the breeze. Visitors stroll and stride, or dart and dash giggles, yelps and shouts float like dandelion clocks above the backing track of fountain splashes. Shoulders drop, breathing deepens, nature dispenses soothing balm banishing real world worries.
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The zipwire & ‘C
YNTHIA will be there.’ She was looking in the mirror, one arm across her chest, putting in her earring. It seemed that she chose moments when she was doing something tricky to drop bombshells. ‘Oh God! Really?’ He was trying to adjust his tie so that it wouldn’t dangle like a pathetic sporran over his flies or, like an adolescent after a growth spurt, reveal acres of shirt front. He’d wished to sound more blasé and tried to blame the emotion in his voice on the problems with his tie. She fixed her other earring, stood up, brushed her skirt straight and said, ‘How do I look?’ ‘Very smart. You look lovely, June.’ He wondered why he had used her name. He usually just called her ‘dear’. ‘You used to go out with Cynthia, didn’t you?’
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‘Years ago.’ Of course, it was years ago. We’ve been married for nearly thirty years. ‘For a short time.’ ‘Thought so. Oh for God’s sake!’ She sorted his tie, scowled in approval and said, ‘Let’s go! We’ll be late.’ They weren’t late. June and the hostess headed to the kitchen for an uninterrupted conversation about domestic imbroglios. He paced the living room that the centrifugal forces that precede parties had left clear enough for a cock fight. As the other guests sputtered in, he was polite but didn’t engage. Then there she was. Alone in the doorway, presumably having shed Brian along with her coat. A little fuller but still striking, a russet red wool jumper contrasting with the new grey streaks in her hair and a plain dark charcoal skirt. She saw him, slightly crinkling the angles of her eyes that told him she was still wearing contact lenses. She
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the armchair A short story by JAMES ROSE
smiled, came over immediately and gave him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her firm against him while inside resurgent longing, regret and pain roiled, as they had when they last held each other. ‘It’s OK. You can let go of me now. I’m not running away for at least another couple of hours.’ So they talked. Others came proffering food and drink but sensing the aura of exclusivity that they emitted, soon left. They talked of their careers ,of their children, of holidays taken and plans for the future – all the things they had never shared. Yet all the time there played in his mind what they had shared; how she had looked all those years ago; how for nights on end he had walked from her flat through the snow-covered park to his home, where he felt happy but incomplete; and how one night he hadn’t gone home but stayed
wanting her all to himself, never able to share his prize. Some loves are like a zip wire ride, fast, adrenaline-filled rushes, the background an exhilarating blur – until you hit the buffer and are left dangling - alone. ‘Were you very hurt by my letter,’ she asked eventually. ‘I suppose I was. Not because we’d split up. I wasn’t ready to get married and we did row a lot.’ The corners of her mouth suppressed a smile and she looked down at the drink in her hand. ‘Making up was fun, though, wasn’t it?’ He nodded. ‘It was your getting engaged so soon after. As if you had planned to dump me and had him on stand by.’ Like a four-year old at a birthday party, he had never wanted to share his gift. ‘It was nothing like that.’ She put her hand on his knee but he stood
up so that her hand fell away. ‘I think it was.’ He could feel the jealousy building. ‘He was always . . .’ He saw June in the doorway inclining her head in the direction of the front door. And some loves are like a favourite armchair, supportive, comforting, warm. ***** He lay on his back in bed staring at the ceiling, while next to him she rubbed cream into her hands. ‘So did you have a good catch up with Cynthia? You talked for a long time.’ ‘It was good to see her again but I don’t think we caught up so much as ran out of wire.’ ‘You’re not making sense. You’ve had too much to drink. Roll over!’ She turned out the light, flopped an arm over him; they tangled their legs together and he backed towards her, feeling the warmth of her body, comfortable like a favourite armchair.
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GUEST: Rosanne with, from top left: Alone on the Beach, Illuminated Sky and Stunning Sunset
Rosanne records the lie of the land Rosanne Barr checks in to Ayr on March 18 as the special guest to conclude their programme for the year. Not the American comedienne mind you, but rather a Scottish landscape painter. This Rosie is a Loch Lomond lass, and she comes with an impressive pedigree of awards and commendations. Graduating in 2003, from Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone Art College with First Class Honours, her work has been shown in many of the country’s leading galleries, including those in York, Bath, Oxford and London. Her output is prolific and she works at pace, believing that there is a responsibility to make quick, instinctive marks on the canvas, to the landscape in front of her, enabling her to commune with the environment, and to respond with feeling. Everyone knows the Scottish
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climate is changeable, and Rosie sets out to record it at its most fleeting and volatile. Like the Impressionists of old, she has to be there in that moment, to preserve it, and to capture the energy and feeling through her sensitive handling. This empathy with the landscape was borne from her experience of family holidays, as a child, in places such as Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty in the far north of Scotland. Tumultuous clouds and storm lashed beaches are being traded now, for more abstraction, where she exploits colour for its emotional impact and potential; straying from a visual and literal translation, to embracing mood and atmosphere, and where her brushstrokes and colour subsume any element of representation.
BOBBY JOHNSTON
Debbie Cassels’ award-winnin
ng Malala,Not Just a Pretty Face
OSA: an open door to an artful experience VISITORS to Rozelle House in Ayr during January and early Februry were treated to a preview of some of art that will be on show throughout the area wheen this year’s Open Studios Ayrshire event takes place.
A wide range of work in various art forms was on view, including sculpture, ceramics and glass art as well as paintings. Also on show was a work by Debbie Cassels called Malala, Not Just a Pretty Face, which won the Save The Children annual Willa Revie Trophy. The four-day event from Friday April 22 until Monday April 25 is an opportunity for the public to see artists in their own working environment – and chance for a hugely diverses range of artists to showcase their work and hopefully sell some of it to visitors.
Have a look at Ayrshire’s wide and varied art scene on view for four days from April 22 Now in its fouth year, OSA is bigger than ever and is expected to attract around 10,000 visitors to home studios, workshops and galleries the length and breadth of Ayrshire. For the first time, the launch is being held in the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock allowing visitors a chance to plan their routes through the dozens of strudios and participating venues. Launch night at the Dick starts at 6pm onThursday March 24. This year}s Open Studions Ayrshire Art Trail will
be served by a number of small buses, making outlying studios more accessible to visitors throughout the four-day event. Centred on Girvan, a rural hop-on, hop-off bus will take visitors to studios around some of the more southerly galleries in South Ayrshire while, in Ayr, two hop-on, hop-off buses will provide a half-hourly service. East Ayrshire, from the Kilmarnock area down to Auchinleck, Cumnock and Dumfries House will also be served by an OSA bus.
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