OOTB Presents… Al Young!

hi everybody. i’m typing this with my left hand only, due to an injury so this week it’ll be short and sweet.

Al Young is this week’s featured act (on saturday 28 january), don’t miss it, he’s got a spellbinding touch to his songwriting.

As for listings, there are a lot of good things on as usual over the next week, but rather than rave about them, here are some links. please click them.

http://www.facebook.com/events/157499561027825/

http://www.facebook.com/events/149009341880425/

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/event/48497-rm_hubbert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvot4RYamtU&feature=share

http://www.facebook.com/events/112451098874484/

That’s it, all the usual ale house/listening room/captain’s bar stuff is on as usual, check your facebook invites!

hopefully i’ll type more next week, take care till then!

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

OOTB Presents… Dave Keir

Oh dear, well i’ve been through the wars this week, not that that’s particularly relevant here, but anyway that is the reason for this slightly tardy and rather short OOTB email this week.

Okay, OOTB is now on Saturdays, at The Montague Bar (practically across the road from St Leonards Street police station), and it starts at 8pm. We’ve got a half hour featured act every week, and at least eight open floorspots. If you’d like to sign up for a floorspot, 7:30pm‘s probably the latest you can do that because the slots are allocated on a first-come/first-served basis by the host of the evening on the night, no phoning in advance or getting a friend to sign you up. PLUS we don’t allow cover versions. You can perform whatever you like (at the discretion of the bar, that is, and the law, of course!) so long as you wrote it yourself. Also it’s free, and the standard is usually very high, so bring your friends and have a listen, this is not just a night for performers!

This week the featured act is Dave Keir. I’ve heard him several times and got his CDs and he’s very very good. He writes intriguing songs, and his fingerstyle guitar playing really reminds me of John Renbourn amongst others. His 45 minute set at the Listening Room a couple of months ago was great and his set at the four hundred and fifty seventh Out Of The Bedroom this coming Saturday (14 January!) will no doubt be at least as good. Don’t miss it, honestly, for free this is pretty much the best gig in town this Saturday!

And on Sunday another free one, this time at Medina (ahem i mean The Third Door). We had an excellent band at Edinburgh Unlimited on Wednesday just past, called Small Feet, Little Toes, and they will be playing a FREE gig at the Third Door on Lothian Street on Sunday at 7pm, here’s a quick preview of their music: http://www.myspace.com/rachelandersonmusic

And the Ale House open mic and the Listening Room at the Blue Blazer are on as usual, tonight (Friday) at 9:30pm, and on Sunday at 8pm, respectively, they are always good.

And that’s it, sorry if i missed anything out i am highly preoccupied with emergencies at the moment and can’t really devote hours and hours to this email any more, though i will continue to do my best to bring you regular roundups and previews of the OOTB weekly nights, as well as choice listings details and other goodies like free downloads. DO forward this email to your friends if you think they would be interested in this stuff, and get them to sign up on the mailing list themselves (which they can do at www.outofthebedroom.co.uk of course).

Thanks, and keep on rockin’!

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

OOTB Presents… Michael MacFarlane!

Hi everybody and happy new year!

Right, we’re moving OOTB to SATURDAYS as of this week. The thirty-two of you who have been reading the emails these past few weeks know this already, everybody else TAKE NOTE. Everything else stays the same by the way, it’ll still be in the Montague Bar with the music starting at 8pm.

Michael MacFarlane’s very good, or we wouldn’t be booking him for a featured act slot, much less have him kick off our new year and new slot on Saturdays. Right, where was i? Yes! He’s very good, and you should come and hear him doing his featured act set on Saturday (7 Jan) at OOTB. Also, there will be a plethora of excellent acts filling up the open slots and making our lives joyful and happy. You may as well come along and enjoy yourself, after all the world’s due to end this year, so fit some fun in while you still can, eh? (that is supposed to be humour by the way, just in case it’s not immediately apparent)

What else did i have to tell you? Well, i wanted to mention Roberta from Banana Sessions’ regular Unpeeled night, it’s on in the Jazz Bar on Chambers Street and the next one’s this Thursday (5 Jan) at 9pm. It’s only a fiver to get in and this time there are four acts, and they are: The Darcy DaSilva Band, The Last September, The Dirty Demographic, and Calum Carlyle. It will be my final gig in Edinburgh for a while (i’m doing an OOTB featured act set in April but i have nothing else lined up), and the other three acts are all very good, so don’t miss it. I’ll be doing songs from my new CD “Better Out Than In”.

OOTB is on Saturday of course, featuring Michael MacFarlane, details are as above.

On Sunday 8 Jan at The Blue Blazer on Bread Street it’s The Listening Room, open mic and featured act, from 8pm, and this week the featured act is Jamie Hay, who will be familiar to OOTB regulars.

Also, please check out the newest Labelled Independent podcast, using the link on the left hand side of this mailout, they have a sort of roundup of local independent music of 2011 on the new episode, and as always if you’re a local musician, you can get in touch with them to hopefully be featured on a future episode.  

Also, Music News Scotland have started doing a very snazzy looking set of online gig listing publications, with ads and articles etc. Check this out for example: http://musicnewsscotland.wordpress.com/mns-digital-publication-links/

There’s no Acoustic Edinburgh this month, and there’s no Regent Showcase either, and Secret CDs has stopped as of this month too, however there WILL be an Edinburgh Unlimited this month, next Wednesday 11 January, it’s only £3 to see four acts, what a bargain! And that starts fairly promptly at 8pm in The Third Door (formerly Medina, next door to Negociants) and this month the performers are: Small Feet Little Toes, Jason Kyrone, Colin Adams, and Damian Casey-Boyce. Hope to see you there.

So yeah, that’s it from me, hope you have a very musical 2012, stuffed with live music, fun, and dare i say hilarity…

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

HEY EVERYBODY! OUT OF THE BEDROOM IS TAKING A WEEK OFF FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON, AND THEN WE’RE BACK AT THE MONTAGUE BAR, BUT ON SATURDAYS!

AS OF SATURDAY 7 JANUARY 2012 OUT OF THE BEDROOM WILL BE ON EVERY SATURDAY AT 8pm (7:30pm is pretty much the latest sign up time for performers booking one of the open slots).

 

OOTB Presents… Edinburgh’s best live music!

Hi there!

So, first of all, the multitalented Tom Watton wrote a review of OOTB 453, so if YOU were one of the people who, through no fault of your own, were unable to make it to OOTB 453 due to pressing commitments of an unreschedulable nature, then you too can relive the excitement, the glory, and yes, the heartfelt emotion, of OOTB 453 through the passion of Tom’s words, and you can read that review just beneath this very bulletin.

And the next thing i wanted to mention to you was the results of my little reader survey. For those who don’t know, last week i mentioned that i would like to know how many people read that particular email, and i said if people could just click “reply” it’d give me an idea how many people read it that specific week. So out of 911 subscribers, 22 people responded, and consequently i sent each of them links to several exclusive mp3s of my own music, as promised. That’s not bad actually, i choose to believe (though it does represent only 0.24% of our subscribers). Of course there will be a certain number who read the email, but didn’t reply (due to having wild and crazy lives, or possible memories like collanders), and there will be a certain number of people who read the OOTB email occasionally but who didn’t read that one. I do think that 22 to 30 is probably a representative number of people who read the email in any given week though. SO if you are a person who is reading this week, and you didn’t email me last week to get your free mp3s, do it now. I would be quite interested to see how many second wave emails i get from people who read this week (apart from anything else, i want to see if the promise of a review in the subject line enticed more people in than last week).  And i’ll stop hassling you about it after that.

 

So, given that the 22 of you who did reply tend to keep your fingers on the pulse anyway, i don’t think i’m going to spend my morning listing all the events i know about meticulously. I’ll give you a list of links, check them out if you fancy it. I will however trumpet about this week’s OOTB and this week’s Edinburgh Unlimited.

This week at OOTB it’s Confushian. Confushian‘s performance at Edinburgh Unlimited was excellent (though sadly undersubscribed), so you get one more chance to hear Confushian playing live this year and it’s at OOTB this Tuesday (13 December). Come along for 7:30pm if you want a chance of a slot to perform, and the festivities start at 8pm.

I might mention in passing that OOTB is moving from Tuesdays to Saturdays starting in January, for those of you who are reading this now and who didn’t see me mentioning that over the past couple of weeks.

And on Wednesday 14 December it’s Edinburgh Unlimited. It’s only £2 (we’re putting it up to £3 in January) and this time there are FIVE acts. Honestly. What more could we be doing to please Edinburgh’s music going public? So the five acts are: Lisa Rigby, Jill Hepburn, Caro Bridges, Nick Splinter Smith, and Calum Carlyle. A proper OOTB takeover, in a way. So doors open 8pm for an 8:15pm start. Don’t be late, you’ll miss it. We’ve got to be finished by 10:30pm so fashionable latecomers, it’s at your own risk. And that’s at Medina/The Third Door/Downstairs in Negociants/Round The Corner From Forest/It’s near Bristo Square. Even if you don’t/won’t/can’t come to this, please forward the invite to anybody you know who might want to come. We’re a grass roots event, and we put on good performers for minimal money but we need to get the word out. YOU are our only hope to do this effectively.

Oh yes, i also wanted to mention Ben Young’s Atheist Advent. He’s writing a song a day from 1 to 24 December. This is the third and final year he’s doing this intensive songwriting challenge. You can hear the songs so far, and give him feedback and encouragement on his site here: http://www.atheistadvent.com/

And here’s a list of links to other stuff that’s happening this week. It’s all good stuff. Hope you enjoy:

http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=123956567719890
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=266970676685205
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=204210009660562
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=147708235328662
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=148004061966512

See you out there in musicland,

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

Out of the Bedroom #453 Review by Tom Watton

Well number 453 has come and just as the minute hand approaches 58 minutes and the hour hand points to marginally before the hour of 8, the evening kicks off… WHOOP WHOOP.

JILL HEPBURN
To start proceedings we have Jill Hepburn playing solo banjo and vocals. The combination of banjo and vocals sends you straight to mid 19th century North America.

Jill started the set with a song named “Going away for a while”,which had a ‘singalongability’ rating of 4*s. Jill has a floaty voice and a nice and simple song-writing style, which is delivered with confidence. One suggestion I might have, and I have for many acts is “Get a strap and stand up!”

JOE WILSON
The next act on is Joe Wilson, who I first saw a few weeks back. Joe writes songs with amazing rhythms, almost comparable to the great Richard Thompson. The first song was screaming out for some band arrangements and harmonies, but nevertheless Joe played them with such fervour that it didn’t take much imagination to conjure the fuller sound….

…And then as if by magic in Joe’s second song, Joe’s used a loop pedal to fill out the introduction of the song, in a well rehearsed manner. Now I am normally sceptical about the use of loop pedals to multi layer live performance, this being down to hearing lots of acts playing crap guitar solos to not quite in sync rhythm guitar. I am happy to say that Joe did not leave this impression in fact it was very impressive.

Joe’s last song “Since Three Days Ago” is a song inspired by the Christian Easter story, and was reminiscent of a 1980′s Lloyd Webber style production, with the use of particular melodies with sweeping cadences. NICE.

MARIE NAFFAH
Marie has come all the way from the great city of LONDIN, to play her own brand of pop music. With three well constructed songs for us to listen to my particular favourite song was ‘Mr Busy’ which could have been written about our very own Mr Busy the great Calum Carlyle.

Marie opened her set with a song about Magpies…one for sorrow etc. with simple rhyming couplets and language it would make a good pop song.

Marie has a good stage presence and a very clear spoken voice, which is a pleasant change from a lot of acts who do not annunciate between songs. Marie was keen to promote her facebook page and website in order to get new likes etc. so check them out they are well worth a look!
http://www.marienaffah.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/marienaffahmusic

and now for something completely different…
JAMIE AND SHOONY
Jamie and Shoony are two cheeky chappies who are finding there own styles through live performance. They have great energy on stage and there songs while maybe a touch over youthful are all very upbeat.

Sun Shining Down, the first song transports the listener to a Seafront promenade, not unlike the ones I grew up near in Scarborough, and has you observing bikini clad girls through the eyes of two distracted 16/17 year old teenagers with the horn. This song is very proclaimers.

The second song “Take a look around” is a better song, and could have benefited from a major funk up in the style of the Blood Suga Sex Magik album by the RHCPs. Although at least Jamie can be proud that over three songs he is a better live singer than Keidis.

Been Everywhere brings out the Little Richard in Jamie as he performs a dance routine which would make even James Brown proud.

CLAPPALONGABILITILIZATIONALISM Rating of 3*s

THEN ONTO THE SQUASHIES – yes once again the list was full by 7.20pm ! Aren’t we popular?

First Squashy
NICOLE STRACHAN
Nicole is embracing her own unique singing strengths, in that she sounds a bit like Bob Dylan, and Bod Dylan sounds best when saying lots of words closely together.

Nicole got through the tongue twister of her new song without error (with the exception of missing the last chord). But I was impressed anyway, Nicole does seem to be developing a style and improving week on week.

Second Squashy
DUNCAN SUTHERLAND
As well as been a thoroughly nice person, Duncan is also a brilliant guitarist, singer and songwriter, despite being left handed.

Having met Duncan at the blue blazer a few weeks I knew we were in for a treat. Duncan didn’t disappoint, playing a well executed new song, a melodic waltz with a mix of Muse/Radiohead falsetto vocal notes, which ended with a time signature change, which flowed without particular trouble. 4*s, a definite feature slot for the future.

Third Squashy
PAUL CHILVER
announcement: has anyone lost a grey glove on the number 23 bus? If so talk to Paul.

Sutherland Beach is another song in 3|4 (or in waltz for the less numerically gifted), Paul really does get better week by week, and he is now standing up and getting on with it. It won’t be long until Paul is flying into OOTB for a featured set.

And now for our featured act of the evening…

JAMIE HEY
Jamie has been coming to OOTB for over six months bringing with him, his mad max style mix of Brendan Perry (dead can dance), Paul Weller, Graham Coxon (Blur) and Jarvis Cocker.

Jamie’s set has a theme of getting slower and lower or faster and madder, its a nice theme, one which I like a lot.

I think Jamie’s voice is second only to the low rumblesome tones of the venerable Fraser Drummond, and on his lowest notes brings out the best tones to come out of the OOTB PA system for a while. (I like bass).

Jamie’s set moved into a foreign language session and fortunately for the OOTB Review Readers I was sat next to Paul Chilver the walking Colins Gem foreign language dictionary who provided some translation services for me….

“Twai(?) ochi son un paradiso” could be your eyes are a paradise (o)

and in the dirty French song (my name for the song) apparently the hook line words were…

“The fear of communism is an insincere fear” words which I personally agree with.

In his last two songs Jamie managed to play a ‘standard song’ that is a song with a recognisable verse and chorus, I think Jamie played this just to put to bed any doubts that Jamie could only muster an obscure yet desirable ‘other-worldy’, folkstyle, captain beefheart & John Care influenced atmospheric and moody music. BRILLIANT.

Back to the open slots

DARREN HENDRIE Naka (Not also known as) “Doctor Daz”

Darren’s twelve string Eko guitar is one of a kind. To quote a friend (broken tooth) “eko’s go one of two ways… they get old and sound shit, or they get old and sound great”. Well I think that Darren’s old Eko sounds like a warm vinyl record player, played in-front of a candle lit fire place.

Words I struggle to speak features a great riff with brilliant words. Darren will be playing a featured set at the Listening room early next year, so look out for him. Although he is modest about his musical accomplishments, he really has no reason to be. And for the love of Christ Darren. STAND UP!

Next we have

ANI

Ani is new to the new look modern OOTB, although I believe she has been to TRON at some distant point in the past.

Ani really knows how to make an impact. Stunning vocals, nice songs and in the words of Nyk Stoddart, professionally beautiful. “she really knows what she is doing”.

Ani proficient on a guitar to the point that she can cope with an out of tune bottom E, competently bending notes to bring them into tune.

Wow.

(AT this point I should point out that I was becoming ‘influenced’ by liquids so my review may become somewhat sparse… but never mind, I shall do my best to de-fog my memory of the end of the evening and tell you in in the form of a fantasy tale….ONCE UPON A TIME…not really!)

NICK
Nick and Ani came on time and managed to secure the last couple of slots and then stayed and enjoyed the whole evening in a manner that everyone should. Its nice to meet such friendly and enthusiastic people.

Nick was good and well worth the wait for us to listen to, although the room was a bit quieter by the end of the evening, everyone enjoyed nicks lyrical style and guitar technique.

SQUASHY Four
BROKEN TOOTH
Despite insisting that he wouldn’t play because of a lack of practice, I managed to persuade Jim to play a song and he did. Having not played in a few months here at OOTB, or anywhere else, Jim played a great song which I found most agreeable.

THE FINAL SET FROM

SIR TOM WATTON (yes from me)

Since I was reviewing the evening, it seems a tiny bit rude to review myself, but needless to say, my new songs great, my old song is classic and all things (drunkenness) considered it must have been amazing.

Welll Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Thats All FOLKS!

OOTB Presents… Jamie Hay! 

Hi everybody, how’s it going?

Right, this week’s featured performer is relatively new compared with some, it’s Jamie Hay. He’s been a regular attendee at OOTB all through 2011 and has really come on, so pop in tomorrow (Tuesday 6 Dec) and check out his featured act set. You know, of course, that there will be at least EIGHT open floorspots filled with the cream of Edinburgh’s performing songwriters. I am constantly surprised by the high standard of performers that grace our little stage at OOTB, even after all these years. Anyway, that’s at The Montague Bar on St Leonards Street if you can make it, and the evening starts at 8pm (or 7:30pm if you want to sign up for an open slot).

And i have tons of other events to tell you about this week as well. First of all i just want to mention though that as of 2012 we are going to be running OOTB on Saturdays, and not Tuesdays. For most people, we hope this will be an improvement. Same location, same times, but on a Saturday. So our final Tuesday will be December the 20th (with Henry Bird as our featured act) and our first Saturday will be January 7th (with Michael MacFarlane as our featured act). the other thing i was going to mention is we’ve now filled up all the featured act slots until the first week in April, which i think is great, and that’s a testament to the high amount of great talent we’ve got coming through the doors at OOTB. Long may it continue. So yes, if you want to check who the next few featured acts are at any time, that’s one of the many pieces of useful information you can find on our website at www.outofthebedroom.co.uk.

But before i launch into this week’s featured gig listings, i just want to try a little social experiment, if only to clarify something in my own mind. Once you’ve read this email, can i just get you to click “reply” and send me a wee email please? As an incentive, for everyone who does reply, i’ll send you a few links to downloadable mp3s of my songs (songs which aren’t available on my website, i mean). Basically, we have hundreds of subscribers, and i just want to see how many people have actually opened and at least skimmed the mailout on any given week (in this case, this week). so yeah, please just send me a reply, you don’t need to spend any time thinking of something to say (though feedback is always appreciated), it’s just so i know how many people have read this week’s OOTB email, and i’ll send you some exclusive mp3 song links of mine in return. Thanks!

Okay, this week’s gigs, some of them quite unmissable. I’m in a hurry this week, so i’ll copy/paste (and italicise) the blurb rather than giving you my usual characteristic rundown, in most cases. DO check out the artists and bands. As usual i have tried to bold them all so you can pick them out and google them (or whatever) before you go along to the gigs. And please let the organisers of these gigs know you heard about them from OOTB, if you would. It’s nice for us all to make friends with each other.

Tue 6 Dec: OOTB featuring Jamie Hay of course, details as above.

Also on Tue 6 Dec: Same night as OOTB, but for the final time, since we’re moving OOTB to Saturdays in 2012, it’s Acoustic Edinburgh, free entry, 7.30pm at The Third Door (beneath Negociants): Headlining are Abagail Grey, on their Winter & Icicles tour. Abagail Grey is the creation of highland singer-songwriter, Claire Campbell. Both a classically-trained pianist, and traditional fiddler, she is regularly joined by two harpists, trumpet, bass and drums and her music has been described as “serene, elegant and beautifully crafted” (The Scotsman), and her debut album was hailed as “one of the best folk albums to come out of Scotland” that year (Daily Record).

Our other touring band are the wonderful Brighton-based  Seadog. Signed to Folkwit records, they play music with cello, guitar, clarinet, glockenspiel, melodica, accordion, samplers (and more) that has been compared to the Mamas and Papas, or The Byrds. Source magazine described them as “steeped in an era where Nick drake and Neil Young records roamed the land…beautiful and ethereal vocal harmonies”.

As if this wasn’t enough (!) we have the singer, accordionist, sawista, pianista, yodeller, and redhead, Brigid Kaelin (her words, not mine!). Newly relocated to Edinburgh from Nashville, she is properly brilliant – last time I saw her she was wowing the customers of Favorit in the small hours by playing an impromptu set on the saw, but she has also played in on stage with Elvis Costello. And rounding off an extraordinary night of music, we have a welcome return to Acoustic Edinburgh from charismatic singer-songwriter Becca Fox.

Wed 7 Dec at Sneaky Pete’s, there’s another chance to hear Seadog performing live, £5 admission. They’re a touring band, so this week’s pretty much your only chance: It’s on Wednesday at Sneaky Pete’s. The gig is listed from 7-10pm and is £5.

Also on Wed 7 Dec, it’s the final ever Secret CDs: Secret CDs 49 featuring: Adam Holmes and The Embers, Blueflint, Emily Scott and Katie (ex-Dull Fudds)
Venue: The Voodoo Rooms Speakeasy, 19a West Register St, EH2 2AA Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Doors Open:7.30 p.m.
Entry: £5 – including £2 discount on all CDs bought on the night, free raffle ticket and cake!

The forty-ninth monthly Secret CDs night is at The Voodoo Rooms Speakeasy on Wednesday 7th December. It’s the last live gig we’ll be promoting, for a while at least, and we thought we’d go out with a bang with four of the finest acts to have graced Secret CDs.

James Igoe says, “It’s been four years almost to the day since Secret CDs launched in The Phoenix cellar bar and it’s time to move on… but we’re going out with a bang!  The four acts playing could easily have a career in the music industry given the right management, money and luck.  Adam Holmes absolutely packed the Voodoo Rooms back in May and since then he’s had some rave reviews – expect good things to happen in 2012.  Blueflint are one of the most established acts in the Edinburgh acoustic scene and packed The Bongo Club for their recent CD release.  Emily Scott coincidentally had her own packed CD release at Third Door the next day and her music is a thing of wonder.  The brilliant performer Katie Forbes is a force of nature, completely engaging and not to be missed.  Alongside the music we’ll have some extra things going on as it’s Christmas and the last do.  I’m sure it will be a positive night all round for those who love to hear quality music beautifully played.”

Also on Wed 7 Dec: It’s Marie Naffah (a touring musician, so hear her while you can) performing live at the Tea Tree Cafe on Bread Street, though i don’t know what time. The internet will know, or Maria is planning to play an open slot at OOTB on Tuesday so you could find out the details from her then.

Thu 8 Dec – It ‘s a Conscious Collective Christmas party at Henry’s, here’s the blurb: Conscious Collective bringing you the another evening of diversity of arts culture from in and around the city of Edinburgh. This event we have Acoustic Roots,Africa, Latin America Celtic , Beat boxing, Hip Hop fusion bands…

CONSCIOUS COLLECTIVE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SHOW
Henry Cellar Bar 8-16a Morrison Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8BJ
Doors 7:30pm till 1am
Cost 4 pounds entry
Open Mic first hour for Rappers and Poets plus dj Miro on decks
The Conscious Route Band
Sacre Noir/Savage Sound System Ft Riddlah (UVbeats) and Werd (S.o.S)
HEAVY SPECIAL GUEST RAPPER ??????????
Dj Miro
Jugalbandi ( Celtic / Folk / Jazz)
Le Combo ( Instrumental Acoustic Roots Music)

Also Thu 8 Dec – Marie Naffah is playing at The Wee Red Bar. Again, i’m not sure of the time, not sure how much it costs to get in, that’s all i know, but she’ll be in attendance at OOTB on Tuesday so ask her then.

Also Thu 8 Dec – open mic nights are on at Walkabout at the Omni Centre, and Noble’s in Leith, as usual (as far as i know), also The Ale House has their weekly folk session.

Fri 9 Dec – The Ale House open mic night, of course, from 9:30pm in, where else but… The Ale House on Clerk Street.

Sat 10 Dec – It’s the Calypso Brown duo at The Ale House, presumably from 9pm or so. Calypso Brown is awesome by the way, as anybody will know who’s seen her perform (for example at the highly exclusive Edinburgh Unlimited gig she recently did). So why not go along?

Sun 11 Dec – well during the afternoon there’s an open mic at Bannerman’s on the Cowgate which is very welcoming: it’s called the Bannermans Acoustic Sunday Sessions and it runs most weeks between 3pm and 8pm. The address is Bannermans Bar, 212 Cowgate, edinburgh. The open mic is run by Ali Chisholm and Ritchie Beeby on alternate Sundays. Acoustic and electric guitars and percussion is provided. All musicians and instruments welcome from guitars to bagpipes,violins and beatboxers! We welcome one and all. The open mic is followed either by covers band Cranachan or on the first Sunday of the month by excellent blues band Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters. all absolutely free!

Also Sun 11 Dec – The Listening Room at The Blue Blazer from 8pm of course, open mic plus featured act, and this week the featured act is TBC! Well, there’s an act i’ve heard before and really loved, so go along and put a bit of mystery into your life.

Plus check out the latest Labelled Independent podcast (link is in the sidebar), for some interesting local independent music, and get in touch with them if you want your music to be featured, too.

Phew! Right and that’s it for this week. I’ve got just as many interesting events for your diary next week, the place is bursting with great events that everybody should switch off their TVs and come along and participate in. You only live once. Now click reply, and let me know you read this email, please. 

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

OOTB Presents…

Right. Hello.

How are you doing? Apparently it’s something called “christmas” soon, and we’ve all got to stop our regular routine and do something else for a bit. So, our final OOTB of 2011 will be Tuesday 20 December, and we’ll be back on your radar on Saturday 7 January.

“Saturday!?!” i hear you exclaim with a wild hint of disbelief in your tone, well yes, we’ll be running OOTB on SATURDAYS in 2012, INSTEAD of Tuesdays. Now aren’t you glad you’re one of the few people that actually reads these emails? What a faux pas it would be to turn up on a Tuesday in 2012 at The Montague Bar and be left high and dry like an out of date packet of crisps that had somehow got lost down the back of the fridge.

Right, now that’s out of the way let me tell you about THIS TUESDAY. It’s OOTB number 452, and our featured performer this week is Jim Bryce. I first heard Jim Bryce at the Edinburgh Songwriters’ Showcase, and he’s unique. I once saw him do a three song open mic slot, and each song he used a different instrument to accompany himself. And that’s at The Montague Bar on Tuesday 29 Nov from 8pm (or 7:30pm to sign up for an open slot), and it’s free. Now look, the slots get filled up quickly. We do usually have a few people who turn up maybe 7:40, 8pm, or later even asking for a slot. It really is first come, first served, so do be prompt to avoid disappointment. Sometimes the list is full by 7:31pm.

Now i’ve got a ton of special events to tell you about this week, and i want to draw your attention to www.outofthebedroom.co.uk as well. I often list various weekly things in this newsletter, but i don’t mention them ever week. Please do go and check out the website for previous announcements about things that happen weekly (if you get what i mean), like the stuff at the Captain’s Bar, the stuff at the Ale House, the open mics at Nobles and Walkabout etc etc. Here’s this week’s stuff though. Click the links, by the way, this email takes ages to put together every week. And come to the gigs too, you’ll enjoy them.

On Tuesday it’s OOTB featuring Jim Bryce, of course, details as above.

On Wednesday, it’s the final day of November Solo Album Month, so i’d better get that final song written for my next CD! Check out what the various participants have come up with this month.

On Friday 2 Dec, there’s a really special one off event happening at 42 Royal Park Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 8JA - it’s a “house concert”, which is something i think Edinburgh is BEHIND at catching on to, so my hat’s off to the organiser of this one, well done. House concerts are always good fun. The performers this time are Ian Sclater, Kat McKenzie and Cloudland Blue Quartet. You’ll have heard all of them at OOTB (as well as The Listening Room, Secret CDs and Edinburgh Unlimited), and they’re all very good. Plus they’ll be performing a specially prepared set together as well as doing their own material. It’s at 8pm (Doors 7:30pm),  Bring Your Own Bottle, and it’s a suggested donation of £5. TO ATTEND YOU NEED TO EMAIL info@douglasinscotland.co.uk IN ADVANCE. See you there.

Also on Friday 2 Dec, it’s The Mine at Cabaret Voltaire. This month it’s Meursault, plus mystery guests. All this for £6 plus booking fee.

On Saturday 3 Dec, the Ale House on Clerk Street have got Jack Badcock & Roddy Johnston performing live, probably from 9pm (that’s a guess, but an informed one). And it’ll be free.

On Sunday 4 Dec, in the AFTERNOON (3pm start) it’s a FREE gig at The Jazz Bar on Chambers Street. There are three acts, and at the end there’ll be a bit of a jam session. The three acts are Reubam, Erin Todd, and Calum Carlyle.

On the evening of Sunday 4 Dec, it’s The Listening Room featuring Dave Keir. He’s fairly new on the Edinburgh scene, but he’s blisteringly good both as a songwriter and musician, so don’t miss this. I’m serious. It’s free FFS! And that’s at 8pm at The Blue Blazer on Spittal Street on Sunday 4 Dec. By the way those of us who attended The Listening Room last night for Darcy DaSilva‘s set were thoroughly enchanted. If you weren’t there you missed an incredibly good performance. Difficult for me to believe music this good is free admission these days.

Ironically i just realised i’ll have to miss Dave Keir‘s set myself, because i’m playing a gig in Glasgow that clashes. But you guys aren’t so there’s no excuse for not going along! (unless you live in Glasgow, in which case i hope to see you there!)

And that’s it for this week. Clear your calendar and get yourself along to all these gigs. You only get one life to live! And i’ve got a ton of stuff for you next week too, and the week after, so get prepared. ALSO, tell all your friends. Your friends like good live music, too you know, why not combine it with whatever christmas outings you’ve got planned?

And the other thing is, if you remember, please mention that you heard about these gigs from www.outofthebedroom.co.uk when you go along to these things. The more connected we can make this scene, the better it will be for everybody concerned, and the more quality music we can offer you all. It depends on the audiences though, and this means YOU.

Okay, see you out there in musicland!
 

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

Well, this week’s featured act practically needs no introduction, it’s Matt Norris! Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Matt Norris as a solo act! As far as i know it’ll be a moonless night this Tuesday at The Montague Bar (from 8pm, or 7:30pm to sign up for one of the open slots), so it should be very special indeed. Open slots as usual, silver bag of dreams, how could you live with yourself if you missed it?

Hey before i forget, i just saw this music related article on the BBC website earlier, and thought you might want to see it. Very interesting, i thought. It’s about music and memory.

Now, remember to check out the latest Labelled Independent podcast, link on the left hand side there, and also do you remember the Hog The Stage competition last year? Where an uncountable number of real local bands compete against each other to perform at the Hogmanay street celebrations? Last year’s winner was Kitty The Lion, who thoroughly enjoyed the experience, by all accounts. Well it’s happening again this year, under the new name of Hog The Street. So go and visit the site and vote for your favourites. If you’re a performer yourself, you can enter to try and win that coveted slot this year yourself. I’m even on there (vote for me! yay!)… So yeah, a good opportunity even if it does feel like a battle of the bands.

Okay this Thursday (24 Nov), for £3 (or £2 for students), at The City Cafe, there’s a new night called Acacity, it’s a new fornightly live acoustic night in the City2 at the City Cafe on Blair Street, and on the 24th it’s the incredible Stu Goodall Band headlining with support from The Aspect and Kerrie Lynch.

ALSO on Thursday 24 Nov at The Wee Red Bar, it’s a Party For Palestine fundraiser. It’s a 7pm start, it’s £3 to get in, with all takings going to the Right To Education Campaign at Birzeit University, Palestine and food is provided by the Mosque Kitchen.  Hip hop band Master System will be performing as will i (Calum Carlyle). There will also be some dabke dancing and a traditional performance on the oud, as well as a DJ set.

You know about the Thursday night folk session at The Ale House on Clerk Street at 9pm, and the Ale House open mic on Friday at 9:30pm, and also the Captain’s Bar have got music on every night, sessions, as well as gigs. I heartily recommend checking them out though they have too many listings for me to say here.

 

Something else i wanted to tell you about is an open mic called the Bannermans Acoustic Sunday Sessions which runs most weeks between 3pm and 8pm. The address is Bannermans Bar, 212 Cowgate, Edinburgh. The open mic is run by Ali Chisholm and Ritchie Beeby on alternate Sundays. Acoustic and electric guitars and percussion is provided. All musicians and instruments welcome from guitars to bagpipes,violins and beatboxers! We welcome one and all. The open mic is followed either by covers band Cranachan or on the first Sunday of the month by excellent blues band Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters. all absolutely free!

Also on Sunday, as you know it’s The Listening Room from 8pm to 10pm in The Blue Blazer on the corner of Spittal and Bread streets. This week (Sunday 27 Nov) i want to draw particular attention to this because the featured act is Darcy DaSilva. She’s very good, and she’s from out of town, so don’t pass up this opportunity to hear her music in the intimate environs of the Blue Blazer. 

Also on Sunday 27 Nov, The Last Of Barrett’s Privateers are supporting Loch Lomond at Sneaky Pete’s at 7:30pm, not sure what the admission cost is though (it didn’t say in the FB invite, though tickets will be available on the door). 

Yeah, that’s about it. I have a ton of December stuff to tell you about but i’ll get to that in the next couple of emails, so keep reading each week. And come along to OOTB, if you don’t you’re missing all the best stuff.

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

Well, it’s OOTB 450 this week, but we feel as young as a fresh spring lamb, and this week we’re presenting the incredible Dan Gillan as the featured act! He’s deep, he’s purple (wait a minute! no he’s not, must have been some sort of spelling mistake there…), but above all, he’s a very good songwriter and performer. Not only that but you get tons of excellent performers doing floorspots as well. It’s possibly the best free night in Edinburgh at OOTB, and it’s the performers that make that happen, every single week! And that’s at The Montague Bar on St Leonards St, at 8pm (7:30pm to sign up for a floorspot) on Tuesday.

While i remember, it’s November, and this means it’s NASALMO, which is a challenge to write and record an album all in the month of November. There are two or three OOTBers doing it, so they say, though so far i think i am the only Edinburgher actually uploading my songs onto the site. Anyway, check out the songs that have been written these last two weeks, and see what you think. You can help a lot by signing up to the site and giving your feedback on the songs. Songwriters love that sort of thing. Also, if you’re a songwriter, sign up and write an album, you’ve still got two weeks, what are you waiting for?

What else to tell you? The eighth Labelled Independent podcast is now online, conveniently linked to from the sidebar there on the left hand side of this email. Check it out.

Ah, i’m always mentioning the Ale House open mic on Fridays from 9:30pm and The Listening Room at The Blue Blazer on Sundays from 8pm (featured act from 9pm), but i need to mention some others to you too. For instance on Thursday there’s an open mic in Noble’s in Leith (from 8pm possibly?), also on Thursday there’s one in Walkabout at the Omni Centre (from 9pm i think), and there’s a folk session from 9:30pm on Thursdays in the Ale House on Clerk Street too.

This week there are tons of things on of course. Here’s a free gig at Noble’s in Leith on Friday at 9pm for example. And here’s a new event at The Auld Toll on Wednesday. Sounds like a good one. Hmm, Donna Maciocia’s band are launching their new EP on Saturday. That sounds pretty good, and it’s at 7pm at Sneaky Pete’s. Please let these gigs know you heard about them from OOTB by the way, it doesn’t hurt for our name to be out there, it promotes the spread of good music around the city and not just in its own wee circles.

No review this week, which is a pity. Obviously if you fancy writing a review of an OOTB night, just come along and do it, so long as i have it in my sweaty paws by the following Sunday, then it’ll go in the email and on the website.

That’s it, see you out there in musicland!

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom

Well, we might be the first ever Edinburgh open mic night to make it into a second decade! Anyway, it’s quite appropriate that the featured act bringing us into our second decade is none other than the smooth and sophisticated Lisa Rigby! She’s a proper star, that’s all i need to really say, and if you need any further reassurance of that fact, then pop along to OOTB tomorrow (Tue 8 Nov) and judge for yourself.

It’s an 8pm start (7:30pm to sign up for one of the open slots). the open floorspots are allocated on a first come first served basis, they’re limited to three songs, fifteen minutes or less, and your performance must be entirely original material (no covers!). And that’s at the Montague Bar on the corner of Montague and St Leonards streets.

Then on Wednesday (9 Nov) it’s quite a huge edition of Edinburgh Unlimited, in Medina (now known as the Third Door), and that’s at 45 Lothian Street (near Bristo Square, next door to Negociants). It’s only two quid to get in, it’s an 8pm start (doors 8pm, music at 8:15pm), and this month the four bands are: Confushian, Supermarionation, Conscious Route, and Metaltech! Something for everyone. It’s going to be awesome, but don’t take my word for it, come along and hear for yourself.

And of course Friday is the Ale House open mic night from 9:30pm, and Sunday’s the Listening Room at The Blue Blazer from 8pm, both are free, both have open slots available, and both are guaranteed to be a boatload of musical fun and hi-jinks.

One last thing, just mentioning the Labelled Independent New Music podcast. It’s Edinburgh based, and it’s a platform to promote new original music, so have a listen! Also, if you’re a musician, maybe you could think about contacting Steve Boniface, who runs the podcast, and get yourself featured in an episode. 

That’s it, see you on Tuesday, on Wednesday, and beyond! 

Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom