OOTB – Counting The Days….
Not long now, i bet you’re all counting the days… That’s right, it’s only four weeks till OOTB starts again! 🙂 Our “welcome back” evening will be at the Montague, on the corner of St Leonard’s and Montague Street, on Tuesday 18th January, and then on Tuesday 25th January, we’re having a Burns Night special, so in addition to doing your own original material, you’re encouraged to do a song (or poem) by Robert Burns! I don’t think we’ll be having haggis, but you never know, certainly whisky will be available!
Next thing I’m going to plug is Edinburgh Unplugged. It’s a monthly showcase (happening on the second Wednesday of every month) of acoustic music, four bands per month, for an all time low cost of only £2 and the first one is on Wednesday 12th January (which is the week before OOTB starts again), and it’s in the downstairs bar of the Royal Oak on Infirmary Street. Edinburgh Unplugged’s not directly related to OOTB, but it has been inspired by OOTB, i just wanted to put on a regular evening which showcases some of Edinburgh’s best music, in an acoustic setting. The first one on 12th January stars Lorraine McCauley and the Borderlands, Hannah Werdmuller, Paper Truth and Atomic Pigeon. Please join the FB group to keep updated of future Edinburgh Unplugged events.
Speaking of Lorraine McCauley and the Borderlands, they’re playing tonight (21 Dec) at Rosslyn Chapel in Roslin. I’ve been assured this gig is going ahead, but wrap up warmly if you’re going. Also performing are the Forest Choir, John Langan and Souriba Kanoute from Senegal. It’s actually sold out, so i suppose there’s not a lot of point me mentioning it, except to say i’m really looking forward to it, and hopefully i’ll see some of you there (if you bought your tickets before it sold out!)
And before i forget, i hope you’re having a good winter solstice, and i hope you all got up at 3am to see the lunar eclipse. I saw it on the TV this morning actually, which was good enough for me to be honest! So, from now on the days are getting longer, and it’ll be summer before you know it.
Right, one more thing before i get onto the events. Some of you may remember an excellent OOTB regular from the Canon’s Gait days called Ben Young. For the second year running, he has been writing one song every day for the whole month of December! You can hear his songs at www.atheistadvent.com. Remember to check back at the end of December too, because he’ll have one more song every day till then. And do give him some feedback on his songs as well.
Okay, it’s winding down a bit on the events front, probably due to the festive season, but also due, no doubt, to the weather situation. Here are a few things which are happening though:
Tomorrow (Weds 22 Dec) at the Captain’s Bar on South College Street, from 6pm it’s an event called “Havers and Blethers“, which will feature short performance readings from authors Gavin Inglis, Andrew Ferguson, Andrew Wilson, Rosie Bell, Colin Baptie, Morgan Downie, Juliet Wilson and Kirsty Jacqueline Lingard. It’s a 6pm start, then at 8pm there’s a music session with Nuala Kennedy and Cammy Robson. Free entry and the atmosphere in the Captain’s Bar is great.
On Thursday 23 Dec, at the Pleasance Bar at 8pm, it’s Martin Boland’s CD launch. Brave the frozen wilds for that if you dare!
That’s pretty much it for now. The Listening Room has closed down for the next couple of weeks, so it won’t be happening on Sunday, but i think the Espionage open mic on Sunday is still on, and the open mic at the Captain’s Bar on Monday is definitely still on (at 8pm). I’m pretty certain the McEwan’s Ale House open mic is still on this Friday from 9pm as well.
So, have a good Christmas, or whatever holiday you may be celebrating this week and i’ll see you in your inbox next week, with one or two (but probably not many) event updates.
Calum Carlyle
Out of the Bedroom