Gig marks traditional music milestone

The 50th anniversary of the Traditional Music and Song Association (TMSA) is being marked with a special homecoming concert this weekend at Blairgowrie Town Hall.

The Back to Blairgowrie concert on Saturday night will celebrate the formation of the association - which came about following the success of the inaugural Blairgowrie Folk Festival in 1966.

The TMSA was set up to continue running the event as well as to promote, present and preserve the traditional music and song heritage of Scotland, and is now the country’s oldest individual membership organisation associated with traditional music and song.

This one-off ‘Back to Blairgowrie’ concert features a selection of the people who have made and make the TMSA what it is today, including talented singers and musicians Archie Fisher, Joe Aitken, Sheena Wellington, Kenny Hadden, Davey Stewart, Doris Rougvie, Aileen Carr, Pete Shepheard, Gillian Frame and Simon Thoumire.

Many of the performers come from the local area and were involved in the Blairgowrie and successor festivals in Kinross and Kirriemuir - where the Angus branch of the TMSA still runs a festival every first week in September - while others represent the progression of the traditional music and song.

A spokesperson for the TMSA said that everyone was welcome to come along and celebrate the association’s birthday back where it all began.

Back to Blairgowrie is at 7.30pm on Saturday, August 27 in Blairgowrie Town Hall.

Tickets cost £10 (£8 for TMSA members) and are available from Mitchell’s Newsagents on the High Street in Blairgowrie. Some tickets may be available on the door.

For more details or to book go to www.tmsa.org.uk.

This concert is supported in memory of Ian (Jock) Hunter.