West Coast memories float author Fiona’s boat
Martin Barre, Jethro Tull’s guitarist of 43 years, will light up the Backstage Bar at the Green Hotel, Kinross on April 9.
The incredible sound of Jethro Tull’s famous ‘Aqualung’ is in large measure down to Barre’s guitar work.
The rock band’s album sales have exceeded 60 million units and they continue to be played worldwide.
Only a handful of other British band from the ‘70s era continuing to produce successful music, making Jethro Tull more than just a part of classic rock history.
As well as numerous Jethro Tull albums, Martin has worked with many other artists including Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Gary Moore, Jo Bonamassa and Chris Thompson.
Add to that, he’s shared a stage with such legends as Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and it’s easy to see why tickets for a night experiencing the master guitarist are a fine thing to get hold of.
He breaks out his guitar at the Kinross rock venue on Monday, April 9 at 8pm.
Tickets cost £35 from www. mundellmusic.com Dunkeld-based author Fiona Valpy’s latest release has become a best-seller in its first month of publication.
‘Sea of Memories’, a family saga set in Scotland and France, spans the years from World War II to the present day.
In it, 17-year-old Ella is sent to spend the summer with her ailing grandmother on the beautiful Île de Ré.
But the happy vacation happens on the eve of the declaration of war across Europe.
The carefree teen is forced to return to Scotland, where she volunteers for the war effort and life becomes very different.
To Fiona’s delight, the story which draws inspiration from her granny’s war years, has reached the position of number 1 best-selling literary saga on the Amazon Kindle charts.
“I am particularly delighted that Sea of Memories has been so well received as it was inspired, in part, by my grandmother’s reminiscences of Scotland during the war years.
The book is dedicated to her memory,” said Fiona.
Research work is an essential part of the writing process, and Sea of Memories saw Fiona visit Arisaig on Scotland’s West Coast, where Special Operations Executive (SEO) commandos trained for secret wartime missions.
“I always go to places I write about, it helps me transport the reader there when I can describe the smell, sometimes even the taste, of a place.”
As well as getting hold of it online, the book is available in hard copy at the shop in Birnam Arts.
The three titles already out were written during the seven years that she lived in France, but now Perthshire is Fiona’s writing retreat.
“This is a busy year for me,” she told the PA. “Not only has Sea of Memories gone down well, but I have another book, ‘The Beekeeper’s Promise’, about the French Resistance, coming out in May.”
Fiona explained that although set in occupied France, this book is set beside a river, and living on the banks of the Tay in Dunkeld influenced that choice.
“I’m so lucky to live here, feeling the river close by helped me describe the experience of the watermill that features in The Beekeeper’s Promise.”
Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre will be in Kinross on April 9
‘Sea of Memories’, a family saga set in Scotland and France, spans the years from World War II to the present day