James sings 500 years of history

A Castlemilk singersongwriter is to get to the heart of one of Scotland’s biggest towns.

James Grant, best known as the frontman of pop band Love and Money, is putting the finishing touches to a new project ‘Paisley: The Untold Story’.

The one-off show will be performed as part of the Spree festival at Paisley Abbey on Saturday, October 21.

It will touch on everything from the musical connections around the Paisley pattern to the work of playwright John Byrne and the songs of Gerry Rafferty, among a host of others.

James, whose dad still lives in Castlemilk , explained: “When I was approached my initial response was that they maybe wanted a folk singer because of the whole Tannahill Weavers and Robert Tannahill history that’s there.

“But I was told they were interested in a more contemporary look so the starting point for me was the significance of the Paisley pattern and rock’n’roll.

“You had the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks and all these other bands wearing it.

“It was a good artistic bedrock for the original idea of the show, something to go on from a contemporary basis.”

The rest of the show will draw from various parts of the area’s history.

James said: “There’s been a lot of other things to pull together.

“One of the centrepieces is a piece of music that was found in a late 1980s excavation at the Abbey that turned out to date from the 15th century.

“I was asked to compose something around that and it’s not just a piece of music, it’s a piece of history.

“It’d be the equivalent of someone doing something with my music 500 years from now so it’s a mindblowing concept.

“It’s really beautiful. There’s a change in the middle that makes it quite unusual.

“Then there’s going to be a montage of things from ‘Cuttin a Rug’ by John Byrne, there will be a couple of songs from Gerry Rafferty and a couple from Donald MacIntyre, the Paisley bard.”

James would love to see Paisley awarded City of Culture title for 2021, which it is currently in the running for.

“It’s such an interesting place historically,” he said.

“When I delved into it all I spent a fair bit of time at the library and there’s an incredible amount of passion for the town.”

The show will take place at 8.30pm.

Visit www.thespree. co.uk/events for more information.

It’s a mind-blowing concept