Hands up, anyone anightandbrought

Around the corner, around the world

As we hoped, Saturday’s 21st Scottish Music Awards (SMAS) went down a storm.

Held at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket, it was the hottest ticket in town and attendees and artists had an absolute ball.

And it raised nearly £100,000 in donations for the music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins in Scotland.

To say I was delighted would be putting it mildly. As originator and long-standing Nordoff Robbins Scotland (NRS) chairman, I was brimming with pride that the awards have stood the test of time.

They have grown in stature over the past two decades to become Scotland’s foremost music awards, supported and recognised as such by our nation’s ever-growing music industry.

More importantly, the SMAS have helped bring to prominence the life-changing benefits of music therapy and over the years provided vital funding for NRS so they can continue to provide their crucial services.

As someone who isn’t shy about coming forward, I must admit to feeling a wee bit nervous at the beginning of the evening. For some strange reason this particular event has always have given me the pre-match jitters.

It may because I’m so involved and care so passionately about the charity and don’t want to let them down.

But the nerves quickly disappeared once I had charged up the red carpet and on to the stage to ask – sorry, demand – that everyone in the packed hall be seated so I could officially start the night’s proceedings.

Any concerns I may have had of the night’s billing, timings, the sound and light production, catering, the raffle and auction, table pricing, monies raised and, of course, the well-refreshed audience’s reaction to the proceedings, all quickly evaporated.

It was another memorable, barnstorming night of live music, fun and fundraising, expertly hosted and marshalled by DJ and TV presenter Edith Bowman. Featuring stunning live