Little fire

Hello folks, I was of course quite disappointed to be faced with the Brexit news recently, something I am passionately against.

I’m not really one for politicking but when music and culture come in to play I think it’s important to take these things into account.

Music and culture should always transcend borders and supercede politics therefore we should always protect the creative industries and culture itself.

There’s a really interesting event taking place this Saturday at the Harbour Arts Centre in Irvine. Songs Unseen is bringing songs from renowned Broadway and West End legends Bill Russell and Janet Hood and Stiles and Drew alongside new works from emerging theatre songwriters. It really does look like a special night. Well worth heading along to. Ayrshire trio The Belafonte have announced a few gigs in promotion of upcoming releases including new single Olive Branch which will see the band join The Hostiles at their new album launch at Crumbs ‘ n’ Cocktails in Ayr on Friday, July 15, ably joined by Polar Bears in Purgatory and Maxwell’s Dead.

I’ve had a preview listen to their new EP Warm Bones and it’s growing very quickly on me. It’s obvious to me that the band are really going to go places. Their dischordant, edgy, riff heavy rock is certainly catchy and I’m a big fan of their lyrics.

Josh from the band told me : “Warm Bones showcases the direction we are going in and we’re really looking forward to sharing it with everyone.”

The Belafonte will then be joining Hawthorne Heights at the Classic Grand in Glasgow on August 9 to celebrate the launch of Warm Bones which is released on July 29.

I hear that the Scottish Airshow are still looking for entries for their music competition to find The song for the Scottish Airshow with entrants being asked to write and record a song around the theme of flight.

There’s a £ 500 prize up for grabs and the winner will also receive the opportunity to record the song at a top studio in Glasgow in addition to being invited to perform at the Airshow at the Low Green Ayr on Friday, September 2 and Saturday, September 3.

It doesn’t have to be the finest recording ever but get your song down however you can and send it over for the judges ( I’m one of them) to listen to your song and it could be you who wins and finds yourself both performing at the Airshow and £ 500 better off. Not bad! Upload your entries to www. soundcloud. com and email the link to cal. reid@ tsia. scot

Prestfest will return again this year, the massively popular weekend festival taking place all over Prestwick will run from Friday, July 29 to Sunday, July 31. It’s a resoundingly successful community event which I’ve had the pleasure of both playing at and heading along to over the years and it’s just simply great fun. There’s something about music festivals and events which have this real authenticity to them and it’s always fantastic to see them so ably supported by the community and Prestfest is a shining example of that. Until next week, @ LittleFire