Last Night From Glasgow 1st birthday

Last night in Glasgow, Last Night From Glasgow Records celebrated our first birthday bash at Stereo in the heart of the city, with performances from BooHooHoo, Medicine Men, Emme Woods and Sister John. The evening was compered by Stephen Solo, we had quality tunes from label DJ Phil Redfearn and creative director Brian Sweeney was on hand to capture the event on film. Label members shared the sense of celebration and everything came together to create an incredibly positive atmosphere. We had done it; 12-months in the bag, a treasure trove of releases and bundles to look forward to.

Was it really only on 22nd February 2016 when the 6 co-founders all met together for the first time?Was it really only March 2016 when we launched?

So much had happened in that time. And now, here we were....

The upstairs bar in Stereo was already busy when I arrived just before 6pm and it was fantastic to see a queue of people snaking down the Stereo stairs for doors opening at 7.30pm.

Picture by Brian Sweeney

Sister John were signed to the label towards the end of 2016, before we had even seen them play live. I had personally only seen them at the LNFG Xmas bash when they played cover versions. Their demos had really heightened my sense of anticipation and their live set was a joy. Swapping instruments with ease and delivering stunning 3-part harmonies. Amanda McKeown has a voice that can swoop and soar, one that can send shivers down your spine and one that can warm your heart. Come and check them out at the Old Hairdressers on Sunday 23rd April.

Picture by Brian Sweeney

Emme Woods has been with the label almost from the start, watching her develop has been a joy. A conversation with guitarist Jamie Logie revealed that Morgan (Emme) has songs pouring out of her and plans for a mini-album have changed to a full album. I think of catching Emme for the first time at our launch party last June, she had barely picked up an electric guitar before. Now her cheekier grin is even cheekier, she has a swing and swagger when she plays, her voice has grown stronger, her songs are richer, playful, soulful, imaginative and confident. Emme has 2 big showcase shows coming up in the near future at Wide Days in Edinburgh and the Great Escape in June. Watch this bird soar. Her set last night was a delight, the confidence to throw in You Really Got A Hold On Me spoke volumes and recent digital single I've Been Running was even better live, the key change to the chorus with stabbing horns was uplifting and delightful.

Picture by Brian Sweeney

Next up were Medicine Men, led by the charismatic Ian McKinnon. Opening with Show What You're Made Of set the tone for the rest of a ferociously energetic set. Sleeping With The Light On had a real groove, Bruised Peach was delivered with fire with McKinnon hammering home the fall in love again, fall in love again refrain, while Eggshells was simply stunning, a beautifully written song with a strong melody and one that just builds and builds. Set closer Out Of The Light was a triumph blending Chemical Brothers with Primal Scream, it was great to look around the room and see heads nodding approvingly. Medicine Men's debut album is officially out in May, but look out for something on Record Store Day.

Picture by Brian Sweeney

It was Boo Hoo Hoo who headlined, bringing their infectious electro art pop to Stereo and getting people dancing like it was 1989. They are armed with more hooks than Rocky, they have fun on stage and off and their album is going to rammed with glorious pop music. The bass on Mould Me almost demands a dance,  Fire was sensational and Dreams Tonight was a euphoric delight, the bit where the synth kicks in to lift the song even higher is incredible. At the end they got one of their energetic friends to come down by the stage and dance along and it just lifted the feel good atmosphere even higher.

There was just time for Stephen Solo to come on at the end to play what has become the labels anthem - Crying Because. This tender beauty was sung with heart and soul, you could have heard a pin drop and the closing refrain Love Is Everything is one that we proudly have emblazoned on the sleeve of our new LNFG t-shirts, designed by 8-year old Levon Smith.

Pic by Brendan Waters

The Christmas Effect at Mono

In 2015 my sister organised 2 very enjoyable and successful charity nights to raise funds for Scottish Women's Aid. She managed to get a load of bands and artists to play shows under the banner The Girl Effect at Summerhall in Edinburgh in May and, because that one was so successful, one in Mono in Glasgow in November. TeenCanteen and friends including Eugene Kelly, Kathryn Joseph, Duglas T Stewart, Norman Blake, Machines in Heaven, Broken Records and The Spook School came together to play covers of girl groups and raised well over £6,000 for the charity, as well as a great deal of awareness.

Carla always intended to do another, but with the release of 2 albums in 2016 through TeenCanteen and Ette, she's been kind of busy!

Not to worry, upon deciding to do something a little different - this time it would be Christmas covers and be known as The Christmas Effect - a stellar line-up was swiftly put together, with a little help from TeenCanteen label mates at Last Night From Glasgow (Mark W Georgsson, Emme Woods, BooHooHoo and Sister John) and Ette label mates from Olive Grove Records; Randolph's Leap and Mt.Doubt, Broken Records, the Cairn String Quartet and Honey and the Herbs.

All artists gave their time for free and Mono also kindly donated venue hire and sound engineer.

To be even more ambitious, the concert was recorded and will be released as a digital album! Possibly in time for Christmas.

I must say a huge thank you to all the artists, Ian at LNfG, all at Mono, Ronan and Colin from La Chunky and everyone who came. It was a brilliant night, really friendly atmosphere and great fun.

Carla (TeenCanteen and Ette) with Ian (Last Night From Glasgow) - pic by Brendan Waters

The duo behind the Christmas Effect

Here is, from memory, roughly what happened;

Things started early with doors opening at 6.45pm and it was fantastic that so many people were down in time to see the Cairn String Quartet open proceedings with classy renditions of It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas followed by seasonal number 1 for the Spice Girls - 2 Become 1. Their swooping and soaring strings gave a real sense of occasion to the whole night.

Cairn String Quartet - picture by Brendan Waters

Next up was my first live introduction to Sister John, new signings to Last Night From Glasgow. They played 2 stunning covers of songs by The Band (Christmas Must Be Tonight) and The Rolling Stones (Winter). Their harmonies were stunning and lead singer Amanda McKeown really went to town, sounding sensational, particularly on The Stones song. I really am looking forward to seeing them live in their own right.

Sister John - picture by Brendan Waters

Leo and Annie from Mt Doubt took on the classic Joy To The World by Elvis Isaac Watts and The Christmas Song by The Raveonettes. Both of them sounded incredible, Leo was deep and has a huge range, Annie was more delicate and soothing, a great combination.

Mt Doubt - picture by Brendan Waters

Mark W Georgsson was next, opening with a brave, bold and truly beautiful cover of an old German hymn How A Rose E-er Blooming. It was just Mark and his acoustic, you could have heard a pin drop, it was lovely. Mark told how he had heard it on a Sufjan Stevens Christmas album. Mark was then joined by a variety of friends including Emme Woods on double bass and members of The Bar Dogs for a brilliant country rock run through of Just Like Christmas by Low.

Mark W Georgsson - picture by Brendan Waters

Emme Woods was up next and she was in super fun form; beginning by purring her way through Santa Baby and then playing a unique version of The Doors Riders On The Storm but changing the lyrics to a Christmas theme, so it was riders on the sleigh for starters. It was great fun and everyone responded well to Emme's humour and style.

Emme Woods - Picture by Brendan Waters

BooHooHoo came on and made everyone smile with a take on Aled Jones Walking In The Air, before creating the first dance of the night and a real sing song to Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) by The Darkness complete with outrageous synth and guitar solos.

BooHooHoo - picture by Brendan Waters

Randolph's Leap bounded on to the stage complete with horns and immediately at the crowd eating out of their hand, banishing any nerves about following a Darkness cover! Adam's voice was pure and true on the Everly Brothers Christmas Eve Can Kill You. Between song banter hilariously referred to an old Christmas single by Ron Atkinson and had a few people checking google to see if this was indeed true. It was/is! There was then a beautiful song by Eels Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas.

Randolph's Leap - picture by Brendan Waters

If BooHooHoo had the first dance, Ette (following on from having their debut album in the top 5 albums of the year by Bandcamp) caused a few jigs with their cover of The Waitresses Christmas Wrapping, complete with Carla playing sax for the first time in 13-years! They followed that with a romp through Wizzard's I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day which was sensational. Chloe and Debs harmonies were absolutely gorgeous and they ended by somehow throwing in lines from Feed The World. Joe Kane on guitar was in his element in a Santa jumper, throwing in a few Pete Townsend kicks and windmills.

Ette - picture by Brendan Waters

Things were hotting up, it was turning into a game of top trumps. How to follow that? Step forward Honey and the Herbs who performed an amazing acapella version of Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire. Their harmonies were exquisite and they looked splendid in their Christmas jumpers.The audience lapped it up. The quartet donned their instruments and continued to wow the crowd with Last Christmas by Wham. It may well have been the performance of the night. They nailed it, complete with whisper, and it really highlighted what a brilliant song it is.

Honey and the Herbs - picture by Brendan Waters

Broken Records came all the way through from Edinburgh and they played an absolute blinder. The game of top trumps was well and truly on, so Broken Records played Driving Home For Christmas by Chris Rea. The 6-piece looked and sounded brilliant. For me, they are a band that look like a real gang on stage, they know how to play. Singer Jamie runs an annual Christmas Song club in Edinburgh and as they write one every year, they decided to play their favourite. Called My Beer Drunk Soul Is Sadder Than All The Dead Christmas Tree's In The World, it was another of my favourites from the night, a storming song that was Springsteen-esque in size and delivery. The passion conjured up on stage was admirable as there was no sound check and each band was only allowed 2 songs.

Broken Records - pic by Brendan Waters

So yeah top trumps? Well TeenCanteen had a helping hand in the shape of the Cairn String Quartet, Lizzie from BooHooHoo and Eugene Kelly from The Vaselines joining them on stage! A huge thanks to everyone led to Mariah Carey's I Don't Want A Lot For Christmas which sparked a lot of dancing and singing a-long. They then trumped themselves when Carla and Eugene duetted on The Pogue's Fairytale Of New York, it was the perfect song to end the live performances.

Ticket sales, a raffle and the Ebay sale of the last ever gatefold vinyl copy of TeenCanteen's debut album (which raised a sensational £260 - Tigermilk II?) ensure that the final total raised is looking like £3,100 to be split between Scottish Women's Aid and the Scottish Refugee Council.

Thanks to all for a very memorable night. Same time next year?

We'll hopefully get the live album out soon but in the meantime here is a playlist with most of the songs.

Citz Sessions

The Citizens Theatre is a beautiful venue in the Southside of Glasgow, just a short walk from the centre. The magnificent Victorian Theatre is looking to start putting on live music (and also to raise funds for the Theatre Redevelopment Fund), so decided to ask a few people to curate some special nights under the banner of The Citz Sessions.

The first night was curated by Ann McDonald from The Shop Assistants, although Ian Smith, my friend and co-founder of Last Night From Glasgow, was also involved. This delivered a brilliantly eclectic line-up.

As Ian had a front row seat I thought I would ask him to write a blog on Friday night at the Citizens.

Citz Sessions - curated by Ann McDonald of The Shop Assistant

Guest blog by Ian Smith

So on Friday Night I attended the first of 3 Citz Sessions concerts, specially curated events run to raise funds for the Citzens Theatre Redevelopment Fund. 

The evening began with 4 songs from Annie Booth, Annie spends some of her time as a member of the fabulous Edinburgh band Mt. Doubt. Those who know me, will know Ive been raving about their debut album all year. I'm also a big fan of Annie, her songwriting talents belie her years, part Sandy Denny part Christine McVie - both fragile and commanding at once. She walks that dreadfully tricky line where contemporary folk meets traditional, her voice demands complete silence and the audience duly oblige - its a stunning start to what will prove to be a genuinely wonderful evening of music.

Next up is Fennela (Mairi Fennela Whittle to be exact). Mairi is the daughter of a good friend of mine and is a classically trained musician, who truly understands the voice as a musical instrument. She begins with a frankly staggering rendition of My Funny Valentine, her effortless jazz stylings bring comparisons with Billie Holiday and  Cleo Laine, it is however - in my opinion - when she drags us into the darker world of her songwriting that she truly shines, her closing track I Will Not Win much more Martha Wainwright or Sharon Van Etten than anything that came before - its a change of style from much of her set but as the chap behind me in the audience said "that was worth the entrance fee alone"

Third up - our very own - Emme Woods, Emme brought a full entourage - Barry James O'Neil (Kassiday) on Keyboards and Vocals, Neil McKenzie on Trumpet and TTV's very own Jamie Logie on Guitar. The band looked dashing suited and booted to compliment the sophisticated surroundings. Emme (Morgan) was on fine form, the change in this artist over the 10 months that I have known her is staggering. She is now a commanding front woman with a voice to die for. In Barry she has found a perfect foil both as a songwriter and as a performer, they wrap around each other beautifully and the added colour provided by Neil and Jamie turned the Citizens into a David Lynchesque Desert soundscape for 20 minutes. Their cover of God Only Knows was a particular highlight and brought some shade to what was otherwise the heaviest set of the evening.

View from the front for Emme Woods

A small break for the bar was next before we were treated to the occasionally bewildering but always delightful world of Frances McKee. Referencing a song from Sex with an Ex and the presence of Eugene Kelly in the audience, she quashed our curiosity "Never - only ever professional" "I shagged everyone else in the band though" she said before "Only Joking".

No performance from Frances would be complete without the odd forgetten lyric or misplaced note but that has always added to the charm for me. She remains one of the City's if not Country's most important song writers full stop.

Now came what I personally had been waiting for. When asked to get involved with this event I pitched an idea that would see all the acts performing with only a grand piano, clearly this was not to everyone's liking but to my absolute delight TeenCanteen grabbed the opportunity and took the stage adorned in black. It was a nice, if cruel touch to put Debs (so used to hiding behind the drums) front and centre. We were treated to reworking of several TeenCanteen classics (yes you can say classics after only a few months) and a Shop Assistants Cover Version. The opening - Sirens - has been one of my favourite songs for over 2 years now but on Friday night, it took on a whole new life as Carla's lead vocals wove in and out of the frankly heartbreaking accompaniment provided by Sita, Debs and Chloe. Kung Fu Heartbeats - just four vocals, handclaps and finger snaps was another highlight from a cracking night in a wonderful venue.

TeenCanteen - harmonies and a Grand Piano

Another very short break before the final act, I have to say I was both excited and fearful of what Clare Grogan and Altered Images might turn out to be. The new band, a three piece all girl combo were tight and funky as hell and Clare's vocals were heard long before she was seen, it took a loud Wegie "I'm behind you" for the audience to turn around and see our local Diva atop a chair and reclining in a Marlene Dietrich stylie. She reached the stage and delighted us with a stripped back, lively and note perfect journey through early 80's pop. I Could Be Happy and Happy Birthday were unbridled joy but it was Don't Talk To Me About Love that reminded the audience of what a talent she was and on this performance still is.

Claire Grogan captured in full flight

Introducing - Emme Woods

Photo by Brian Sweeney

Please meet Emme Woods, a 21-year old singer and songwriter who releases her debut 7-inch via Last Night From Glasgow Records tomorrow (Monday 25th July) when she also headlines King Tut's Wah Wah Hut as part of Summer Nights.

Emme used to perform under the guise of Something, Someone - a folky, rootsy and acoustic style won her a number of plaudits and fans. Things changed earlier on in 2016 when Emme bought her first electric guitar.

In came a slow, raw and bluesy style. Emme sent her first recording in this style to Ian Smith, just around the time we had set up Last Night From Glasgow. I think we were on our second or third meeting. 

Ian pressed play and the 6 of us sat round in silence, staring into space or at the speakers, enjoying the raw guitar sound, the slow and unrushed pace of the song and Emme's stunning vocals.

There was a moment of silence before Ian asked everyone for their thoughts. PJ Harvey was mentioned a couple of times before it was swiftly decided that this would be the second release on our fledgling label.

Rather a lot has happened since we launched the label at the end of March. One incredible thing (mentioned in my last label blog about Mark W Georgsson) is that acclaimed Scottish photographer Brian Sweeney is on board as Artistic Director!

Brian shot the beautiful cover for the 7-inch record (artwork above) and also the promo film below.

The black and white film fits the song perfectly and I think that when you watch it, the film enhances the song as they work so well together; Emme looks like a film star, its cinematic, sexy, edgy and evocative. As is the song.

Emme has bags of ability and is also full of ideas, I love the fact that she is exploring new sounds and wants to collaborate with others.  I look forward to watching her develop and to hear what she comes up with and I hope we can release something else on Last Night From Glasgow in the future.

I caught up with Emme for a quick online chat ahead of her Tut's show tomorrow.

EF -Has the move to electric guitar changed your writing style?

EW - It has a bit, it's kinda free'd me up to experiment more and to go a bit more mental. My playing style has transferred over to electric but has changed because some of the sounds you can get out of an acoustic are a bit different to the sounds on electric, but I'm feeling it.

EF - What do you hope to do/achieve over the next year or so? Are you writing with anyone?

EW - I'm still writing by myself a lot but I've recently started writing with an amazing musician and songwriter; Barrie James O'Neill. I've not long moved into a new house, it is a beautiful old Victorian house and the living room is amazing. It has great acoustics and a piano, so I just invite Barrie over and we write there. With the great space and me and Barrie bouncing ideas off each other it just feels such a creative space.

Over the next year I'm working towards getting an album out. Some tunes are coming together really nicely so I'm getting quite excited to hit the studio soon.

Last Night From Glasgow Records launch

Stephen Solo captivating the LNFG launch crowd

Well..... I’m not quite sure what I was expecting or hoping for from the launch party of Last Night From Glasgow Records last night, but I’ve been buzzing all day and I really don’t think it could have gone any better.

You can read my blog from March on co-founding the label. Rather a lot has happened since then!

Our first four releases are sorted;

Mark W Georgsson (and friends) - The Ballad of the Nearly Man, AA-sided 7-inch single

Emme Woods - I Don’t Drink To Forget, 7-inch single

Stephen Solo - Pii, USB credit card album

TeenCanteen - Say It All With A Kiss, album

We also have acclaimed Scottish photographer Brian Sweeney on board as artistic director. Brian has shot the cover art for the first two releases and is currently editing videos. I’ll be blogging about both as soon as they are ready for release.

We have also surpassed our target of 100 members! We were going to cap it at 100, but the interest levels are high so we’ll review at 125, but will definitely cap at 150 for management and admin purposes!

Alan Morrison also wrote a lovely piece on the label HERE

But on to last night....

Doors were at half seven on a scorching day in Glasgow. Entry was free, invite only, I did wonder if people would just go to a beer garden or a park, but no, at 7.45pm people started to trickle into the brilliant loft space up the stairs in the Old Hairdressers and we were on.

One of the many magical things about last night was the fact that so many people came on their own. It was a members only night (with the odd guestlist place for friends of the artists). We could manage a few plus ones, but couldn’t accommodate one for every member.

This created a great atmosphere. People were introduced to each other, talked about how they found out about the label, where they were from, their taste in music. It was lovely to watch and be part of.

One girl Kerry told me that she had felt disconnected from the music scene since becoming a Mum almost 3-years ago and joining the label had made her feel part of it again. The six of us who formed the label naturally roped in some friends at first to get things going, but now it is purely organic and growing by word of mouth. So it was brilliant meeting people we had only previously spoken with online and hearing them talk so enthusiastically about our idea and venture.

Ian, Ross, me, Joe, Andy and Stephen - the ‘board’ of LNFG Records 

The six of us, Ian, Ross, Stephen (not solo), Andy, Joe and I got up at the start to thank everyone for their faith in us and our idea for the label and then it was on with the show.

Stephen Solo was on first. I’ve known Stephen for 7-years and I had never seen him so nervous. We’re releasing (not officially until August but you can buy it now) an album he recorded on his iPhone6 called Pii. Stephen pretty much made it up as he went along and never intended for it to be released, let alone played live.

So Stephen introduced himself and his worries about his performance. He then promptly sent jaws dropping and spines tingling all over the room with a truly stunning 5-song set. The crowd responded warmly and Stephen delivered.

There were many brilliant moments from last night, but one that will live long in the memory was Stephen’s performance of Crying Because (Love Is Everything) which was utterly gorgeous. Backed only by a ukelele and a little bit of effect on his voice, Stephen produced a moment of emotional genius.

Watching people congratulate Stephen afterwards warmed my heart. Hearing that someone told Stephen’s wife Hayley that the £50 membership for the label was worth it just for that performance was incredible.

You can watch the homemade video (also recorded on his iPhone6) below and order his astonishing album on a supercool USB credit card HERE

So I mentioned there were many brilliant moments from last night. Another one was the fact that no-one spoke during songs! Maybe the odd whisper, but you could listen to and enjoy the artists! I’m amazed at going to gigs where people constantly talk through a show.

Next up was young Emme Woods who used to release under the guise of Something, Someone until she recently bought an electric guitar and sent us her first demos.

Morgan (Emme) played her first set with an electric guitar and cleverly created little riffs which she looped to create grooves, delivering a beautiful heartfelt set that again gathered a great response.

Morgan had the confidence to play a song that she had only just written and she also delivered an ABBA cover version (SOS), stripping it back to the bare bones to let you hear the dark lyrics beneath the shiny pop song.

Morgan’s single will be out in July before her headline show at King Tut’s on July 25th.

Cover art for Emme Woods debut single

Headlining the show was Mark W Georgsson, our first release OUT TODAY

Prior to Mark coming on, I had the pleasure to say a few words to thank Brian Sweeney who then premiered the video to accompany the single. It is beautiful and I’ll be blogging on the single and the video as soon as it is ready.

Brian also said a few words; highlighting how the label is encouraging artists and creativity. It is a genuine pleasure to have him on board.

Mark had pulled together a 6-piece band to back him. Their soundcheck was wonderful, the band were shit hot and could jam away no problem, creating a brilliant loose country vibe.

Mark and friends in soundcheck

Tino, Michael and Robbie from The Bar Dogs, Richard and Dave from The Strange Blue Dreams and the gorgeous Katie McArthur to duet on the single.

They looked the part, a double bass for some songs, a violin, Mark and Tino interacting superbly on guitars. And they sounded the part, delivering a set that ranged from beautifully sparse ballads to blistering country rock, with the odd Americana gem in between.

And then there was time for everyone to mingle and chat some more. The support and feedback about the label and the night was pretty mind-blowing.

Stay tuned!