Dick Gaughan Milngavie folk club March 2014

The folk club was busy for Gaughan’s return gig here with both young and older fans. He prefers to stand tall with his guitar as he plays and sings.  

Dick Gaughan is a Scottish traditional folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He sings of Scottish heroes and of stories of our lost past and long forgotten voices.  Gaughan has been playing the circuits both at home and abroad for many years now and he is a legend among folk circles. He is also one of the most down-to-earth and likeable artists without pretensions of any kind.  

He sang songs by Brian McNeill, Robert Burns, Ewan McColl and Gaughan - What You Do With What you've Got, Yew Tree, Outlaws and Dreamers, No God and Few Heroes, Whatever Happened to We Shall Overcome, and the outstanding Burns song Westlin Winds.

 
He prefers to learn from the generations before that have all the knowledge. ‘If you're lucky you can add a wee bit'   He said, 'I don't go for autobiographical songs, there's more interesting topics than me.’ He took traditional folk stories and songs from the library archives and put new melodies to them and he draws from both the Irish and Scottish folk traditions. He also spoke of legend songwriter Yip Harburg who wrote Over the Rainbow and Finnegan's Rainbow (who found a pot of gold and it destroyed him)     

His songs can seem hard hitting but are also full of thoughtful optimistic themes. Like American folk singer Dylan his songs and voice don't come easily to the shore and they tell of straight talking stories. He is also a stand out guitarist and plays with a unique style with open chords and dramatic timing that he learnt from guitarist Davy Graham. 

I first heard Gaughan play in the 70s in Edinburgh when I was dating a folk guitarist who raved about how incredible and very distinctive his playing was. Many years later I heard Dick again at Milngavie Folk club in 2007 and this was an intimate gig where his chat between songs was worth going for alone. 

One of the great troubadours of life's journeys. You come away from his gigs questioning but ultimately renewed in the faith of our shared humanity. He sang, 'Keep your eyes on the road ahead, Keep looking at the light.... '

At this gig I thought - music is not about how good an artist might feel about their music but rather how much joy they can give their audience.  

Gaughan was well supported by guitarists Robin Miller, and Mike Simons. 

Robin Miller

Its' not just what you're born with, but what you do with what you've got.
What's the use of two strong legs, if you only run away.
And what use is the finest voice if you've nothing good to say?
What's the use of two good ears, if you don't hear those you love.
Words &  Music by Si Kahn

He sang not of resolutions but of holding on to your vision. Gaughan was warmly received and seemed to enjoy the gig. I felt that his substance, refreshing honesty and questioning words must have impacted on the younger members of the audience and on the older ones too!  Dick Gaughan Photo gallery - http://pkimage.co.uk/dickgaughan

Your Disco Needs You – NEW SCOTTISH Musical Needs Your Help!

Your Disco Needs You – The Musical will be showcased in October to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the Mitchell Theatre Glasgow to raise funds and awareness of breast cancer issues.
It uses the songs of Kylie Minogue to tell a great story of five women coming together in a dance class to help save it from closure.

Grace, who runs DanzGraceful, decides to enter a dance competition, which has a prize that could save her business and help the community. She puts out the ad: “Your Disco Needs You” in a local paper in an attempt to attract new members, help revitalise class numbers and bring new ideas. Along comes: Sophie who lacks confidence because of her alcoholic husband and inability to find new work; Immy who is going through treatment for breast cancer but has a loving husband who supports her in everything she does even if he doesn’t always agree with it. Immy is also instrumental in bringing her fellow patients from their clinic’s exercise class to DanzGraceful to spice it up with the hula hooping and pole-dancing; Rosie is introduced after an argument with her partner that ends their relationship. A strong woman, she sees the class as an opportunity to find a new girlfriend; Jan is bored with the boyfriend she has been with since school and also finds new love at the dance studios.

The musical brings these characters together as they help change and support each other.
You don’t have to be a fan of Kylie to enjoy this musical. The songs seamlessly tell the story and will have you tapping along to the beat. Your Disco Needs You is a heart-warming story with laughter, song, dance, tears and a great feel good ending.

The musical was written by Neet Neilson a breast cancer survivor. Neet exercised through her treatments and continues to and felt that exercise through treatment helped her feel normal and recover well. It also helped keep the fatigue at bay.  There is plenty evidence from research validating the importance of exercise but this message isn’t reaching the patients.  Neet wrote the musical to help highlight this issue.  

Auditions in May!  As the musical has a breast cancer theme to it the production will also be inviting patients and survivors to audition for cast and chorus. The musical also has on board the amazing Tim Noble, Kylie’s choreographer, to ensure the dances have that Kylie-esque feel to them and is aiming to get five celebrities [one for each performance] to play a small guest part in the final scene. Keep checking the Your Disco Needs You website for details: www.ydny-musical.com

The musical will be staged at the Mitchell Theatre on the 24-26th October 2014.
 CrowdFunding!  PLEASE SUPPORT!
The production is currently crowd funding to raise the costs for the production so all the profit from ticket sales goes to the three cancer charities chosen: Macmillan Cancer, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the MBrace exercise project run in NHSGG&C. Macmillan Information Services will be on hand at every performance should anyone require advice and a Breast Cancer Specialist Nurse from the MBrace Exercise Project will also be present.  A breast self check will also be performed [on plastic boobs] at the interval.  

The project really needs your help to fund this very special event.  Even a small contribution and sharing the link to others will help. YOUR PROJECT NEEDS YOU!
http://igg.me/at/ydny-musical/x/6644365

Hot Guys!

theo hutchcraft

rory sutherland

jamie sutherland

Paolo Giordano Italian writer and physicist

Over the years shooting I have taken photos of some hot guys!  My gallery of hot guys! on my photo website has had by miles the highest number of hits! I wonder why!  http://pkimage.co.uk/hotguys

Most photographers are male and they enjoy shooting females, so its the other way round for me and I enjoy shooting good looking men,  as one of the few female photographers and being used to the male scrum at some shoots!   

McCartney’s Songs

He writes enduring songs that capture with their simplicity.

I am not sure why I’ve not done a blog on Paul when he wrote some of my top ever songs

My small cassette playlists back in the days used to start with his piano songs - The Long and Winding Road and Let It Be.

More than any other songwriter his songs speak of the heart. He has written some of the most loved and best ever real and poignant melodies. I’m a big fan anyway of piano singer songwriters as I play myself and McCartney comes top of my list. I feel quite emotional even thinking about what Paul’s songs mean for me. His writing with John Lennon became a dynamic partnership and their rivalry spurred them on to greater heights.

McCartney’s notable songs with the Beatles are Yesterday (most covered sons ever),  Another Day, Blackbird, Eleanor Rigby (mostly written by Paul) and Hey Jude. As well as other songs I love - plus his co-writes with John Lennon when they played together with the Beatles.  

McCartney's Songs

Blackbird (1968) - McCartney explained,  Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road, 2005, that the guitar accompaniment for "Blackbird" was inspired by J.S.Bach’s Bouree in E minor, a well known lute piece, often played on the classical guitar.

Long and Winding Road (1969 ) – Some claim was written about his drive to Mull,  Paul said was about the dissolution of The Beatles. .

Let It Be (1969)  - In a dream Paul’s mother spoke to him. 'Mother Mary come to me, singing words of wisdom let it be.' 

Hey Jude (1968) – Paul wrote about Lennon’s song Julian.

Yesterday – Most covered song ever. Paul woke with the simple melody in his head - at first the lyrics were Scrambled eggs! 

Live at Hampden!. I saw McCartney live in Glasgow at Hampden in June 2010 and it was a truly wonderful concert and memory....  his coming on stage and thinking what his songs mean for me.  All those memories of those unforgettable songs that meant so much in my youth. When you’ve been a fan of someone since your teens it’s not easy to describe the thrill to see him live. My Review here -   http://www.musicfootnotes.com/paul-mccartney-hampden-glasgow

His collaborations include most famously the Lennon/ McCartney songs written during The Beatles few years of fame. 

"He provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the dischords, the bluesy notes", John Lennon explained in his 1980 Playboy interviews.

Lennon and McCartney agreed together in their teens that all their songs would have co-written credits. Clearly early on they realized the sparks they both brought to each others writing. It is slightly hard therefore to distinguish who had the strongest song writing credit on the Beatles songs. It's a strange thing too, because I'm afraid that since the Beatles break up I'm not as keen on Paul's output and his songs with his band Wings - so what happened? Did Paul need Lennon's input and drive? While I am more impressed with his latest 2013 album titled New.

Lennon also wrote some of The Beatles top songs – Strawberry Fields, A Day in the life, Lucy in the Sky, Day Tripper, more…

The mod suits, the mop top hair, the fun energy, The Beatles Help movie, all those age defining and so unforgettable number one songs, and of course those album covers. 

It is hard for me to write on McCartney without getting over sentimental and it is hard if not impossible to describe what the Beatles meant back then - and especially Paul. Of course it was the combination of the Beatles special magic – but then McCartney wrote those piano melodies…... 

Quote John Lennon' in "How Do You Sleep" - "The only thing you done was Yesterday, and since you've gone you're just Another Day"
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