Art | Nature | Creativity“The greatest songwriters are seldom songwriters alone. Some are creative polymaths while others synthesize elements from an array of forms into a wider songwriting vision. Kathy Muir is more than a songwriter.”
New Music Jim Gellatly is one of Scotland’s leading radio presenters and DJ’s. With regular podcasts on Mixcloud and monthly playlists on Spotify, Jim scours the live scene, listens to, and supports the wave of emerging artists coming out of Scotland, and beyond. Many artists have featured on Amazing Radio thanks to Jim. So What is […]
Thanks to Facebook this morning for reminding of this photo with my Producer Steve Hansen and a dream that came true. Background It was 2011, I was going to the States for a 2-week work thing and wondered what I was going to do over a whole weekend in Stamford CT. So I googled ‘recording […]
If I Can Breathe Out Today Double a-side single If I Can Breathe is out today but there are a few surprises you may not be aware of. For one thing, there are actually two versions of the song. I first wrote If I Can Breathe as a ballad at a time when someone I knew […]
If I Can Breathe – part of the ‘Double Take’ Series If I Can Breathe has been a long time coming. For the last year or so I’ve been working on a project called Double Take. You see, most of my songs start with my writing them on guitar or in some cases piano. When I […]
Where once they fell ‘neath a bloodshot sky To the screech of shells That shredded lives Flowers now suck from decaying bones In soil rich with fallen memories No rifles or bayonets, just dirt and stones In land steeped with gorious deeds Felled where stood, they rise to nature’s beat Folded in ground now offering release Flowers grace land where […]
So What Makes a Canyon? Since writing Found Me a Canyon a few months ago and performing it live in Edinburgh, I’ve been asked what the song means. This is one of the few songs that came to me based on blurting out, during a nascent chorus, ‘I found me a valley then I found me a […]
Feed the belly, feed it well Power love’s engine and ring the bell. Onward. Or no stories will ever tell Of flaming surprises Scorching midnight’s horizons That warmed love’s hope by which many fell If dim, take a candle and light it there Cup it closely and give all to share For without flame there […]
Coffee and Creativity I’m sitting in Artisan Roast, my favourite cafe in Bruntsfield this early Friday morning. I’m listening to a piece entitled Stepping Stones and Fireflies I created a few weeks ago but hadn’t found time to work on until now. If you’re interested in the creative process, this is how it can start. […]
Diamond in the Rough As part of a 2-hour show at Edinburgh’s Stramash on 30 July, 2018, I’m including four covers. For some reason, the lyrics weren’t sticking in my head. So I thought I’d slow it down and record a rough diamond. This is what I came up with and, I have to say, […]
Every song tells a different story, and I don’t mean the lyrics. This song went from being an acoustic piece to having orchestral pieces added; from guitar to having piano replace it; and drums and bass being introduced at the end of the song. And that’s only part of the story. The Beginning Stop Walk […]
