Category: Project Updates

The Big Burn 2014

Post author By Katie Anderson
Post date January 27, 2014

The third Big Burns Supper (BBS) Festival really found its stride this year – there was a palpable feeling that the toon had taken BBS to its heart and was joining in at every turn. Big respect to the festival team and to Doonhamers everywhere!

The Stove joined in too – it has now become a bit of a tradition for us to contribute something of the outdoor ambience to BBS (not quite sure how we ended up with that job at a festival in January!). This year, we staged the Big Burn – but before we get to that, there were a couple of other wee Stovish things to enjoy. We made a lantern for the procession:

The Stove’s ‘Bunch of Balloons’ Lantern – Made by Danae Marshall, Iain Gisbey, Hayley Stephens, and Sara Redden – Is Seen Here at the Front of the Homecoming Parade, Carried by Hayley and Sara and Ably Assisted by Sara’s Daughter, Daisy.

More pics of the amazing parade and BBS generally at Colin Tennant’s Flickrstream.

Katie Anderson made her own installation ‘Close Enough’ for the close next to The Stove:

‘Close Enough’ by Katie Anderson – Domestic Wallpaper Designs, Stretched and Interpreted in UV Paint, with an Accompanying Soundtrack of Environmental Sounds and Spoken Word.

The idea of The Big Burn was dead simple – to tell folk that we were making a bonfire in the middle of the High Street and see what happened. We hoped to create a place where people could hang out for a while and warm themselves, bringing a touch of the familiar bonfire vibe into an unfamiliar setting and seeing what unfolded.

Will Proved His Mettle As Firestarter General.

The first addition volunteered for The Big Burn came from Phoebe Marshall, who brought along hazel twigs, marshmallows, and chocolate biscuits. Toasted marshmallows, sandwiched between two chocolate biscuits, make a s’more…

Children Roasting Marshmallows for the Flames.

Regular Marshmallow Action on the Flaming Logs That Stood Around the Fire.

The next unexpected addition was the arrival of the Cairn Chorus, who were led to the Big Burn by Wendy Stewart. They sang beautifully for 20 minutes, including the most emotionally stirring version of Auld Lang Syne I have ever heard. The fact that we were sitting around a fire in Dumfries on Robert Burns’ birthday was lost on no one.

The next intervention around the fire was the arrival of a troupe of mysteriously masked dancers:

There were no clues at all as to the identity of the dancers – and if anyone knew, they weren’t giving anything away. They melted back into the night just as they had arrived.

One of our Turkish neighbours played a bit of drum and danced briefly. Tatties were baked and eaten, and tea was enjoyed. Then the Dumfries & Galloway Fire Service arrived and offered to help us put the fire out – who could refuse a handsome fireman with a hose?

Dumfries & Galloway Fire Rescue performing at The Big Burn.

And that was that, really – except that the 20 or so folk who were still around the fire all helped clear away the Big Burn. A human chain was formed, and 1.5 tonnes of bricks were moved behind The Stove. In under one hour from the fire engine arriving, there was no sign at all that anything had happened in the square that night – apart from some very happy memories.

Thanks to everyone who made The Big Burn such a success – great craic and a lovely time spent with old friends and new. We have a feeling this just might become a Big Burns Supper regular feature. Maybe we’ll even be allowed an even bigger fire next year!

Tags 2014, Big Burns Supper, Dumfries, The Stove Network

Musings News Project Updates

DMC – taking Dumfries by Storm

Post author By Katie Anderson
Post date November 5, 2013

It’s been a hectic week or so at Stove – and it is with sadness that we wave goodbye to DMC for another year. It’s been insightful, exciting, wild, engaging and fantastic. Having landed at a music conference with very little music background, there was an initial concern of being the cuckoo of the flock however, he Dumfries Music Conference kicked off last Wednesday, with a showing of LCD Soundsystem’s Shut Up and Play the Hits, a beautifully shot, poignant film about the band’s last ever gig in Madison Square Gardens. I decided to avoid googling the band beforehand, and went in with no knowledge of them or their music – and left with a new love.

This buzz carried into Thursday – with a seminar programme, relocated back into the familiarness of the Stove. It kicked off with Born to be Wide‘s Getting Started in Music – which included a panel of industry experts who gave inspiring but honest insight into the contemporary music scene in Scotland. Grassroots music Popcop blog was represented, as was Bar Bloc and the Wickerman, as well as Keren McKean of We Make Music Work – and covered everything from managers, getting live gigs, to pluggers, promoting and marketing your music. This was followed by Gary Aitkinson who spoke about the story of Document Records, and it’s in-depth archive and back catalogue of musical gems.

Up to pace. Friday saw the Stove taken over by aspiring song writers who landed to join Music Plus in learning from Robert Shields of Finding Albert, who worked from a music composition base, and gave some inspiration into his early career within the music industry and Findlay Napier of Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers – a self proclaimed folkie who had all participants writing a song from scratch in less than 30 minutes… Say cheese, say please sounds set to become a chart topping success!

Quick change over and the Stove transformed to Dumfries’s newest intimate live music venue. Chris from Bar Bloc mentioned during the seminar night that remote and unusual venues are often the most atmospheric, and we couldn’t have imagined how great it would be when first Honeyblood, at the end of their UK tour and just about to head for the States rocked up and gave the Stove it’s first live set. Followed up by the mind-blowing Hector Bizerk, Glasgow based hip hop group, who really blew Dumfries out of the water. Local lads Barstow Bats led the Stove into the night, and the whole place glowed.

The DMC team didn’t disappoint on day four, and another quick costume change for the Stove saw it re-invent itself as a retail outlet hosting Rebecca Vasmant’s record fair, featuring DJ sets and sellers both local and down from the big city. Congratulations go out to the DMC team for a fantastic programme, thanks to everyone who was involved and thanks to everyone who came to our events – we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did! To see more of the photographs taken at DMC head to our flickr site here

Tags 2013, Dumfries, Dumfries Music Conference, Music

News Project Updates

DMC – The Line Up

Post author By Katie Anderson
Post date October 17, 2013

The DMC2013 is fast approaching – and the lines are now open to book yourself into all of our FREE events. Come along and discover something new:

Wednesday 30th October
DMC2013 presents FILM: Shut Up and Play the Hits
(https://www.facebook.com/events/179099982276208/)
Please note you must be 15 or over to attend this event. Join the facebook event page above to let us know you are coming!

Thursday 31st October
DMC2013 presents Music Industry Experts/ Born to be Wide!
https://www.facebook.com/events/305609966243458/
To book tickets for this event please go to the eventbrite site here as spaces are limited.
Participating speakers include:
Keren McKean (former Snow Patrol Manager),
Jason Cranwell and Sarah McMullan (The Pop Cop)
Derick Mackinnon (Born To Be Wide / The Scotsman),
Chris Cusack (Booker, Bar Bloc, Glasgow)

This informal session takes place from 20.00 – 21.00 and the session is preceded by a presentation from Gary Atkinson (owner of Document Records). Doors open at 18.30.
The evening will be rounded off with DJ sets from our industry experts, who will play us some of their favourite music.

Friday 1st November
DMC2013 Songwriting Workshops from Music Plus
https://www.facebook.com/events/673485076004080/
11am-12.30pm
Music Plus Songwriting Workshop led by Robert Shields from Finding Albert
3.30pm-5pmMusic Plus Songwriting Workshop led by Findlay Napier from Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers
If you would like to attend these events please contact the Dumfries Music Conference direct with your name, postcode, contact number and which session(s)- to secure your place.

DMC2013 presents Barstow Bats, Hector Bizerk and Honeyblood
https://www.facebook.com/events/206532246191845/
Spaces ARE limited for this event, and it’s likely to book up so to get a hold of your free tickets please register on eventbrite here

Saturday 2nd November
DMC2013 Record Fair with Rebecca Vasmant
https://www.facebook.com/events/517770988315595/
DJ, producer and the brains behind Sub Club’s Record Fair, Rebecca Vasmant is hosting a very special DMC event at The Stove, Dumfries. This is no ordinary record fair – we’ll have DJs, listening stations and some the finest collection of vendors Dumfries ever will see.

All the events are being held at The Stove, Dumfries, apart from our film screening, which will be at Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre.
For more details about specific events – check out the facebook pages listed, or follow the Dumfries Music Conference on facebook and twitter

Tags 2013, Dumfries Music Conference, Music

News Project Updates

DMC – It’s Back!

Post author By Katie Anderson
Post date October 9, 2013

The Dumfries Music Conference (DMC) is back this year – and excitement is building as some new events have been added to this year’s programme. Following on from last year’s successful event, DMC 2013 will be kicking off with a free film screening – ‘Shut Up and Play the Hits’ will be showing at the Robert Burns Film Theatre on 30 October.

Also announced this week, Dumfries band Barstow Bats will be headlining our first live music night on Friday, 1 November at The Stove!

DMC will also be holding The Record Fair at The Stove, with Rebecca Vasmant. All record collectors and music lovers are invited to join in our celebration of music with a great selection of record vendors. We’ll be covering house, techno, jazz, Latin, soul, northern soul, funk, disco, electronic, and much more. Various guest DJs will be playing on the day, and there will be several listening stations for you to sample the produce before you purchase.

If you are interested in trading at this event, we still have some spaces left at no cost – please email [email protected].

Follow DMC on Twitter @DMC_Dumfries and on Facebook/DumfriesMusicConference to keep up to date!

Tags 2013, Dumfries Music Conference, Music

News Project Updates

Nithraid – The Results Are In!

Post author By Katie Anderson
Post date September 23, 2013

The Whitesands came alive this weekend – as the Nithraid did indeed come up with the tide. From the starting point at Carsethorn, thirteen boats made the trip up the Caul – with first place being awarded to Piella, skippered by Adam Booth with a time of 2 hours and 6 minutes. But a challenging race it proved to be, as sandbanks, strong currents, and low winds made the course a tricky one.

The Salt Cow was paraded through the streets of Dumfries with all ceremonial care, gathering numbers as it passed the Midsteeple, rounded the Burns statue (twice), went down the Vennels, and across the Devorgilla Bridge to continue a loop around the river bridges to the beating of drums (and diggeri-moos).

Banners were released over the Old Bridge as the boats arrived, proclaiming the words of Dumfries, including:

Seize the potential.

On the brink.

Decent.

Cut rates.

Despite the slightly dreich conditions, spectators arrived and lined both sides of the river to behold the unusual sight. Many thanks go out to everyone who was involved and to all who turned out on Saturday.