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What we’re looking forward to in 2019!

We’re gearing up for another jam-packed year of exciting events, art and creativity to encourage, gather, educate and bring life back to our town centre so we thought we would share what things we’re exciting about in the year ahead. And, as always, if you’ve got an idea, need some space, advice on starting a project or want to partner with us – we’re here!

So here’s what we’re looking forward to in 2019 – diaries oot!

Literature

Our literature projects are all about unwrapping the potential of the written word to provoke and inspire new ways of thinking, and this year the Lowland Project will be taking a dramatic step forward with an ambitious community play. The play will be developed over the course of 2019 and will reflect our town in a transitional phase of its history. Stay tuned for more information, opportunities and events!

Nithraid

SAVE THE DATE: 31st August 2019!

Yes, that’s right – NITHRAID IS BACK! Dumfries’ annual River Festival and sail boat race held in celebration of our beloved River Nith is the biggest event in the Stove calendar and returns to the Mill Green for its SEVENTH year! Nithraid is getting bigger and better with artist commissions, stalls, performances, music, sound installations and art throughout our community, so don’t expect anything less for 2019!

Midsteeple Quarter

The Midsteeple Quarter Project had a brilliant year in 2018, rounding off with the news of the asset transfer of the former Bakers Oven to community ownership. For 2019, they are looking forward to creating an exciting programme of activity in The Oven which includes exhibitions, workshop spaces and events – all open to the public! Programme details will be shared soon, but in the meantime you can keep up to date with their news over on their website here: www.midsteeplequarter.org or by giving them a like on their Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/midsteeplequarter.

Dumfries Music Conference

After an incredibly successful 2018, the Dumfries Music Conference are back for 2019 with another programme of events for the year, offering people the opportunity to share ideas, learn new skills and make contact with some of the biggest movers and shakers in the industry. As well as their annual flagship conference in October, DMC’s 2019 programme includes ‘DMSHE’ in April – a female takeover month which will showcase the work of women working in the music industry. Expect panel discussions, workshops and a showcase gig – all led by some incredible females working throughout Scotland! #thefutureisfemale

The Stove Café

The Stove Café is the social heart of our social enterprise to bring new life to the town centre through culture and the arts and supporting community activity and career development for local people. This year, we’re looking forward to reimagining the café and making changes to improve on the look and feel of the space (The Stove Café 2.0!). Plans are busy being made at the moment but expect a big launch party in 2019 to celebrate a new era of the Stove Café!

Visual

The Stove building is a conversational space to connect with our projects in many ways, and this year we’re planning a ‘Public Space’ Exhibition to provoke discussion and engage everyone who steps into our doors. The Public Space Exhibition will use spaces within the Stove and outdoor public spaces, as well as use creative workshops, participatory activity and conversation events to welcome artists and the community to come together as well as host evening events and discussions located around the Stove and outdoor public spaces. We want artists and the community to come together!

Performance

Behavin’? This year we’re excited to be expanding our programme of performance, live art and theatre with an exciting mini festival in the works arriving this summer! To coincide with this, we’re working with the National Theatre of Scotland on the Start Residency. For more details click HERE!


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News

June Gigs: In Photos

This month at the Stove, we were very lucky to have not one but two DMC:Presents gigs in our Cafe Space! Photographer Kirstin McEwan was there to capture both evenings.

First up was a double headliner evening of folk style ukulele music from Galloway songstress Zoë Bestel, and Danish virtuoso Tobias Elof. The two ethereal artists performed an intimate gig of beautifully crafted songs, both together and solo to celebrate the launch of Transience, Bestel’s newly released album.

Next up was the amazing Glasgow based band from Castle Douglas ‘VanIves’, who held their first headline show in Dumfries at the Stove on 14th June. The electronic pop duo take influences from artists like Boniver, Matt Corby, Disclosure and SG lewis. They were supported by ‘Flew the Arrow’ – a fast-rising contemporary folk artist from Ayr.

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Musings News Project Updates

DMC – taking Dumfries by Storm

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 

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News Project Updates

DMC – The Line Up

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

Categories
News Project Updates

DMC – It’s Back!

The Dumfries Music Conference is back this year – and excitement is building as some new events have been added to this years programme. Following on from last years successful event, DMC2013 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 the 30th of October – join the event page here

Also announced this week, Dumfries band Barstow Bats will be headlining our first live music night on Friday 1st 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 interesting in trading at this event we still have some spaces left at no cost – please email [email protected]

DMC on twitter @DMC_Dumfries and on facebook /DumfriesMusicConference to keep up to date!

Categories
News Project Updates

Dumfries Music Conference 2012


A big thank you to everyone who attended the Dumfries Music Conference making it a huge success. Thanks also to Musicplus and DMC guest speakers Graeme Reedie, Ally Gray, Harvey McKay, Tony Andrews and Greg Wilson. For more images please click here and look out for video content in the coming weeks.

Graeme Reedie & Harvey McKay

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