16 February 2011
Mark McGhee
As The Follies imminent Glasgow gig becomes more er imminent-er they have announced a star studded line up of support acts. The Follies (Raymond Hackland, Amy Bellle and Alan Frew) will wow the Oran Mor this Friday night after starting a band just down the road at Captains Rest late last year. They have so far sold out gigs across Europe and Miley Cyrus has even covered one of Amy Belle`s songs which has caused widespread international media interest. In an exclusive www.music-news.com interview Raymond has confirmed they will be inviting some special guests onstage including `the best fiddle player in Scotland` Bruce McGregor and heir producer James Duffin.
“Yeah, it's going to be such a special night this Friday and we've all been looking forward to it for weeks, especially after having played these northern gigs together over the last few days we can't wait to get there and enjoy the evening together with our fans”
Most interestingly for me is the addition of Ayrshire rising star `Little Fire` who has come a long way in the past few months including being the only singer-songwriter to be selected for the Chemical Underground/ Creative Scotland free demo recording at the top class Chem 19 studio which has featured the likes of Mogwai and Arab Strap in the past.
Since then he has been played on BBC Radio 1 on Ally McRae`s A & R zone with Craig McGee, Been championed by the likes of Jim Gellatly and played a host of high profile gigs. He is also on the reserve list to appear on STV`s `The Hour` Programme which would surely sky rocket his career further. `Little Fire` aka Jamie McGeechan also runs a weekly acoustic night in Ayr at Su Casa which brings together the very best in live music from Ayrshire and beyond as well as writing a music column in The Ayrshire Post newspaper. Raymond said There's such an amazing wealth of talent going be be joining us on Friday, like Little Fire. Jamie is a fantastic musician and songwriter and actually just a really great guy.”
Also added is well respected, award winning `Jono` Who Raymond summed up by saying " We have Jono who'll be opening the night up for us. Jono has pretty much featured on every BBC Radio station across the country, as well as XFM and Kerrang Radio. He is an amazing talent - he actually recorded, produced, mastered and mixed his debut album Sentimental Anarchist all by himself, as well as playing every instrument and singing every note on it. Last year he won UK Undiscovered Artist of the Year and his video for Stuck in the City was a chart topper on YouTube! Safe to say he's bloody great”
and what does Raymond make of up and coming Irvine songsmith Sean Kennedy?
“He's our main support, He`s been gigging for 3 years now and has a constantly growing fanbase - last year he sold out an all-seated gig at the Harbour Arts Centre in Irvine with his band October Sky. I heard they're going to be hitting the studio later this year to get some more material recorded - that's an album I'll definitely be buying! Sean's really is a top talent. He has a great voice and his vocal performance is superb - he really draws you in. The combination of that with his songwriting and composition skills makes for a real rollercoaster of the senses....if there's one word I could use for Sean's music it's be "contagious"
So now the support acts have been announced, The warm up gigs have been played and the German dates have completely sold out. What does it mean to the band to come back to the same road (Great Western Road) where It all began?
“Yeah, it's going to be a amazing night for all - we've just had a confirmation from Jamie Duffin that he'll be joining us for some songs that he produced for us last week! Can't wait for that either! On Sunday night we played Bogbain Farm in Inverness, Bruce MacGregor runs the place, and he jammed with us during our set. Bruce is the top fiddle player in the country and, much to our honour and delight, he'll also be joining The Follies for a couple of songs too. When you hear Bruce playing you'll know why he's so highly rated - the beauty, control and emotion he puts into his fiddle is second to none....utterly breathtaking.
We're almost sold out now which is a great feeling for us all and we're chuffed to bits that we've got so many people out there supporting us.
I suppose I can really only say that we're extremely excited about Oran Mor and are genuinely honoured to be headlining such an event....roll on Friday!”
Roll on Friday indeed, this does really promise to be a spectacle of craftmanship and I for one am looking forward to it very much. Tickets are going fast so get to Oran Mor for 7.00pm to avoid disapointment. First ac will be on around 7.15pm
MYSPACE LINKS
www.myspace.com/thefolliesuk
www.myspace.com/thefolliesuk
www.myspace.com/seankennedymusicuk
www.myspace.com/littlefiremusic
www.myspace.com/jonoaudio
www.stevenallanimages.com
