We're supporting Sussex Peace Corps in their #LoveTrainUkraine campaign. Ideally situated for European transport hubs in the South East of England, they're organising vans and headed over to the Polish/Ukranian border with medical aid and non-perishable supplies. This collective of creatives and caring folks have long-standing ties with the arts scene in Glasgow. Our comrades in the deep, deep South need EVERYONE'S help NOW. You can donate here

Sussex Peace Corps is a collective mobilised by Sussex based creative Jon Spong, to respond to the need for drivers and vans to take essential medical supplies and aid to the Polish/Ukrainian border in support of the Ukrainian resistance against the brutal Russian invasion. This ad hoc collective has been compelled into action through compassion and is based in South East England with a network of volunteers feeding in from across the UK. A fundraising campaign has been launched and donations are desperately needed to cover the costs involved in taking vans across Europe. You can donate here. Your donations will only be used for aid and delivery. All the drivers will be covering their own expenses and giving their time free.

With an astounding £2000 raised in the first weekend of the campaign, two vans left for Europe on Sunday 20 March and it is hoped that a minimum of £10,000 is raised to enable a further 6 vans to make the trip over the coming weeks and possibly months. Loaded with non-perishable food and medical supplies, the aid will be handed over to a trusted Ukrainian driver at the Polish/Ukrainian border who can guarantee that this aid will be delivered directly to where it is most urgently needed in Kyiv. A comprehensive social media campaign is being established and supporters can follow their journey on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok

Jon speaks of his motivations for action “Less than a week ago I saw a news report of two 18 year old men, boys really, taking off their civilian clothes and putting on military uniforms. With only a few hours of basic training they are now on the streets of Kyiv placing their bodies and their lives in the way of the oncoming attack from Russian troops. They were 18 years old, the same age as my son Levi. At that point I knew that just being upset and outraged wasn't enough so I came up with an idea.”

Jon’s idea is very simple, there is a desperate humanitarian crisis occurring on our doorstep. With access aid and medical supplies available in the UK, Jon identified a need in the shortage of willing drivers and vans to deliver it to where it is desperately needed in the border areas of Poland and Ukraine.

Within a couple of hours of sharing his thoughts with a few friends and old industry contacts, he was contacted by James Stringfellow, owner of Brighton Electric Recording Studio. James offered not only to volunteer as a van driver but also to help coordinate the project and raise funding. Jim and Jon have shared many adventures together. This one though is altogether more serious.

Industry connections as far afield as Glasgow have been engaged with founder of Southside Fringe Festival Corinna Currie, voluntarily taking the helm on the digital campaign and social media side of things. More connections and support networks are hastily underway to ensure both the success of the trips and fundraising campaign.

Jon further stated “Donations are literally the lifeblood of the people who this aid is being delivered to. Not just the refugees but also those brave enough to have remained to fight and those unable to make the hard journey out. Bless their souls, help us to help them. I would also like to say a MASSIVE thank you to ,Euro Self Drive van hire in Eastbourne. At a time when other van hire companies wanted to levy an extra £1000 on top of their standard hire charge on finding out I was going to Poland, these guys did the opposite and gave me a substantial discount. Amazing.”

You can donate ,here

Contact

Project Lead/Driver: Jon Spong sussexpeacecorpmedia@gmail.com

Hello 2022. We’re loving seeing the physical cultural scene come alive again in Scotland and particularly on the Southside. We, as a social enterprise are very grateful to still be here. With a programme of events under our belt in 2021, despite the pandemic, were kept busy. You can watch more about that here. We’ve been busy in the background over winter, looking at what we could do in our planning stages whilst restrictions were ongoing into early 2022. Our focus is very much on recovery, building our year round platforms and income and making sure we’re still here for our 10th anniversary next year!

What will Southside Fringe 2022 be like?

With more than ever to shout from the rooftops about on the Southside, whilst we won’t be organising a full programme and parade this year, we still plan to fill the Southside with lots to do, from the Clydeside to the Cart. We’re inviting event registrations for this year’s slightly shorter festival period 14th-22nd May and the rest of this blog covers all the ways you can get involved. We are working with Everything Must Go again to present the work of early career artists around windows of businesses and venues in the Southside. We’ll be announcing dedicated programmes in our partner venues and we’re working with a number of collaborators to bring the Southside alive with markets on our traditional launch weekend of 14th & 15th of May and we’ll be closing the festival with our own makers markets in collaboration with Art Space G41 on the 21st & 22nd of May

Can We Get Involved?

There are a number of ways you can get involved

Venues & Events

Everything Must Go

Stall Holders

Advertise

Work With Us

Volunteer

Venues & Events

We are focusing on rebuilding and recovery this year. The traditional festival has grown and it’s beyond the work of just our volunteers now, for us to get lots of venues on board and have a full programme we would have to increase our annual registration prices to cover expenses and team time. So in 2022 as a ONE OFF RECOVERY OFFER we are waiving our venue registration process and fee. We’ve designed this to be more autonomous and venue led this year and all forms must come from or with the permission of the venue manager. There is a flat rate for everyone this year. Event organisers, if you would like to put something in our programme, please chat to your venue of choice and organise from there and submit your forms to us no later than Friday 8th April. More event information and rates can be found here and you can register here

Everything Must Go

Working with Georgia Sparkes and Grace Higgins for the second year running, we are calling out for 7 very special artists to exhibit work in the windows of businesses across the Southside. With an emphasis on providing a platform for early career artists, Everything Must Go aims to maximise exposure and connect artists to their community. Thanks to funding from the Council's Local Area Partnership each successful artist will be awarded £300 to cover their expenses in exhibiting. You can find out more about last year’s Everything Must Go here. SUBMISSIONS FOR 2022 NOW CLOSED

Stall Holders

We're bringing the Southside alive with markets for our launch weekend, 14th & 15th of May. With collaborators Art Space G41, Phillies of Shawlands and Rags to Riches confirmed so far. In collaboration with Art Space G41 we’re taking over Shawlands Arcade and offering stalls to makers on the weekends of 14/15 & 21/22 May. All the info you need to book a stall with us is here. If you are a market operator and would like to get involved in what's shaping up to be a brilliant weekend for Southsiders contact corinna@www.southsidefringe.org.uk

Advertise

We know every penny helps just now so we’ve frozen our advertising prices, with no increase since 2019. If you’d like to get your business out there to Southsiders and beyond please check out our very competitive prices here and book your ad here. All adverts to be booked by 28th March and artwork to be with us no later than 8th April

Opportunities

Work with Us - Social Media and Marketing Freelancer

We're recruiting for a Southside Social Media soldier! Have you got what it takes to take forward our campaigns and tell the world how wonderful the creative industries and small businesses on the Southside are? With a passion for community and the arts, you will be self motivated, creative in your thinking and problem solving and be used to self managing. You will have experience of delivering social media and marketing campaigns, preferably in a cultural environment. ​Sound like you? You can find more information and details on how to apply here. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 24 March 2022

Volunteer - We love our Fringe Family of volunteers and this year we are looking for volunteers to help us get our printed programmes out and about around around the Southside and to give us a hand on our socials. If you’d like to join us, we’d love to have you and you can let us you can sign up here

We look forward to hearing from y'all

#keepitsouth

We hear there's a hot alternative comedy extravaganza y'all should know about called Alternative Interviews. It's produced and hosted by the wonderfully quirky Daft Duo. We huckled Angela Legg, one half of the Daft Duo in to an interview with us to tell us more. In this week's blog Angela chats about the upcoming show, what it means to be a Southsider, a volunteer with Southside Fringe and 'Bubble Therapy'.... The next 'Alternative Interviews' show is on Zoom on Thursday the 29th of April and you can get your free tickets here. Read on to discover more about the Daft Duo and why you should tune in to their fiercely inclusive Alternative Interviews on Thursday.

Southside Fringe (SSF) - Who are The Daft Duo?

Angela Legg (AL) - We’re a comedy partnership consisting of Sara Palomarr and myself! We’ve been friends since we met in 2011, at Roehampton University, London, where we were both studying Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies. We’re both performers ourselves and we love performances that think outside the box and bring something a little alternative to a stage.

SSF - Tell us more about ‘The Daft Duo's Zoom Comedy Eve’ what should viewers expect?

AL - On the last Thursday of each month we run an alternative comedy extravaganza over zoom called Alternative Interviews! Doors open at 7.45pm and the show runs 8pm-9pm. Each event is themed around a single question, which acts respond to in whichever way their creativity takes them. We hope that this encourages acts to generate new material while also providing a supportive platform for them to share new work. We’re also a fiercely inclusive platform and as such we’re committed to increasing diversity in comedy. We want to prioritise performers from currently underrepresented identities and backgrounds. Sara started these events last May and then this year we decided to join forces. We now share hosting responsibilities, and on the organisation side… well, let’s just say that Sara is more of the creative brain in the Duo! Also... Bubble Therapy! We encourage our audience to blow bubbles as an alternative way to express their joy, and it works so well over zoom.

SSF - What inspired the ‘Alternative Interviews’ and who do you hope to attract?

AL - We want to take the standard ‘interview’ format and make it much more fun and creative by flipping the concept on its head. In contrast to a standard interview format we ask only one question to our performers - that’s the first alternative. Another is the fact that we encourage alternative performance styles - as long as it’s funny, we don’t mind!

SSF - OK so on that note, what is the one question and who will be answering it in this months Alternative Interviews?

AL - This month's question is “How would you describe your dream job? Can it be compared to the one you have now?” We have an exceptional line up booked this month. Joining us are; Roisin Kenny, Natasha Kiskov Moller, Becca Bain, Sarah Grant and Little Strings. You can find out more about each performer below...

SSF - How can creatives get involved with 'Alternative Interviews'?

AL - We’re on the lookout for acts, ads and a tech wizard for our May, June and July events.

Acts can fill in an expression of interest here. Anyone interested in promoting a creative project in a one minute advert can get in touch and we'd love to enlist tech wizards to assist us with the zoom room life, both can email us at: thedaftduocomedy@gmail.com

SSF - How can we watch? Is it free or ticketed?

AL - Both! The event is free but we request people register on eventbrite so that we can maintain a safe space for everyone. On the night there will be an option for the audience to donate and any money raised will be shared between the team and acts involved. You can get your tickets here.

SSF- We love that you volunteer with us at Southside Fringe. Do you think volunteering helps with your own professional practise? And if so how?

AL- Yes! Both projects greatly complement each other as a means to both keep my own creative brain going and to also network with other creatives. Being able to do both also increases my understanding of the mechanics of event production.

SSF - Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the Daft Duo, your comedy eve or Alternative Interviews?

We also make videos! Our most recent one was for the brilliant Plugged In & Wired. We have lots more exciting video projects in the pipeline. You can watch all our videos so far in this YouTube playlist. Find all our links in our linktree if you wanna keep up to date with what we’re up to.

SSF - Bonus Q – what does being a Southsider mean to you?

AL - It means that I have easy access to a large network of creatives from different backgrounds and perspectives. The Southside is such a vibrant and welcoming place!

Thanks to Angela for an ace interview and don't forget to tune in to 'Alternative Interviews' on Thursday the 29th of April at 8pm...

We were lucky enough to catch an exclusive interview with 'Morgan Cry', aka Gordon Brown, who in addition to being a well loved Tartan Noir writer of crime fiction, he is also the ring leader of 'Four Blokes In Search Of A Plot'. Featured as headliners in our 2021 Plugged In & Wired festival we were curious to know more about the Tea Cosy of Inspiration and this hilarious live show...

Enjoy the article and you can catch the Plugged In & Wired edition of 'Four Blokes In Search of a Southside Plot' here

Southside Fringe (SSF) - So what is 'Four Blokes in Search Of A Plot'?

Gordon Brown (GB) - Well you take four crime writers, who happen to be blokes. You place them on a stage (or online), ask the audience to furnish them with a main character and a murder weapon. Then step back as they take it in turns to create a crime story before your very eyes while also answering questions on everything from their writing to their favourite piece of clothing.

SSF - Can you tell us a bit more about each author involved?

Neil Broadfoot - Neil Broadfoot worked as a journalist for 15 years at both national and local newspapers, including The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Evening News. His fourth book, No Man’s Land was longlisted for the 2019 McIlvanney Prize. His sixth, Point of No Return, published by Constable is out now.

Gordon Brown (Morgan Cry) -Gordon has eight crime and thriller books published to date, along with a number of short stories. His latest novel, ‘Thirty-One Bones’, published by Polygon and written under the name Morgan Cry, is set in Spain and is the first in the Daniella Coulstoun series. Gordon also helped found Bloody Scotland.

Douglas Skelton -Douglas has been a newspaper editor, journalist, an investigator for Glasgow solicitors, bank clerk, civil servant and shelf stacker . He has written 23 books and his first book in the Rebecca Connolly series, ‘Thunder Bay’ was also long listed for the McIlvanney Prize 2019 - and the third in the series, ‘The Rattle of Bones’, is out in August.

SSF - Can you tell us more about the role of the Sacred Tea Cosy of Inspiration (TCOI) and how that aspect of the show came about?

GB - Before Four Blokes existed, we were all asked by Laura Jones, who was working with Scotlit, to appear in what could be called a ‘proto Four Blokes’ online. While one of us typed our bit of the story the others had to wait their turn and being blokes, got bored. So every time the author stopped typing he would look up to discover that the other three wearing something wild on their head. In tribute to this the first time we staged Four Blokes the custom for wearing the TCOI while writing was born.

SSF - What’s the most ridiculous murderer and weapon suggestions you’ve received from audience members?

GB - Where do we start? We’ve had Rabbie Burns and a kite. A knight of the realm and a sportsman’s corset. William Shakespeare and a quill and in Spain we were challenged with Dick Pinto and a boomerang. For the Southside Fringe we wrote a story about Imelda Marcos and her poisoned ice cube.

SSF - What would be the dream location, venue or set up for a ‘Four Blokes’ show?

Neil Broadfoot – Anywhere Douglas Skelton is not! (Seriously, anywhere warm and sunny and I can have a drink and a meal with my mates)

Gordon Brown (Morgan Cry) – The International Space Station – but only when they’ve installed a bar.

Mark Leggat – The ladies’ changing room at the Folies Bergère.

Douglas Skelton - I'd love to do the show where the living is hot but the drinks are cool. Somewhere glamorous and exotic. Cessnock, maybe.

And finally ....

SSF - What does participating in Southside Fringe’s, Plugged In & Wired virtual festival mean to you personally as a creative and to the Four Blokes as a show?

Gordon Brown - It’s such a great opportunity to be part of a festival that is pulling out all the stops to entertain, despite Covid. The diversity of the festival is exactly what people need at the moment and we are grateful for the chance to be part of something so eclectic and exciting.

We've loved having 'Four Blokes' and Morgan Cry as headliners of our Plugged In & Wired literary programme. Don't forget to catch up on the show here and you can catch up on all the Plugged In & Wired shows on our YouTube Channel

We are delighted to have Emma and Mark over at Foodie Explorers , organisers of the beloved Pastaval, on board as a part of our Plugged In & Wired virtual festival.

They're this Sunday's guest bloggers and with a Focus on Food, let us know what's hot and where to look out for on the Southside culinary scene. We hope you enjoy....

The Southside Fringe might not have Pastaval this year, more on that later, but we can celebrate the best of Southside Glasgow’s food & drink scene and talent by supporting local businesses who have kept going through these crazy times and by participating in internet events, whether that be, Facebook or Zoom or some other means.

We have our cocktail shaker at the ready to join Andy Mundy. Andy’s cocktail making skills will be on display with an online video showing that you too can make fantastic cocktails at home, without being overly complex, time-consuming or expensive. Learn how to bring out the flavours from spirits and dazzle your friends (when we are allowed to have get-togethers again) and Southside BBQs will rock to the sounds of cocktail shakers this year.

It can never be said that the past year hasn’t been a struggle for everyone, however, Southside businesses have risen above and beyond to keep us fed and watered. Shout outs to Cafe Strangebrew, Toro, Deanston Bakery and Big Bear for almost making lockdown bearable (pun intended!) with tasty treats, fabulous coffee and the best banter. Pizza seems to have taken over Glasgow the way hamburgers did a few years ago. Canotto in Cathcart has introduced Detroit-style slices to the city, that is rectangular with a thick, crisp and chewy crust. More pizzas can be found with Crossmyloof Bakery Pizzaria at The Glad Cafe at weekends and venturing South from North Glasgow are Rockville who have settled into Clockwork

New openings also include Babos and their astounding toasties - who knew a toastie could be made so luxurious? Okome have expanded Southside bringing fresh sushi, takoyaki and bibimbap bowls. If there’s one thing we seem to have learned in the past year is how to eat more!

Sadly Pastaval has been missing from the Southside social calendar and hopefully, with things loosening up Foodie Explorers will be able to bring it back for 2022. Remember to check on https://foodieexplorers.co.uk for any information about Pastaval (and food, drink and travel in general). We are happy to report that Langside Cafe is still the best place for Mac & Cheese in these parts, but if you disagree and can’t wait till 2022, feel free to carry out your own personal Pastaval by visiting all the Southside cafes and restaurants with mac and cheese and rating them accordingly!

The Southside has come together this past year, supporting local business and the local community, lets keep it going and Keep it South!

Plugged In & Wired, our first virtual festival, is well underway with tonight's programme and more to come on the 2nd & 3rd April. You can download the full programme here for premiere streaming times, with all being online to watch at your leisure thereafter...

You've met all our outstanding Plugged In & Wired acts, now it's time to introduce you to our hard working programme hosts. Last year, we were delighted to invite this skilled group of individuals from our local creative communities on board to help with the process of selecting acts for the virtual festival. It was a really difficult task for our hosts as the submissions way over subscribed the funds we had available for performer fees and filming support. We think they've done a sterling job. Our hosts introduce each act in their category in the online shows and you can read more about them in this blog. With thanks to our wonderful programme hosts .. Cabaret - The Creative Martyrs, Comedy - Bruce Morton, Literature - Shirley Whiteside, Music - Jamie & Simon @ The Ice Box Arts & Music Centre and Spoken Word - Angela Legg

CABARET

Since first appearing in 1883, The Creative Martyrs have been performing cabaret songs and satirical shenanigans in music halls, circus, travelling shows and public houses all over the known and lesser-known world. A good while ago, in the before times, they performed in many a Southside Fringe, it has been fantoosh.

And now? Peripatetic pixilation permits plugged-in pandemic performance. Gustav and Jakob feel that Plugged In & Wired continues to connect the Southside community, which is meaningful in these hard times. It’s also meaningful for them to be part of a collective endeavour that reminds people of the creativity in the Southern Side of the city.

When asked about the quality of submissions and any acts they’d like to highlight, the esoteric gents told us “After peer-reviewing our peers we conclude that the quality of the submissions is very high – all are effulgent stars in an online orrery of cabaret constellations. Our personal highlight is a very tall lamp.

As for the successful submissions we have no favourites – see them all!”. Ladies and gentleman and otherwise ascribed, when life comes back, look out for The Creative Martyrs and they tell us to look out for their bum notes.. bum ..bum.. bum… bum!

COMEDY

Bruce Morton is a well loved Glaswegian comedian who has been involved in comedy since 1989. Bruce is well seasoned in live performance, TV, radio, the press and online content. Over the years he has toured, written for others, set up gigs and played shows nationally and internationally.

Bruce is one of the founders of the Fringe. Bruce has been involved from day one as a part of a proactive group of creatives who felt stimulating and creating performance opportunities was what the Southside lacked many years ago. Esteemed leader of the Greater Shawlands Republic, Bruce booked performers and worked to present and highlight aspects of the cool stuff getting generated around the Southside.

Bruce told us “I am flattered to be involved with Plugged in & Wired: helping, as it does, to encourage talent by giving that talent a platform and a showcase. It is a significant project given the absence of live show opportunities amid the pandemic days and, moreover, one which I think will endure in the better days to come as an adjunct, companion and extension to traditional live shows”.

In hosting and scoring the comedy category Bruce was really impressed by the range of styles and comedy flavours which Plugged In & Wired presents and he’s looking forward to seeing more from all who submitted and all the folk who will get involved in the years to come.

FOOD & DRINK

Hosting our food and drink category are Mark and Emma aka Foodie Explorers. Blogging since 2007 they not only know their way around good and bad dishes, but they love their grub and our city. Originally known as Food & Drink Glasgow they re-branded to Foodie Explorers in 2016 as they were covering much more than just food and drink in Glasgow! Not content with eating and drinking their way around the Southside and our city, they also like to spread their wings and review food, drink and where to stay worldwide. Organisers of our beloved flagship food and drink event Pastaval, this year we're keeping it covid safe and pandemic proof and Foodie Explorers have highlighted what's hot on the Southside and places you should definitely visit as the Southside wakes up again over this Spring and Summer. You can read the full food and drink feature in our online programme coming out on the 26th March and our next blog 'Focus on Food & Drink' on Sunday the 28th March. And.....If you know somewhere they should visit, give them a shout at hello@foodieexplorers.co.uk

LITERATURE

Shirley Whiteside has been reviewing books for several years and has produced/presented her radio show Booked on Pulse 98.4 since 2016. Shirley also produces Southside Stories, an evening of readings from local authors and over the years she has attracted and engaged a number of fantastic authors to the Southside Fringe programme. Shirley also provides manuscript critiques for fiction projects.

Shirley said “Plugged in & Wired is a fantastic way to showcase local talent during these strange times. It is an example of how the Southside Fringe brings the local community together and provides amazing entertainment for the Southside and beyond. I love the welcoming family feel of the Southside Fringe and am always delighted to be involved in events like Plugged in and Wired.” This year’s literary category has a wonderful selection of writers, with films for all ages and literary tastes.

Shirley’s highlights range from the zany children’s writer Stuart Reid to a glimpse of Spanish sunshine with Morgan Cry. Shirley hopes that you will enjoy hearing from the authors and discover some new books for your TBR pile. Prepare to be entertained!

MUSIC

Veterans of the grass root music scene in Glasgow and founders of The New Hellfire Club, Jamie McDermid and Simon ‘The Hair’ Sinclair run our partner venue, The Icebox Arts And Music Centre in the Gorbals. They have been operating as a DIY grassroots music and arts venue with a not for profit music shop at the front. Jamie and Simon recently squeezed Glasgow’s largest vintage and pre--owned not for profit clothes shop under their roof too. The Icebox really is a building you can spend hours in, once we are allowed back out again!

On being involved as category hosts, our filming location and partners in Plugged In & Wired, Jamie told us “It’s great to be a partner venue! You guys have given us a much needed taste of what to look forward to again in the coming months. It’s no surprise that we started booking acts again from July onward right after working with you. It was great to have live music on in the place again. A stage needs music, it was getting us down having it being so quiet for so long.” The festival means a lot to the venue and the larger music and creative community providing a welcome escape from the drudgery of the past year and reminds all that there is an absolutely fantastic local music and arts scene out there to fall in love with all over again as soon as we can all get back out to venues. A shared experience that’s missing from a lot of our lives right now and The Icebox can’t wait to start bringing it back for people.

Jamie and Simon can be quite critical sometimes as venue owners but were happy to say they felt the quality was high! They find it difficult to choose personal highlights from filming a cracking weekend of music and scoring the filmed entries. Jamie said “It was all great… but since you are twisting our arms I will say that there are some specific treats in store for you from The Ice Box sets such as Rebecca Wallace, Andrea, Cloud of Starlings and Asthmatic Harp!” They also highlight Anna Secrette Poet, Black Star Jackals and look out for 10pencemixup for a wee treat too!

SPOKEN WORD

Angela Legg also goes by the stage moniker Miss A Legg, she’s a performer and event organiser. Angela is also a part of the Southside Fringe advisory team. She’s performed at events including Spangled Cabaret, Express Yourself, She Grrrowls and Sonnet Youth. Angela’s solo performances tend to feature a blend of amazing alliteration, ridiculous rhyming, silly singing, preposterous props and dazzling dancing (often with donuts). A busy lady, Angela has recently been organising comedy events and co-hosting them as half of The Daft Duo. Being part of Plugged In & Wired has given Angela the perfect outlet for her creativity during lockdown.

Hosting the spoken word section has allowed her to connect with other creatives and gain insight into the inner workings of the festival, which she has found to be wonderful. It has created a feeling of connection despite the distance. Angela thinks it is really important to continue showcasing local talent and provide entertainment for the community! On being involved as a host, Angela told us “The submissions were of a very high standard and I felt so excited and privileged to be able to be amongst the first people to read applications and watch video submissions. It can be a really strange process for performers who are used to having an audience in front of them and I am so proud of the spoken word acts for embracing this new way of performing.

The acts bring an exciting variety of styles and content. Ranging from exploring experiences of lockdown to a ghost story set in Glasgow. I believe there will be something in there to suit everyone's tastes!”. Angela is delighted to be so involved with the festival; she has a couple of poems included within the spoken word category ‘My Obsession Confession’ and ‘In A Box’ and she’s also performing a brand new piece for the cabaret section ‘She’s Having a Moment’ and we love that Angela is in the comedy category too as part of her comedy collaboration The Daft Duo with ‘A Driving Lesson’!

Our next blog on Sunday 28th March is focusing on food & drink on the Southside.... Don't miss out!

With less than a week to go, this is our final blog introducing you to our acts, but, you’ll be pleased to hear, not our final Plugged In & Wired blog. In our final week before lift off on March the 26th we’ll be introducing you to the wonderful folks who’ve joined the Fringe Family to be the category hosts for our first virtual festival. And again we’re loving the media attention, it’s our mission to shout from the rooftops about the Southside and all the talent we have to offer. Tonight Paul Puppet is kindly helping us do just that, from 9pm tune in to Camglen Radio for The Spangled Show with Paul Puppet for his special feature on some of our Plugged In & Wired acts. we were well chuffed to be included in Snack Magazine's Guide to the Best Scottish Festivals 2021 too!

So… Without further ado, in this blog you’ll meet Sarcassy Sneek purveyor of Southside sensations and we’re delighted to introduce you to our headliners; well loved children’s author Stuart Reid, the alt-folk maestro Flew The Arrow, the talented duo Chloë Bryce & Luc McNally, multi-personality performer Sweætshops® and Glasgow band The Big Nowhere. We hope you enjoy meeting the acts and we know you'll enjoy their work for Plugged In & Wired. Don’t forget, where linked in you can hit up their socials and support their work beyond the festival and if you’re feeling flush show your appreciation through buying merch or show some virtual tip jar love.

SARCASSY SNEEK – SPOKEN WORD

Sarcassy Sneek... by night gin soaked lush, a product of decadence and the 70's. By day...asleep. What could possibly go wrong? And when it inevitably does, remember darlings, if life gives you lemons, you shove them in your gin. Join Sarcassy as she returns, not to Sneek smut but to speak some spoken word with her Southside Soliloquies. Southsiders will remember Sarcassy’s sold out cabaret shows but she’s been focusing on other projects for a few years and is jumping out of her comfort zone and exploring her writing and thoughts performed through the vehicle of Sarcassy. Sharing her musings from under the stars, what it means to be unviable and when a man tells her she’s hunted, well the thrill of the chase might just have a twist.

MORE ABOUT SARCASSY SNEEK

HEADLINER – STUART REID – LITERATURE

Award-winning Scottish author Stuart Reid brings his brilliant blend of Books, Boogers and Big Bottom Burps to Plugged In & Wired for the very first time in ‘Fantastic Flatulence and Where To Find It!’ . Stuart has performed at over 300 shows at the Edinburgh, Brighton and Adelaide Fringe festivals, and at over 2,000 schools, libraries and book festivals around Britain, Ireland, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, India and Australia. He is a member of the Society of Authors and listed for Live Literature Events with the Scottish Book Trust. Stuart is best known for his Gorgeous George series of children’s books, including the Silver Medal winner at the Wishing Shelf Books Awards 'Gorgeous George and the Timewarp Trouser Trumpets' and his latest title 'Grandpa Jock and the Incredible Iron-Bru-Man Incident'. There will be guaranteed BIG shocks, stinky socks and Reading Rocks! Warning: may contain snot! Stuart has been a full-time children's author for almost 10 years and has performed at 2,000 schools, libraries and book festivals around Britain, Ireland, India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Australia. Stuart has hosted over 250 shows over 7 years at the Edinburgh Festival since 2013, performed three years at the Adelaide Fringe and two years at the Brighton Fringe. This summer he was meant to perform at the Latitude Festival alongside Liam Gallagher, Keane, Haim, Snow Patrol, Jenny Eclair and Bill Bailey. Based in Falkirk, this year Stuart has been recording (and selling) bespoke author events for schools and libraries, pre-recorded events and creative writing workshops for classes. These videos have been edited in with special effects, videos, gifs, and sound effects to create as much excitement as his live events. Fundamentally, it’s Stuart’s job to inspire children to learn to love reading!

MORE ABOUT STUART REID

HEADLINER - FLEW THE ARROW – MUSIC

Flew The Arrow performs live as a duo, with Ross Hull accompanying on fiddle. The duo have a fresh set of entirely new songs, mostly written over lockdown, that they're excited to share with you all! These songs offer glimmers of hope and solace through times of struggle and seek to find the heads and hearts of all who take time to listen. Flew The Arrow is the spiritual guise of Lee McGilvray, original alt/folk songwriter and acoustic finger stylist, now accompanied by Ross Hull on Fiddle, Sarah McWhinney on cello, and Caitlin MacKenzie on flute. Since his debut EP release in 2016 titled, 'If You'd Only Care To Listen', co-produced alongside East Coast indie-folk artist Esperi, Flew The Arrow has come leaps and bounds with his songcraft and his imagery and storylines within his acoustic melodies and lyrics. In 2018 he signed to 23d Precinct Publishing, followed by a signing to the renowned Electric Honey Records in 2019, which gave birth to Flew The Arrow's second official EP, titled 'Trossach', produced by Luigi Pasquini at Anchor Lane Studios. In the last four years since he first came to Glasgow from Ayr to develop as a songwriter and let his name be heard, Flew The Arrow has performed furiously around the city and the central belt of Scotland with many notable support slots to the likes of touring acts such as Daniel Romano, Siv Jakobsen, and The Rails amongst many others, as well as his own headline shows in Broadcast and The Blue Arrow for Celtic Connections, including a spot at the esteemed Danny Kyle Awards stage a few years in a row. During this time, he has also found his home and a considerable following at some of Scotland's finest festivals such as Eden, Kelburn Garden Party and Doune The Rabbit Hole. Flew The Arrow is now set and ready to begin recording the next set of new songs with his full band to continue down his journey and share his stories and words of guidance for the world to hear.

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HEADLINERS - CHLOË BRYCE & LUC MCNALLY – MUSIC

In Tunes in Pollokshields Chloë and Luc perform a variety of self-composed and newly arranged Scottish and Irish traditional music from their living room in Pollokshields. You'll hear moments of charged up dance tunes and moments of serene, meditative contemplation. This music runs the full gamut of emotions. Chloë Bryce and Luc McNally are a traditional Scottish music duo based in Pollokshields, Glasgow. They perform self-composed pieces as well as modern settings of traditional tunes. Originally from Easter Ross, Chloë developed her grasp of traditional music through her involvement in the Fèis movement. She went on to study fiddle and Gaelic song at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton. Her music is informed by a deep regard for the old tunes and songs embedded in Highland culture. She has gained repute as a composer and a number of her tunes have come into circulation in the Glasgow session scene. Chloë has toured extensively across the UK, with notable appearances at Celtic Connections, Cambridge Folk Festival and Sidmouth Folk Festival. She has also performed internationally at Festival Interceltique de Lorient, Celtic Colours International Festival and the National Celtic Festival of Australia. She recently graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a First Class Honours Degree in Traditional Music. Chloë is currently based in Glasgow, where she is actively involved in the city’s dynamic music scene. Luc McNally is a guitarist, bouzouki player and singer, originally from County Durham but resident in Glasgow. His distinctive rhythmic accompaniment and flatpicking style has brought him some great achievements, notably winning Trip to Birmingham Tradfest’s Molloy Award in 2017 with the Iona Fyfe Trio and twice reaching the final of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award (2018/2019). His work has taken him all over the UK and to Ireland, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and China. He performs regularly with Snuffbox, Dosca, as well as in a Live Music Now Scotland duo with Hannah Rarity, and has played in the past with RURA, Maeve MacKinnon, Jarlath Henderson, Paddy Callaghan, Iona Fyfe and Sketch. His solo album, ‘Night Off’, was released in 2020.

MORE ABOUT CHLOË BRYCE & LUC MCNALLY HERE & HERE

HEADLINER - SWEÆTSHOPS®- CABARET

In the performance piece We Eagerly Await Your Complete Submission, Sweætshops® asks "Do you have X? That certain something? Have you been biding your time? Do you just want to be up there? You know you do. You have always known. We have always known and in all ways known. Your dreams. Your deepest desires. Your moment. We are here to take you there on the neXt step." We Eagerly Await Your Complete Submission is an ongoing controversial project drawing parallels between the rhetoric of doomsday cults and reality television. Created by award-winning multipersonality conglomerate Sweætshops® with support from Creative Scotland, //BUZZCUT// and Anatomy Arts. Sweætshops® is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, under the moniker of Sweætshops® their work is presented under a "multipersonality conglomerate", the name is a portmanteau of "sweatshops" and "sweetshops" to reflect the two extremes (poverty and luxury) of living within a global capitalist structure that permeates every area of our existence. Their practice is centered on crafting intense absurd ritual from the waste of late-stage capitalism to create new allegories for contemporary social phenomenon. They are a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, having supported themselves with factory and cleaning work to relocate from our hometown. Their work is multifaceted, from public disruption - attending the X-Factor auditions as a dead humiliated contestant, intercepting the military police during the Edinburgh Tattoo and getting simultaneously legally married and divorced on the proposed Brexit deadline - to creating performance for 0-5s and being awarded a masters in sonic arts scholarship despite holding no previous higher education experience. In 2019 they were awarded the BUZZCUT Emerging Artist Award, creating "We Eagerly Await Your Complete Submission" with the additional Creative Scotland funding. While their work deals with dark aspects of our world with often duplicitous public interaction, it is from a place of compassion - only by confronting these uncomfortable truths can we begin to address them.

MORE ABOUT SWEÆTSHOPS® HERE

MERCH

HEADLINER – THE BIG NOWHERE - MUSIC

After the release of their self-titled fourth album in November, The Big Nowhere are back in the studio (socially distanced, of course) and working on our next full-length platter for release later this year! In the meantime, Plugged In & Wired hosts a selection of songs from their previous releases - live and direct to your faces (along with a cheeky wee promo video from one of our EPs) - including a stripped-down acoustic version of No-One Here But Ghosts from their last album, and I Couldn't Keep Away from the vinyl-only NOW That's What I Call NHC Music compilation! The Big Nowhere have been performing with the likes of Justin Townes Earle, First Aid Kit, Kat Men, Juanita Stein, Chastity Brown and legend Hank Wangford. ‘To The End Of The World’ from their ‘Christmas In The Gutter’ EP was used as the title music for short film ‘Jerry Generic : Modern Comedian’, & was chosen as the final track played on Tom Robinson’s BBC6 radio show

MORE ABOUT THE BIG NOWHERE HERE

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It's all kicking off this coming Friday, the 26th. This cornucopia of curated content will be available to watch on our YouTube channel. Stay tuned...

The whole Plugged In & Wired production process has been something wonderful, from learning curves to getting to know all these wonderful individuals who we're honoured to have in the programme. We're also stoked with the press interest its attracted, with ace coverage in this article in ,PCN Magazine and we were delighted to kick off the week with a great article by Catriona Stewart in The Glasgow Times. The impact of the festival that's become more and more apparent is a message of hope, giving hope to creatives in an otherwise bleak time. And we hope we can beam that good vibing in to your homes from the 26th of March.

We're in the final week of intros, with this being the penultimate blog introducing you to all the acts and we have a bumper of a beaut of a blog for you today. Meet rockers Black Star Jackals, Glasgow treasure SambaYaBamba, creator of magical worlds Claire Casey, the talented and funny lady Andrea, adopted Glaswegian from Barcelona Guillem Gené , song writer Paul Rice, writer and performer of spoken word Sean Wai Keung, well known crime author Morgan Cry & the esoteric Green Finch. As ever, we're here, not to just provide a prime performance platform for quality Southside creatives but we really encourage you to show your support for all these talented individuals. It's been a really hard year for us all and especially creatives. Hit up their socials with some Southside loving and where linked please support them that one step further and throw what you can afford in to their virtual tip jars. We're always appreciative of any support you can give our festival too and our own virtual tip jar can be found here.

BLACK STAR JACKALS - MUSIC

Up and coming rockers Black Star Jackals perform a short live set of their newest songs. The Glasgow based 4 piece are quickly garnering fans across the UK thanks to their infectious melodies and hard rock vibes with the aim of bringing rock music back into the mainstream. Described by A&R Factory as a "melodically gifted powerhouse", Glasgow based Black Star Jackals burst on to the scene at the start of 2019. The alt-rock/indie 4 piece have quickly garnered new fans, radio airplay and positive reviews from industry professionals thanks to their infectious melodies and hard rock vibes.

MORE ABOUT BLACK STAR JACKALS

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SAMBAYABAMBA - MUSIC

This is SambayaBamba finds Glasgow-based SambaYaBamba giving a vibrant and energetic live performance from the Encontro Street Band Festival, edited over their original song Brown Shoe. Pure, organic, dance music - powerful and irresistible. SambaYaBamba is a musical tour-de-force hailing from the sun-drenched streets of tropical Glasgow. A 30-odd-piece drumming bateria and brass section rooted in the musical traditions of the Brazilian carnival yet at the same time, very much tailored to a the Glasgow crowd. They are equally at home on a huge stage, in a street parade or in a basement club. Their set twists and turns from full scale samba to drum and bass and beyond with a tightness and commitment to the rhythm that is a joy to behold. The organisation's mission is to spread the love of Brazilian street music by providing access, performance and progression opportunities to all. This is achieved through constant beginner adult classes, brass taster sessions, dance workshops and a thriving and vibrant Youth Band (www.sambayabamba.com/youth-band). Having begun as a community arts project in Paisley, the band has been in existence for over 20 years and has gone from strength to strength playing an incredible roster of gigs large and small far and near including many for the national teams at both Hampden and Murrayfield, all the important festivals and legendary samba get-togethers from here to Brighton, Coburg and many more. In recent years SYB and Glasgow have been hosting the samba community, inviting bands to come and play on the streets of Glasgow in the ambitious and extremely successful Encontro Street Band Festival taking place in the Merchant City.

MORE ABOUT SAMBAYABAMBA HERE & HERE

CLAIRE CASEY – LITERATURE

A war on magic has raged for years. Rowan, the Lord of Ravensrise, has fought to stop those who seek to destroy magic, and all who use it.... Ravensrise is the first novel in the Ravensrise Trilogy by Claire Casey. It's a work of fantasy, which is filled with action, magic and romance. In Plugged In and Wired Claire tells us more about her novel, Ravensrise. She’s an independent author, she publishes and sells her books through Amazon. Clare also writes poetry, short stories, flash fiction and fantasy novels.

MORE ABOUT CLAIRE CASEY

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ANDREA - MUSIC

Southside singer/songwriter Andrea has been entertaining bar and pub audiences across Scotland with her soulful covers and sassy side banter for over five years. In 2020 Andrea embarked on her most ambitious project yet- blending her signature pop vocals with a sincere style of comedy to tackle important topics like mental health, relationships, white privilege and sleeping in a bed that isn't your own. Funny, heartfelt, and often educational, Andrea aims to bring people together with her songs about nuanced, yet universal human experiences. Highlights include her sex-positive anthem "Every Body" and The Little Mermaid parody "I Want To Be Where the Normal People Are". Whether you want to know about the less than glamorous symptoms of anxiety or what constitutes feeling like an adult, Andrea invites you to sing along, celebrate and commiserate our weirdly specific and wonderful place in the world today. Join southside singer/songwriter Andrea for her new show "Sing Funny, Cry Inside", a musical performance for the not so well adjusted individual. Andrea will help you to commiserate and even celebrate life's idiosyncrasies.

MORE ABOUT ANDREA HERE & HERE

TIP JAR

GUILLEM GENÉ - MUSIC

Guillem Gené, is a singer songwriter from Barcelona living in Glasgow. He started his career over ten years ago and has played more gigs than he can count, between his original music, cover bands and both individual and collaborative projects he’s undertaken over the years. For three years, Guillem was the lead singer of a Catalan rock band, called ‘Mostassa’, which won several awards. He has released three albums, one of which with Mostassa. He would describe his current style as being a blend of acoustic, rock and with a folk flair. He’s been living in Glasgow for a year and has been writing music and performing it around the city (pre-lockdown). The powerful singer from Barcelona who looks more Scottish than most Scots. Playing an acoustic set of original material, fuelled with high emotions and vulnerability that is sure to either move or shake you.

MORE ABOUT GUILLEM GENÉ HERE & HERE

TIP JAR

PAUL RICE - MUSIC

Some tunes written and performed by Paul Rice introduces us to the song writing of Paul Rice. The songs have been percolating since early 2017. If there's an overarching theme, it's the struggle to stay sensitive and hopeful in a world that is callous and unforgiving. Paul grew up around Chicago, but he’s now settled in the Southside of Glasgow. He’s busked in dozens of states and countries, including this one, and Paul’s been writing and performing original music for a whole bunch of years, with a range of influences including fuzzy indie rock and old-time folk music. Since coming to Glasgow he’s mostly just been hoarding songs and tinkering with them until he finds the right collaborators with whom to try to build something fresh. Paul sings and plays guitar and banjo, mostly. We’re stoked he’s sharing his hoard with Plugged In & Wired.

BUSK

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SEAN WAI KEUNG - SPOKEN WORD

Sean Wai Keung is a writer, performer and spoken word artist who's lived in Southside now for about five years. Sean has performed at places like Sonnet Youth, Anatomy Arts and Inn Deep and writes a lot about topics including migration, identity and food. Glasgow is filled with spirits and ghosts. Sometimes, there are people who can see them and talk to them. "the possession" is a spoken word piece about history and identity, which melts together the classical Chinese myth of Hungry Ghosts and Glasgow's own slave-trader history. With an incredible performance by Southsider Sean, and as seen in the Haunted Voices Anthology, by Haunt Publishing.

MORE ABOUT SEAN WAI KEUNG

TIP JAR

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MORGAN CRY – LITERATURE

'Live' from Spain - 'Thirty-One Bones' a crime thriller by Morgan Cry. Morgan tells us about himself, his new Spanish crime thriller 'Thirty-One Bones' and takes us on a tour of Javea on the Costa Blanca - the inspiration for his new novel's fictional town of El Descaro - talking about the locations, the characters and the story behind the book. When Daniella Coulstoun's estranged mother Effie dies in Spain under suspicious circumstances, she feels it's her duty to fly out for the funeral. On arrival, Daniella is confronted by a dangerous group of expat misfits who claim that Effie stole huge sums of cash from them in a multi-million property scam. They want the money back… Intrgued? We are. Ian Rankin called ‘Thirty-One Bones’, ‘Sweaty, seedy fun’ and the Sunday Post found it ‘Rivetting’. As the author of eight novels to date Morgan (aka Gordon Brown) offers you a break from these dark winter months, sprinkled with some Spanish sun, intrigue and crime. Gordon Brown has eight crime and thriller books published to date, along with a novella and a number of short stories. Under his new expat alias, Morgan Cry, his latest crime thriller, ’Thirty-One Bones’, set in Spain, is published by Polygon. Available now it will also be released in the US by Skyhorse Publishing on the 4th of May. The sequel to ‘Thirty-One Bones’, called ‘Six Wounds’, will be out in June 2021. Southsider Gordon also helped found Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival, he’s a DJ on local radio - pulseonair.co.uk and runs a strategic planning consultancy. Married with two children and living in Muirend, Gordon tells us in his former lives he’s delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non-alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business, floated a high-tech company on the London Stock Exchange, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final!

MORE ABOUT MORGAN CRY

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BLOODY SCOTLAND

GREENFINCH - MUSIC

Plugged In & Wired presents a solo set by Seòras from Greenfinch. Delighted to be back on stage after so many months, playing old and new songs stripped down to Acoustic guitar and vocals. Greenfinch are a Glasgow-based five piece who perform folk-inflected songs built on a warm bed of intertwining guitars and vocals – in English and Gaelic. There will generally be two acoustic guitars and two slightly confused hippies, but there are often also several other superb musicians playing a host of instruments and looking after the longhairs. Greenfinch have been performing in Scotland for several years in various guises from solo acoustic to seven piece with glockenspiel, piano, violin, cello and trumpet.

MORE ABOUT GREENFINCH HERE, HERE & HERE

We'll be back on Sunday, introducing you to the last of our Plugged In & Wired acts, stay tuned Southsiders ...

We’re buzzin’ for y’all to see the cornucopia of talent in our Plugged In & Wired virtual festival. We’re counting down to the 26th of March, are you? On this Southside Sunday meet up and coming band AMSAY, the obsessed and boxed up Miss A Legg, and you can read more about our headliners; spoken word artist Kevin P. Gilday, polyamorous comedian Shari Levine, the dreamy folk goddess Asthmatic Harp, the four blokes including Morgan Cry and critically acclaimed author Jackie McLean.

Content for our virtual festival has blown us away and we’re stoked to be able to curate such a quality line up of entertainment and talent for you during these crazy times. We can’t stress how important it is to show all these wonderful creatives some support, from simply giving them a like on their socials, sharing their work, to buying merch or showing your appreciation in their virtual tip jars. Every bit helps and most of all you’ll be helping to keep hope and the arts alive. Thank you and enjoy meeting todays bountiful batch of beauties bent on making life better through creativity!

AMSAY – MUSIC

In AMSAY’s Lockdown Set (Again/Victor Was A Victim/This Girl) fans of alt-rock (Radiohead/Interpol), shoegaze (Slowdive/Beach House) and midwest emo (American Football/Red House Painters) will not be disappointed. AMSAY’s music has been described as “shoegazey, dream pop, sway your head back and forth kind of vibe...laced with twinkly chords and shimmering vocals” and brings a jangly, Smiths-esque tone to the genre. AMSAY are an alt-rock Glasgow based trio who formed at the beginning of last year, comprised of Sam Bennett (vocals/guitar), Louis Fitzpatrick (bass) and Michael Bennett (drums). The lads had begun gigging around the city before lockdown started, playing venues such as The Amethyst and downstairs at King Tuts. AMSAY released a single back in May which was received warmly, being featured on Californian music blog Dim Things and the Italian shoegazeblog. They were also interviewed on Sunny Govan Radio’s Inspiration Hour back in July, where they chatted about the songmaking process and general mental health during lockdown. AMSAY will be returning to play live venues around Scotland in 2021 as soon as the pandemic hellscape has subsided, but until then you can follow them on Instagram, Soundcloud, Youtube and Facebook

MORE ABOUT AMSAY HERE & HERE

TIP JAR

HEAR THE SINGLE

MISS A LEGG – SPOKEN WORD

Miss A Legg is currently studying MLitt Theatre Studies at Glasgow University. Before lockdown she performed regularly as a solo performer at events in Glasgow and beyond! This includes appearances at Express Yourself, She Grrrowls and Plug In Girls. Recently she has done a few live online events as well as short video projects. Video projects include Insights Platforms/Insights Digital- where she performed her solo piece In A Box. Other video projects include multiple collaborations as The Daft Duo with friend Sara Palomarr. Live online gigs include Spangled Cabaret at home, Heat 4 of NOCY (New Online Comedian of the Year 2020), and 2 Funny Women Edinburgh Alternative Interview events. Miss A Legg is a performer member of The New Works Playhouse and a member of The Not-God Complex directory and part of the Southside Fringe Advisory team. Her solo performances tend to feature a blend of amazing alliteration, ridiculous rhyming, silly singing, preposterous props and dazzling dancing (often with donuts). As part of Plugged In & Wired Miss A Legg is trying to get over an ex in My Obsession Confession and after being prompted to think “How do you keep a creative mind busy in a box?” during lockdown she created In A Box, this was Initially made for Funny Women Alternative Interviews and since been performed at Insights Digital 2020 and Spangled Cabaret at Home.

MORE ABOUT MISS A LEGG HERE & HERE

TIP JAR

HEADLINER - KEVIN P. GILDAY - SPOKEN WORD

Award winning spoken word artist shares an intimate set of poetry and chat from his living room in An Evening with Kevin P. Gilday. Kevin P. Gilday is an award-winning writer and spoken word artist from Glasgow, Scotland. He is the co-founder of spoken word cabaret Sonnet Youth, a National Theatre of Scotland Breakthrough Writer and a BBC Writersroom Scottish Voice. Kevin has performed all over the world, from Hollywood to East Kilbride, including major festivals (BBC 6Music Festival, Glastonbury), Fringes (Edinburgh, Toronto, Vancouver) as well as large scale tours of the UK, Germany, Canada and the US. He has supported artists such as Akala, Saul Williams, Jackie Kay, Sage Francis, Liz Lochhead and George the Poet. He has published four books of poetry, with his most recent - Sad Songs for White Boys (via Speculative Books) - bringing together nearly ten years of work. Under the guise of Kevin P. Gilday & The Glasgow Cross he has released two albums of synth-inflected alternative music – Experience Essential and Pure Concrete – via Iffy Folk Records.

MORE ABOUT KEVIN P. GILDAY

PATREON

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HEADLINER - SHARI LEVINE - COMEDY

Shari Levine is an American stand-up comic living in beautiful Shawlands! Her comedy is about all of the exciting adventures being a bisexual polyamorous woman with Irritable Bowel Syndrome gets her into. In the The Itchy and Shari Show will she get the guy or gal?! Will she make a tit of herself meeting their parents? Will she take a poo in the park? Find out in this exciting adventure! By day Shari Levine is a maths teacher (don't worry, there won't be any maths in the set!) and by night (pre-covid) she was on the rise on the Glasgow comedy circuit doing stand-up and improvisational comedy, and was accepted to perform in the Manford New Act Competition. Shari also ran a monthly short form jam, and was a member of three improv teams, including Glasgow's first and only queer team: Tragic Roundabout, and the all female troupe, The Bitchdel Test.

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HEADLINER - ASTHMATIC HARP – MUSIC

Asthmatic Harp is the musical moniker of Glasgow based songwriter and composer Hannah Fredsgaard-Jones. Through the ethereal autoharp, gentle guitar strumming, hushed and tumbling melodies, Asthmatic Harp is synonymous with a sound that manages to be comforting, folksy, eerie and personal, all at once. Born in Denmark before moving to the UK, Hannah began performing on the London music scene with her debut EP Lost Astronaut in 2015. The music was given 5/6 stars in the acclaimed Danish Music Magazine Gaffa and published in both print and online with Gaffa calling it “Pop Music that takes it a step further”. In 2018 Hannah was handpicked to the prestigious Roundhouse Resident Artist Program. She completed the residency with impressive achievements such as playing the 1,700 seated capacity Roundhouse main stage as the opening act for Sam Palladio and developing exciting collaborations with fellow Roundhouse artists Sophie Kilburn and Kid Jupiter who features on her newest releases. Career highlights for Hannah include radio broadcasts on Tom Robinson’s After Hour Show on BBC6 Music and Danish National Radio Broadcast P5. Rotation on Uniradioen (DK) and KB Radio. Hannah lists her gigs at The Takeover Festival, Sofar Sounds and support for Sam Palladio in The Camden Roundhouse as being highlights for her. Hannah has both won the Help Musician’s Do It Differently Award. Her releases include: Lost Astronaut (EP 2015), Kilburn (single 2017), Moorgate (single 2017) Seven Sisters (single 2017), Things We Learned to Live With (EP 2020( Asthmatic Harp’s performance at Plugged In & Wired will be a unique opportunity to hear her songs in acoustic and stripped-down versions with Hannah accompanying her singing with arrangements on the autoharp and guitar.

'A delightfully playful slice of alt-folk pitched somewhere between Regina Spektor’s characterful delivery and Laura Marling’s near-perfect tones.' - FOR THE RABBITS

'Gorgeous, nymph-like voice to soothe even the most anxiety ridden of souls' - LISTEN WITH MONGER

MORE ABOUT ASTHMATIC HARP HERE & HERE

TIP JAR

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HEADLINER - MORGAN CRY, FOUR BLOKES IN SEARCH OF A PLOT - LITERATURE

In Morgan Cry - Four Blokes In Search of a Plot there are four crime wirters, you choose the victim and weapon, they make up the story live. Take four crime writers, who happen to be blokes. Give them a main character and a murder weapon. Then watch them take it in turns to create a crime story before your very eyes! The result is fun, often wacky and NEVER predictable. The shows have had audiences rolling the aisles at Bloody Scotland, Newcastle Noir, Xabia Negra in Spain, the Southside Fringe, Byres Road Festival and, since lock down, across the internet. “IT’D BE CRIMINAL TO MISS IT”. Let’s introduce ‘the four blokes’, the authors; Neil Broadfoot worked as a journalist for 15 years at both national and local newspapers, he lives in Dunfermline, the setting for his first job as a local reporter. His fourth book, No Man’s Land was longlisted for the 2019 McIlvanney Prize. His sixth, Point of No Return, published by Constable, is out now. Gordon Brown has eight crime and thriller books published to date, along with a number of short stories. His latest novel, Thirty-One Bones, published by Polygon and written under the name Morgan Cry, is set in Spain and is the first in the Daniella Coulstoun series. He also helped found Bloody Scotland, Scotland's International Crime Writing Festival. Douglas Skelton began his authorial career writing about true crime and Scottish criminal history. His novel Open Wounds and his first book in the Rebecca Connolly series, Thunder Bay, were nominated for the McIlvanney Award and the second in the Rebecca Connolly series, The Blood is Still, is out now. Mark Leggatt is a former specialist in Disaster Recovery for oil companies and global banks. History and modern global conspiracy lie at the heart of his work, and are the backdrop for the adventures of CIA technician Connor Montrose. The third book in the series, ‘The Silk Road’ is out now.

MORE ABOUT FOUR BLOKES IN SEARCH OF A PLOT HERE & HERE

HEADLINER – JACKIE MCLEAN – LITERATURE

Jackie McLean is author of the DI Donna Davenport Scottish crime fiction trilogy. 'Toxic' is a race against the clock to track down the illegal storage of the substance that caused the world’s worst industrial accident; 'Shadows' is the descent of a routine murder inquiry into something altogether darker; and 'Run' is the story of revenge and deceit. Join Jackie as she chats about her journey from Southside pet shop owner to writer - the inspiration to write and the road to publication. Find out about the books as she takes you from the streets of Bhopal in India during the world’s worst industrial accident, to the murky world of people smuggling across the Adriatic, following her lead detective’s tense investigations. Take a closer look at the complex characters, and the challenges of character development across a series. Get a glimpse into some of the dodgy research that crime writers get up to (and why they fear their internet searches being discovered). If you’re a new writer looking to get into crime fiction, Jackie will be sharing plenty of tips to help you give it your best shot. Jackie lives in Glasgow and has a varied background, including being a government economist, a political lobbyist, and running a pet shop in Glasgow’s Southside and currently works with East Ayrshire Council, where until recently her job involved frequent visits to Kilmarnock Prison. Toxic was her first crime novel, introducing DI Donna Davenport, and was shortlisted in the Yeovil Literary Prize before publication by ThunderPoint Publishing Ltd. The sequel, Shadows, was published in October 2017, and Jackie’s third book in the DI Davenport series Run was published in October 2019. Jackie was one of Bloody Scotland’s 2019 Crime in the Spotlight authors, and she’s actively involved in the crime fiction scene in Scotland and the north of England. Jackie has appeared at crime writing festivals Newcastle Noir, Crime at the Castle and Literally @ Newbattle, and regularly appears at Noir at the Bar events (including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Dundee and Dunfermline). She also forms part of the Dangerous Dames and Murder & Mayhem along with a number of other crime writers, and have appeared at events in libraries and bookstores across Scotland as part of these. Until recently, Jackie ran the writing group at Waterstones Braehead, and also ran creative writing sessions with the men in Kilmarnock Prison. She’s also active online and put out a monthly newsletter on new crime fiction releases and events, to which a number of publishers regularly contribute.

MORE ABOUT JACKIE MCLEAN HERE & HERE

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Join us again on Thursday 18th March for more top talented Plugged In & Wired introductions. Stay Tuned!

Plugged In & Wired is getting closer, two weeks tomorrow, March the 26th and we begin beaming a bounty of entertainment in to your homes. In this Thursday’s blog we introduce you to more of our sumptuous acts. Learn how to make cocktails From Home, meet comedian Bryce Drennan, musicians and songwriters Barry Noakes and Nicky Murray, actress Anne-Marie Feeney, author Lindsay Littleson and La Divina Lisette Boxman.

As ever we’re encouraging you, our lovely readers to help support local creatives, if you can. Its been a tough old year for us all and especially for our Southside creatives who have lost work due to the pandemic. Dig deep or throw in a few coppers where tip jars or merch are linked in. If you’d like to support our festival, we always welcome donations too, hit us up here. Thank you!

FROM HOME – FOOD & DRINK

Ever wondered how to make simple yet tasty cocktails at home; Andy Mundy can show you they don't have to be complex, they don't have to be time-consuming, and they don't have to break the bank! Andy makes Home Cocktails: Simple & Effective. At the start of lockdown in April last year, Andy was asked by his work (Eden Mill) to run a series of virtual cocktail classes over zoom. This sparked a real interest in mixology, fuelling him to consistently expand his repertoire and utilise a real variety of ingredients. As well as becoming known in close circles for his tasty recipes, he’s also taken pride in his ability to present his cocktail making to others, in a way that allows them to replicate his methods over video calls, and build their confidence with shaker in hand! Andy feels this is crucially important at a time when physical masterclasses aren't possible. His recipes are comparatively simple, but he adds his own unique twists to balance out any rough edges; add more depth and bring out the most important flavours from the spirits. You can watch Andy present three cocktail recipes from start to finish, and give a snapshot of what youcan do too!

BRYCE DRENNAN – COMEDY

In From Killie to Phillies Bryce Drennan uses stories from growing up in the deepest, darkest depths of Kilmarnock, his hapless love life and his experiences of serving the people of Shawlands their fill of booze to lull the audience into a false sense of security with a slow and deliberate delivery that gradually reveals a wryly dark wit. His very unique perspective on the day to day goings on in the Southside will have the audience not only laughing but wondering if it is them he is talking about.

Bryce is a stand up comedian, pub quiz host and radio presenter, he also works in Phillies of Shawlands and has a great grasp of the community spirit that makes the Southside of Glasgow so special. He’s appeared at the Stand Glasgow along with some of the best comedy nights on the Scottish circuit and organised the first comedy night ever at Phillies of Shawlands as part of the Southside Fringe’s program in 2019. His style of comedy is very dry, much like his personality! As well as Stand up Bruce hosts comedy based pub quizzes across Glasgow, with Tuesday nights at Phillies being the weekly main event for the pub quiz lover. He likes to bring a non conventional philosophy to these nights and has a very relaxed approach to factual accuracy and prefer a more nonsense based method of quiz delivery. His latest venture is a radio show called "Cauld Tatties" on Radio Buena Vida, broadcasting live from the window of Some Great Reward record store on Victoria road. The show is bi-weekly and celebrates the food heroes of the Southside. Guests come on the show and pick 4 tracks they associate with food and tell the stories behind them. He has also put his own comedic spin on things, all the episodes so far are available to listen back to on the Radio Buena Vida Soundcloud page.

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BARRY NOAKES - MUSIC

Based in Glasgow, singer songwriter Barry Noakes is on the cusp of releasing his debut album, A New Dawn, and we think it will fly. Bringing together his extraordinary multi-instrumental skills to create an album which is truly personal yet immediately accessible. Having learned violin, viola, piano and singing from an early age, it wasn’t long before he discovered that it was guitars got the girls and so changed musical direction and instead of going to classical music college, went to Salford to study audio tech. Then, living in Coventry, he played in several Indie bands before and after Uni, most noticeably a band called Sugarfix that he released two EPs with. After moving to London to work as a software developer, music began to take a back seat and although he turned the violin into a fiddle and got more folky as a multi-Instrumentalist in a few line-ups, he became more career focused. Settling in Glasgow in 2008, a broken relationship rekindled his passion for songwriting and with his newfound liberty, started playing solo around the Glasgow scene. When lockdown hit, he dedicated himself to recording in his home studio, finally finding he was able to bring together his multi-instrumental

skills and appreciation of different kinds of music, playing the piano, double bass, mandolin, fiddle and viola and utilising his technical prowess to produce first, the digital-only single release “Get Me Down” and then the album "A New Dawn". The album is released on 1st May digitally, on CD and limited-edition vinyl.

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NICKY MURRAY - MUSIC

Scottish singer-songwriter Nicky Murray has been writing and recording music for around 8 years. 2014 saw his debut album 'Plenty More Weeping' released which helped to put him on the map to some degree. After several singles released in 2017, Nicky wrote his latest sophomore record 'Wintermore' in Autumn 2018, which features a stellar line-up of musicians accompanying him. Having toured with/supported (in several different outfits) a wide range of artists from Martin Stephenson, JJ Gilmour, Elephant Sessions, Kathryn Joseph, Peatbog Faeries, Dave Sharp, Brittany & Natalie Haas, Duncan Chisholm, among more. Nicky also is the 'City Leader' for Sofar Sounds (Inverness) organizing live music shows every month with many notable artists. 2019 was spent playing lots of gigs, writing new music, several collaborations, including two Scottish tours with songwriter and friend Moteh Parrott. Nicky had many musical plans for 2020 but the pandemic curbed most of them, in adaption Nicky spent lockdown teaching and working on his own music, releasing two singles. First came 'Atypical' which was written about the Netflix show of the same name, and was championed by the main cast. Next came 'Song for Sara' a song written for the loss of a close friend. A third single came in early September with an across the pond collaboration with Louise Bichan (Rachel Sermanni) and Ethan Setiawan (Darol Anger) with their single 'Songbird'. It is likely that a couple more singles will be on their way over the summer, whilst in the meantime Nicky is working away carefully constructing his next record. He is usually found accompanied with coherent gentle string players, and the occasional harmony singer. Nicky strives for expression and connection.

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BANDCAMP

ANNE-MARIE FEENEY – SPOKEN WORD

Anne-Marie Feeney sends us Greetings from Seattle. Kate has moved from rainy Glasgow to rainy Seattle. She wants to speak to her father but this damn virus is getting in the way. A snapshot of fractured relationships and words left unsaid. No stranger to Southside Fringe, Anne-Marie is a Southside based actor who has appeared in many plays locally over the past 20 years. Her most recent plays for Southside Fringe were Once in a Generation and Battle of George Square both delivered in 2019. She’s worked with many different theatre groups such as Rapture Theatre, Sandstone Theatre, Tramdirect and has appeared in productions in most of Glasgow’s theatres. We’re delighted to have Anne-Marie back with us for Plugged In & Wired, and presenting her own work too!

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LYNDSAY LITTLESON – LITERATURE

As soon as Lindsay Littleson started to research and write her children’s novel, The Titanic Detective Agency, she fell under Titanic’s spell. Every person on board had their own fascinating story to tell and she was keen that everyone in her novel should be a real-life crew member or passenge. The main character in A Titanic Mystery is 12-year-old would-be polar explorer Bertha Watt from Aberdeen and during the Plugged In & Wired chat you can fnd out more about the research Lyndsay did to discover Bertha’s incredible story. She’ll also tell you about the real-life crime that was happening aboard the doomed ship and which became the mystery plot of The Titanic Detective Agency. Lindsay Littleson has four grown-up children , she was a full-time primary teacher, but took early retirement last year to focus on her writing. Before becoming a teacher she spent eight years as possibly the worst PAYE auditor ever to be employed by the Inland Revenue. In 2014 she began writing for children and won the Kelpies Prize for her first children’s novel The Mixed Up Summer of Lily McLean. The sequel, The Awkward Autumn of Lily McLean, was published by Floris Books in 2017 and Guardians of the Wild Unicorns came out in February 2019. A new novel, Secrets of the Last Merfolk, is coming out in Summer 2021 with Floris Books. Lyndsay’s 2015 WW1 novel Shell Hole was shortlisted for the Dundee Great War Children’s Book Prize and she enjoyed engaging in research so much that she was inspired to write another two historical books, A Pattern of Secrets, set in Victorian Paisley and her latest novel, The Titanic Detective Agency, which was published in April 2019.

MORE ABOUT LYNDSAY LITTLESON HERE & HERE

LISETTE BOXMAN - CABARET

Lisette Boxman moved to Edinburgh after finishing her BA in Theatre and Education. She continued her study at the Diploma in Physical Theatre Practice at Adam Smit College and is now a freelance performer and designer in puppetry, singing, mask work and acting. She has performed with many different theatre groups throughout Europe. After 3 years living in a wooden cottage with her Horse Drawn Traveling Circus Elsewhere she decided it was time for living in a city again. Glasgow is her new home and she's loving it. ‘La Divina’ is a cabaret act with reverse striptease, clowning, breast puppetry, audience participation and yodelling. Taking the audience through different emotions around body acceptance. We hope you are ready, she tell’s us she’s not! We can’t wait to show you more.

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We'll be introducing even more of our Plugged In & Wired acts on Sunday. Don't say we don't spoil you... Stay tuned!

Taking you through a journey in time and space, ‘cos we can do that in this virtual era, along the way we’re going to meet some more of the superb acts lined up for Plugged In & Wired for release on the 26th March. On this Southside Sunday meet spoken word artists Toni Seaward and we’ll be introducing some of those juicy headliners you’re dying to meet including Bemz, Eliott Simpson, Laurie Black, Scunner and Tales from Battlefield. So strap in cybernauts and prepare yourself for this skilled stellar Southside line up. And a wee reminder that the arts are really struggling, if you can and where linked please support our artists and buy their merch, their books or support through their socials. Go on show some Southside love…

TONI SEAWARD – SPOKEN WORD

Come on a poetic journey with Toni Seaward, in her show Platitudes, she looks at life, love and lockdown from 2020 and beyond. We have seen words play a central role in our online, zoom oriented lives and communication becoming more important than ever in our socially distanced world. Moving from physical to verbal words take on new meanings all while our politicians give speech after speech every day. But what did this mean for you, for us? Do these words ring true or are they just platitudes? Toni Seaward is a writer, poet and spoken word artist based in the Southside of Glasgow. Her works are observational and reactive and usually interwoven with a strong sense of motherhood and the female condition. Toni has always been interested in how we connect to each other and the world around us on an emotional level and I use my poetry to try and make sense of these emotional connections on a personal and universal level. Toni has performed at various events as well as radio, festivals and podcasts as well as having some published works and organising multidisciplinary events and she always looks forward to being involved in events in her local area.

HEADLINER – BEMZ - MUSIC

Bemz - Saint of Lost Causes, Bemz speaks his truth. In Glasgow, Bemz is one of several artists helping to establish Scotland as a bona fide hotbed for Black music, while also proving that rap’s cultural reach stretches way beyond London. Having first fallen in love with music through the usual childhood influences and inspirations, Bemz began experimenting with making his own sounds, primarily as a medium of self-expression. Art and poetry were the precursors to his introduction to rap, before blossoming into a lifelong dedication with the artform itself. He delivers a very raw, emotionally charged view of life, which never falls into the cliched trappings that often come with that territory; truth is his asset. His music is a form of therapy, so everything spoken about in his EP and also in the media has been in relation to a situation he has experienced first-hand. Bemz’ sound is unique, and he dabbles in and out of different styes of rapping such as old school hip hop to drill to grime. His diversity is what makes him stand out. Since the EP has been released, Jubemi has organically developed a team consisting of a management duo and social media content creator. Kobi Onyame makes up part of the management team which is beneficial for showing Jubemi the ropes of the industry to some extent due to his admirable success in the industry as a musician himself. The rest of the team consist of two students who study Music Business at college. They aim to lift and help each other which creates a well-oiled machine. Before the team formed; Jubemis’ success came from himself and he has triumphed by surrounding himself with the right creators (producers, other rappers and likeminded creatives).

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HEADLINER - ELIOT SIMPSON - COMEDY

Eliot is an eccentric asexual expat comedian who has been performing stand-up, sketch & improv comedy for over 5 years across the UK and the USA. For years he’s been using comedy as a means to spread awareness and education about asexuality and other lesser known queer identities. Using surreal one liners, wordplay and prop humour to explain and dissect topics of gender and sexuality is the crux of his comedic style, and has made me recognised as the most well known Asexual comedian in the world. He has performed over 800 gigs across 2 continents and has also written & performed for BBC Radio. He’s written, produced, and starred in 5 festival stage shows across several of the UK's Fringe festivals, including his current solo show "(A)sexy and I know it", a comedy show about the bizarre world of living as an Asexual man. He frequently headlines queer-focused nights and also runs his own successful comedy night in Glasgow called "The Diversity Quota"; a night that aims to always provide a diverse and varied line-up of performers. He’s been reviewed as "Absurd and Accessible" (Norwich Radical), "Weird as f**k" (Janey Godley), "Instantly likeable ... informative and hilarious” (ArtsYork), "Offbeat, wacky and unpredictable" (The Wee Review) and "infectiously funny" (The Indiependent).

MORE ABOUT ELIOT SIMPSON HERE & HERE

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HEADLINER - LAURIE BLACK - CABARET

The world has ended... Now what? In Laurie Black: Psychopomp, Laurie guides you into the abyss and out the other side with her unique brand of synth-rock and musical comedy. Build the beginnings of the new world, and your post-apocalyptic retirement plan, with this former “cabaret queen” [EdFest Mag]. This is a work in progress piece with new songs, instruments and beats. Photo by David Ryder Prangley. Laurie Black is an international cabaret performer. In 2018 she won Emerging Artist of Adelaide Fringe and her 2019 debut solo show Space Cadette has been featured on BBC's Edinburgh Nights and won Best Solo Show Awards at Newcastle Fringe (AU) and Reykjavik Fringe. Playing synthesiser and producing and writing her own tracks in a "neo-cabaret" electronic musical comedy style, she also plays with bands The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing and her own Glasgow-based band S!LENCE. In 2020 she was supposed to be presenting a brand new solo cabaret show called Mockstar that has since been shelved: instead she’s used this year to write new songs and experiment with more music technology to use onstage and in future shows. In 2017 at Edinburgh Fringe she played in Briefs Factory show Sweatshop and accompanied renowned cabaret singer Anya Anastasia. Laurie has three albums and an EP that you can find on Spotify and other streaming sites.

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HEADLINER – SCUNNER – MUSIC

In Scunner's Sensational Southside Soiree, Scunner hark back to musical TV specials of yore with an otherworldly video spectacle. Join this colourful bunch of electric music hall rapscallions as they blur the lines between concert/theatre/music video. This is a band who have genre hopped their way through the bizarre and whimsical, always delving into unfamiliar territory, and always uncompromising in their stage performance. Step into a world of wonder, imbued with the spirit of Dada, silent movies and wonky machines!Scunner are a bunch of electric music hall rapscallions from Glasgow who have been peddling their sinister fairground wares since 2004. Purveyors of 'Vaudeville Pop' and 'Cabarock', the band like to put on a show of a theatrical and surreal persuasion! Currently working on their 4th album by way of file swapping and home recording, they are adamant that music will still be released despite never being in the same room. Scunner are fronted by Paul Puppet, who as well as being a singer is the host and curator of Spangled Cabaret, which has provided monthly variety nights for 12 years in Glasgow. In 2013 Scunner wrote and performed a musical called, 'The Sorry Tale of Subtraction Jack & his Lady Cadaver' Plans to tour their brand new musical on the life of 'Walford Bodie, The Electric Wizard of the North' have been somewhat scuppered however due to covid. A full length musical which also utilises puppetry and masks, it is hoped that the show can hit the road in summer 2021.

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HEADLINER – WORDS FROM BATTLEFIELD – LITERATURE

Words from Battlefield is an anthology of writing by the Finn's Place writing class over the past few years. This short film features two of the writers from the book, Donna Campbell and Libby McInnes. Linda Jackson, the class tutor introduces the book and then Donna and Libby perform several of their pieces. Donna's performance poet experience is evident in her piece, Mongrel, a poem about a strong and powerful woman who goes her own way. Libby reads a series of Cinquain poems about her travels and her freedom to return to the Southside of Glasgow. Class work by both.

Finns Place is an organisation that offers opportunities to enhance and improve well-being and a supportive environment for difficult times. Through classes and events they offer the opportunity for local residents to access as many of the five ways to wellbeing as possible: Connecting with others, learning something new, taking notice, being active and giving. These five ways are proven to increase a sense of wellbeing and keep people physically and mentally healthy. Over the past 7 and a half years Finn's Place has become a community hub for wellbeing, working with other community groups and organisations to bring a positive energy and community spirit to Battlefield.

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We'll be back next week to introduce you to more Southside stars...stay tuned

The countdown is on until the 26th of March when a feast of your favourites and a whole bunch of brand new creative beauts will be beaming their way in to your homes in our Plugged In & Wired virtual festival. In this blog we introduce you to a plethora of Plugged In & Wired acts including: Braw, Glassworks, Moira McPartlin, Anna Secret Poet, 10pencemixup, The Daft Duo and Ms Truelove Waits. We live in challenging times and the power of live arts is missed more than ever. Many of our performers rely on gig income, sadly, gigs and income have been lost over the past year. If you can and where linked, please support our artists and buy their merch, their books or throw something into their virtual tip jars.

Enjoy meeting the acts in our third intro blog...

BRAW - MUSIC

|Bringing us their ‘The Lockdown Singles’ , Braw are a folk-pop brother duo based in Glasgow's southside, specialising in close harmony vocals. Formed in 2019, Iain and Andrew Mundy have been performing across the Glasgow music scene. During that year, they released their debut single, Swing Door, which was followed by Piece by Piece, Home from Home and finally, Whisky in Hand. All of these are set to feature on their 2021 debut album. Whisky in Hand reached number 65 in the Official Scottish Singles Chart, and peaked at 50 in the Official iTunes Chart. It received substantial radio airplay including on BBC Radio Scotland's The Afternoon Show, Celtic Music Radio, Camglen FM, and single of the week features on The Max and Chief Radio Scotland. To round off 2020, the pair also released their first festive single, A Glimpse of Christmas, which also featured a very special B-side cover of O Holy Night. Braw's unique vocal blend allows them to create innovative and original harmonies, while offering fresh takes on classic songs when playing live. They play everything from Simon and Garfunkel to Biffy Clyro.

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GLASSWORKS - MUSIC

Emilie Boyd & Dan Brown present a set of heartfelt, soulful and elegant original songs from their upcoming E.P. Glassworks are Emilie Boyd (vocalist) and Dan Brown (pianist), and are both regular performers on the central belt's contemporary jazz scene. Dan is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire's jazz course, and Emilie is a Scottish Jazz Award Best Vocalist nominee. They have worked together for years, performing regularly (in non-Covid years) both as a jazz duo, and in larger scale projects such as 'Like a Cat Tied to a Stick - Radiohead Re-imagined', 'The Emilie Boyd Quintet', The Joshua Elcock Big Band 'Dreaming of White Horses', and more. Emilie and Dan have developed a strong friendship and a musical partnership which has led them to start writing together this year. Their music is mainly influenced by mid-century jazz of Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Bill Evans; folk and trad music; and contemporary jazz/folk artists such as Gretchen Parlato, Emma Frank and Aaron Parks, amongst others. Glassworks has written soulful, elegant, melancholy songs about self-reflection, which they are excited to release on a 4 track E.P. early next year.

MORE ABOUT GLASSWORKS HERE & HERE

MERCH

MOIRA MCPARTLIN - LITERATURE

Moira McPartlin is a Scottish writer with Irish roots. Although born in the Scottish Borders she was brought up in a small Fife mining village. She describes herself as a very youthful granny and in her spare time gardens, plays whistle and tries to get out on the hills when she can, bagging the Munros by 2006 (Scottish Mountains over three thousand feet high). When Moira McPartlin began writing her future fiction Sun Song Trilogy in 2014 she had no idea that the events she was inventing would begin to come true. Climate change, right wing politics, genetic manipulation and artificial intelligence were present, but not so prevalent then. The novels are set in 2089 but, soon after publication, the real world began to catch up with this imagined world much quicker than anticipated. For example, when she invented a Silver Surfer virus that conveniently killed only seniors, she had no idea that Covid-19 was just around the corner. In this short film, When Fiction Becomes Real, Moira will explore the trilogy’s themes and inspiration and demonstrate how sometimes fiction becomes real. Themes of Moira’s work vary in content and tone, but they always include a strong Scottish connection. Her short stories and poems have featured in many publications including The Scotsman, Platinum Magazine, Northwords Now, Crannog, The Scottish Mountaineer and many anthologies.

MORE ABOUT MOIRA MCPARTLIN HERE & HERE

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ANNA SECRET POET - MUSIC

Anna Secret Poet, who brings her Pathetic Genetic to the Plugged In & Wired programme, is a genderbending singer and performer from Glasgow who has been bothering all kinds of stages since 2016. She brought out an album called 'No Brainer' at the start of lockdown which was not a clever thing to do - the irony is not lost on her. You'll not be short of a coaster in her house! Anna Secret Poet is not a poet though sometimes poets let her speak. She likes words but prefers to sing them. She's not a drag queen but sometimes drag queens let her strut about on their stage singing dubious songs. Some of her latest songs are variously about procrastination, biscuits, social media, monsters and format snobbery. You can find them on the internet in the usual digital music places.

MORE ABOUT ANNA SECRET POET HERE & HERE

MERCH

10PENCEMIXUP - CABARET

Let's Play Kerby! Growing up in the West of Scotland during the 70's/80's was easy. We had no mobile phones or reality TV. 10pencemixup is a 4 piece band; Robert on Cajon, Alistair on Cello, Stuart on Ukulele and Melissa on vocals. We have been established for a few years now and grown from solo work to the present band. Stuart McKay started writing songs about his childhood, playing Kerby, village Pigeon Fanciers and wearing his sisters tights to keep warm at school. Brilliant songs written by other members of the band have followed, about fighting at Scrambles for the last ten bob bit and dodgy spiral haircuts on the 80s. Nostalgia is their passion and something, which their fans have responded to with much enthusiasm. 10pencemixup have performed at Spangled Cabaret, Britannia Panopticon Comedy Club and Burns Night, Edinburgh Festival and Celtic Connections with John McMustard and Friends, Newport and Eden Festivals. 3 of their songs, Let's Play Kerby, Big John the Dooman and My Grandfathers Chair have also been covered by John McMustard(Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5) on his solo album 'Sports Mixture'.

MORE ABOUT 10PENCEMIXUP HERE & HERE

THE DAFT DUO - COMEDY

A Driving Lesson... with a difference! One half of The Daft Duo wants to learn to drive, and the other half has agreed to teach them! There may be some bumps in the road, but let’s hope that they get to their daft destination in style! The Daft Duo are a collaboration between comedy performers: Sara Palomarr (based in Edinburgh) and Miss A Legg (based in Glasgow Southside). They first met at Roehampton University studying Drama Theatre and Performance Studies and have collaborated many times over 9 years of friendship as well as pursuing other projects individually. Since lockdown The Daft Duo have had loads of fun making comical videos together. Inspired by silent movies they get up to some daft deeds and then make it all double speed to make it extra funny. Their first project was “PPE (Pintsize Play Elephant)” – which was created for A Play, a Pie, A Pint’s Pint-size Plays competition. Next up was “A Dream Date” – which was created for Wonky Veg Theatre’s first zine. They then went on to create "Incoming Call" and "Ha Ha Halloween" for The Clusterf*ck Circus Permogeddon 3: Day off the Meds & Loco Local Lockdown Grave New World respectively. Their latest project “The REal Deal” has been submitted for the next Wonky Veg zine.

MORE ABOUT THE DAFT DUO HERE AND HERE

TIP JAR

MS TRUELOVE WAITS

Ms Truelove Waits is a cabaret songstress, playing ukulele and glockenspiel to accommpany socialist music hall songs to uplift, inspire and enrage. Since 2016 she has been composing original songs about love, community and politics, as well as choice covers of alt-cabaret superheros such as Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Victoria Wood and Jason Webley. Her Plugged in & Wired set will feature three of her most popular cheerful, sing-along numbers. She has performed at Queer Theory, Sinister Wink, Allsorts, Spangled cabarets, and created a video for her run-away fan favourite hit "F*ck The Tories".

MORE ABOUT MS TRUELOVE WAITS HERE & HERE

We'll be introducing more Plugged In & Wired acts and some juicy headliners on Sunday. Watch this blog...

What a week it’s been! From filming the last of our Plugged In & Wired acts at The Ice Box Arts & Music Centre last weekend, to a press flurry this week, including this ace article from The List. This week and the reactions to our festival announcements have shown us how, more than ever, the arts are so desperately missed. We hope to fill some of that gouch with top quality acts beamed straight in to your homes from the 26th of March. In the meantime meet some more of our quality acts, with some tantalising headliners coming your way too! Don’t forget to tip the acts when you can.

NIGHT EDITOR - MUSIC

Presenting Southside Story & Sun Don’t Shine , Alasdair Fergsuon, aka Night Editor graduated from the SAE Institute last year with a BA Hons in Digital Filmmaking. His final project was a poetic film about the south side of Glasgow called Southside Story. He filmed and edited shops, people, wildlife and so forth and composed an original score for the film. Since Lockdown he’s produced three singles for people, he had studied music production, too. Alasdair also composed some new songs, one of which Sund Don’t Shine, you can see in March. Following Covid practice he even filmed music videos for the songs. This seemed a welcome diversion from the lockdown. He was also comissioned to make a short film A Journey Around My Tenement, which was three different stories set in a tenement. The aim was to put the film online on the dates that the Fringe would have been on. At nearly an hour, it was the most ambitious film he’s made so far. Alasdair has also been working on a short film Conceal which has had good critical reviews, he hopes to submit that to the Southside Film Festival. But it's mainly music he’s been working on during lockdown. Either composing or working with artistes on their own tracks, adding orchestration and producing.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NIGHT EDITOR

SEAN WAI KEUNG - LITERATURE

Presenting "sikfan glaschu" preview, Sean Wai Kung is a poet and performer who has lived in Southside for around 5 years now. He won the Rialto Open Pamphlet Competition 2016 with his work "you are mistaken" and he’s also had two other pamphlets published with Speculative Books, "how to cook" and "be happy". In April 2021, Sean’s first full-length poetry collection will be published by Verve Poetry Press, and is currently available for pre-order via the Verve website and/or Waterstones. The collection itself is about Glasgow and takes inspiration from many of the restaurants in the city, including Southside joints such as the Rum Shack, Tinto Tapas and the Glad Cafe.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SEAN WAI KEUNG

TIP JAR

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HEADLINER - VIV GEE – COMEDY

No stranger to Southside Fringe, it’s great to welcome back and introduce the first of our headliners Southsider and ex Edinburgher Viv Gee as she gives us the low down on lockdown with a hilarious stand-up comedy set. Viv’s performed stand-up comedy from LA to Bangkok and has compered many big events including T in the Park and Glasgow’s New Year Celebrations. Viv was also a finalist in Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny and he BBC open Mic Final. TV and Radio appearances include The Comedy Underground, Lorraine Kelly’s Make Me Happier STV, Stake Out, Hedz, River City, Revolver, The Key, Velvet Soup, Fred Macaulay Show, Cover Stories, Comedy Café, Velvet Cabaret and The Gates.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VIV GEE

HEADLINER - BARTOK THINS – MUSIC

Bartok Thins are a duo from Glasgow who write and perform original material. We have performed in Europe and the USA, performing in the world famous Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset Boulevard and at the Beverly Hills concert series. Bartok Thins are Helen Frater Lennon and Peter Lennon. They’ve been writing and performing together since 2002. Their material is a mixture of indie pop, country, blues and jazz. Returning to Glasgow after spending 7 years touring and performing in the USA., they, like many musicians are currently building their knowledge and experiences of online streaming performance but look forward to being able to get back out and play to a live audience.

FIND OUR MORE ABOUT BARTOK THINS

HEADLINER - GABRIEL FEATHERSTONE – CABARET

Gabriel Featherstone's, Frankenstein Revue is a handmade, one-person carnivàle, we can’t wait. Gabriel is a humble cloud of broken thoughts and memories, trapped inside a mobile prison of rapidly deteriorating flesh. He is also a comedian, songwriter and cabaret entertainer from Glasgow. Described by comedy historian Robert Wringham as being "the noble heir to a worthy line of fringe-dwelling loons", Gabriel is well known in Scottish cabaret circles for having written a really catchy song about cabbages. His act heavily relies on absurd storytelling practises, weird songs and cumbersome homemade props. He is a member of CHUNKS, a Glasgow-based alternative comedy collective with three Scottish Comedy Awards and a smashing review on Chortle. Gabriel appeared with Chunks in an episode of BBC Sounds' Original Pilot Material, in which he played the ghost of a pig. He has performed in several places and situations, including The Stand Comedy Club, The Monkey Barrel Comedy Club, The Blue Arrow Jazz Club, The Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, The Rose Theatre, The Polo Lounge, The National Museum of Scotland, The Eden Music Festival, and The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society. He also frequently appears in The Sinister Wink: The Creative Martyrs’ beloved underground cabaret showcase. Gabriel has organised several alternative variety shows in Glasgow, including Doctor Smiley's Weirdo Theatre for The Britannia Panopticon Music Hall and The Boiling Dolphin Show for The Blue Chair Café. He has also written and performed three one-man shows - Carved From Ape (2017), Whelk Ham Tomb Eye Toybox (2018), and The Toys That Broke Me (2019). His routines include The Lovecraftian Lovesong, Batman Vs. Samuel Beckett and The Man With Breasts For Eyes.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT GABRIEL FEATHERSTONE

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HEADLINER - BECCI WALLACE - MUSIC

Becci Wallace performs songs from her latest release Present Tense. Singer- Songwriter and producer Becci Wallace is firmly placed at the heart of Scotland’s Songwriting community. The first thing you will notice about her is her tireless energy, versatility and zest for lyrics and melody. Her new album Present Tense was released in November and has been met with critical acclaim, nominated for Celtic Music Radio and The Weekender album of the year (results pending) and featured as the 'Record of Note' on BBC Scotland's Roddy Hart Show, as well as national press and radio play across the UK. Highlighting issues around motherhood in the music in dustry, Becci’s latest work is a candid expression of the light and darkness of being a mother at the forefront of a profession that demands relevance. Writing across genres and co-writing on the Pearlfishers Love and Other Hopeless Things, Catherine Rudie’s Mobius Kiss and Loki’s Government Issue Music Protest she has proven to be a versatile and dynamic artist. Becci runs That’s What She Said- a podcast highlighting women in the U.K music industries and is Co-Creator of SongSeeds Online Songwriting Retreats.

Currently teaching Commercial Music and Songwriting at UWS while researching a hip-hop education PhD, music is not just something Becci does, it is her life. A champion of upcoming and established artists, Becci aims to highlight the importance of community in music in all that she does.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BECCI WALLACE

HEADLINER - CLOUD OF STARLINGS – MUSIC

Cloud of Starlings are a 3 piece Melodic Rock band from west of Scotland. Pairing subtle low-fi verses with heavy choruses and screaming guitar solos Cloud of Starlings take you on a sonic journey through soaring highs and crashing lows. Taking inspiration from the likes of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Joy Division, Jimmi Hendrix and Pink Floyd they have created a sound that incorporates elements of rock, grunge, funk and acoustica. Their full blooded sets have everything from the stomping anthem ‘New York’ to the Black Crows inspired bluesy groove of Like a Stone and the Indy rock rhythms of Lessons Learned. They have played various venues across Glasgow, the highlight being opening the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games stage on Brunswick Street, and while at home in small sweaty venues their sound is also well suited for the larger stage and they hope to better this amazing experience in the future.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CLOUD OF STARLINGS

Stay Tuned! More unbelievably brilliant acts to be introduced next week…

We’ve hit the ground running introducing our acts for our new virtual festival Plugged In & Wired, with much appreciated press coverage from the Glasgow Times, Glasgow South & Eastwood Extra and an early morning chat for festival founding director Corinna on the Go Radio, Crofty and Grado Breakfast Show this morning. ALL will be released on March 26th but over the next few weeks we’ll be blogging to let you know more about our Plugged In & Wired acts. It’s so important to us to provide a platform for so many talented individuals who have lost work, and at times hope, through the pandemic. Festivals like ours are a lifeline to performers and artists, please hit up their tip jars where linked and help support these amazing individuals. Enjoy today’s selection… Stay tuned!

FRANCESCA LACEY - CABARET

Francesca Lacey's piece 'Happy Depressive' is both thought provoking and powerful. Francesca creates work based on my experience of life; using autobiography as a tool she draws on questions and observations which she encounters with the intension to subvert the larger questions of life and our existence to even the most common place occurrences. utilising a stripped back aesthetic, she develops these into highly visual and textual pieces. As an artist, Francesca believes in having more than one voice, more than one perspective on a subject- in participatory actions and engagement. Her work often brings together people from different walks of life to offer their creative response to a subject matter, drawing from their lived experience, hearing their voices as expert and equal. She collects these fragments, and crafts them together to create one concise piece that illuminates the thoughts we all have, connecting us through our human experiences of the world.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FRANCESCA LACEY HERE

HOT DEATH THEATRE - COMEDY

Rach Leonard and Lawrence Tucker are founding members of the dark comedy sketch troupe, Hot Death Theatre. Though relatively young, Hot Death Theatre have been active through the pandemic, producing character-driven sketch comedy with a particular emphasis on high production value and quality writing, including, most notably, an hour long sitcom pilot entitled 'The Untold Story of the Hunkypunks' – a mockumentary style pastiche of overly quaint BBC4 programming, which details the bizarre, often very bleak history of pettiness, back-biting and in -fighting among the members of the fictional folk band, The Hunkypunks – Somerset's most influential proto-folk-rock collective circa 1978-1983. In addition to The Hunkypunks, Rach and Lawrence have, either as a pair, as part of Hot Death Theatre, or individually been featured on numerous (reasonably...) high profile shows, both on and off-line, including The Stand's curated Red Raw livestream, Rotunda Comedy Club's Drive In events, Panopticon Theatre and numerous (albeit substantially less impressive) online comedy events. In the future, Hot Death Theatre plan – as soon as lockdown travel restrictions ease – to begin work on multiple short films, additional sitcom pilots and, if they can be bothered, world domination.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOT DEATH THEATRE HERE

NICKY KIRK AND MEGAN MACDONALD - MUSIC

Nicky Kirk and Megan MacDonald a driving and dynamic accordion and guitar/banjo duo who combine their rich repertoire of traditional music from Scotland and Ireland with their sensitive and assured playing to present Tunes from Ibrox, an inviting set in the theme of the rich Glasgow session scene to which they are both home to. Nicky Kirk and Megan MacDonald predominantly play in award winning Scottish folk band Eabhal, who draw inspiration from their time in the Outer-Hebrides. Since the release of the bands' debut album ‘This is How the Ladies Dance’, they have brought their haunting Gaelic songs and lively pipe tunes to audiences worldwide. In contrast to this five-piece, we can hear the skill and intricacies of both Nicky and Megan’s playing in the exposed duo setting, giving a great sense of their influences and backgrounds as independent artists.

Megan highlights her deep connection to traditional music, specifically of her local area of the North Highlands of Scotland through her repertoire. Being brought up in the ceilidh and session scene of Sutherland, it was a very natural progression for her to develop her repertoire from this area and base her style of the piping she was immersed with.

Nicky Kirk comes from rural Northumberland and similarly found the route to traditional music through his home county’s rich musical heritage. Passionate about music and travel he has developed an interest in folk music from some of the countries he has visited and has experimented with influences from Europe, India and North Africa.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NICKY KIRK & MEGAN MCDONALD HERE

BANDCAMP

IAIN BOTHWELL - MUSIC

Iain Bothwell is a 38 year old musician, born in Irvine, Ayrshire, before moving to Shawlands, He’s lived around Glasgow since and is currently based in Clarkston. He sees himself as a 'Songer sing-wronger'. His interests in musicians covers the greats such as Neil Young and by more contemporary such as Super Furry Animals. The songs have a melancholic feel although he's a fairly upbeat late 30's gentleman. He has a black book of songs that he probably tinkers a little too much with. Of the 3 songs, 'Settle in a single place' and 'Hiding as a Spirit' were written around 2014. 'Settle in a single place' came from his experiences working in a night shelter supporting Glasgow's homeless. The shifts were 10 and a half hours long and he really got a sense of neglect, survival, humour and mortality. 'Best Intentions' is a recent song composed over summer 2020 following a nice postcard and gift he received from a friend. His highlights include playing at the Glad café in 2013 and also a gig he played in 2016 with his (currently in isolation) band 'shared bones' at the Record Factory. Another highlight was reaching the final of the Calmac Culture event in 2015 and he enjoyed the challenge. Iain has always enjoyed playing guitar from around 16 and a few of his family members have played in bands through the years.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IAIN HERE

LINDA JAXSON - MUSIC

Linda Jaxson is a singer songwriter, playing in bands over many years but opting for a smaller more intimate feel with this song, Siren. The song poetically explores the idea of the siren (mythical singer of the oceans) but in this case in the oceans/depths of the self. The film we’ll be showing as part of Plugged In & Wired was a glorious accident when Linda was letting a friend hear the song at St Ninians Bay on Isle of Bute this Autumn. While the song was playing in the car, her friend began to film this historical bay in front of Arran's Sleeping Warrior. Linda was initially unaware that she was filming but now feels it was so immediate and serendipitous. The song is part of the new CD Sirens. There was something ironic about this album given that she lives beside the Victoria Infirmary where last Spring and summer. all she heard were sirens, ambulance sirens.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT LINDA JAXSON HERE

SOUNDCLOUD

MISS A LEGG - CABARET

Miss A Legg is currently studying MLitt Theatre Studies at Glasgow University. And when she’s not studying, She's having a moment. Performing regularly as a solo performer at events in Glasgow and beyond, including appearances at Allsorts Cabaret, Spangled Cabaret, Nocturnal and The Diversity Quota. Recently Miss A Legg has done a few live online events as well as short video projects. Video projects include Insights Platforms/Insights Digital- where she performed her solo piece In A Box. Other video projects include multiple collaborations as The Daft Duo with Sara Palomarr. Live online gigs include Spangled Cabaret at home, Heat 4 of NOCY (New Online Comedian of the Year 2020), and 2 Funny Women Edinburgh Alternative Interview events. Miss A Legg is a performer member of The New Works Playhouse and a member of The Not-God Complex directory and part of our Southside Fringe Advisory team. Her solo performances tend to feature a blend of amazing alliteration, ridiculous rhyming, silly singing, preposterous props and dazzling dancing (often with donuts).

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MISS A LEGG HERE & HERE

TIP JAR

7 PEOPLE – CABARET

7 People present Eventide Online. An international collective established in 2018, focusing on the discovery of fluent dialogue between two distinct worlds: sound and New Circus, 7 People move within the elfin world of folk tales and accompanied by the life music, we explore our bodies and the circus disciplines (acrobatics, aerial dance, juggling and fireshow). 7 People’s interest to the folklore was born already while working on their first performance „Irish Bestiary” (Premiere September 2018 on the Festival of Wandering Theatre, Poland). Influenced by Samhein Eve, collective created the show visualising Celtic demonology through circus art with accompaniment of life music. The research around the performance contained not only texts from legends, but also Irish music. „Irish Bestiary” became an inspiration for ongoing exploration into folklore – this time, Slavic for the performance “Eventide” (Premiere September 2019 on the Festival of XX Anniversary of Theatre “Gardzienice”, Poland).

"Eventide" is a personal return to the artists roots. Performance is an invitation for the meeting with slavic magical creatures, inhabitants of forests and lakes of Eastern Europe. It focuses on their dual nature: mystical, expressed in live music and playful, illustrated with juggling and acrobatics. As a storyline is sung by the words of poem ”Fantasy" written by the polish poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid. The life music inspired by the traditional slavic folk is accompanying the performance from the begging til an end. All performances are directed collectively, with an exception of circus acts, choreographed by the circus artists and melodies composed by musicians

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT 7 PEOPLE HERE & HERE

TIP JAR

Stay Tuned....we'll be introducing you to some of our headliners next!

We’re inviting filmed content or proposals to form our virtual festival, ,,Plugged In & Wired’ which will be aired in March 2021. We have a limited number of fees payable for successful submissions from creatives living in the postcode areas of G5, G41, G42, G43, G44 or G51 OR who have a history with our festival. For creatives who may find it difficult to get quality footage of their work we’re also providing filming and editing support, this will also give the creatives a resource of their own to promote and hopefully encourage more income for them. As the funds we have for fees are limited we do expect submissions to be oversubscribed and a panel will make the final decisions on successful content. The deadline for submitting a proposal is 11th December 2020 and successful submissions will be notified by the 28th of December.

Living through turbulent times has been hard for us all, we’re dedicated to keeping the torch of creativity alive on the Southside so it’s great to have more good news. We’ve been recognised by Creative Scotland and awarded funds through the Cultural Organisations & Venues Recovery Fund. This will help pay the wages of our staff while we develop more exciting plans for our future.

Fringe co-founder and managing director, Corinna tells us “ Creativity will help us all get through these unprecedented times, whether watching or creating. The beauty of creatives is that it’s in our blood to create and we’re just relieved, albeit a small contribution, that we can offer payment to Southside Creatives for their work during these crazy times. And we’re grateful that our work is valued and supported by national agencies. “ Stay tuned to our socials.

Music Broth is Scotland’s first musical instrument and equipment library, a social enterprise with charitable status (SC048299). Their ethos is to make music playing, learning and enjoyment accessible to all. The Music Broth library of over 1400 musical instruments and equipment is for sharing; from tin whistles to pianos, ukuleles to PA’s, trumpets to bass amps, something for everyone!

They operate through affordable memberships for those who can contribute; individuals, bands and organisations, with income generated supporting their hardship fund for those in need. Music Broth support anyone wishing to pursue a musical venture; providing instruments for learners and established musicians alike, to take home long-term or short-term, occasional use of unusual instruments for recording, backline for gigs, PA for events, musical workshops, use of the library space for jamming, rehearsing, videoing, and training and volunteering opportunities. All are welcome. All are valued. Let’s make music!

Q: What led you to starting Music Broth?

Jen: I’m Co-Founder of Music Broth, Scotland’s first musical instrument and equipment library, social enterprise with charitable status. I run Music Broth alongside Founder Felix Slavin from our base in Govanhill, Glasgow. Our whole ethos is to provide equitable access to musical opportunities for all.

Felix came up with the idea for a musical instrument and equipment library after being left 8 instruments by his late musician uncle Paul and considering how best to share his legacy. I met Felix in summer 2017 and I was drawn to the idea of supporting those less able to access music, and also the re-use aspect; getting neglected instruments repaired, restored and shared to new hands. We’ve been working together since then and our Music Broth library, thanks to the generosity of the Glasgow and wider Scotland community, now has over 1400 musical instruments and equipment which are accessible to all. Everything from tin whistles to pianos!

Q: What’s your favourite part of running Music Broth?

Jen: Bringing joy! Supporting and enabling people to harness their musical talents, creating equity and opportunity, working with great people, and learning their stories, and about the unusual musical instruments that arrive in our library and the wonderful stories that go along with them.

We have supported young people with additional needs to access skills they didn’t know they had, helped refugees and asylum seekers take instruments home to allow them to express themselves and their stories, and get more involved and make friends locally. We’ve supported fledgling bands to do gigs they might not otherwise have had kit to, helped our volunteers grow in confidence and develop into tutors and mentors.

We’ve supported great bands and organisations with affordable backline for gigs and events. It can be stressful, and there’s a lot of lugging kit around and background work making sure everything is working and in the right place at the right time (I’m a pretty good roadie now!), but there’s immense pride in the kit you’ve restored working and sounding well in a good venue. Added bonus we get to see some fabulous diverse acts whilst working, that’s not so bad either! Running my own business is great too in contrast to working for someone else, sometimes there are pretty steep learning curves but Felix and I basically manage and drive everything together, we’re a pretty formidable team.

Q: Why did you open Music Broth on the Southside?

Jen: We very deliberately chose the Southside as the location for our Music Broth library hub due to the diversity, openness, vibe and appetite for creativity here. We're very appreciative of the generous support of people across Glasgow and wider Scotland, and the Southside community support of our Music Broth journey so far has been key in this.

Our library hub (before lockdown) has been a great creative space in the Southside. Our library members, donors of instruments and finance, and our amazing volunteers have been instrumental; there is so much time and effort dedicated behind the scenes; repairing and restoring instruments, cataloguing, photographing, social media, supporting library members, lugging bass amps around... all the things that make things happen!

Q: Do you have any advice for other business owners?

Jen: In general; work hard, try to be as hands on as possible, authentically knowing your business is the best way of building others confidence in what you do, channel your passion, don't expect to be an expert on everything straightaway, get good help where you need it but continue building your own knowledge too.

In lockdown; adapt, be realistic but stay positive! Being in the music industry we've had to adapt to losing a huge amount of income during lockdown with all our paid events, gigs and workshops cancelled for the foreseeable. We've also had personal circumstances to manage around our business being a keyworker or having 24/7 carer responsibilities with schools closed, or volunteers and members in shielding.

We've adapted our business and supported our community by introducing our sanitised zero contact 'musical instrument to your door' free delivery service with membership of our library, and working with local musicians and tutors to support online tutorials. We designed this in recognition of lockdown isolation impacts particularly on mental health; the benefits of learning a musical instrument or to switch off and enjoy the pleasures of music and creativity.

Q: What does the Southside Fringe mean to you?

Jen: Southside Fringe have been hugely supportive of us as Music Broth organisational library members. We've had many sparky conversations, supported each other's events and activities, shared helpful connections and in general worked together supporting Southside Creativity.

“A huge thank you to our community and volunteers for all your support during lockdown. Stay safe everyone, keep making music, and we're here to help if you need us!” - Jen O’Brien, Music Broth

You can find out more about Music Broth on,, their website and follow them on ,,Facebook and ,,Instagram.

THURSDAY

Summer Zoom Concert

18:30 - 19:15

,,Facebook Event

The Glad Spectrum Music group are doing their summer concert on zoom this year! You can watch the concert on facebook live on the ,,Hear My Music page. The group will play some of the music they have created and been learning during their remote sessions.

Tune in and support this wonderful music group!

Sonnet Youth Cub

20:00 - 21:30

,,Facebook Event

Sonnet Youth Social Club brings together some incredible artists to create that unique SY vibe and stream incredible performances direct to your homes. The Lineup includes ,Sam Small Poetry, ,Zara Gladman, ,Big Miz and ,Marjolein Robertson. Hosted by ,Kevin P. Gilday and ,Cat Hepburn Write.

Supporting artists and a different charity every show (this week's charity is ,CRER Scotland) pay what you feel at ,paypal.me/sonnetyouth - as little as £1 will make a difference!

Fanny Business Presents - Fannying Aboot!

20:30 - 20:50

,,Facebook Event

From the writer and producer of your favourite Spring Panto Cinderella, comes.... Fannying Aboot!

Fannying Aboot is a one women sketch show, produced and written by Rachel Anne Clarke in lockdown. It's 20 minutes of daft relatable sketches for you to sit down and enjoy. Grab a drink, have a seat on the sofa and enjoy this sketch show!

FRIDAY

Pop Mutations

Fri 13:00 - Sun 23:00

,,Facebook Event

Pop Mutations is the inaugural music and culture festival from the in-house booking team behind some of Glasgow's most cherished and loved music venues and vegan cafe/bars. Pop Mutations will deliver a diverse programme over the three days straight into your homes by the power of the internet. Acts, artists and hosts include… 12th Isle, David Barbarossa, The Flying Dug Quiz w/Duglas T Stewart, Lunacy, The Artsy Vice Show and lots more!

Access is free-to-all over the weekend as a not-for-profit event. Donation links will be provided on their website, social media and on every streaming event. All donations will be split with 60% of proceeds going to the artists, hosts, performers or their chosen charity. The remaining 40% will be donated to Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (,CRER Scotland), a Scottish strategic racial equality charity, based in Glasgow.

The Scottish Women Inventing Music Quiz Night!

18:00 - 20:00

,,Facebook Event

The first ever Scottish Women Inventing Music quiz night is happening on Friday evening! Presented by host extraordinaire Beth Black, join us from the comfort of your own living room for a fun night in.

Live performance from Johnny Barr

19:00 - 21:00

,,Facebook Event

Johnny Barr will be going live every Friday night during June and July! Johnny will go live from the Renfrewshire Carers Centre Facebook Page at 7pm on Friday nights.Grab a drink and enjoy the music with your family from the comfort and safety of your own home!

SATURDAY

Glasgow Print Fair at Home

10:30 - 17:00

,,Facebook Event

Glasgow Print Fair is coming to a sofa near you; 27th June - 31st of July.

They've invited an incredible collection of artists and printmakers to create an exclusive Glasgow Print Fair print around the theme of nature. You'll be able to purchase directly from each printmaker via ,,their website.

Saturday Night Live at The Stand

20:30 - 21:30

,,Facebook Event

Join The Stand Comedy Club live from the club again on the 27th June. Mark Nelson hosts some live stand-up comedy from… Jojo Sutherland, Chris Forbes, Ray Bradshaw, Liam Withnail and headliner Phill Jupitus. You can watch the show live via this ,,YouTube link.

You can help the survival of The Stand Comedy clubs in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle by donating ,,HERE.

We are so excited about these events and can't wait to tune in to them with a wee beer in hand! Let us know what events you are going to be watching this weekend too.

Stay Safe Southsiders!

FRIDAY

Glasgow Jazz Festival

Various Times (Running until Sunday)

,,Facebook Event

Join the Glasgow Jazz Festival this weekend as they take their festival online. Their will be lots of homegrown Scottish jazz talent showcased through these exclusive live performances and screenings! You can view all of these live performances through ,,this link.

Save Our Scottish Venues - Virtual Festival

20:00 - 22:00

,,Facebook Event

Save Our Scottish Venues is a multi-stage live streamed music festival with lots of names that you will know, including KT Tunstall, Fatherson, Be Charlotte, Wet Wet Wet and more! What’s even better is that you can enjoy this festival from the comfort of your own home with a wee drink. Grab yourself a wee ticket ,,here, have a great night and help Scottish venues at the same time!

Name that 00’s Tune

21:00 - 22:30

,,Facebook Event

Join The Stayin’ Inn this Friday evening to see how well you know music from the 2000’s! Head to their ,,Facebook page to find the livestream to join in on this quiz and test your knowledge! Did someone say Britney? Or was it Bieber?

SATURDAY

Bungo (NOT) In The Back Lanes

Midday - 17:00

,,Facebook Event

Every year The Strathbungo Society organises Bungo in the Back Lanes. This year, due to the current situation, they are taking the event online! Join them for an online market and lots of good music all day long. Head to their ,,facebook page to listen to the live streams and head to ,,their website to see what is on offer in the online stalls! #BNITBL

Barbra La Bush Live

20:00

,,Facebook Event

The Butterfly Lounge will be live streaming an incredible evening show this Saturday with the spectacular Barbra La Bush! Join in for an awesome wee evening of entertainment.

Stonehenge Free Festival

Various times

,,Facebook Event | Facebook Group

From the comfort of your own home be transported to Stonehenge for this wonderful festival to celebrate the Summer Solstice! There will be music, workshops, talks and lots more. Join the ,,Facebook Group or head to ,,their website to find out more about how you can join in!

Let us know what events you are tuning into this weekend! #HomeForTheWeekend

Southside Fringe In Furlough

8th - 24th May 2020

,,Facebook | ,,Instagram | ,,Twitter

We are gutted that we can’t have our festival this year so we are taking a wee trip down memory lane and looking at all the wonderful past Southside Fringe Festival’s!

Come join us over on our social media. Don't forget to tag us in any of your videos or photos that you may have, we would love to see them! You can still get your hands on some merch ,,here or donate to the Southside Fringe Festival ,,here.

FRIDAY

Double Dare Ya!: Ladybird (2017) Screening

18:00 - 20:00

,,Eventbrite Tickets

Join Glasgow Zine Library for their first digital film strand! ‘Double Dare Ya!’ is a Netflix Watch-party extravaganza of feminist coming of age films!

This week they’ll be screening Lady Bird (2017). Lady Bird is a critically acclaimed film about an intrepid high schooler in Sacramento, who undergoes the trials of love, family and self-discovery as she dreams of escaping to college on the East Coast.

Loch Stock Rock n Row Live on Self Isolation Sessions

Friday 20:00 - 22:00 | Saturday 19:00 - 22:00

,,Facebook Event

Loch Stock Rock N Row survives! They thought they were going to have to cancel this when COVID shut everything down, ALAS, here we are! Head to the Facebook event to find out all the acts that are playing.

SATURDAY

Raise The Bar’s Tequila Lockdown

19:00 - 21:00

,,Facebook Event

Raise The Bar’s first ZOOM call will be on Saturday the 9th of May at 7pm. This Cocktail Club will be known as "The Tequila Lockdown" and we will make a La Paloma, Margarita and a Kiwi Go Again! We will take some drinks requests and have a fun quiz at the end if anyone is interested. Don’t be put off if you have never made a cocktail before, they are a friendly bunch!

Papa Shandy's Album Launch Live Show!

20:00 - 22:00

,,Facebook Event

Papa Shandy’s Facebook live this week will mark the release of his lockdown album. This album has been recorded in his loft during the Covid-19 pandemic. All songs were requested by the public and consists of the best of his midweek videos. You can find these videos on his Facebook Page.

To receive a link to download the album, simply donate whatever you can to his online tip jar (doesn't matter if it's a pound or a penny) ,,via this link.

I Love Clarkston Virtual Pub Quiz

20:30 - 22:00

,Facebook Event

In partnership with The Stayin Inn, I Love Clarkston will be hosting a pub quiz on Saturday. There are lots of great prizes up for grabs! The quiz will feature 30 questions on varying subjects, but one special round that may suit local residents a little better! Join in and test your knowledge this weekend!

Tolbooth Saturday Shindig - Tom McGuire

20:00 - 20:30

,,Facebook Event

Every Saturday evening, The Tolbooth goes live with different acts. This week’s act is the incredibly talented Tom McGuire & The Brassholes. Go check it out and if you can, please donate to ,,Tiny Changes via this link.

SUNDAY

Rhymes Online for the Family: Free Workshop with Viv Gee

13:00 - 14:30

,,Facebook Event

Escape from the isolation of Lockdown with these fun and free performance writing workshops. During the session you can have a chat about how you are feeling or what you are interested in exploring in order to find some inspiration for your poetry. You will then be given time to write a poem (or more!) about whatever subject you'd like. You will get a chance to perform your poems for each other and get a chance for some feedback and suggestions on things like speech patterns, rhythms and intonation.

Stay Safe and have a lovely weekend Southsiders!

We love that we can participate in so many events and love that our weekends (and living rooms) are full of so much talent! So check out some of the events below and let us know if you attended any!

THURSDAY

Lost Glasgow: Oscar, Bravo!

6:30 - 7:30pm

,,Facebook Event

This event will be live streamed on Lost Glasgow’s ,,Facebook page. In this presentation Norry Wilson from Lost Glasgow offers his take on Oscar Marzaroli’s incredible photographic record of the city and the legacy his work gives, as well as looking at the photographers who preceded Oscar and those who were influenced by his record of the changing face of Glasgow.

FRIDAY

Self Isolation Sessions: Gerry Lyons

8 - 9pm

,,Facebook Event

If you are involved with the Glasgow music scene in any way you will have heard of GerryLyons. He runs The Acoustic Night at NICE N SLEAZY for quite some time! Join in to hear him play some tunes this Friday evening. Head to Self Isolation Sessions ,,Facebook page to see what other events they are hosting this weekend!

Open Mic in time of Corona online

8:30pm

,,Facebook Event

The Bee’s Knees Cafe are hosting a very special online open mic this weekend. Bring your poems, bring your voices, instruments and spend an evening all together. Find out more about how to watch and get involved via the ,,Facebook Event.

SATURDAY

Buskerfest

12 - 10pm

,,Facebook Event

We miss the Buskers of Glasgow and they miss us a lot! So they are bringing a whole day of wonderful musicians together this Saturday. Enjoy all performances live from your living room and if you can please send a ,,wee donation there way to support them.

BAME Writing Workshop: 'Food Experiences' with Sean Wai Keung

1 - 3pm

,,Eventbrite

Join Sean Wai Keung for this free, 2-hour online writing workshop on 'Food Experiences'! Food is a topic that is universal, and yet also so personal, with each person having their own unique experiences mirroring not only their own lives but the journeys of the generations before them, as well as the society of where they live and have lived. This workshop will include writing exercises and time to share/receive feedback.

Please note that registrations have now closed but there is a waitlist in operation.

NHS Big Night In

6 - 11:30pm

,,Facebook Event

Join this live stream on Saturday for a jam packed night of music. This event is raising money for NHS Charities so if you can please leave a ,,wee donation while watching this live stream. Grab a wee drink or a cup of tea and join in.

Isolation Cabaret

8pm

,,Facebook Event

The guys and gals at Ice Box Arts & Music Centre and Glitter & Grind Revenue won’t let a lockdown stop them from hosting the Ice Box Cabaret! The lineup is jam packed with some wonderful performers. Tickets are £10 ,,available here and all cash gets split between the acts.

Papa Shandy - Live From The Loft

8 - 9pm

,,Facebook Event

Frontman of Papa Shandy & The Drams, ,,Kieran Sinclair, is going live from his loft this Saturday evening. We have loved tuning into these live streams and we think that you will love them too! If you can please support Kieran by sending a wee donation to him via ,,PayPal.

SUNDAY

Tommy’s Sunday Brunch Show

1 - 2pm CDT (6 - 7pm UK time)

,,Facebook Event

Join Tommy from the ,,Tommy Bentz Band this Sunday as he plays some of his band’s songs along with other wonderful songs! This Sunday take some time out and listen to this awesome live stream!

Bryce’s Pub Quiz

9pm

,,Patreon

Every Wednesday and Sunday from 9pm, Bryce is hosting his pub quiz! If you enjoy the Phillies Pub Quiz then this one's for you! £5 a month for a pub quiz twice a week! We think that’s a bargain!

If you know anything else that is happening that we haven’t covered above then please let us know through Facebook or Instagram and we will share it through our networks…

Stay safe southsiders and sending all the big Southside Love!