Burnsong - the real deal

Burnsong is a charity which supports the new songwriters in Scotland.  Every year a group of songwriters are invited to spend a week together in the secret songhouse located deep within the Galloway hills to work together and create new music. Last night the Bridgend theatre in Dumfries hosted this years participants as they presented their new work in public for the first time.
Oftentimes well-meaning attempts to 'put a contemporary twist on a creative tradition' can be wretchedly cloying and couthie......Burnsong is defiantly and wonderfully NOT in this category. 
The creative energy of the week was literally washing off the stage and the audience was privileged to be present as new song after new song was set sail into the world. Each song was announced with a wee window into its creation - typically 'this is one that Aly, Patricia and I wrote on Wednesday- Wednesday had the best weather of the week'.
The songs covered an immense amount of territory and together form a snapshot of the concerns, conversations and circumstances of a group of seven modern creative people spending a week together. We were treated to songs about remote controlled killing drones, how the smart phone has killed the pub quiz, the voice of a bell, bankers bonuses, what makes a man and an ode to the enigma that is Sarah Palin. The highlight for me was a song the seven worked on together and was fronted by Stevie Palmer. 'Higher' is an almost anthemic, uplifting cry to the Scottish nation to recover its confidence and think big now that we have some momentum again.
Thanks to all the performers, Aly MacRae, Tim London, Patricia Panther,  Aimee Bobruk, Annie Grace, Lisa Rigby and Stevie Palmer, nobly assisted by Frank Marstokk for putting on one of the most inspiring evenings I can remember in a long time.





Apologies to the performers for the shoogly iPhone camerawork!