The Next Big Thing

A message from Emily at Tracer Trails...

Hello there

It's a warming winter mailout from Tracer Trails, with all the turn-of-the-year news you can stomach on top of a giant nut roast, christmas cheeses and three gallons of Hanna Tuulikki's spiced whisky toddy.

Thanks are due to loads of folk - notably Nick Braw, Bart Owl, Neil Cooper, Clare Sawers - for friendliness, practical assistance, timely hugs and intense good fun.

Great vibes were enjoyed at some of our best-attended gigs yet; we even won a Herald Angel Award for Retreat! and, according to The List, Tracer Trails is now the 74th hottest thing in Scotland. Next year we will be aiming for 51st hottest, with five totally steaming shows already booked, and a sweltering new project due to commence in January. Prickly heat!

FORTHCOMING GIGS:

Tuesday 25 Jan 2011: Withered Hand + Woodpigeon + de Selby @ Stereo, Glasgow
"Very special double-header: Woodpigeon visits from Calgary to see a slice of Scotland with his friend Withered Hand, who will be playing his (their) first full-band Glasgow date since last summer."
Tickets £6 / £5 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/102966

Friday 28 Jan 2011: The Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Folk Show + Two Wings @ Mono, Glasgow
"Wow! This is going to be a singular event, for sure. NYC anti-folk star Jeffrey Lewis (Rough Trade) is bringing to the UK his collaborative show with 60s psych-folk original Peter Stampfel (of Holy Modal Rounders / The Fugs). Jeffrey and Peter will be trading songs, chatting, playing and singing on each other’s stuff, ably assisted by a vintage Jeff Lewis backing ensemble."
Tickets £8 / £6 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/103377

Friday 11 Feb 2011: James Yorkston + Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight @ Old St Paul's, Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh
"An unassailably awesome bill of old and new folk from Fence Collectee / Domino hero James Yorkston, supported by the latest offshoots of the mighty Waterson clan, Marry Waterson and Oliver Knight."
Tickets £8 / £6 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/98157

Saturday 9 April 2011: Eli Keszler + Usurper + 1tbc @ Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow
"Totally fierce, high-energy free percussion and invented instruments from Providence, Rhode Island, versus '(mostly) miniscule free-noise tantrums wi busted instruments from the mongs what brought youse Giant Tank and Pizza Boy Delivery.'"
Tickets £5 / £4 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/103035

Thursday 21 April 2011: Alasdair Roberts & Friends + guests @ CCA, Glasgow
"Swabian-born, Kilmahog-bred alumnus of Appendix Out and single-handed re-reinventor of the Scots ballad tradition finally tours his most recent release: Too Long In This Condition."
Tickets £7 / £5 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/103032

IMPORTANT NEWS OF A BRAND NEW PROJECT:

Tracer Trails will also be trying something unprecedented in 2011. To mark the 60th anniversary of the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, we're commissioning three of our all-time favourite Scottish artists - Alasdair Roberts, Aileen Campbell and Drew Wright (Wounded Knee) - to create brand new works based on excavations conducted in the extraordinary Archives of the School.

The School of Scottish Studies played a crucial role in the Folk Revival of the 50s and 60s. Fieldworkers including Hamish Henderson and Alan Lomax conducted landmark research at the School, and their field recordings are now held – on open reels, cassettes, discs and even wax cylinders – as part of the School’s massive Archive of traditional songs, tales, oral history, ethnographic photography and video. It's a totally unique and invaluable resource, and we're incredibly excited to have the opportunity to open it up a little through the creation of three completely new works.

Aileen, Alasdair and Drew will be in residence in the Archives for 12 weeks from January 13th; their work will be developed over the summer, and will be toured round Scotland in autumn 2011.

We'll be documenting progress throughout with a blog at www.archivetrails.com . Please check it out, from mid-January, for journals from the artists giving insights into their process, plus plenty of images and tape excerpts from the Archives. For now, full info can be found at www.tracertrails.com/projects .

This project is supported by grants from Creative Scotland and The University of Edinburgh.

I THINK THAT'S IT

If you read this far: thank you so very much. I hope you found some of this news to be good news for you. Write back if you like!

Ever yours,

Emily

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