A thread follows about an experience of MIGHTY HUMAN KINDNESS in Glasgow yesterday. It involves a locked carpark, a taxi driver, a temple - and a minding that many folk live with the judgement of others every day of their lives and still choose to be open and generous.
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If you’re feeling like protest makes no difference ... this morning Midlothian Council axed plans to axe music and expressive arts from my local schools ... in response to overwhelming beautiful noisy protest! So speak, sing!!
It's all about human kindness, he says again.
The driver's name is Zia. His cab is Glasgow City Council no.167. I cannot thank him enough for his kindness yesterday.
The last thing he says to me?
Just remember, not all Muslims are bad.
Ooft.
There's a song in it ...
I won’t pick up an Honorary Doctorate tomorrow
@StirUni
because there’s
@UCU_Stirling
picket.
It’s beautiful to be commended for music & social activism. But my solidarity lies with teaching staff - and graduating students - protesting the evisceration of UK higher education.
Glaswegians, I salute you for that act of solidarity on Kenmure St today. On Eid. Very moving. Super proud of my 16yr old Pollokshields nephew too for his first political action with his pals and peers.
It’s exactly 20 years since I left a salaried job to take my chances as a folk singer. To fill The Usher Hall in Edinburgh on Saturday night with our Scottish Songbook show is a dream come true. Thanks to everyone who’s come to listen, sing and be hugged by these gorgeous songs.
So much shite out there. But my son turns 13 today. And he's cool. And thoughtful, funny, steady, curious, kind. Happy Birthday dear Arlo. If we can just leave enough of the world intact for you and your generation to make a far better go of it than mine.
Ocht I want to give poor
@MartinSLewis
a cuddle. His transformation from friendly consumer adviser to political warrior speaking truth to power that doesn’t give a f*** is maybe a path a few more of us need to be making (looking my own self in the eye here) -
My 12 yr old lad went to the village store today with his own money on his own initiative as a surprise to buy a loaf, ham & crisps and make lunch.
Meantime his wee sister refused to eat the last chocolate because she wanted him to have it.
Young people today, eh? 😉
"No human being on the face of the earth, no government is going to take from me my right to speak, my right to protest against wrong, my right to do everything that is for the benefit of mankind" - so spoke the remarkable John Maclean, who died 100 years ago today.
Thread ->
As a lass I got teased for being brainy: Professor Polwart. I hated it! In the scheme of existence this is TINY! Still, I can’t deny a smile at this. Not a Prof but honoured to be a Doctor of Music! Thanks to
@UofGlasgow
@alison_phipps
& all who have my back.
Ms English having an impromptu sing along at lunch time which started off as a way to cheer one person up and ended up being a wee choir of joyful singing 🥰
I checked this morning and:
the starlings, crows and pigeons are off about their business
there's frost glinting on the football pitch and in the furrowed field beside the school
the skylarks are singing
You have to find the joy where you can, eh?
This small group of kids started an impromptu haka in tribute to two of their peers slain in the Christchurch shooting. Soon they were joined by scores of fellow students to form a deafening chorus.
Just got my first royalties for the Scottish Songbook album I released a year ago. This means I’ve paid off design, manufacture & publicity costs. Now to start paying off cost of musicians & studio, just in case anyone still thinks recorded music will line your pockets! Hohohoho!
We won! 'I Burn But I Am Not Consumed' took home Best Original Track at the
@BBCRadio2
Folk Awards last night. Thank you and congratulations to all the other winners too.
Some of you don't feel safe or confident about gigs yet. I understand. And I know COVID is NOT over. And my workplace (pals & peers) have taken a huge hit financially, emotionally. Music is our livelihood, our vocation. Forgive us our need, our relief. Let's all take care.
Swim Until You Can't See Land. A few thoughts landing today on the death of Scott Hutchison. With love and respect and sorrow to
@FRabbits
and all of Scott's family and friends.
This man is a superstar. Scotland's Clinical Adviser being grounded and calm and clear. Exactly as he has been for weeks now. I hope someone has his back when he goes home at night.
When my son was crawling, I asked our then landlords if they’d replace our hard, threadbare, filthy carpets (which lifted every time the wind blew). The actual billionaire owner inspected personally, stating ‘there’s life in them yet’. Schools, NHS, fuel, care? From same place.
Conductor Vladimir Jurowski tells his audience to let two climate protestors speak, as they must be heard. He says he will only play after they have spoken, and otherwise he will leave the stage.
Powerful stuff. 👏
Mighty as she is, if Adele thinks the shuffle button is the big issue with Spotify then that's her privilege talking. What abut 'the story' of how streaming models systemically underpay music creators?
@IvorsAcademy
@MrTomGray
@crispinhunt
#FixStreaming
Pinch me. Delighted & more than a wee bit amazed to share one of this year’s five
@phf_uk
Composer Awards with my pal & musical collaborator - composer & sound designer
@pippamurph
. Genuinely exciting/surreal to be gifted time (via actual money) to make stuff together. Sheesh.
@ainbailey
@Cafeoto
@dilettantesongs
The final composer award goes to Karine Polwart and Pippa Murphy. Their work explores landscape and memory, mythology and scientific inquiry, via folk song, spoken word, multi-layered sound design, electronics, and formal orchestration
📖
#AwardsForArtists
IGGY POP played our song Ophelia on his
@BBC6Music
show tonight. All 6 mins of it.
“like she’s trying to climb right up and into heaven ... she just about gets there ...”.
Nothing cooler will ever happen.
Shout out to Stevie P &
@IngeThomson
We are delighted to announce singer, songwriter and campaigner, Karine Polwart
@IAMKP
as the winner of
@Saltire_Society
Fletcher Award for Arts and Humanities.
@UnrulyAstrid
That's what he said to me, not what I said. He was Muslim himself and keen to let me know that not all Muslims are bad, in a society that often judges them.
A pleasure to sing within
@MilliganDave
at the Caird Hall in Dundee last night for
#NaTrads
- the annual Scots Trad Music Awards. And not least to sing Michael Marra’s ‘Heaven’s Hound’. A lot of love and mighty music in one room! Some craic after …
My daughter is in her jammies, teaching herself a wee tune on the piano - looping over and over again til she gets it.
I’m in the kitchen having a moment at the loveliness of a Saturday morning. And already missing her, years before she leaves here to make her own home.
Another beauty of a gable end mural in Glasgow by Mark Worst. St Thenew/Enoch aka Thaney. Mother of Mungo. Rape survivor. Torture survivor. Exiled in a coracle at Aberlady. Refugee. Convoyed to Culross by the fishes. I love also the Enoch mural painted by Smug.
St Thenue, mother of Glasgow's patron saint St Mungo, is depicted in this new mural on Abercromby Street in the city's East End. The work is by artist Mark Worst and was commissioned by Thenue Housing Association
I'm excited to say that the Scottish Songbook album is now officially out! It’s been quite the wee journey to delve into ... Thanks to everyone who’s been right there with us! I hope some of it fills you up!
Listen:
The magnificent Maya Angelou and marvellous Dick Gaughan in the same room, sharing their appreciation of Burns, is blowing my wee Scottish folksinger's mind.
Thank you
@scotgov
. We know money is tight. But the recognition here of the plight of music, theatre and other performing arts venues is so welcome ...
The Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund has been announced today, a targeted £10 million fund to support Scotland’s performing arts venues.
We’ll publish full details on the fund shortly - you can find the full announcement here:
The elderly man smiles and waves as I drive out and park alongside the taxi.
I'm on the verge of tears. And a huge knot in my belly is starting to unravel.
I can't thank you enough, I say to the driver.
He's taken a full half hour to help us.
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Ocht my willow wand of a 13 year old still stops at the gate to wave back at the front window as she’s running for the school bus. And I can see, clear as day, the teeny toddle unsteady-on-her-feet version of her that’s still in there. It squeezes my heart.
I saw INXS play Edinburgh Playhouse, December 3rd 1987. I was 16. The support was this tiny fierce beautiful creature. She blew me - us - away.
Ocht.
For all she was to herself and others, peace.
Dalkeith shop yesterday - a man had just run off with a meal deal. Till worker said he was a regular customer. Now desperate. She said there’s an epidemic of lunchtime shoplifting amongst pupils from my kids’ school because kids don’t have any lunch.
The state of this.
Had a wee weep on stage at this. He has no time for heroes - but Dick Gaughan is my no.1 musical hero.
Here he is receiving a spontaneous standing ovation before introducing & singing the Red Flag at Friday’s John Maclean concert -
My first ever gig as an actual ACTOR (Wind Resistance totally doesnae count!) with the mighty Bill Paterson! Pretty surprised/chuffed about that I tell you!
I know it's borderline narcissistic but I'm fair enjoying watching "Come Away In" - the song circle show I'm part of on
@ccfest
right now!
@rabnoakes
packing a commentary punch just there ... and now
@eddireader
singing about the beloved 'Maid of the Loch (by
@jrdouglasesq
)
Three different pals/neighbours have told me explicitly this week what a splendid, kind, sparky, open, easy-in-his-own-self human my son is. And I’ve told him so. He’s a gem. And also lucky to have two co-parent households, a top granny and papa, and a whole village at his back.
(one day late) in minding of Stuart Adamson -
Glasgow was far away then. The 18 miles between the Stirlingshire village of Banknock and Buchanan Street Bus station might as well have been eight hundred. We travelled to Glasgow twice a year, via the back roads ...
I’m wondering what manner of grief or anger (or ..?) is going on for (what seems to be) a 16yr old to fell a mighty tree, in your own place, with a *chainsaw*, and some ‘skill’ …
It’s brutal and sad, yes. But our children haven’t created the mess that gets us to this.
With the terrible news yesterday that our beloved tree at
#SycamoreGap
was felled with a chainsaw, this small clip I captured of Karine Polwart
@IAMKP
singing Heartwood last weekend at
#AllenValleysFolkFest
is even more poignant. 😪
Since we're talking domestic abuse - women erased from stories of their own murders & men's responsibility diminished. I worked 7 yrs for
@scotwomensaid
groups. This pains me.
Reeva Steenkamp was murdered. Shame on the BBC for forgetting | Sonia Sodha
This is huge. Jacinda Ardern's New Zealand is about to become the first major country to abandon growth as political priority in favour of well-being.
#postgrowth
The carpark shutters open. I start up the car and draw up at the exit.
How much do I owe? I ask.
Six pounds, says the elderly man.
Not even a fine. My goodness.
Six pounds won’t express my gratitude. I make a donation to the gurdwara.
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On this night 12 years ago, the white old woman of the night (cailleach-oidhche gheal - the barn owl) skimmed the bonnet as we drove to the Borders labour ward. In the morning a boy was born, and now he’s a kind, funny, beautiful human. And I love him.
Lo! Listen, The geese are flying north again. And meantime the peewits are flitting. The laverocks are rising. The sky is a bell. What a joy to live on, in! with this wee bit of earth called Scotland.
Tomorrow 11am. US Consulate, Edinburgh. Protest against US Govt's separation of migrant kids from carers. That's over now, you say? No. It's Only Just Begun. I'll be there with lullabies & bairn songs. They call this "virtue signalling" now. I call it Standing Up. See you there.
BIG love, thanks, respect to team
@ccfest
for the Opening Show tonight (& for
@DuncanWChisholm
too). Delighted, & grateful, to be part of it. You won't be sorry to get your festival pass for 3-weeks of musical solace, companionship and sustenance.
Today I'm on
@BBCRadio4
with the mighty Bill Paterson in a gentle half hour drama set on Hoy, Orkney.
My role?
A weather beaten, heart-bruised folk singer (I know a few things about those).
I sing a bit too. Selkies. Shells. And Old Men.
11.30am today.
This is on tomorrow. Travel to Rackwick on the Isle of Hoy in the company of the fantastic
@IAMKP
(Karine Polwart) and equally tremendous
#MarilynImrie
and
#BillPaterson
to whom herewith flies my fondest thanks. It turned out OK...
@MJMcFadyen
@ThinkUHI
Sheesh - "vanity courses'. Is that arts and humanities? In an era of climate crisis, talking only about markets and boom sectors is utter folly. What about the thinkers, and the paradigm shifts required to get us out of this mess, the value in different ways of thinking?
I’m singing in St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh on 22/11 with
@MilliganDave
- alongside
@obanfiddle
, Bashir Saade, Liz Lochhead & Steve Kettley raising funds for
@MedicalAidPal
Love to all those grieving. Respect to all advocating for peace & justice.
"We are each other’s wind resistance, a human skein.
And we’re not going to make it on our own”
Wind Resistance
@lyceumtheatre
next week is cancelled.
WR is a praise song of gratututde for the NHS. It needs all we have now. Sending love out there.
Remember the geese.
Our new album is flying into the world today. I think we’ve made a beautiful piece of work in the space between us. I hope some of the songs and spells and images and words land well in your hearts, and take in their own lives ...
PHEW!! Scottish indoor gigs are GO from Monday next week with no cap on audience numbers. That means my gigs in Glasgow and Perth next week with
@lwspellsongs
WILL HAPPEN.
Honestly, what a relief.
Fancy joining us?
Dalkeith Town centre today. Outside Midlothian council offices. Some BIG noise! Local young musicians joined by adults to campaign for music tuition in Midlothian. Well done lovely people! Waving at you from London ...
He tells me a story about going on holiday to Mexico with his wife and kids.
Our car broke down in this red-light district. The kids were just wee. And the women were amazing. The cleared out their clients, took us in and gave us tea, til the car got sorted.
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Just passed two huge primary school groups - decked in rave yellow vests - fresh off the Glasgow underground - and high as kites - on their way to a schools gig
@ccfest
they sounded like a starling murmuration coming to roost on Buchanan Street!
Look, he says, I can take you to Queen St, or I can spin us back to the gurdwara. There’s always someone there, 24 hours. And they’re good people, always helping the community, offering food. Maybe someone can help?
It's worth a try.
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No Empire Biscuits in our house today. Minding my Grampa (Tony) Polwart who fought in Italy with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He never uttered so much as a word about it for the rest of his life -
Hands down the most illuminating and thoughtful thing I've read re: Kate Forbes, the Free Church of Scotland and the current SNP leadership election.
It's inconceivable to me that she could lead Scotland as First Minister in 2023.
Such a lovely night at
#Radio2FolkAwards
in Belfast. Don’t often find words hard but was bit overwhelmed by
@CaseyKarancasey
deeply thoughtful speech in gifting me Folk Singer of the Year. The Calvinist stock part of me was running for cover! Thanks all for kind words. Sing on!
I embrace my pals when we meet, even if in a slightly Presbyterian fashion.
I cuddle my bairns a lot on the days they live with me.
Occasionally strangers hug me after gigs, when their shells are broken & their hearts are soft.
I shake lots of hands in my line of work.
contd.
To those asking whether income from waiving your right to Wind Resistance ticket refunds from
@lyceumtheatre
will be split with me. No, it won't. I'm fine with that. The theatre employs many friends & colleagues and is a treasure. It needs you. I'll ask for help if I need it.
Turns out the carpark shuts at 4pm on a Saturday.
He waited a while for you, says the driver, but had to lock up.
But he'll let you out.
Wow.
Thank you. Thank you.
There might be a fine, says the driver.
Oh, I’ll pay the fine and more, I say.
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The power went down for a few hours yesterday.
I know it will have caused stress to some.
But me? In the absence of internet & without any working phone -
I played the piano (badly).
I read that thing I’ve meant to read.
No demands. No decisions to make.
What a relief.
"It's cool how it looks like a dress mum, but it's *actually* trousers, 'cause it means you can still do cartwheels". 8 year old seal of approval on my new outfit for scary super posh dinner tomorrow night. Aye, just you wait Glasgow. Just you wait.
Crabapple jelly from a tree scavenge in the field behind the school. Tastes mighty! Our (nuclear bunker ...) jam cupboard was full of it growing up. This is my first batch. Ready for a different era, and different sort of hunkering in ...
You’ll need to cover your head, the driver says.
Inge lends me her scarf.
I know some of the Sikh leaders, he says. We talk the same language.
I wonder, I say, would you be willing to help me out at the temple? I’d cover all your waiting time.
Of course, he says.
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I step out of Advocate’s Close today onto The Royal Mile and an elder man is singing by St Giles. Old school true and beautiful. Irish.
In a parallel life or another time he’d have stravaiged with Luke Kelly.
In Edinburgh 2023, his hat is on the pavement.
1/5 contd.
Lovely coffee on the West Port in Dundee, waking up after
#NaTrads
last night. I sang at my first ever folk session as an unbearably shy awkward 17yr old philosophy student, directly opposite at what was the West Port Bar. I’ve such fondness for this city. And it gauges my life.
I LOVE this.
Glasgow's St Enoch and her boy St Mungo. The city's twin patrons.
That's Enoch, Thenew, Thaney, 6th century rape victim sentenced to death for *her* transgression.
An exile. A survivor. A mother.
And a wee robin minding, as robins do.
Beautiful.
The latest city centre mural in Glasgow - featuring St Enoch and her baby (St Mungo) - is taking shape. This piece, by artist Smug, is the latest addition to our
#CityCentreMuralTrail
: find out more here:
I’m delighted to announce that my very own ‘Scottish Songbook’ will be released on Friday 2nd August! A personal take on a clutch of Scottish pop classics that span fifty years. You can now pre-order on vinyl, CD or even cassette:
#scottishsongbook
It's
#WorldMenopauseDay
. This is the year when I can say I really (REALLY) get it, and all its myriad, individual, unexpected impacts. Thank goodness for an understanding GP & mighty pals on the road ahead of me. And if you're on it too (and toiling) a wee wave of solidarity x
We park outside the gurdwara. The taxi driver buzzes and says hello, and the side door opens.
We meet an elderly man.
The driver and the man talk in a language I don’t speak. There’s gesturing and pointing to me. I can tell he’s explaining that we have our kids with us.
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Covering all convalescent cultural bases, three pals brought stuff to my sick hoose door yesterday:
1. a steaming mug of of chicken bone broth (Jewish heritage)
2. propolis & echinacea (middle-class self-care)
3. Lucozade (central Scotland cure-all)
Ocht, pals are great.
"Beneath the Remains of Hope" - that's what the mighty
@JackieMorrisArt
is calling our
@lwspellsongs
gig tonight
@NHM_London
. Hope - a 25m female Blue Whale - hangs from the ceiling of the Hintze Hall, where we'll play at 8pm. It's free to watch but ... contd 1/4
What usually happens with the folky albums is we blaze in early week, and then utterly dive bomb out by chart date, wee bit like a mad Saturday night
@ccfest
😉 but, look, my fingers are crossed! Cannae deny it’s a surprise & excitement!
Not even an O'Grade music to my name and ... now an Honorary Degree! A mighty bunch of people recognised here for their work across mental health, LGBT campaigning, rape crisis support, community activism, journalism and the arts. I'm chuffed to be part of it. More info soon:
I was working
@DandelionScot
in Kelvingrove Park. It was a BIG day. First ever live outing for
@Hen_Hoose
+ an inspiring workshop + loads of people to talk to.
It was full.
Time ran away …
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