Wednesday 12th March 2008

What an excellent evening!
Sandy started off the evening with a couple of songs including ‘Everything Flows’.

First up was Stewart who sang a ballad ‘Roddy McCorlie’ unaccompanied.

Bob Leslie then got on stage and sang a couple of his own compositions ‘Smell the roses’ and then ‘Cordelia Jane’

Sandy then asked Andy Lindsay up - and

Willie Mathews joined him on guitar for the first song ‘New Leopard skin pillbox hat’

followed by ‘Beer is best’ both songs had a comedic turn which brought smiles and laughter. Then Sandy asked a group up to play, and after a bit of re-organising of microphones, etc. they started. They are calling themselves ‘Foobar’

and they performed three songs ‘More than me’, Wish you well’ and ‘Skinny Chicks’. They got cheered at the end and when asked to do another song by Sandy [and the audience] they did a reprise of the first song, [this time joined by Bob on small drum and Elspeth on Tambourine from the floor]. We certainly hope they come back a lot more often. Next up was Elspeth Durkin with Bob, and they sang one of Bob’s songs ‘Different Worlds’ followed by ‘Autumn Leaves’.

Next up was Jimmy with a Leonard Cohen song ‘First we take Manhattan’ which he followed with the classic ‘If I were a Carpenter’.

Eddie then got up and sang a Steve Earle song ‘Copperhead Road’ followed by a David Bowie song ‘Ziggy Stardust’.

We had some people, from the area of Tain, in celebrating a 40th birthday [Happy Birthday to Callum] and two of then Fraser and Fern got up and performed ‘Freedom’ and then ‘Play that funky music’.

Fern had a fantastic ‘rock&roll’ voice, perfect for the songs chosen. This had everyone fired up and then their friend Charlie Ellis got up and performed a song

from the Ozark Mountain Dare Devils called ‘Chicken Train’ [after asking for some help from the drum and tambourine too]

- which also had people clapping and stamping along to the song.

Carol then got up to the mic and sang an old Billie Holladay song ‘My Man’ without any accompaniment.

Sandy then asked Joe MacAtamany up to the stage and he sang ‘Shenandoah’ and then ‘Gallipoli’.

Willie Mathews then got to the stage to accompany David Martin on ‘Handbags and Gladrags’.

and then then stayed on to perform

‘Sunday morning sidewalk’. He was followed by Izzy and Andy with ‘I want a hug’ and then ‘I could have danced all night’.

The evening would have ended there if Ian Adie [owner] had notgot Sandy to keep going for a while longer. Ian then got on stage and sang a Neil Young song followed by an adaptation of his own ‘William Wallace’.

Andy Logan then got back on stage and sang ‘Games people play.

Unfortunately the battery on my camera ran out at this stage so there are no more photographs.

He was followed by Sandy singing ‘Strawberry Fields’. Sandy then asked Bob and Elspeth back up and sing ’Take another piece of my heart’. They stayed on stage and were joined by Willie Mathews and Andy Lindsay, with a Ry Cooder classic ’They call me the breeze’ [Willie-guitar & vocals; Bob-Guitar; Andy-drum; Elspeth-tambourine.

Joe Mac got back up and sang ‘Annie McKelvie. And the evening was finished off by Sandy, Davie [and Bob].
A really great evening full of vibrant music and laughter!

10th March 2008, Bob’s Open Mic At the Clutha Vaults

I was a little late getting in this evening and the sessions had already been going for a short while. The bad weather seems to have put a few people off from coming out!

When I arrived Stewart was just finishing on stage.

Next up was Brian McDade, an excellent singer songwriter, who has been living in Nashville for a while I believe. His songs included ‘You don’t know my name’,

‘People in grass houses’ ,

and ‘Strangeways’.

Bob then got up and sang a couple of his songs ; ‘It wasn’t down in Texas’ -written as a sort of backlash to all the love songs that mentioned all the American places where people ‘found love’!

his second song was a result of finding his cat snoozing on top of his laundry basket - ‘It’ll last another day’.
Next up was Elspeth Durkin who gave her renditions of ‘Autumn Leaves’, ‘Jolene’,

and ‘After the Goldrush’. Bob then continued with ‘Dirty Business’ [about coal mining] and then got Elspeth back up on stage to join him

in a bluesy version of ‘Dixie Chicken’.

Stewart then got back on stage and sang ‘Mattie Groves’

and then a Brian McNeil song ‘No God’.

Brian McDade then got back up and sang his own song about spending St Patrick’s Day playing in a club in America - where all the drinks were coloured GREEN [with food dye]!!- called ‘I seen it in Los Angelo’

followed by another ballad ‘Songs from the Port’ and then finally ‘Blade edge of Bohemia’
Bob then sang another of his songs ‘I love you more than Ice-cream’ before getting Joe MacAtamany up for three songs ‘ Broom of the Cowdenknowes’, ‘I’ll lay ye doon love’ and ‘Bonnie Glenshee’.

Bob then sang a request of ‘Me and Bobby McGee’

before finishing off the evening ,with some backing from Elspeth and Brian, with ‘You’re as drunk as me’, ‘You keep me hanging on’ and finally ‘Goodnight Irene’.

3-9th March 2008

Sorry, didn't make it to the Open Mics on Monday 3rd or Wednesday 5th,
but I did hear on the grapevine that they were both good.

27th February 2008 : Sandy’s Open Mic - Clutha Vaults

Sandy started the evening off with a trio of songs ; ‘Reason to believe’, ‘Blue yodel no.9’ by Jimmy Rogers, and the classic ‘Fire and rain’.
First up to the stage was Andy Lindsay with ‘Must be love’ followed by an old 10cc song ‘I don’t like cricket’.

Andy Hainy was next with ‘You don’t know what its like’ and then ‘Drunken nights in the city’.

Stewart Workman was back over from the east coast singing ‘Reflections of my life’ and then a Randy Newman song ‘Its money that matters’.

Kirsty then got up to sing ‘I am an Orphan girl’ and then ‘Take me as I am’.

She was followed by Elspeth Durkin with Bob Leslie,

singing ‘Fields of Gold’ and then ‘Autumn Leaves’ two songs made very popular by Eva Cassidy. Bob Leslie stayed on stage to perform a couple of his newest songs

‘Smell the roses’ and ‘It’ll last another day’.

Then Willie Mathews got on stage and at a request from the audience did ‘They call me the breeze’which had a few folk up dancing,

followed by the Bobby Darren song ‘Beyond the sea’.

Izzy [from Theatre Nemo] and Andy then got up and performed a couple of popular songs ‘It’s a sin to tell a lie’ followed by ‘I want a hug!’

Andy Logan stayed on stage and sang ‘Time slips away’.

Derek Hart then got on stage and performed a couple of numbers including ‘New look’

[his own I think].

Joe MacAtamany then took over the stage and sang ‘Haul Away’ and then ‘Bonnie Glenshee’.

Arthur was back after a long absence and got up to sing ‘Me and Bobby McGee’.

Stewart and Jenni then performed ‘the Fort Worth Blues’

followed by ‘The Eerie Canal’

Then Sandy got back on stage to sing a couple of special requests - a Big Star song ‘Outlaw for your love’ - and he got the requester up to help with the chorus,

and then the Dylan song ‘Blind Willie McTell’ which he dueted with Willie Mathews

who joined him in a fabulous collaboration.
Willie then finished off the evening with ‘The lady is a tramp’.

By which time it was closing and everyone was asked to depart.