Events will bring musical theme to book festival
One of the features of Kirkcudbright’s annual literary celebration is how readily it brings in authors who embrace other art forms – and, this, year music is a recurring theme.
One such event at Kirkcudbright Book Festival in early March will feature author Gary West, who will take the opportunity to explore the way that Scottish folk music has reinvented itself.
Of particular interest to Gary, who will give a talk on the last afternoon of the four-day festival (Sunday March 8), is the pioneering contribution made by musician Martyn Bennett, whose biography he has written and whose pioneering work will feature prominently in his performance.
Born in Newfoundland in 1971, Martyn moved to Scotland with his mother Margaret at the age of five. Margaret was a celebrated folk-lorist and Martyn grew up surrounded by traditional folk music.
What made him different was that, although he treasured these musical traditions, and himself became a proficient piper (learning at the age of eight), he did not regard them as unchanging and set about fusing traditional folk music with dance music, the opportunities afforded by new technology and other influences.
The result was that Martyn played a crucial role in the revival of Scottish folk music, a story which Gary West will recount at his festival event which will refer to his biography of the musician Bennett: Brave New Music (Luath Press).
Tragically, Martyn died in 2005 at the age of 33 after a battle with cancer but as Book Festival committee member Alan McClure, himself a musician and appearing at this year’s festival, said in his review of the book: “Gary West’s portrait of one of Scotland’s most enigmatic and influential artists comes at a welcome time in contemporary music, reminding us as it does that music is a profoundly human endeavour, one which takes place in a continuum stretching back beyond history. Few artists illustrate this with quite as much vision and passion as Martyn Bennett, who grew up steeped in the traditions of folk song, piping and what he would come to celebrate as ‘bothy culture,’ and who refused to see these traditions as museum pieces to be forever preserved in aspic. This book considers how he came to this belief, and how he turned it into some of the most memorable, exciting and original music that Scotland has produced in the modern age.”
Alan will be appearing in his own right at Kirkcudbright Library, which has invited local nursery and primary school children to attend talks by authors for World Book Day on Thursday March 5. Visitors are welcome, too. Please contact the library on 01557 332516 if you are interested in joining the free events.
Alan’s event at 2pm will see the poet, musician and children’s author examine how nature and landscape can provide inspiration for tales and songs. With readings from his Kelpies-Prize shortlisted novel Callum and the Mountain, and its sequel, Callum and the Other
.
There are other events with a musical theme at the festival including on Saturday afternoon (Saturday March 7) an examination of how bagpipes changed the world.
The talk will be delivered by Richard McLaughlan, a writer and piper who has written the first accessible cultural history of this iconic instrument. In The Bagpipes – A Cultural History, he investigates how a ‘national instrument’ can shift its meaning and identity – from inspiring terror on battlefields to enriching cultures worldwide.
He was educated at the Universities of St Andrews and Cambridge, and is a former pipe major, taught by the renowned instructor Colin MacLellan. The author of Serious Minds, and John Campbell’s collaborator on Haldae, both published by Hurst), Richard also co-founded the educational charity Light Up Learning.
Another musically-themed event is on the morning of Saturday March 7 when Carrie Marshall will give a talk called Collective Joy, Liberation and Music: LGBT grooves in modern Scotland.
Carrie’s recent book Small Town Joy celebrates queer influences and artists in Scotland. Her trans-memoir Carrie Kills a Man, was a Scotsman Book of The Year and shortlisted for the 2023 British Book Awards. Small Town Joy has been described as “an absolute treat … a mixtape lovingly assembled by a friend’s cool, knowledgeable older sister”.
You can find out more, including how to book a place, at http://www.kbtbookfestival.org
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