Ayrshire's Little Fire rocks on

Oct 12 2012 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post

Hi everybody! This is looking like a hugely enjoyable month on a personal level, as I’ve a few gigs coming up that I’m really looking forward to – both playing at and attending.

I’ve got some gigs with Hue and Cry which will be great fun and I’m really looking forward to playing around different venues in Scotland. The travelling around is one of the best bits!

I’ve had a few people ask me recently how I got started out with music.

I basically started out performing at open mic nights, which are a great way to try out songs to audiences without there being too much expectation of the performer.

Playing at these nights are a superb way of gaining experience in front of a live audience and I’d recommend them to anyone wanting to get into performing their music live.

There are some really superb open mic nights around Ayrshire where you can drop in and play to usually very encouraging audiences who won’t mind if you make a mistake or break a string or forget the words, fun is the most important thing.

Some great open mic nights in Ayrshire include The Burns open mic in Irvine, the Fanny By Gaslight open mic in Kilmarnock and there’s always a cracking open mic session to be found at The Eagle in Prestwick.

Great news for The Gaiety Theatre in Ayr as it’s just been awarded capital investment from Creative Scotland.

This will transform the historic South Ayrshire venue into a vibrant hub of theatre and arts activity for South Ayrshire, including a studio, education space, digital screen facilities and flexible spaces.

Of course, if you ever get the chance to perform on a bigger stage, it’s great to remember your beginnings.

Speaking of which, it’s extremely exciting that The Gaiety is reopening and I’m really looking forward to all the superb things that will come with it with live music performances in the brand new performance room ‘The Studio’.

Upcoming gigs

Thursday, October 11: The Basement Coffee House, Ayr: Jamie El Conejo, Luther the Bear, Allan Trotter, Simon Atkinson and the Foundryman’s Apprentice, Black Doves.

Friday, October 12: French Wives and Bellow Below perform at Su Casa in Ayr’s Lorne Arcade from 8pm.

Fatherson headline The Garage, Glasgow with support from Midnight Lion, Russian Ninjas.

Folk for Heros – music charity night at The Sports Club, Irvine, tickets available from The Music Room.

Saturday, October 13: Amnesty International Gig for Chris at Ayr Town Hall 7.30pm, featuring Marc Evans, the 585s, the Tripps, Paligap (Hendrix Tribute).

Sunday, October 14: The Battle of The Bands continues this Sunday evening at Fanny By Gaslight this time featuring Zephorian, The Twisted Melons, Chaos Angel, MAIR, Stonehouse Violets, Moon Party, LA Strangers.