Jim & Pat's Glasgow West End Chat

We are thrilled to have Jeane Freeman OBE, former politician and SNP member, as our guest on the Podcast. Jeane is truly one of the good people in this world. You will know her best from the daily Covid briefings - at the height of the pandemic - as she put her heart and soul into trying to keep us all safe.

Jeane's political journey began in 2016 when she secured the constituency seat of Carrick, Cumnock, and Doon Valley, becoming an MSP. By 2018, she had earned her place in the Scottish Cabinet.

Hailing from South Ayrshire, Jeane was raised in a working-class family that supported trade unions and the Labour party. Her passion for helping others was evident early on when, in 1979, she became the first woman to chair the National Union of Students in Scotland. Even before her role as an MSP, Jeane had already accumulated a wealth of experience as a dedicated political activist.

I hope you enjoy Pat's chat with Jeane Freeman.

• Jeane Freeman at Glasgow University

Photo by: By Scottish Government - Social Security Scotland recruitment, CC BY 2.0

The second part of my chat with Glasgow’s own music legends Monica Queen and Johnny Smillie - of the band Tenement and Temple. 

Johnny is known for his accomplished guitar playing, songwriting and as an in-demand music producer and Monica for her musicianship, songwriting and her incredible voice. 

Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol said, Monica possesses one of the "greatest ever voices to come out of Scotland'. I couldn’t argue with that. :-)

Apart from their own musical adventures - which stretch back to the 1980s and include the indie rock band Thrum, they have collaborated with, among others: Bell and Sebastian, Chris Connelly, James Grant of Love & Money, Chris Coco. Monica has duetted with none other than Shane McGowan of the Pogues.

We chat about how they met, their musical influences, record deals, their adventures in America and working with big-name producers - including our very own Edwin Collins. 

Links

• Tenement & Temple on Bandcamp

In this episode I was delighted to chat to Glasgow’s own music legends Monica Queen and Johnny Smillie - of the band Tenement and Temple. 

Johnny is known for his accomplished guitar playing, songwriting and as an in-demand music producer and Monica for her musicianship, songwriting and her incredible voice. 

Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol said, Monica possess one of the "greatest ever voices to come out of Scotland'. I couldn’t argue with that. :-)

Apart from their own musical adventures - which stretch back to the 1980s and include the indie rock band Thrum, they have collaborated with, among others: Bell and Sebastian, Chris Connelly, James Grant of Love & Money, Chris Coco. Monica has duetted with none other than Shane McGowan of the Pogues.

We chat about how they met, their musical influences, record deals, their adventures in America and working with big-name producers - including our very own Edwin Collins. 

And because we nattered on so much, I decided to split the chat across two episodes. Enjoy. 

• Tenement & Temple on Bandcamp

Music by Jim Byrne

Carla is a poet, she is the poetry editor at the Scots Language Centre, she’s an author, events organiser, and the host of the show 'Express Yourself' on Sunny Govan Radio. 

The Express Yourself show features poets and music and as it says in the blurb, "The chat is minimal, but the banter maximum".

Carla lives in Glasgow but originally she comes from Tain in the Scottish Highlands.

• Carla Woodburn

Music by Jim Byrne

I was delighted and excited to chat to Billy Kay: writer, broadcaster, multi-linguist, and champion of the Scots language - most notably through his book 'The Mither Tongue', which is quite rightly regarded as a classic of contemporary Scottish culture.

Billy is a much-honored individual but, for many people, he came to prominence recently for his address to the Scottish parliament - the first ever to have been presented in Scots. Scots in the Scottish Parliament - heaven forbid!

In this episode we chat about Billy's early life in his beloved Galston in Ayrshire, his education, his love of the Scots language and his passion for Scottish independence, which, as he sees it, is the only route to saving the language and culture of Scots.

With his deep knowledge of Scottish history he effortlessly roams across several centuries of Scottish witers and characters: Burns, Sir Walter Scot, James Boswell, the painters JD Ferguson, Allan Ramsay and more.

The thing about Billy is that - just talking to him - made me feel more intelligent than I am. that’s a talent!

Enjoy.

• Billy Kay.

Music by Jim Byrne

In this episode the writer Alan Gillespie talks about his first novel, The Mash House; it is a novel of isolation and fear set in an isolated Highland village on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. 

Alan Gillespie is a writer and teacher from Fife. He has studied at the University of Stirling, Glasgow and Strathclyde. 

His articles and stories have appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, the Herald, Northwards Now, New Writing Scotland and elsewhere.

In 2011 he was awarded the Scottish Emerging Writer’s residency at Cove Park. The Mash House is his first novel. 

• Alan Gillespie

Twitter: @glasgowswestend

In this episode Pat chats to Brendon McIlroy, the founder and Artistic Director of Glasgow based production company Halo Arts.

Halo Arts is an innovative production company, delivering inclusive projects, productions and events.

As well as his work with Halo, Brendon is West End Festival’s Senior Event Manager, having worked for the charity since 2007.

• Halo Arts

Twitter: @glasgowswestend

Jim & Pat's Glasgow West End Chat - Episode 89

In this episode, Pat chats with Bob McDevitt, programmer of Glasgow's Aye Write festival; which I'm sure you know, is Glasgow’s Book Festival.  Among many other things, Pat gets the lowdown on this year's programme; how it will work online and how that presents both challenges and opportunities for new and interesting ways to present authors and their books.  

Bob is also Programmer for Bloody Scotland, a keen photographer, and let's not forget, author of 101 Men in Kilts. :-)

• Aye Right - Glasgow Book Festival

Twitter: @glasgowswestend

In this episode Pat is chatting to Elspeth King, a curator, writer and social historian.

As curator of social history at the People's Palace Museum, Elspeth and her team saw the small local history museum blossom to become an award winning, significant cultural attraction, held in great affection by the people of Glasgow. Equally appreciated was the magnificent Winter Gardens attached to the museum. Elspeth has written several books on social history, on the People's Palace and Glasgow's Barras. 

Elspeth achieved further success as Director of the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum. She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of the University of Stirling in 2005 for outstanding work in developing Scottish museums and in promoting Scottish history and culture. 

• Save the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens for the City of Glasgow - supporter comments

Twitter: @glasgowswestend

This photo is from Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

In this episode storyteller, poet, singer, songwriter Lesley O'Brien talks about her own journey to becoming a professional storyteller, poet, songwriter and singer. It was a joy to chat with Lesley. 

This is our second special episode to Help Save Carlton Studios. Carlton Studios will close if money cannot be raised to see it through the current lockdown. With no financial help from the government, it is up to Glasgow's community of arts and music lovers and friends to keep the studio open until it can start earning its own keep again. 

if Carlton closes it means a loss of income for many workers, including cleaners, café staff, music tutors, sound engineers, filmmaker and studio assistants.

Links:

• Save Carlton Studios