25/5/26

It’s Monday and you know what that means.

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of playing at the Belladrum Takeover at HMV Inverness. The stage (Corner of the shop) was also graced by Siobhan Neylon, Space Van and the Super Secret Special Guest - Callum Beatie. It was a wonderfully chill and intimate sharing of music.

We always relish the opportunity to play acoustically. It’s very different to our normal work either on the Albums or the Live Show. Where everything is prescriptive and planned out. Stepping away from the excess, stripping back to the bare bones is refreshing. We rarely plan or rehearse an acoustic set. We know the songs like the back of our hands and ‘winging it’ AKA locking in, communicating and being present brings out a different set of skills and its own unique gratification. To be able to look out, not dazzled by stage lights and see the faces of folk enjoying our music felt really special. And a huge thank you to those who came up to chat and were very kind and complimentary. A special thanks to the young fan who bought and asked us to sign a copy of ‘Hard Times’ (Available at HMV Inverness) It was a heartwarming moment!

With all the challenges that come with being a creative/band it is far too easy to become jaded and bitter and to participate in the crab bucket mentality. But yesterday was a strong reminder of why we hold onto our positive attitude.

I've been thinking of the negative connotations around the term "Unsigned". It's always a label we've rejected - we prefer the term "Independent". I mean just look at what we're doing from ourselves. Independent recording, putting on independent shows, independent photo shoots, independent marketing...everything we do is because we like doing it and don't want to part of some "machine". I remember a chat with our manager, he was suggesting shopping round one of our albums to contacts in record labels. That sounds like a hassle, we'd rather continue to have full control of our creative output, on our own terms.

What is a pick of acoustic songs:

Pearl Jam - Black - MTV Unplugged

I never had a grunge phase growing up so discovered the likes of Pearl Jam later in life.

And this version of Black is one of those tracks that I wish I could go back and hear for the first time all over again. To listen to Eddie Vedder rend his soul. It’s a performance that will stick with me always.

Chris Cornell - Blackhole Sun (Acoustic)

Nothing drives home the quality of Chris Cornell’s vocals than stripping away the grunge and psychedelic elements of Soundgarden and letting his voice surround you.

Elliott Smith - Twilight. Perfect song that is exactly what it needs to be. It's a shame this was released posthumously from an album that by all accounts was going to be one of Elliott's best, but instead is painfully unfinished. I still listen to this all the

time.

- Jackto/Rig