Jig Blog

Nick Clegg: "Call me Chas"

I've created a new political facebook group. The noble aim is to get a nick-name to stick for Nick Clegg. Apart from performing at a few SNP and Lib Dem party parties in the past, that's about as political as the Jiggers is going to get, to be honest...

Nick Clegg Needs A Nickname. I vote for "Chas".

Venue Review: House For An Art Lover, Glasgow

A popular wedding venue where the Jiggers are regularly invited to play is Glasgow's House For An Art Lover in Bellahouston park. (It's just round the corner from where the Jiggers are based, which is nice!). This is the venue of choice for lovers of Charles Rennie Mackintosh art and architecture.

The venue has an upstairs section for the reception ceremony and meal, with the downstairs "Art Lover's Cafe" which is a kind of mini-gallery that transforms into the gathering place for the evening ceilidh.

We often provide clients with music for the full day there, and were performing there again at the weekend. A popular choice is our bigdaymusic Wedding Silver Music Package, which includes a piper for welcoming guests (handy, if you're lost in the park and can't find the venue) and our jazz pianist usually tickles the ivories on the venue's baby grand piano during the meal. We also supply our string quartet for e.g. the drinks reception or the ceremony which can be held in the venue too.

Clients often ask what size of band is suitable for the House for an Art Lover...We usually suggest 3 piece or 4 at a push. 5 would be tight, especially if it was a full function band with backline. You can see the relatively small stage setup of the 3 piece Jiggers band, including DJ & lights, in the picture below. Including lights with the entertainment is a must for the art lovers cafe, whose white walls really benefit from some nice party lighting, i think.

If you've had an event at the House for an Art Lover, please do post a comment to tell us about your experience there.

Me, Katie & Dougie, the 3 piece Jiggers ceilidh band outside the House For An Art Lover.

The baby grand piano in the dining room

The 3 piece band & DJ option has a smaller footprint and fits snugly into the corner of the room!

 

Boturich Castle

Scotland is a great place to get married. You rarely have to travel more than 10 minutes from any point in the country to find a really beautiful backdrop for your wedding celebration.One of the best things about being in a ceilidh band is the fact that we get to perform in some of the most beautiful places in Scotland.

Raising the game for wedding venues around Loch Lomond (of which there are many) is the recently developed Boturich Castle.

Well, OK. It's not like they've just built an ancient castle, but the point is that they've just added a large fixed marquee which caters for (at a guess) about 200 guests.

They held their first wedding there last week, and Bigdaymusic was hired by the happy couple to provide the wedding entertainment (which included the bagpiper, and also the ceilidh band and DJ for the evening).

Now the Jiggers have played lots of really nice venues around Loch Lomond: The Lodge on the Loch, Luss, Cameron House, Loch Lomond Youth Hostel, Duck Bay, loch Lomond Shores- Drumkinnon Tower, Ross Priory. But the most breathtaking view has to be the one you get from from Boturich.

The castle (and marquee) is situated on a hill north-east of Balloch, and as you can see from the photos, has an unhindered perspective on the loch. The real selling point of Boturich, I think, is the fact that two whole walls of the large venue are completely glass, meaning all the guests benefit from that incredible view for the whole day.

I don't know how much they charge for events held there. I can't imagine that it's cheap... I believe that you can hire in your own caterers,though which might make it a bit more flexible if you can get a good deal on the food.

And of course, catch us on a good day and we might also be happy to shave a few quid off the price just for the chance to play up there again :)

Here's some pics of Dougie, Katie and Donald chillaxin' outside the venue...

 
  

The world's greatest mullet

 Simon Varwell, like a sociopathic Apache with highly specific depilatory tendencies, collects mullets.

How does one go about doing that without incurring the wrath of the judicial system? His new book explains all.

Simon is a travel writer, and is also a friend (and occassional photographer) of the Jiggers Ceilidh Band. This, I believe is reason enough for you to consider buying his book.

Update: Jiggers Ceilidh Band on Scotland's BBC Live hogmanay show?

I have a theory that if everybody spoke like Robbie Shepherd, there wouldn't be any wars.

Sadly, this year the Jiggers ceilidh band will NOT be performing on Radio Scotland's live Hogmanay show. A bit gutted. That would have been fun. It was an honour to be asked, though! We've got some of our musicians playing at Hampden, others at the Hilton, AND (to further disappoint those of you who like fortuitous alliteration) at the Mormon Church. (maybe they could call it a Hootenanny?) It's going to be a pretty tight stretch as it is...

Good news, however, is that I discovered the DV tapes from the original BIG JIG were NOT corrupted after all, it was just the video camera I was playing them in! D'oh! Well, that means that I'll have TWO events to get a new Jiggers video from (the other being the Wee Jig on Saturday night there). So all in all, things are going OK.

 www.bbc.co.uk

15 tips for the worried bride (part 3)

The final five wedding tips for worried brides.

(tips 1-5) (tips 6-10)

11. Prep your team.

Bridesmaids, best men, ushers : these people have been given a special honour, and they should be expected to work for it. They're there to enjoy but also to support you. The best man should be circulating with the guests, introducing people to each other, working the crowd, keeping people abreast of what is happening. He should be making sure people's needs are met, and that no-one is bored or cold or embarrassed. He should be prepared to make an impromptu announcement, and if he's not a public speaker, get him to write his announcements down, or arrange someone else to make them for him. Make sure he's got his mobile phone in his sporran, too. Bridesmaids will help you with your outfit and moral support, but do make sure that they're not under the illusion that they can go and sit in a corner with their friends and ignore people. The wedding party (that's the top table, usually) are the hosts of the event, and it will work best when the hosts engage with the guests. Appoint people with responsibilities that they are capable of handling, and make sure they are accorded a special honour for this during the toasts. A token gift will also help cement those important relationships, so don't scrimp on thankyous.

12. See the value of difficult guests.

Sometimes you have to invite people you don't really want to be there. The lecherous uncle,for example, or a heavy-drinking boyfriend of a friend. Some guests will be there to pass comment and air their own insecurities. Everyone is human, and some more human than others. Don't resent them. Use them as a reminder that marriage itself will have its awkward experiences. But equally, make provision with your support team of best man and bridesmaids. You don't get to enjoy an entourage every day, so make the most of them!

13. Take your watch off.

Most weddings don't run exactly to schedule. Try not to fit too much in, and also plan for things running over. Canapes for the guests while photos are taken is a good idea, or even a magician or a good string quartet. And if the speeches make the meal last an extra hour, this is where having an experienced wedding band comes in handy. Check the venue can move the evening buffet back a bit, and ensure that evening guests have somewhere comfortable to wait if they've arrived early. Some of our clients hire live background music for the evening guests (e.g. a jazz trio) to play in the retiring room (where the dinner guests join them while the function room is turned around).

14. Relish the Challenge

Children throw tantrums when things don't go their way. If you're mature, you embrace the challenge. Sometimes you have to wrestle with external sources of aggravation, and other times it's internal conflicts. If you identify your wedding day as a worthwhile challenge, rather than an elaborate party to dazzle people into thinking how great you are, then I think you are approaching it in the right spirit.

15. Lower your expectations.

 What?! Settle for second best? NEVER! Well, that’s not really what I’m saying. What I mean is: remember that your wedding is not somehow going to magically make the rest of your life perfect. Don’t give it that kind of place in your thoughts. Obsession is when you try and ascribe more value to something than it is really worth. Widen your horizons: don’t let your wedding obsession become something which actually alienates you from people.

Those are some of my ideas. Feel free to add any suggestions that you think are useful by clicking on the "comments" link below.

The Wee Jig, Saturday 21st November, Glasgow

Anyone want to come to a FREE SECRET CEILIDH on Saturday night in Glasgow West End? Email us or call 0141 419 9558 for details.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/event.php?eid=173860259333&ref=mf

Tips for Brides: Scottish Weddings Without the Worry

I recently asked Brides-to-be over on the Scottish Wedding Directory wedding forum about what they worried most about when planning their weddings. I'd like to repeat the question here.

I've dealt with brides and grooms-to-be for the last 12 years of running the ceilidh band, but I have to say I was pretty shocked and amazed by some of the answers. Shocked that there could be just so many things to worry about, and amazed that women can enjoy or look forward to their wedding day at all!

Worries include:

Wedding Dress: fit or split?

Weather: will it rain? Will it ruin the photos?

Guests: will they enjoy it? Will they be bored?

Family: will they show up? Will they show me up?

And then of course you've got the long list of wedding suppliers. Are they all reliable? Will they turn up on time? Will they deliver on their promises? Will they ruin everything?

As a Scottish wedding music supplier, I've worked with clients at both ends of the spectrum: those who are lovely, relaxed and enjoying every minute of it, and of course the occasional "bridezilla" (though to be fair, it's often just as much dad-zilla, groom-zilla, or sometimes even the vicar...man-of-God-zilla)

Next week I'll be posting on this subject, trying to understand *why* people get so frantic about their wedding day, hopefully outlining some of the practical solutions to the problem of wedding worry.

So to all the brides-to-be out there...what are you worried about?

If you can't hire the Jiggers Ceilidh Band, maybe call...

If you're planning a wedding, and you've tried to book a good ceilidh band, but they're just not available...If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... These guys...

The Top Secret Drum Corps performing at Edinburgh Military Tattoo, 2006. Astounding, eh? I don't know if you can actually do a Military Two-Step to any of this, but who really cares? (Hat tip to Ian Barclay from Kilter Ceilidh Band for putting this link up)

Crooked Still & Emily Smith: an evening of unreserved cabaret

Just back from the Fruitmarket in Glasgow hearing the excellent Emily Smith support the awesome Crooked Still.

Emily releases her latest album of Burns (Robert, not Montgomery) songs "Adoon Winding Nith". This should get a fair few spins on my compact disc audio device in the next few days.

(Interestingly, the album includes a glossary of the Scots terms used in the songs, which is handy for all you sassenachs out there...and me as well, to be fair. A good reason to buy the CD rather than download it, I think.)

Crooked Still, if you've not heard them, are a virtuosic 5 piece band of fiddle, banjo, cello, upright bass and guitar/singer. Utterly phenomenal. I used to think I could play the cello until tonight. Now I will never again.

Here they are in their former 4-piece line-up.

Interestingly, the tickets, in describing the seating arrangement (tables, with 6 chairs around) say "unreserved cabaret". Strangely apt.

The Joy Of Spam: Your Dog Will Love It.

((There is a cryptic link with the subject of today's post and this picture. All will become clear.))

I pretty much love Microsoft Outlook 2007. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good software, and much more slinky than gmail or any other online mail service I've used.

And one very satisfying feature that I've learned to have a bit of fun with is the customisable spam filtering options. Yes, I'm a geek.

Basically, my email server already has spam filters in place which marks a message as spam based on some complex criteria which I'm not going to go into (for fear of killing both of us).

The result is that when I get a few emails to my inbox, my spam folder gets 20 or 30.

Of course, not all of the messages are spam. The ones that are not are *usually* auto responders from websites I've legitimately signed up for email from.

So I've set up two spam filter procedures that I run manually on all the mail in the Junk folder. One of them looks for specific words in the subject line, the other one looks for words in the subject and body of the email.

Are you still awake? Still with me? WAKE UP!!! Honestly. This is really cool!

The subject line filter includes terms like "iagr" or "ialis" because any email with viagra or cialis (or common misspellings) is 99% likely to be junk mail. And if it's already suspected of being junk for other reasons, this confirms it. Also, things like "diploma" "masters" "degree" are unlikely to be for me.

  It's different for Jiggers emails, obviously, as we tend to play lots of grad balls in Scotland, so that kind of language is more prevalent. (of course, you can set "positive" keywords, too, so that anything with "ceilidh band" or "wedding Glasgow" in it does not get processed as spam)

So I basically look through the junk emails every so often, look for commonly recurring terms (that I would otherwise never expect in legitimate emails) and add those terms to the list.

The subject line filter can be more aggressive than the email body filter, but the same principle applies.

What it means is that every week, I test the effectiveness of my filters. It usually deals with about 90% of the spam in the junk mail folder. I've cultivated it over time to be that effective. It's a labour of love.

That means it's much easier to do a visual scan of what's left (it's amazing how they eye can be trained to identify real mail from spam, isn't it?). You might have an email client that effectively reduces all your spam to zero, but think of the fun you're missing out on!

It turns something annoying into a bit of geek-sport fun. Anything to alleviate the tedium.

And if you think that's all the fun to be had with spam email, have a look at Spamusement which takes the subject line of spam emails and conjectures some kind of image that makes sense of it.

Hence, the spam subject line "your dog will love it" creates the above picture. You need to go down the list, read the subject line first, and then see the picture. Thoroughly spamusing.

Planning a Jiggers charity ceilidh

A client phoned me this morning. They've booked the ceilidh band for a big Edinburgh ceilidh fundraiser in the Assembly Rooms for the charity FAIRBRIDGE, which works with young people aged 13-25, helping them "develop the confidence, motivation and skills they need to turn their lives around."

They work with people who are NEET : Not in Employment, Education or Training. I think this is an excellent charity, and it's well worth having a look at their website. Also worth reading some of the newspaper articles that mention Fairbridge, too.

I've always thought it would be so frustrating working for a charity: always asking people to give of their time and money, or discounts on their services. Appealing to good will rather than capitalist self-interest always struck me as a difficult route, but it's certainly a vital part of our culture.

It's no easy thing, running these kind of events. There's a lot of competition out there, especially in Edinburgh, where they go in for ceilidhs in a big way.

The Jiggers ceilidh band do offer discounted rates for charity events, and we do our very best to accomodate and support the charities who hire us. I'm happy to mention any public Jiggers events in the blog or newsletter, too! We've also got useful resources for anyone planning and promoting a ceilidh on our website.

And since we're talking about charity, did you know that the Jiggers plant 5 trees for every ceilidh we play? Carbon neutral ceilidh: it's the way forward.

How does a musician arrange car insurance?

This promises to be the most exciting blog post about insurance that I'm ever likely to write. However, that is like saying that "4 Weddings And A Funeral" is the best film ever made by Richard Curtis which features a funeral and four weddings.

I hope to spice it up a little by including exciting pictures not really related to the blog, the ceilidh band or indeed anything to do with insurance.

Ready? Here goes.

Car insurance costs me a flippin fortune, despite the fact that I have never had an accident, and a number of years of no-claims bonus built up. I'm 30, so I'm probably outside the "psychotically dangerous" age range for guys. "Nul points" on the license (of course! what are you suggesting?!)

Computer says NO, NO, NO.

The problem (apart from my unsettling knack for honesty) is my choice of career. Tell insurance people that you manage and play in a Scottish wedding band, and it seems to blow their circuits.

"Hmm. No... the computer doesn't have that one. What about 'nurse'. Would you say you're a nurse?"

They don't like entertainers, and certainly not music agents, those insurance companies. There's an impending sense of doom attached to finding out that the insurance people, the most hated of all people, are making judgements about my trustworthiness.

They think I might get famous and do an Amy Winehouse on them. I wonder what *her* insurance costs...

ALL OVER THE INTERNET

Our quest to find a company willing to take our cold hard cash from us took us into some slightly worrying areas. My wife had a most surreal experience talking to someone at "Sheila's Wheels", the insurance company whose name suggests that kind of whimsical impulsiveness everyone looks for in a company responsible for handling fatal accident enquiries.

The woman my wife spoke to, however, seemed to have job confusion all of her own, believing somehow that her role was really some kind of careers counsellor, or maybe a clinical psychiatrist.

"I know what the underwriters are afraid of...they're worried that you'll sign the next big thing and they really don't like celebrities."
"but it's really mostly a wedding ceilidh band called the Jiggers".
"Let me just google them... "
(sounds of big stupid elephant fists mashing up and down on a computer keyboard)
"Oh no no no...they're ALL OVER the internet"

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH. So nice to be "famous". I'm amazed that she found us, just by googling, oh, I don't know, "the Jiggers ceilidh band glasgow". What are the chances?

 OK, thanks, Sheila. I think I hear your home planet on the other line. Next?

MY DRINKING PROBLEM

I can understand it a bit...driving late at night from venues where (eek!) alcohol was dispensed. They don't really believe when I say I'm a tee-total musician. "Ha!" They say "How else does he cope with the crushing insecurity, eh?" (answer: I blog.)

Well, anyway, I managed to get a quote from a company called Bell insurance. They actually have "dance band musician" as a legitimate occupation. How validating! Plus, they're happy to insure me to use the car for full business purposes, not just to occasionally nip out to stock up on paperclips for the office cupboard.

The quote? Well it wasn't as much as £700 for fully comp, but it wasn't much less than that.

I may yet become a nurse.

Culzean Castle, Robert Adam and The Jiggers Ceilidh Band

The 2-piece ceilidh band were performing at Culzean castle near Maybole last week. It's on the west coast, south of Ayr. I was on guitar for a change, and Graham on fiddle. One great thing about playing in the Jiggers is that we get to travel all across Scotland and see lots of really beautiful places.

 
 Culzean castle was designed by Scottish archtiect Robert Adam in the 18th century for the Earl of Cassilis. Culzean has been a stronghold for the Kennedy family since the 12th century, and the place is steeped in exciting and often bloody clan history. Whenever we perform there I'm always reminded of the book "The Grey Man" by S.R. Crockett .

We had a ceilidh in the old castle kitchen, which is big enough to hold about 40 or 50 people at a squeeze. It's a lovely big echoey place, and makes for a nice slightly ethereal acoustic for singing Scottish ballads or haunting waltzes. We finished the night with a DJ set, so we had the lighting rig with us, which made for some spooky-looking shadows...

The architect Adam was also responsible for a number of other classic buildings, and hugely influential in his field. The Jiggers have played at other venues he designed, including the magnificent Trades Hall in Glasgow, the Old College of the University of Edinburgh and Hopetoun House near Edinburgh.

Robert Adam is buried in Westminster Abbey. They don't do that for just anyone, you know.

Musician spotlight: Yvonne Lyon

I think Yvonne Lyon is one of the most exciting voices emerging from the Scottish singer-songwriter scene at the moment. She's gigging around the country just now, so do check her myspace page for her latest gigs near you.

She's doing her official (or is it unofficial?) album launch for her fourth album, "Ashes & Gold" on Saturday 8th August in City Halls. Gig details here.

Remember Yvonne, it's only official if an actual physical CD is actually physically launched. Not a lot of people know that.

 

A Jiggers Wedding

Congratulations to David Clifford, Jiggers ceilidh band guitarist who will be getting married in the Atholl Palace, Pitlochry tomorrow. We wish a special good luck to Kate, who will be married to him.

Clifford (right) in his polkadot jumpsuit phase.

Wedding Season and the Scottish Weather

The Jiggers, (Bigdaymusic's main Scottish Ceilidh Band) is really busy at the moment, playing upwards of twenty ceilidhs a month around Scotland. Most of those ceilidhs are Scottish weddings. I guess summer is popular for weddings because of the fact that you have more daylight, nice weather for the wedding photographer, the possibility of maybe an outdoor drinks reception... But sometimes the Scottish weather has other plans...

Big Day Music, the live music agency, has musicians playing at a wedding in Arran today. Reports suggest that Ayrshire is getting thunderstorms right now.Eek! (While I write this, the rain here in Glasgow has just started. Big-time.) There's a saying that if you can see Arran from Ayr, then it's about to rain. And if you can't see Arran from Ayr, then it IS raining.

Meanwhile, I'll be playing at a Gleneagles Hotel event this evening, possibly in an outdoor marquee. If you don't hear from me soon, presume I was struck by lightning.

"If it wisnae for yer wellies, where would ye be?"

HT for the photo Elizabeth Anne Designs

Toto's "Africa", performed by a choir

Last night I attended a free concert at Wellington Church on University Avenue (as part of the West End Festival) to hear various works including Vivaldi's Gloria (not Gloria's "Vivaldi".) We heard an organ piece which attempted to emulate a thunderstorm as it interrupts a typical church service. It was a brave attempt (the thunder was more convincing than the lightning, it has to be said).

Coincidentally in my email this morning is a link from the Innocent Smoothies newsletter of Perpetuum Jazzile Choir.

It's hard to get traditional choirs to do this kind of thing well, because the disciplines are so different for pop music than they are for classical, particularly with respect to groove/feel.

But I think these guys do it very well indeed.

Looking forward to the JS Bach Mass in B Minor tomorrow performed by the Dunedin Consort in the same venue.  Tickets are still available for this work, sometimes described as the humanity's most eloquent argument for the existence of God...

Tickets are £10 on the door (contrary to what the festival website says), or £5 for students. 7.30 start.

Restaurant review: Number 16 (Byres Road, Glasgow)

First of all, don't worry if you think you've missed the other 15 restaurant reviews on the Jigblog. I'm not A.A. Gill, you know. And in case I need to prove that, here is my first (and possibly last) restaurant review.

Number 16 Byres Road, a restaurant in the west end of Glasgow was the venue of choice for Mrs Jiggers birthday lunch. A ludicrously good deal of £10.50 for 3 courses and a free drink/glass of wine courtesy of their deal on 5pm.co.uk.

I'll point out that when it comes to food reviews, my lexicon of outlandish adjectives and deliciously inane similes is pitifully undernourished. I've used most of my best vocab in the last sentence.

From the generously-proportioned set menu we ordered the fishcake and the ox-cheek for starters. I couldn't tell you if it was like an unexpected punch to the solar-plexus from a well-meaning friend, but it did taste like the most fantastic thing I've eaten in a good while.

The main course of pork-belly (her) and pan-fried chicken breast for me were probably quite dissimilar to an uneventful bike-ride off a pier, but again, like I say, I'm not A.A. Gill, so I couldn't say for sure. It tasted amazing though. Lots of distinct flavours. That's a good thing,with food, isn't it?

Desserts of sticky toffee pudding (me) and baked meringue with strawberry sorbet were most definitely not comparable to discovering that the reason your history teacher gave you funny looks in class was because he was actually your dad, but they tasted brilliant. Especially the sticky toffee pud. Mmmmmm.

Number 16 is a pretty tiny restaurant at the bottom of Byres Road seating maybe 20 people. They have 2 or 3 front of house staff (is that the right term, or am I getting mixed up with P.A. systems?) and 2 or 3 chefs working in a tiny kitchen through the back. The desserts chef has to use suction cups on his elbows and prepares his work from the ceiling, I'm told.

I like small restaurants. You're not going to get lost or forgotten about in number 16. The decor was elegant and understated, and conveys a sense that these people understand what a restaurant is for. Paper tablecloths with heavy cutlery. Friendly an efficient staff. A gratis bread roll and excellent oil and vinegar during the short wait for our starters. This all boded very well, and I always trust my bode.

At number 16, they know food. How to present it, how to cook it and how to serve it. And I'm worried that one day the bubble will burst and they'll figure out how to price it. FIVE...count them, one, two, three, four FIVE STARS.

New Scottish Folk Sessions: Emily Smith

Met with the Scottish folk singer Emily Smith today to talk about the forthcoming New Scottish Folk Sessions album where she will be the main featured singer. It was a good to catch up with her and bounce some ideas around, play some demos and listen to some songs we might cover.

Things are moving forward (the label will be pleased to hear!) and I'm quite excited about getting stuck into this project. I'll blog further details in the next few months, as things progress.

In the meantime, have a listen to her music sampler from Too Long Away. You can buy her albums from her site. and I'd recommend that you do, because they're great!

Too Long Away (2008)

(click here to buy it from her site)

A Different Life (2005)

(buy)

A Day Like Today (2002)
(buy)