Greetings from the Kingdom of Fire.
 

Hi, I just stumbled upon this forum and it appears to be a cool place to hang out.

I'm 30 year old male from Fife in Scotland. I live near the East Neuk which has produced several great musicians over the past 20 years or so including King Creosote, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band, The Pictish Trail and Lone Pigeon.

I work with adults who have learning difficulties and I am the proud father of two boys aged 11 and 8.

Music wise, I have quite a varied taste. Growing up I was listening to my Dad's tapes which included Elvis, the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfuncle, The Everly Brothers, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles and The Police. As I hit my teenage years, it was the height of 'Britpop' but instead of following the Oasis and Blur crowd I was drawn towards bands like Cast, Kula Shaker, The Longpigs, The Charlatans, Shed Seven, Radiohead and Super Furry Animals. I then went up to Aberdeen for university in 2001 and started listening to the blues. In particular, the songs by Robert Johnson really struck a chord with me. At this time, I also got into reggae.

Through listening to Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci I became bewitched by Welsh language music and this continues to the present day. There's lots of great music coming out of Wales at the moment from bands like Y Niwl, Yr Ods, Swnami, Colorama and Twrbador.

I discovered KEXP (Seattle radio station) a couple of years ago and through listening to that station my musical horizons have widened further, including the Columbian band Bomba Estereo and Ana Tijoux amongst others.

I have played guitar since I was 16 and have an Ibanez acoustic and a Gretsch (although not a 'proper' Gretsch). I got it for my 30th last year and it has given me the motivation to start writing songs again, something I haven't done for 10 years or so. I'm currently in the process of making an EP with my mate's Dad who has been playing for over 40 years and was also stuck in a musical rut. The music we are working on has reignited the passion and creativity in us both.

Well, that's me in a nutshell, I'll have a wee look around the forums and look forward to being part of the community.

Take it easy :)

Hi, welcome!

Welcome to MB mate

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!

Welcome! Love everything about Scotland after my visit last year. Look forward to talking music and guitars with you!

Nice to see another Scottish member! I'm just over the bridge in Dundee. Welcome :)

Welcome to the forum buddy, I'm a Fifer too, living out in Glasgow at the moment.
I'm from Kettlebridge.
My pals been getting me into King Cresote, his stuff with John Hopkins especially. Pretty good artist.
Glad to see you've joined up.

Cool, where did you visit when you were over?

Quality, I was wondering if you know of any good open Mic nights in Dundee?

You should check out 'Rocket DIY' and 'KC RULES OK', both are decent albums. I'm in Cupar but originally from Glenrothes.

Now your asking! I think Buskers (formerly 20 Rocks/The Doghouse/ probably due another bloody name change soon) would be your best bet - they always run nights with up and comers and I am sure they do an open jam every Monday :)

You should give Dexter's Bar on Castle Street a crack. The Doghouse, the converted church has an open mic night as well I think, but it's a less intimate setting.

I'll give the two King Creosote records a spin as well.

Jeez. There's a good chance we may have walked past one another at some point in our lives not knowing we'd wind up on the same music site one day. Small world eh?

Cheers man, I noticed there was one at a pub near the bridge (just before you get to the traffic lights at the New swimming pool) on a Sunday night but I haven't tried it yet. I used to go to one in Falkland and one in Cupar but they were very clique based and I never really felt that comfortable playing at them.

Cheers man, I want to test out my new songs and get an idea of how well they will go down.

It is indeed a small world :) any plans for moving back to Fife?

Oh yeah you might mean Legends I think they do one! That's always the problem. I'm not much of a musician but there's a few poetry ones about that I have had the same issue with, always feels intimidating at first!

I'm out at Glasgow University at the moment, but to be honest. Hopefully never. I've not got much love for the place and I want to see the world one day. There's probably better places to hang my hat.

Falkland had/have an open mic night? That at The Stag? The whole place is a bit odd. The palace and estate aren't too shabby but I wouldn't bother with the people or the pubs there.

The place I mean is just along from Legends, it looks more like a wine bar/bistro.

When I was up in Aberdeen there were a few well organised and friendly open Mic nights. The ones at Dr Drakes and the Noose & Monkey in particular.

It would be great if you guys actually all knew each other and didn't realize it.

Scotland is so nice, I hope to go back one day.

Aye, the one at the Stag, I played a few times but felt like an outsider and would only get on after the guy's pals had been up.

I'm guessing you're a young guy and I suppose Fife isn't the epicenter of cool, I felt the same, when I was 18 I couldn't wait to leave glenrothes. Things change when you have kids though and there are much worse places to grow up than Fife.

Funny you should say that, I think I recognise James from his avatar!

Haha, I wouldn't be too surprised to see something like that wandering about Dundee on Saturday night....

Very true :rofl: