Most birthdays during the last year, even special landmark ones, have been low-key affairs. With restaurants and venues closed, and...

As I sit writing this in our sunny back garden, spotting the wild garlic, chives and rhubarb all pushing through and honeysuckle and...

The last two years have seen a great deal of long overdue reflection and reckoning regarding historic wrongs and the legacy of colonial...

As we edge out of February and creep into March, many of us will be casting our minds back and reflecting on what will soon be a full...

A lovely present has arrived in the post; something which brightened up my day but also reminded me of just how much I miss playing music...

What a fortnight of mixed fortunes! The Presidential inauguration went smoothly, with peace restored, but covid continues rampant, albeit...

Bliadhna mhath ùr dhuibh uile, Happy New Year, and welcome back to my ArtyNess music column and lots more news, views, and happenings in...

Another fortnight and another slate of cancelled gigs struck off the calendar. December is usually such a busy month for musicians, and I...

Well, what an incredible week! The first concert around these parts in over eight months, with Inverness’s Ironworks Music Venue hosting...

It’s that time of year again when all eyes and ears in the folk and trad music world turn to the annual MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards,...

It feels so good to have some great news to share this week in the world of folk and traditional music! Something that takes our music up...

If this were a normal year, I’d be getting ready for Fèis a’ Bhaile – Inverness’s tattie holiday fèis – starting in Millburn Academy on...

This week I got to be a kid in a sweetshop - at least that’s what it felt like - although on this occasion I was not indulging my sweet...

Fourteen years ago I took my four-year-old to Eden Court Theatre to see a show called Taigh Màiri Anndra (house of Màiri, Andrew’s...

It’s taken a while but at last the Scottish folk and traditional music scene is witnessing its own #MeToo moment. Allegations of sexual...

At this point in the summer I would usually be heading south to Edinburgh, to the cornucopia of arts that is the Fringe Festival. Like...

As I write this, I am sitting out in my back garden enjoying Belladrum Festival and some of its many fabulous delights. Sadly, due to...

Well, what a difference a week makes! It’s been so nice on my daily cycles this last week seeing people once again eating out along the...

A couple of wee questions to you this week. What makes for a really great night out? Or constitutes, for you, fun times with friends and...

Is there anything more heart-warmingly lovely than playing music with your children? As a mum who loves nothing more than duetting with...