For our latest episode of Live Music & Me, our guest was the Scottish singer/songwriter & musician Dean Owens.

Deans live music journey has been ‘ eclectic’ to say the least, and his gig list includes a first gig seeing a famous TV presenter and a second gig seeing an equally famous children’s TV group. We also managed to discuss margarine, and one of Dean’s band members getting police protection in the local hospital. No, really…

In between all that, we did manage to chat about some cracking gigs, including Simple Minds, The Waterboys & the SBSW Festival. AND,Dean gave us 2 great live album recommendations, one of which was new to us (and it’s a belter).

It was an hour in Dean’s company that flew by. Big thanks to Dean, and we are sure you will get lots of enjoyment from this one.

Until next time, enjoy, and stay safe.

PS If anyone knows a Julie Pentland from Edinburgh, can you let her know that Dean says hello :-)

After 6 months, and voting on over 350 songs, we came to our final podcast discussion on Scotland's 30 Greatest Songs. Our friends on Twitter/X had already decided that Nothing Ever Happens by Del Amitri was the No 1 song - our podcast panel had the chance to debate this, and indeed the full top 10 that was voted in. Suffice to say, they weren't in agreement! We also managed to chat about tin hats, Anchorman & punching Danny Wilson ( no, really). And, we also had an offer from Colin to sing at Donna's wedding ( and a quick song rendition from Colin too) More importantly, our panel & friends got the chance to put together an alternative Top 10 ( which in turn generated a new number 1) Its been so much fun doing this series, and big thanks to Caroline, Donna & Colin for helping us sign this one off.( and for putting up with a couple of Zoom gremlins) We did chat about possible topics for our next podcast series, however thats all for another day...Until next time, enjoy and stay safe.

The title of our podcast suggests that our guests will havesome sort of musical connection. However, it doesn’t preclude us from getting guests on from other genres that are keen to talk about their gig history!

Therefore, for this episode we were delighted to be joined bythe comedian & writer Jo Caulfield. We were pretty sure that Jo would talk with passion & humour about the concerts she has been to, and from the get-go trying to work out whether her first gig was at Rock City or De MontfordHall, we were right!

We got stories about seeking forgiveness for sneaking to agig in London whilst still in school ( from the Midlands!) , to seeing The Skids leading a mass TV Stars/Albert Tatlock singalong in a support slot, to her husband going to one of her bucket list gigs without her, Jo was on very good form. And, 28 podcasts in, we also got first time name checks for bothGeorge Melley & the Bluberry Hellbelly’s.

We have so much fun doing these podcasts, and it wasabsolute pleasure to have Jo on as a guest. Just don’t ask her about playing a stand up gig in Belfast….

Until next time, enjoy & stay safe.

It was all going so well. Voting Party's going great on X, lots of love in our virtual room, some amazing songs getting voted through to the Finals. And then....we get to the 2000-2025 nominated songs. In a word, carnage.

107 songs voted on, only 14 voted through. Lots of big hitters missing out, and recriminations aplenty amongst our music friends. It is with this backdrop that our latest podcast was recorded, with our resident BCP panel member Caroline Binnie & the ( award winning) writer Julie Rea tasked with steering our music boat into calmer waters. Did they succeed? In a word, no.

The panel did manage to vote 4 songs from the 2000-2025 'red' list back into the Finals ( all bangers too) - however, they also insisted that our ' max 2 songs per artist' remains a hard backstop. This in turn means that songs from four of our very favourite bands will have to be voted on again ( Julie & Caroline kindly gave us their suggestions)

However, we finished the chat on a high, by agreeing how we should get from our current position of having over 100 songs in the Finals, to arriving at our Final 30 ( and ultimately our overall No1). Whatever the final 30 looks like, you cant say we didn't have a go...

Until next time, enjoy & stay safe.

Our latest Live Music & Me guest was the singer/songwriter Xan Tyler. We were pretty sure that Xan would have some pretty good stories to share, and she did. From a first gig at Knebworth, to travelling to NYC for a first gig date, to missing Patti Smith playing at the Doune The Rabbit Hole festival, there was plenty going on.

Xan also got mentions for 2 gig venues we haven't had before ( the Panopticon Glasgow & the Byron Bay Blues Festival, Australia), and, more importantly, gave us the lowdown on how to get the best seats at Ronnie Scotts ( if you are female) Oh, and let's not forget the tribute band WhamDuran. No, really....We had great fun doing this one, hope you enjoy it too.

Stay safe

PS Her 'one live album to own' recommendation was so good, we purchased a copy.

Our guest for this episode of Live Music & Me was the very wonderful musician, arranger & author Helen O Hara - and 25 episodes in we are still pulling rabbits out the proverbial gig hat. For example, we're pretty sure Helen was the first guest to get Ozzy Osbourne, James Brown & a Commonwealth Games closing ceremony into her gig answers. And it was definitely the first time that we could tell our guest that they were the answer to one of the hosts gig questions ( first date with a partner). And, on top of all that, we also managed to forget to chat about the legend that is Nicky Hopkin ( who Helen recorded with) until AFTER the cameras stopped rolling!

Thankfully there was more than enough content to keep the conversation flowing - and of course it was lovely to get a couple of Dexys Midnight Runners anecdotes thrown in too from Helen ( loads more in her memoir What's She Like which is highly recommended). Helen was a delight to chat to, and we hope that comes across when you get the opportunity to watch/listen. Until next time. Enjoy, and stay safe.

For our first Live Music & Me podcast of 2025, we were joined by our good friend the Scottish singer, songwriter & musician JJ ‘Jinky” Gilmour. You go into the New Year full of plans to make the podcast lean and mean, focus on the music etc. However, before we even got to the first gig question, we had discussed the ageing process, the relative merits of the Old Firm and hot water bottles. No, really.As a long-standing member of The Silencers, we were sure that JJ would have a few stories to tell – and he did. From a first gig at the Glasgow Apollo that JJ remembered more for what was happening in the crowd (it wasn’t moshing), paying tribute to the legend that is Phil Lynott, and playing Blenheim Palace even although the promoter didn’t know who he was – JJ was on very good form. JJ also clarified how many Coatbridge tramps were in The Silencers (clue- it wasn’t 100%) – and mentioned U2 & Simple Minds a couple of times during the chat. And for the last question, one of them got the ‘one live album we should all own’ nomination from him (and it’s a belter). We tried for thick end of 6 months to make this one happen, and we hope you agree it was worth the effort. Enjoy and stay safe PS. JJ mentioned that he has had a couple of personal challenges during his career and has always been a big supporter of those organisations that offer Mental Health support. For anyone interested in this area, check out Music Minds Matter Charity https://www.musicmindsmatter.org.uk

We have reached the 1990s! For this episode on our quest to create a list of the 30 Greatest Scottish Songs ever- as well as our resident Bay City Poller Caroline Binnie, we were joined by our friends, the actor Colin McCredie & Station Manager for Cumbernauld FM Gerry Duffy. In addition to the panel re-stating how great the 1980s nominated songs are ( all 42 of them!) we had a proper discussion on both the songs that have been voted into from the 1990s list, and more important those that weren't! Thankfully, all 4 panelist used their jokers wisely, adding a quality song each back onto the list. We also got Gerry & Colin to give us their ' die on a hill' Top 10 Scottish song nomination, and ended the chat by sharing some Wham trivia that aged us all in real time... A mighty fine time was had by all, hope that comes across when you have a look/listen. As ever, enjoy & stay safe