Free music from Edinburgh, the Lothians and Beyond!

Hiya folks!

Calum Carlyle on your phone!

So i'm playing a gig tonight (Saturday 27 October) at The Kilderkin, courtesy of Out of the Bedroom. It's free, and it starts at 8pm, hope to see you there. And if you can't be there (or even if you can) then download the official Calum Carlyle Android mobile app! Do it now! And remember to play my music loudly on a bus, if you can, let's show those tasteless teens what real music sounds like! No, seriously, get the app, listen to my music on the go, and have a good one. And if you have got some other type of phone device, you should find that www.calumcarlyle.co.uk is optimised for 3G mobile viewing as well, so everyone's included!

What else? Well, i do have some free music for you as well, and it's really good quality sa polish your ears and point them this way.

First of all here's a song by Roisin Russell that i think is REALLY good, it's called Barriers. Check it out, and check out her other songs as well.

Next i want to mention this sumptuous six song collection from Gerrybhoy. He's playing live at the next Edinburgh Unlimited event (at The Meadow Bar at 8pm on Thursday 15th of November) but if you want to hear a bit of his music in advance, now's your chance, he's just released a FREE mini album of songs co-written with the excellent Tina M, one of my favourite lyricists, i must admit. Check it out and do your ears a favour.

Now, i have seen a couple of other great little blog posts this week, so rather than do a rant (which is what i was going to do) about the state of music today etc, i'll let you read these excellent little missives, first here's Claire from Glasgow PodcArt having her say about Industry Wankers.Succinct and to the point.

Next, Kim o' The Concrete Jungle told me about this article about how listeners' musical tastes have changed over the decades, it's a great fun read.

And that's it really, i could blah on about the best open mics, my suggested gig list etc but i have mentioned the open mics recently (scroll down the blog for that) and i am sure you have events in your Facebook just like i do so...

See you all next week in Musicland!

Calum Carlyle
Edinburgh Unlimited

New music from both sides of the globe!

So. I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks, really. I have been busy. Mainly writing and recording with The Urban Folk Crowd, and trying to get the various bits and pieces organised for the Edinburgh Unlimited monthly events. Next one of those is on Thursday 15th of November by the way, with Jo Hill, The Ferny Brackens, Gerrybhoy and Matt from Cancel The Astronauts. That's at The Meadow Bar at 8pm, and it's only £3 admission.

Now, again, i usually like to give you some exclusive music, but it takes me a lot of time to sift through the various music i've recorded out there in Musicland, and to contact the artistes before hand and to be honest i haven't a lot of faith that many people are downloading the music i put up, or even reading this blog, so it's kind of a disincentive to take time to do that, but never fear, i still have some excellent music for you, that you probably haven't heard of, even though it's not technically "exclusive".

By the way, send me an email, comment on this blog, or on the FB page, to let me know you're reading, and more importantly listening, and it'll spur me on to get some more properly exclusive music ready for your ears. I feel like i'm losing the war against apathy at the moment, and your comments will certainly help tip the scales.

Right, here's the new EP by Stephen Cope, he's one of my favourite singer-songwriters that i've heard on the web, and he's just bbrought out this EP "five songs written by the soul of the earth" - it's not free to download, but it is only $4, and it's free to listen, so check it out, i think it's really good and i hope you do too.

Next thing i was going to tell you about this awesome sort of psychedelic world/folk music album i just found out about, it's from 2007 and it's a self titled LP from Voice Of The Seven Woods but i can't find anywhere online where you can download it, and to be honest i don't really know how it got on my hard drive! But it's really good, so if you can find it anywhere then do get it if you can. And if you do find it, please post here in the comments saying where!

Tell you what, instead i'll give you the link to this EP by Blasfima Sinna and Conscious Route - it's a free download, but anyway check it out, you'll hear the goodness for yourself. Here's a review of the EP in case you need any more convincing.

And also, do get out of the house and go to some gigs. I know it's getting on for winter but seriously, you only live once. In fact come to my next gig this Saturday, it's free, i'm playing the featured act slot at "Out Of The Bedroom". Hope to see you there.

Anyway, i've got to get on, but yes, please let me know in the comments, FB page, whatever, if this blog is in any way improving your life, and i'll be back here next week, this time with some exclusive music you won't be able to get anywhere else.

See you out there in Musicland!

Calum Carlyle
Edinburgh Unlimited

Open Mics and Free Music from Denmark!

Hi and sorry this week's blog post is so late (or maybe it's now early!), i had rehearsals and gigs and so on all weekend! Shame you didn't come along to my gig at The Ale House on Sunday mind you, there were about ten people  there but it was great fun, and i thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Hope you can make it to one of my gigs in future though, please check out www.calumcarlyle.co.uk for live gig listings. They're all in Edinburgh though, my apologies to those of you that are a bit further afield!

Now, this week i haven't got anything totally exclusive for you, but i do have a link to a free downloadable EP that has just come out that you probably haven't heard before, by Silent People, so hope you enjoy that.

And i also want to remind you to come along to our next Edinburgh Unlimited event which is this Thursday at 8pm! In fact here are the details of the next three Edinburgh Unlimited events:

On Thursday October 11th, upstairs in The Meadow Bar:
Dave Keir, Cera Impala, The Urban Folk Crowd, and Jamie & Shoony will be providing the entertainments this week, so it should be a blisteringly impressive night i think. All this for only £3 and it's doors open at 8pm, so get there promptly to ensure you get a good seat (in fact, let's be honest, to ensure you get a seat!)

On Thursday November 15th, upstairs in The Meadow Bar:
The Ferny Brackens, Jo Hill, and Gerry Bhoy will entertain you, and there will be a cheeky fifteen minute set from Matt of Cancel The Astronauts as well. All this for only £3 and the doors open at 8pm.

On Thursday 13th December, upstairs in The Meadow Bar:
Peter Kasen, The Sunday Republic, Turning Plates, and Calum Carlyle will all entertain you for the tremendously low price of £3, and again  doors open at 8pm.

And while i have your attention let me inform you of some of the best  open mic nights in Edinburgh. It can be difficult to know which ones are a good night out, but here are a couple of my recommendations for any music fan:

Out of the Bedroom is on every Saturday from 8pm till 11pm at The Kilderkin near the bottom of The Royal Mile (on the Canongate), get there for 7:15pm if you're a performer, and it's songwriters only, always a good night. There is often a featured performer as well, someone the committee have asked to play a half hour slot at the night. Free admission.

The Listening Room is on every Sunday night at The Blue Blazer on the corner of Bread and Spittal streets near Lothian Road, from 8pm till 10pm, and the latter half of this is usually a featured performer as well. Free admission.

There is another very nice little open mic night on Wednesdays at the "I Heart Cafe" near the top of Leith Walk as well, on Wednesdays from  7pm to 10pm, it's quite informal, but they have a really good vibe there, it's fairly easy to find it's on the same side as the SYHA youth hostel on Leith Walk, but a few doors further down.

So take care out there in Musicland and we hope to see you back next month at Edinburgh Unlimited. Tell all your friends as well, please, if they like music.
Thanks!

Calum Carlyle
Edinburgh Unlimited
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