BORDERS BOOKS
presents a series of
Songwriting Workshops
running for 8 weeks from Thursday 6th April @ 6.30pm.

Workshops will cover various approaches to songwriting including building from melody, chords or lyrics.
Scales, chord-building and lyric-writing will be explored, although only a basic knowledge of or interest in music is necessary. A basic chord vocabulary will be developed and explored, and we’ll also examine a variety of song and lyric styles. The ability to play a musical instrument is not essential.
Andy Lang will conduct the workshops. Andy is one of the Burnsong Collective, a group of songwriters who trained with Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association as part of the Burnsong project, which commemorates the life and work of Robert Burns and is supported by the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Arts Council. See www.burnsong.com for info.
Andy’s recent album LETTERS TO JUDAS is currently available from Borders and more info can be found at www.andylang.co.uk
Contact Borders Books, 0131 657 4041 for more details.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR...

ED'S DEAD, honky-tonk anthem from LETTERS TO JUDAS, made it as far as the quarter finals of the 2004 Nashville-based International Songwriting Competition (ISC) in a field of several thousand entries.Close(well, quite close) but no cigar......

Leith Festival

Cold Blow These Winter Winds

COLD BLOW THESE WINTER WINDS

Andy performed at the TRADITIONALLY CHRISTMAS concert in Edinburgh's Queen's Hall on 23rd December 2003.
The concert was broadcast by BBC Radio Scotland on Christmas Day and Hogmanay 2003, and was also recorded by US label GREEN LINNET RECORDS.
It has now been released on CD and includes 2 performances by Andy; his own song LULLABY, and a duet of Shane McGowan's FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK, with KARINE POLWART.
The album, entitled COLD BLOW THESE WINTER WINDS, is on general release and has received enthusiastic reviews.

It is also available from www.tradmusic.com
Cold Blow These Winter Winds - GLCD1228

JUSTICE FOR GORDON GENTLE

Sunday, February 20, 2005

JUSTICE FOR GORDON GENTLE

GORDON GENTLE was a young, 19 year old man from Pollock, Glasgow.Following advice and information from The Job Centre, he joined the Army.
After only 26 weeks training, he was sent to Iraq and within a few short weeks he was killed, a victim of "the peace".
Inspired by the campaigning work of mother Rose Gentle, The Zealots continue to offer their condolences and support to the Gentle family and have recorded the song GENTLE (Shadow of the Son) which will shortly be available to download.
Andy met with Rose at the Pollock demo in October 2004 and gave her a copy of the recording. The links below can be followed, and a Google search for either Gordon or Rose Gentle will reveal a wealth of information and useful links.
Justice for Gordon Gentle... A video letter to Cherie Blair from Glaswegian mother Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in Iraq on 28 June 2004. Gordon was ... www.brocweb.com/justice4gordongentle/index.php - 5k - Cached - Similar pagesJustice for Gordon Gentle... Since then, the Justice for Gordon Gentle campaign has become a rallying point for the anti-war movement, which had floundered since the failure of the big ... www.brocweb.com/justice4gordongentle/transcript.php - 7k - Cached - Similar pages[ More results from www.brocweb.com ]

Maverick Magazine

The following is a verbatim transcript of a review of LETTERS TO JUDAS fromMAVERICK MAGAZINE (The New Voice of Country Music) December 2004.

Andy Lang with the Zealots-Letters to Judas***

Scottish folk music polished up for the 21st century.

Should you wish to book Andy Lang with The Zealots, and it would be a very good idea to do so, I suggest that you make sure the stage is big enough. For the recording LETTERS TO JUDAS The Zealots numbered 17.
Anyone who says that the traditions of Auld Reekie and the brash metropolis of Glasgow are at odds with each other should think again; Glasgow-born Lang has joined forces with Edinburgh's finest musicians to produce an album of folk music Scotland can be proud of.
For too long the dark passions of Scotland's music have been buried under a welter of shortbread tins. The perceptions from outside may be of a rather twee Brigadoon, whose house-band consisted of Andy Stewart and Jimmy Shand, but the reality is that Scotland has a wild and bloody past and its music reflects that. And for those who are wondering just what that marvelously evocative instrument on Southern Cross is, welcome to the Border pipes. As a resident of that region I can tell you that its haunting sound conjures up perfectly the rugged romanticism of the Borders, particularly in the hands of the excellent Rory Campbell.
But LETTERS TO JUDAS achieves what all folk music strives to but rarely does. It absorbs and assimilates different influences, country, bluegrass and blues are all added in various degrees to what becomes a most delightful end product.
Southern Cross for instance was inspired by a film about white supremacists, not your usual folk music source material.
However the imagination of Lang invigorates and energises this most traditional of music styles. While the 'evergreen' subjrects of death, betrayal and honour are not ignored, love is the emotion most powerfully expressed.
'Matters of the Heart' and 'Hearts' are two of the warmest and sincere romantic ballads you're likely to hear. The richness of Lang's voice wraps around them like a comfort blanket.
While folk music is sometimes charged with taking itself too seriously, LETTERS TO JUDAS skilfully avoids that trap.
'Do You Know' is the roistering universal soundtrack of a good time. A glorious celebration of the unbreakable links between folk and country. By its nature, but more importantly by inclination, LETTERS TO JUDAS is built around tradition. But it is not submerged by the past, the music is as fresh and alive as you would expect from 18 of Scotland's finest musicians. LETTERS TO JUDAS is more about what's ahead than what's gone before. MM