The Tolbooth Sessions
After a year in the making, October 2009 seen the launch of a brand new compilation CD on Tolbooth Records. Featuring 10 bands from in and around Stirling the tracks were produced by some of Scotland’s most acclaimed musicians.
The five producers, Barry Burns (Mogwai), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Gareth Russell (Idlewild), Stevie Fleming (Cosmic Rough Riders) and Davie Scott (The Pearlfishers) were each matched with a band to record a track.
After a number of applications were received, ten bands were chosen by the producers to be part of the project. Each producer in turn recorded their own favourite band in the Tolbooth’s recording studio in Stirling.
The aim of the project was to give access to professional recording facilities and crucially the know how of an experienced, professional producer for each of the bands. Tolbooth Music Development Officer Stephen Hume explains, "Bands are crying out for access to good equipment and more importantly the right advice. Sometimes the hardest battle for them is to get a decent recording of their music and with The Tolbooth Sessions we hope to break down those barriers.”
Mogwai’s Barry Burns had the job of recording atmospheric soundscapists, The French Quarter. "I was perhaps lucky to work with such a distinctive yet open-to-ideas band as The French Quarter and so it turned out to be a success. Wouldn't it be nice if it was compulsory for projects like this to happen in every town? It's a logical way to expose people to new music in a format that doesn't cost the band the usual high studio fees and gets the young bands into the swing of studio work.”
The finished product is a fantastic compilation CD of some of the best new music around Stirling and indeed, Scotland. The compilation will be used to promote new music around the country and especially within Stirling.
The CD is available from various outlets in Stirling and around Scotland including the Tolbooth, HMV and Europa music.
