A Kick Up The Arts with Nicola Meighan

Send us Fan MailI'm joined by a band that I've loved for decades this time around. When I used to build radios as a kid, I once tuned in to their huge hit, Labour of Love, via crystal radio earpiece on Radio Luxembourg, which felt like - and was - a kind of magic back in the day, and we've had loads of adventures on the wireless, and telly, since...Hue and Cry are back with a terrific album, Everybody, which explores their new-found, but deep-rooted, love of electronic music, via post-punk, soul, and synth-fired lust for life... they're on tour as we speak, so we talked about performance too, along with diversions into Pat's book of jokes, a clash between Violently and Labour of Love, Michael Bolton, the Pet Shop Boys, and my confession about Dr Robert Moog...You can listen to another recent chat we had for The Saturday Social on Central FM - where Pat reminisces about the band playing with Madonna at Wembley, snubbing George Michael - AND he makes his brother Greg cry live on-air - right here...If you've enjoyed this chat and fancy listening to conversations with other Scottish music favourites, there are episodes of A Kick Up The Arts with Deacon Blue, Del Amitri's Justin Currie, Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake, Emma Pollock, Horse, and loads more - including Kathryn Joseph and Lomond Campbell, which also has its fair share of synth chat... as does the episode with King Creosote...I've got lots of live event updates too, which I'll tell you all about soon, but it's best to keep an eye on my Facebook and Instagram posts for those, or sign up for the newsletter...Thanks as ever for listening, for sharing, for getting in touch - for all of that...

Send us Fan MailHere’s a quick-fire episode, recorded in a rowdy Green Room at the Golden Lion, to celebrate the brilliant winner of two of Scotland’s most prestigious book awards at this year’s Bloody Scotland crime writing festival in Stirling. In what was a historic first, Glasgow author Frances Crawford won both the Debut Prize, and the McIlvanney Prize, for her exceptional novel, A Bad, Bad Place, which takes us back to Possilpark in 1979, via family, community, secrets, punk rock, murder - and a dog called Sid Vicious.I was a judge for the McIlvanney Prize this year, with Sally Magnusson and Gordon McGhie - which is both a blessing and a curse, on account of the thrilling quality of the books on offer and the difficulty of choosing between them - but Frances’ tale of twelve-year-old Janey, and her Nana, Maggie - bowled us over; and it clearly did the same for the debut prize judges. Guest programmer Denise Mina also seemed thrilled.It also won the McDermid Debut Prize at this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Awards, and her short story, The Dummy Railway - which gave rise to A Bad, Bad Place - won the Glencairn Glass Short Story competition at Bloody Scotland in 2022.Frances is a warm, bold, wry, moving and vital new voice in Scottish literature, this is a deeply human, and affecting, book - and it was a pleasure to sit down with her after the awards announcement for a blether…We’ll reflect more on the book’s content, and characters, in time, but - for now, here’s Frances, surrounded by very lively chatter, reflecting on how A Bad, Bad Place came to life…

Send us Fan MailI’m revisiting a legendary old place of work in this episode, as I go back to Glasgow’s Tron Theatre to hear about a bold, fresh, and contemporary take on Sophocles’ epic Greek tragedy, Antigone…Lulu Raczka’s fired-up reimagining of the classic text is directed by Finn den Hertog, whose credits include Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Lear, Dundee Rep and the Royal Lyceum’s Sunset Song, and the Fifth Step with the National Theatre of Scotland…Finn’s first production for The Tron promises to be a thrilling two-hander - as two wild sisters fight for justice - thanks to actor, writer and director Eilidh Loan, who plays Antigone - you might have seen her in roles from Murder on the Heath and Doctor Who to A Castle for Christmas and Macbeth - or you might have caught her second play, Cathy, starring Elaine C Smith, at the Traverse during the Edinburgh Festival - it was wonderful…Holly Howden Gilchrist, who stars as her sister, Ismene, last bowled over Tron audiences in A Giant from the Bridge, and has also been terrific in Twelfth Night, Small Acts of Love, and more…Antigone, in association with Groupwork, opens on September 18 and runs till October 10, so move fast if you fancy getting along… I caught up with Holly, Eilidh and Finn in rehearsals last week, and we chatted more about what to expect - from sibling love - and sacrifice - to sticks of rock and maybe even conga lines… Then again - probably not.. 

Send us Fan MailI’m hearing from two brilliant women, and minds, who’ve joined forces to explore a wild - and under-documented, and misunderstood - chapter in Scottish history… In their superb new novella, This Door of the Seas, best-selling writer Val McDermid has teamed up with Geographer Royal for Scotland Jo Sharp - they’re partners in crime, and partners in life - as they trace the journey and tale of the Darien venture… It saw more than 2000 Scots sail into the unknown at the end of the seventeenth century, toward a horizon of hope and prosperity - but the challenges of Darien’s jungle-coastline, at the junction of North and South America, transpired to offer anything but that. It would eventually upturn the future of Scotland, bankrupting an already impoverished nation, and propelling it towards political union with England… This Door of the Seas is the latest in Birlinn’s excellent Darkland Tales, in which some of Scotland’s best-loved writers re-imagine stories from Scottish history, myth and legend through a contemporary lens - Val and I chatted about her Queen Macbeth Darkland Tale on a previous episode of A Kick Up The Arts…Val and Jo’s book is written as a series of letters home from expedition scientist Dr James Wallace - as addressed to his wife Eliza and to Sir Robert Sibbald, the very first Geographer Royal - and as uncovered by his ancestor, Beth Wallace, in the Spring of 2026...Val and Jo came through to Bridge of Allan to tell me all about it... 

Send us Fan MailAs we charge headlong into a month of madness at the Edinburgh Festivals, I’m joined by Scottish theatre revolutionaries Grid Iron to chat about their Fringe adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies; and about their 30 years - and counting - of bringing brilliant drama to our stages, and beyond…When Andrew launched Mayflies back in 2020, the novel’s tale of friendship, masculinity, youth, getting older and mortality - played out to a glorious 80s indie soundtrack - floored so many of us; as did Andrea Gibb’s TV adaptation, with Tony Curran and Martin Compston in the starring roles, as Tully, and Jimmy - aka Noodles…We meet them as young men in Ayrshire, and then again in later life, faced with a devastating diagnosis - and an impossible choice…As well as raising the roof in venues with shows like June Carter Cash - in cahoots with the National Theatre of Scotland - Grid Iron’s world-renowned site-specific theatre has included underground promenade trips like The Bloody Chamber, while their earlier reflection on young men, friendship and 1980s Ayrshire - Decky Does A Bronco - started life in a Paisley park… Mayflies is being staged in a converted warehouse, Brown’s of Leith - as adapted and directed by Ben Harrison, produced by Jude Doherty, and soundtracked by the legendary DPJ, aka David Paul Jones. I caught up with Ben, and Jude, to reflect on Mayflies, and three decades of Grid Iron…

Send us Fan MailI’m in conversation with one of our most thrilling writers, and humans, Michael Pedersen, live from the wonderful Bookmonger in Bearsden… Michael’s the Edinburgh makar, and a veritable cultural livewire, whose glorious poetry collections include The Cat Prince and Oyster. His prose calling card, Boy Friends, was published to huge acclaim in 2022, and the paperback edition of his utterly magical debut novel, Muckle Flugga, is out now.It’s stunning and tender, it’s a beacon of hope, it’s brimming with love, and life, and nature;  it’s kindled by friendship, coddled in knitwear, rooted in landscape, charged by starlight. Just before we get to the chat - and thanks so much if you joined us in the lovely audience - I’m back with The Bookmonger in conversation with the brilliant Damian Barr about The Two Roberts, although we’re breaking out of the bookshop and holding that at Glasgow’s Royal College in St Vincent Street, on September 25th…Before that, Michael’s at Edinburgh International Book Festival with various former A Kick Up The Arts guests and wonders, including Gordon Buchanan and Hollie McNish - I’ll put a link to all the dates online… And I’ll be at EIBF too, hosting various parties in The Spiegeltent - come for A Kick Up The Arts with live music and conversation from Kathryn Joseph, Kirstin Innes and Lomond Campbell - that’s on August 25th (tickets here), and I’m also variously in conversation with The Beta Band’s Steve Mason, Val McDermid, Justin Currie, and Grant McPhee across the week - I’ll tell you more about that soon…For now though - to the Bookmonger, and Michael, and Muckle Flugga… 

Send us Fan MailI’m back in my Stirling local, the Golden Lion, for a whistle-stop tour of this year’s programme for Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, which launched a couple of days ago, and which runs from September 18th to 20th.After Thursday’s big announcements, and a conversation I chaired with the always-entertaining JD Kirk, I sat down with this year’s Bloody Scotland guest programmer, Denise Mina, festival director Bob McDevitt and best-selling author and board member Craig Robertson - along with two of the brilliant writers shortlisted for this year’s prestigious debut prize - Linda Duncan McLaughlin, for Original Sins - and May Rinaldi, for Liar Thief…We had a blether about this year’s line-up, which as ever includes unmissable book events, along with site-specific theatre, karaoke, courtroom drama, and incredible guests - along with new-writing initiatives like Crime in the Spotlight and Pitch Perfect, and the announcement of the gilded debut prize, and the McIlvanney Prize for crime fiction book of the year… I’m a McIlvanney Prize judge again, and we’ll chat more about all that soon enough, but for now, here’s a sense of what to expect if you come to this year’s Bloody Scotland in September… Which you totally should…

Send us Fan MailThe last 30-odd years of Scottish culture would look, and sound, wildly different - and woefully less thrilling - without musician and songwriter Emma Pollock - co-founder of the Delgados, and the Chemikal Underground label (whose bands included Arab Strap, Mogwai, bis) - and Chem19 Studios, which has welcomed Deacon Blue, Calvin Harris and Franz Ferdinand over the years.Emma's also an incredible solo artist, and we caught up at her kitchen table in Glasgow, to chat about her outstanding latest album, Begging The Night To Take Hold… Or rather, we tried to - but we ended up reflecting on the ritualism of coffee, science and magic, broken songs and silhouettes - and getting by one day at a time. We sang the praises of female and non-binary collective, Hen Hoose, too - which stars Emma among myriad other musical wonders. They're live at Edinburgh Queen's Hall this Thursday, May 28th - and I'll be onstage in conversation with them as well. There's also a screening of a film by Zoe Patterson Macinnes about the making of their fantastic album, The Twelve…Emma is the most warm, welcoming, insightful guest, and it was a pleasure to chat to her, as always. And also - if you're on the lookout for a song that fuses visual art legends the Glasgow Girls and Madonna's Dear Jessie, then - guess what - we've got you covered...

Send us Fan MailThis episode, recorded live, is dedicated to one of Scotland’s most brilliant, singular, and quietly radical voices…One hundred years ago today, Agnes Owens was born, and it was such a joy to be part of her centenary celebrations at Milngavie Town Hall last weekend, reflecting on the writer’s wit and wonder with literary dream team Dani Garivelli, Kirstin Innes, Heather Parry and Kirsty Logan… They’ve written new introductions to Agnes' first four extraordinary books as part of Polygon’s major reissue campaign - and they discussed Agnes' incredible work, and words…I was also joined in conversation by Agnes' son (and literary executor) John Crosbie , and Sorcha Dallas, who’s the custodian of the Alasdair Gray and Agnes Owens Archives. Alasdair illustrated some of Agnes’ covers, and is a name often connected to the writer, along with James Kelman - all three featured in the Lean Tales anthology - and the legendary Liz Lochhead… And I’ve always loved the quote from Ali Smith, that revels in Agnes’ “deadpan gothic” qualities…Later on in this episode, Dani, Kirsty, Kirstin and Heather  discuss Gentlemen of the West, Like Birds in the Wilderness, A Working Mother and For the Love of Willie - all published in the 1980s and 90s - but first up, here’s Sorcha and John…

Send us Fan MailIf you're a fan of Dundee burger impresario Bob Servant, Leith-set sibling thriller Guilt, and true-life Brinks-Mat heist drama The Gold - you are in for a treat...My guest on this episode is screenwriter and author Neil Forsyth, who created all of those titles and so much more... The Broughty Ferry native has just launched a brilliant new series, Legends, which stars Steve Coogan and Tom Burke, and is based on an early 90s operation where a gang of civil servants went deep undercover in a bid to win - the war on drugs...We talked about Legends, and truth, and fiction, and Brian Cox's role as Bob Servant, and Neil also gave us an imaginary evening of entertainment round at his place - Midori in hand, I have no doubt - and discussed his choice of a favourite Scottish album, film and book...Spoiler alert - they were Deacon Blue's Raintown, Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting - in all of its guises, including the Danny Boyle film adaptation - and John Niven's blindsiding memoir, O Brother, about the loss of his younger brother, who took his own life when he was 42.We met over a pot coffee in a very fancy hotel suite in Glasgow - which bought back classy memories - for both of us...