Scots Whay Hae!

The latest podcast is a bit of cross promotion as it is a Robert Louis Stevenson special which has Ali talking to Louise Welsh and Ronnie Young about the great man, as well as a pre-recorded interview with James Robertson. It's all part of our celebration of Stevenson, and you'll be able to hear Louise join James and Alan Bissett reading three of RLS's finest supernatural tales in our special podcasts. If you subscribe, you'll get them all.

Thrawn Janet by Robert Louis Stevenson is read by Alan Bissett.“Thrawn Janet” is usually found in the collection Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables and is one of Stevenson's finest supernatural stories.Alan Bissett is a writer, dramatist and performer, born and raised in Falkirk and now resident in Glasgow. He is the author of the novels Boyracers (Polygon, 2001); The Incredible Adam Spark (Headline, 2005); Death of a Ladies' Man (Hachette, 2009); and Pack Men (Hachette, 2011). His dramatic works include The Ching Room and The Moira Monologues (both 2009). Most recently he enjoyed considerable critical success at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his one-man show, Ban This Filth!Produced by Alistair Braidwoodand Ian Gregson at Scots Whay Hae! on behalf of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies.

The latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast saw the editors of three of Scotland's finest literary magazines climb the stairs to talk to Ali about the how, whys and what next's, and their hopes and dreams, for the respective publications. They are Helen Sedgwick from Gutter Magazine, Gabriella Bennett from Valve Journal and Samuel Best from Octavius, and the talk ranged from influences, inspirations, themes, writers, readers, design, editorial decisions, live events and the importance of a mutually supportive literary community.

The latest podcast is a fascinating chat with author James Robertson who talks Scott, MacDiarmid and Hogg, the importance of recognising a native language to any culture and learning lessons from history, as well as talking us through all of his own work. May I humbly suggest that if you only listen to one Scots Whay Hae! podcast, this is the one to choose. It's certainly the most interesting afternoon Ali and Ian have spent in some time.

The latest podcast is one of our mildly popular musical themed recordings and it has live music and chat from Jack James, a singer/songwriter who has made one of the albums of the year so far with Is That The Rain On? He plays us three songs in what has come to be known by almost nobody as the Live Lounge, before he joins Ali, Chris and Ian in the kitchen for a chat about the best Scottish albums of last year, and the value or otherwise of the Scottish Album of the Year Awards.

The latest podcast saw writer Karen Campbell pop in to talk about her latest novel This Is Where I Am. It's a great chat about some problems with publishing, why the saying, “you can't judge a book by its cover” holds true, the importance of a writing community, and the balance between using research and your own voice. If you're interested in writing, or reading, then it is a must listen.

Ali and Ian make their now annual pilgrim east to meet novelist Doug Johnstone. As usual the most interesting stuff happens off mike, but there is enough good chat on life, death, family and more death to satisfy the most demanding listener.

In this, the second of our podcasts celebrating Glasgow and film, Ali and Ian are joined by film critic, blogger and editor Nicola Balkind to talk about ‘World Film Locations: Glasgow', which she has edited. The chat is an amiable and informative ramble around that city talking film before Nicola takes us through five of her favourite things. What more can you ask for?

In this, the first of two podcasts to celebrate Glasgow and/on film, Chris and Ali both review and preview their personal highlights of this year's Glasgow Film Festival. Chris deals with the arthouse, while Ali mainly stays in the mainstream, a division which reflects the diversity of the festival itself.

The latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast was a real treat to record. Jo Mango, who made one of the best albums of last year with Murmuration, climbed the stairs to play a couple of songs before chatting about the making of the album and the artists who influence her work. Chris listens intently, Ali gets emotional, and happily Ian is there to record it all.

Burnscast 2013 hears Ali chat to Fergus Muirhead and Chris Ward with a performance on Westlin' Winds by Ian Gregson.

The audio from the video made for the ASLS found at http://bit.ly/148ceYm

It's that time of year where Ali, Ian and Chris park themselves round the kitchen table on the High St and ponder the past 12 months in terms of book, film, music and other miscellany. There is the annual missive from Scots Whay Hae's Dr Books, Ronnie Young, who pokes Chris with a Thor shaped stick, and once more give us his list of the best of the blockbusters of the year. Where else could you find and hour or so of discussion that touches upon Alan Warner, Johnny Greenwood, the use of Doric in a Pixar movie, electro/pop, David Byrne and the joy of silence.

The latest podcast sees Ian and Ali joined by writer Catriona Child who talks about her terrific debut novel Trackman. During the chat they cover the healing power of music, the brilliance of Watership Down, the importance of a good name, and the enduring appeal of The Great Escape. Ali also details how he psychologically scarred his wee brother when they were kids. So, something for everyone!

The second series of Scots Whay Hae! podcasts kicked off with live music and chat from one of Ian and Ali's favourite musicians, Eugene Twist. He played a couple of tracks, including one exclusive, before joining Ali and the returning Chris Ward to tell us about his new album, his endless search for new sounds, and the importance of a musical education, before the chat turned to the joy of soundtracks. All this and a mention for The Wild River Apples! | Tracks by Eugene Twist are Halloween Drama Queen and It's Down To You. http://www.eugenetwist.com

The latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast sees man of the moment, Ewan Morrison, join Ali to ostensibly talk about his latest book ‘Tales From the Mall', but as expected the conversation turns to many topics which are troubling the Morrison mind. Publishing, the myths of social media, the future for the novel, the behemoth that is Wamazon are all discussed, and much more besides.  So strap yourself in for a breathless podcast that'll get you thinking. And that's got to be a good thing; right?

After a brief break to gather our thoughts and set up new guests, the Scots Whay Hae! podcast returns. Number 18 sees Ali talking to TV's Colin McCredie about the best from Scottish Telly past. It's a big subject to cover, but we manage to touch on programmes from the 1960s to the present day. I'm sure we missed many people's favourites, but hopefully there's enough of interest to please everyone from casual watchers to Telly Addicts.

For the latest podcast Chris, Ian and Ali are joined by the fabulous Arran Arctic who played live for us, and you, before joining in with a chat about the importance of Record Store Day, memories of early music purchases, and those ‘lost' albums which didn't fit the neat narratives of popular culture. But the main reason for listening is to hear Arran play and sing, something very special indeed. Music by Arran Arctic: 1st track is 'All That I Can Do', 2nd track 'Always About You' and the final track is 'Keep'.

The 16th podcast is our second attempt at an interview with writer Rodge Glass. We initially tried to do so at the launch of his latest novel ‘Bring Me the Head of Ryan Giggs' but electronic gremlins got the better of us. What we have following the interview is some live footage from that night of Rodge reading from the book and it makes for a great listen. But then I would say that.

Scots Whay Hae! went on the road to Portobello to interview writer, journalist and musician Doug Johnstone for podcast number 15. Once we made it through the Haar we talked indie music, art versus craft, and novels old and new, while avoiding being bitten by the patrons of The Espy.  *No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast...