Book a ticket for our book launch!
On Monday 22 August, we’re celebrating the launch of ‘Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits’ - the book we helped compile - at The Fruitmarket Galley. It would be great to see lots of Edinburgh Music Lovers come along!
The event at the Fruitmarket Gallery marks the official launch of ‘Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits’, a pocket-sized compilation of bite-sized stories about the capital’s sometimes-overlooked music history. Tickets cost £6 and are available here - we;’d love to see as many Edinburgh Music Lovers there as possiobl
The launch is being staged by the good people at Born To Be Wide, supported by Creative Scotland’s recovery fund and in partnership with the Fruitmarket Gallery, Fringe Central and EHFM. The evening also provides an opportunity for anyone visiting the city to connect with the local music community.
Co-authors Jim Byers, founder of EML and Fiona Shepherd will be in conversation with Born To Be Wide founder, Olaf Furniss, and will be signing copies on the night. They will highlight some of the featured stories, how the book was conceived and how the music scene can continue to thrive. Members of the audience will also be encouraged to share their own recollections and perspectives.
Following the conversation, guest DJs including individuals featured in the book and pillars of today’s music community, will play their favourite records by Edinburgh acts.
"We are really looking forward to bringing together many of the people who have helped make a scene over the decades, along with those who are its dynamo now,” says Furniss.
“Edinburgh has an incredibly varied musical lineage, from the Bay City Rollers, to The Exploited, Shirley Manson, Young Fathers and one-off chart-topper, Aneka. In the 70s it hosted Eurovision, as well as the many punk bands who were banned from Glasgow. And the legacy of its pioneering club nights in the 80s and 90s continues today with two of the UK’s biggest electronic music festivals, Terminal V and The Fly.”
Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits is available at most major book shops and online
Co-author Jonathan Trew, who along with Alison Stroak completes the team behind the book, has welcomed the opportunity to host a launch, which was originally due to take place in 2020.
“We wrote Edinburgh's Greatest Hits to celebrate the city's quirky, less well-known musical stories as well as its more famous names,” he says. “This Born To Be Wide evening will give an insight into what makes the capital's music scene unique and how we can promote it in the future.”
Born To Be Wide started life in 2004 as an informal social night for the Scottish music scene and has since hosted over 100 panels and in-conversations in Edinburgh, plus Dundee, Glasgow and on one occasion, Mexico City.
Born To Be Wide has also hosted several talk shows at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, featuring authors of music-based books, including journalist Sylvia Patterson, artist manager Simon Napier-Bell and broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove.
Ticket money from the forthcoming evening will be donated to the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) and Attitude Is Everything. The former provides an extensive range of health services for musicians and the latter aims to improve access to live music for deaf and disabled artists, industry professionals and audiences.
The Fruitmarket Gallery is wheelchair accessible and the venue has three accessible toilets. Full access details are available at www.fruitmarket.co.uk/accessibility.
If a guest is unable to attend without the support from a personal ticket/companion, then a free companion ticket can be provided upon request. Every effort will be made to provide a BSL interpreter if requested in advance. Please contact hello@wideevents.co.uk
EVENT DETAILS
Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, EH1 1DF
Tickets - £6/£4
Monday 22 August
19.30 Doors open
20.00 in-conversation with the authors Jim Byers and Fiona Shepherd
21.15 Guest DJs (names TBC) play their favourite tracks by Edinburgh acts
23.30 Close