Congratulations to CatStrand Arts who has been nominated in Venue of the Year Award in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2024. Vote for CatStrand Arts now!. It’s going to be another great night at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Saturday 30th November in Inverness Leisure. Why not join us for a brilliant night of music and awards. Buy a ticket here.
We asked Peter of CatStrand Arts the following questions.
Tell us about yourself
CatStrand is a premier performing arts venue in Dumfries & Galloway and the cultural hub of the Glenkens. Over the last 17 years, we’ve grown a reputation for a warm welcome, appreciative audiences and high-quality, diverse programmes. We host an arts programme which is an important part of the Scottish touring circuit, is a mainstay of the D&G cultural offering, and benefits and reflects the communities of the Glenkens here in rural SW Scotland. Our intimate hall allows a real connection and warmth between the artists and audiences.
CatStrand has become an essential part of the Glenkens identity. A place for creative exploration of our heritage, landscape and the issues facing our communities. A place that fosters social activity & enhances wellbeing
Each year we stage around 130 live arts events to a combined audience of over 4,000 people. We draw a regular audience from across Dumfries and Galloway as well as many visitors from across the UK. We’re well supported by a core loyal audience, many of whom have been with us from the start and for whom CatStrand has formed a big part of their lives.
Scottish Folk & Trad has been a mainstay of our arts programme since we opened our doors in 2007. We are a key destination for touring artists visiting SW Scotland, and we are proud to support the musicians and music of SW Scotland. We are more than just a venue – we proactively work with musicians to help them develop, platform and deliver their artistic vision to our appreciative audience, through rehearsal spaces and residencies.
Why are you involved in Scottish music?
First and foremost there is strong demand for Scottish Music from our audiences. Repeated surveys tell us that folk is their number one interest. We're always amazed by the sheer quality of music and performances that come to us, staged by thoroughly lovely and down-to-earth musicians. The strength of the Scottish music sector is something to be very proud of and we’re so happy to be part of it.
We’ve built up connections with brilliant musicians over the years, both touring and based in the region. We have an important role in platforming and supporting the music being produced in SW Scotland. For example, our recent programmes have benefited greatly from working with The Galloway Agreement, Pete Garnett & Greg Lawson, Gavin Marwick’s Quarterdays, Jo Miller’s A’ The Way to Galloway, Robin Stapleton, The BookShop Band, The Fire Light Trio, Ollie Rigg and Robyn Stapleton – all brilliant and well-renowned musicians based here in SW Scotland.
Any particular career highlights?
We run such a lively programme, it’s very hard to pick out one, but some things that stand out over the last few years would include:
Supporting the development of The Galloway Agreement’s collaboration with writer Tom Pow and theatre director Mathew Zajac to produce ‘The Village and The Road’. This is now a powerful theatre show about rural depopulation based on the Galloway Agreement’s Music & Tom’s writing, and has just finished a second tour in Japan.
Jo Millers A’ the Way to Galloway is a musical project unearthing Galloway's hidden musical archive. We supported it to tour across Galloway, culminating in a 2024 conference on Galloway’s Musical Archive, led by one of our other Cultural Glenkens projects, The Glenkens Story.
The Ken Bridge Bicentenary – celebrating 200 years since the completion of John Rennie’s iconic bridge that connects the villages of the Glenkens. In 2022, we produced a range of celebratory events, including lighting of the bridge, a storytelling parade, a historical conference, folk sessions in a local pub, commissioning Wendy Stewart to write the Ken Bridge Song, and outdoor performances by the Galloway Agreement, Pete Garnett & Elaine Davidson, Claudia Wood & Katharine Durran, and The South West Scotland Piping and Drumming Academy. As with all of our events, this project was devised and led by the Glenkens communities, and we were delighted to be able to make their vision a reality through our professional expertise and track record.
What are your plans for the future?
Like most of Scotland we are slightly in survival mode until we hear the outcome of the Creative Scotland Multi Year Fund in January. We are very much hoping for a positive award that will cement an exciting future for the CatStrand, continuing to build up our programme, audiences and connections to artists in pursuit of our CatStrand Artistic Vision.
Through our Vision, we programme three strands: CatStrand Arts (touring arts), CatStrand Young Creatives (youth arts) and Cultural Glenkens (grass-roots community-led projects).
One thing we do hope to do in 2025 is a special event in memory of Nicola Black, who tragically died unexpectedly in March 2023. Nicola was a huge presence in Scots Language and Music and was a keen supporter of the CatStrand from its outset. We are working with her family and friends to put on a Trad event that will fittingly honour her memory and achievements.
CatStrand Arts Social Media
Website: https://gcat.scot/arts/
Facebook: @thecatstrand
Twitter: @
Instagram: @catstrand
YouTube: @
TikTok: @
The 2024 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards are on the 30th November 2024 in Inverness Leisure Centre! You will be able to watch it live in person (buy a ticket here). Watch it live in the UK at 9pm (GMT) on BBC ALBA and and around the world here. Bands performing on Saturday 30th November include Julie Fowlis, Skipinnish, Laura Wilkie and Ian Carr, Highland Young Musicians and Arc Fiddlers, An Dannsa Dub, BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award winner 2024 Calum McIlroy and more!
If you would like to support Hands Up for Trad in their work with Scottish trad music and musicians why not become a friend of Hands Up for Trad. In addition to our high profile events like the Scots Trad Music Awards, we also deliver a less well known, education programme for young people from 8yrs right through to young adults at the start of their careers. Read more here.
