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Big stars shine at Live@Troon
07 August 2011
Internationally renowned band The Saw Doctors and top jazz guitarist Martin Taylor are the headline acts at the Live@Troon festival in September.
This year's event on 9th to 11th September is the second, following on from last year's successful inaugural Live@Troon when thousands of music lovers attended events.
And the organisers are learning from the experience of last year's success as they pull out all the stops to make Live@Troon 2011 even better than its predecessor.
They have booked close on four dozen acts to perform and offer workshops at a number of venues around the town.
Several fantastic new elements have been added: a Sunday morning Jazz brunch which promises to be a laid-back soul reviving experience and the Su Casa Beach Tent - the marquee will be on Troon's stunning beach front - where some truly sensational acoustic artists will perform original material from afternoon to early evening on both the Saturday and Sunday.
Other talent appearing will include Cancel the Astronauts; Vukovi; The Imagineers; Finding Albert; Julia & The Doogans; and Little Fire along with many others. The aim of the event is to offer a platform for up and coming musical talent, as well as attracting headline acts.
And true to the spirit of their original intentions to help encourage younger would-be performers, a series of workshops will be held over two days offering guidance and instruction on music, drama, theatre, dance and song-writing - all from experts in their field.
The festival is expected to attract thousands of music lovers to the Ayrshire coast town for a weekend of truly diverse musical styles including not only rock and pop, but also jazz, folk, blues - even a gospel choir.
The festival has been embraced not only by local residents but also by businesses in the town who appreciate the value of such an asset. A fundraiser billed as A Taste of Live@Troon held in April involved a variety of local restaurateurs providing Chinese, Indian, Italian and traditional Scottish fare to a packed hall who enjoyed an evening's entertainment from a selection of the acts included on the bill for the September festival.
The motivation behind the event seems to be more than simply a love for the music, as Stephen Vallance, observed: "We want to put on the best festival possible, and we have to work hard to prove that. It's a labour of love." So far it seems to be a love that's reciprocated by music lovers from near and far if ticket sales so far are anything to go by.
For further information, log onto www.liveattroon.com, follow us on Facebook. Tickets available from TicketsScotland and Lido, Troon.
Eight weeks to go!
21 July 2011
So here we are, eight weeks from Live@Troon and the line-up just keeps getting better and better.
No fewer than 41 fantastic acts are signed up for this year's three-day event - with still more to come - which will take place at venues around the town from Friday September 9 to Sunday 11th.
International artistes such as The Saw Doctors and Martin Taylor will be appearing alongside established and emerging acts from Ayrshire and beyond.
Stars and future stars of all ages will offer an enormous range of musical styles - there's sure to be something for everyone from folk to rock, pop to jazz, indie to traditional and from big band to gospel choir.
But Live@Troon is not just about bringing a few dozen superb performers to our part of Ayrshire, it's also very much about giving the next generation of budding musicians a chance to explore their own talents. A series of workshops will be taking place throughout the festival, with some of the performers giving their own masterclasses on various aspects of the music industry.
Singer/songwriting workshops will be offered by Troon artiste Alan Frew and Little Fire; there will be sessions on street dance, focus arts and a gospel singing workshop. Very young visitors can take part in the Jo Jingles singing and dancing spots with musical theatre on offer for older children and teens in "Glee Comes to Town".
The organisers are also seeking to form a Street Team of young volunteers to help with a special project. If you're 14 or over and want to find out more, visit the website at www.liveattroon.com and click on Workshops
Live@Troon is shaping up...!
14 June 2011
With three months to go, tickets are disappearing fast for the musical extravaganza that is Live@Troon.
Last year's inaugural concert was a tremendous success and festival chairman Stephen Vallance is promising an even bigger, better event this time round.
And when you look at the preparations, it's hard to disagree that the September 9-11 event will be something pretty special.
Irish folk rockers The Saw Doctors and Martin Taylor - regarded by some as the finest jazz guitarist in the world - are the first headliners to be confirmed and negotiations are ongoing to add more big names to the bill.
As last year, halls and stages across the town will be brought into use for the three-day fest which will see some hugely talented local acts performing.
Troon's own Alan Frew will be performing solo and as part of a mini super-group The Follies, when he will perform alongside the sensational Amy Belle and international artiste Raymond Hackland in a show that looks set to be among this year's highlights.
Ayr's Little Fire - the husky-voiced Jammie McGeechan - will also take the spotlight now that he has a blistering performance at June's Rockness festival under his belt.
Among the other locals to look out for are Scott Nicol from Prestwick, runner up in this year's Battle of the Bands; The Underdog Theory and Blackberry Jack from Ayr and Troon/Kilwinning wonderbabes Vukovi whose fresh, ultra-confident sound belies the fact that have only been playing as a unit for six months.
Glasgow's Julia Doogan, with a voice like golden syrup dripping off a spoon, will be here as will Tom Hingley who as part of Inspiral Carpets has shared no fewer than 20 Top 40 hits. His finely crafted acoustic songs are a balm to the soul, truly special.
Once again this year there will be an educational aspect to the festival, fulfilling the commitment of the organisers to help develop local musical talent.
With workshops in drumming, songwriting and stagecraft among others, the next generation of young stars is already being nurtured.
That's just a sample of the range and quality of the programme so far. Hold on tight: this year's Live@Troon is going to be a real thriller.
A taste of Live@Troon
06 June 2011
With a rousing acoustic set, local three-piece band Broch brought the curtain down on a highly successful fund-raiser for Live@Troon on Saturday night.
Their fusion of contemporary and traditional music with a few rock and pop standards thrown in went down a storm with the capacity crowd in Troon's Old Parish Church.
Billed as A Taste of Live@Troon, the evening offered guests a chance to sample locally produced food while listening to half a dozen quality music acts as a foretaste to this year's September 9-11 music fest.
Harmonica virtuoso Stuart Farquharson received rapturous applause and a standing ovation as he demonstrated the skills that earned him the UK national championship title.
Also providing top-notch musical entertainment were Eleanor Hamilton and Louise Clayton - and two acts who have been signed up to appear at Live@Troon 2011: Rose Parade and Little Fire.
This year's line-up is being added to weekly, with a superb pair of headlining acts - The Saw Doctors and Martin Taylor - already confirmed.
Irish folk-rockers The Saw Doctors are a huge, rabble-rousing riot of an act whose live performances have won them a solid fan base across the globe.
Martin Taylor, meanwhile, is regarded as one of the finest solo jazz guitarists in the world and has performed with some giants of the music industry such as Stephane Grappelli, George Harrison and Dione Warwick.
This year's festival promises to be even bigger and better than the enormously successful inaugural event which brought music lovers from all over Scotland to Troon.
A diverse line-up of performers and genres will be on offer, from rock and pop to jazz, big band, folk, indie and traditional music.
The three-day event will take place across a number of venues in the town and this year will include a Folk on the Beach stage hosted by live Ayr cafe and live music promoters Su Casa, who provide a platform for local singer-songwriters every Thursday evening in the Lorne Arcade, Ayr.
Festival Musical Director Stephen Vallance commented:
"To everyone who played, everyone who bought a ticket, everyone who donated food and prizes and to everyone who helped on the night a huge thank you for making our second fundraiser not only a sellout, but a fantastic night.
"Our web site is up, tickets for the Saw Doctors are now on sale and going fast. Roll on September and the second Live@Troon music festival."
Check out the line-up so far and read about the acts at www.liveattroon.com
Saw Doctors sign up for Live@Troon
18 May 2011
One minute they're in the States, the next they're in Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France ... or any of the many other countries around the world which have taken them to their heart.
And this September you can catch the Saw Doctors in Ayrshire, at Live@Troon, which is shaping up to be the major festival on the local scene.
The Saw Doctors, a raucously irreverent, fun-focused celebration of a band, have come a long way since being discovered in a Galway pub by Mike Scott of the Waterboys in the late 1980s.
Now with seven studio albums behind them, they are festival regulars around the globe far beyond their West of Ireland base.
The Saw Doctors are the first headliners to be confirmed for this year's Live@Troon and negotiations are ongoing with several other big-name acts as the organisers put together a stellar line-up for the 2011 event which takes place in various venues around Troon from September 9-11.
Ticket details are still to be finalised, but you can keep up with the latest news at www.liveattroon.com where you can also check out some of the acts who performed at the inaugural festival in 2010.
A hugely varied line-up of acts will hit the town over the festival weekend playing at venues large and small and there are plans to introduce a jazz evening and a Folk on the Beach event.
As curtain-raiser to the full festival in September, the organisers are holding a Taste of Troon night on June 4 in Troon Old Parish Church.
Locally produced Chinese, Indian, Italian and traditional Scottish cuisine will be available to be sampled as some of Ayrshire's finest musical acts each perform a short set.
It promises to be a tasty foretaste of what's to come at the full Live@Troon festival in September.
Tickets for a Taste of Troon are £15 and available from Seagulls, 10 St Meddans Street, Troon KA10 6JU.