Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival with Emma Pollock, Jo Mango & Amy Duncan (Glasgow Civic House, Oct 23, 7pm)

The annual Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival programme is terrific, as ever, and I’m really looking forward to an evening of music and conversation with three brilliant artists whose work has explored various aspects of mental health. We’ll be chatting, there’ll be live performances - it’ll be a really special night, and it’d be lovely to see you there…

Emma Pollock

Emma Pollock (Delgados / Chemikal Underground) has a long relationship with SMHAF and was co-founder of the Fruit Tree Foundation, a music project in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation which raised awareness about mental health through live concerts and an album featuring Frightened Rabbit, Karine Polwart, James Yorkston and many more. Her new album Begging The Night To Take Hold was released last month, and it is incredible…

Amy Duncan

Amy Duncan (who I worked with years - decades! - ago, when she played in folk-punk outfit Swelling Meg with Cora Bissett) is set to release Greetings from Gartnavel (Last Night From Glasgow), her third collaboration with lyricist David Paton – an album of songs shining a light on Paton’s experiences of schizophrenia. She also recently performed with the National Theatre of Scotland's acclaimed June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me, and is the coolest double bass player ever.

Jo Mango

Jo Mango has worked creatively with people living with various mental health diagnoses, as well as people who have experienced trauma as a result of the care system. Her new album The Lightswitch has a strong focus on mental health, exploring the ‘ghost voices’ of women who have left the music industry because of harassment, abuse or toxic environments. She’s a sublime songwriter and performer, and her work includes the stunning music / theatre work A Giant on the Bridge, a narrative gig with Distant Voices (also featuring Admiral Fallow’s Louis Abbott) that shared stories and songs from criminal justice.

Tickets and more information right here.