Gilded Balloon launched RootsBase this week – a brand-new, live music club dedicated to folk, trad and roots-based music – in the Gilded Balloon Basement, establishing a new music venue ‘in a city that needs it’.
The room was packed last Tuesday night for The Jellyman’s Daughter, a duo, (although there were four of them on stage at some points….).
This is a very talented pair indeed, and the audience were most appreciative of their truly unique vocals and music. And the stories in between the songs were just as entertaining. ‘And so I had a party when my parents were away. I was scared that there wouldn’t be enough people…then the neighbours called the police…’
For the rest of the month Rootsbase have Amy Duncan and Lyle Watt on 12 February, Hannah Rarity on 19th and Inyal on 26th.
Over 20 Scottish-based artists are due to appear and many of those include award-winning artists such as Rachel Newton (BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Musician Of The Year 2017), Hannah Rarity (BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Of The Year 2018), and Iona Fyfe (2018 MG ALBA Scots Singer Of The Year).
Other notable artists like Seonaid Aitken, Ryan Young and Adam Sutherland and fast-rising folk groups like Inyal, HEISK and Westward the Light will also be putting in an appearance.
Gilded Balloon is confident the former Charlotte Baptist Chapel in the west end corner of Rose Street will become a regular draw for fans of all things folk-music related. The new music venture is overseen by Gilded Balloon Artistic Director, Katy Koren, the reason for expanding the company’s activities into folk and roots-based music, she says, is to put the cream of Scottish folk music in the spotlight, in the heart of Edinburgh.
Katy said:”We are incredibly excited to be expanding our music programme at the Basement. As a local Edinburgh company, Gilded Balloon are passionate about showcasing the greatest artists that this city, and Scotland, has to offer. It’s important to the team here at Gilded Balloon to have as diverse a programme as we possibly can, encouraging fans of all different kinds of entertainment to come down to the new venue and see what we’re about. Scottish traditional music couldn’t be more healthier and more vibrant just now, and we’re thrilled to open The Basement’s doors to some of the best it has to offer.”
With many live music venues in the Capital having disappeared in recent years, Koren believes the emergence of the Gilded Balloon Basement’s RootsBase can reinvigorate the city’s live music scene.
She said: “Like everyone else, we have been saddened and surprised by the rapid and wide-ranging closure of live music venues across Edinburgh. We hope that our new weekly night, RootsBase, will inspire more and more people to support and involve themselves in the revitalisation of Edinburgh’s music scene.”
Other artists also due to appear at the new club include classical-jazz-folk duo Twelfth Day; soul-blues outfit Charlotte Marshall & The 45s, trad jazz award-winner Fergus McCreadie, Blue Rose Code’s Lyle Watt and singer-songwriter Kim Edgar.
As well as Rootsbase there is a full schedule of comedy, cabaret and music in The Basement. Click here to find the programme.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
