What made Scott’s songwriting great? There was something really honest about it. Scott wasn’t trying to be anyone else apart from himself. The songs spoke for themselves, especially Midnight Organ Fight, which seemed to connect with people on another level. Scott was such a clever guy. He was writing about love and loss and things… Read more »
Runrig: The Last Dance
First published August 11th, 2018 in The Herald
On a blazingly hot afternoon towards the end of June, the Cuillin ridge zigzagging above Skye like God’s own ECG, Donnie Munro stops outside his childhood home: a roughcast semi on Kitson Crescent, Portree, and points up to what had been his bedroom window. “I always said,” he smiles, “that this must be the best… Read more »
An open letter to Andy Murray
First published January 13th, 2019 in The Sunday National
Dear Andy, Thank you. Thank you for all the great games, the bitten nails and the holy grails – those three grand slams, those two Olympic golds, that Davis Cup. Thanks for the dreams come true that we were so lucky to share. The day you won Wimbledon for the first time was one of… Read more »
Alasdair Macleod
First published 24th February 2018 in The Herald
Late in the summer of last year, around ten weeks before his own death, the fisherman Alasdair Macleod was visiting the island of Lismore and stopped in to pay his respects to the son of a farmer who had passed away. Over a dram, they reminisced, honouring the old man’s life in whisky and memory…. Read more »
A garden in Govan
First published October 27, 2018 in The Guardian
Look at Wee Jackie go. Four-foot-nine, 43 years old, gabbing non-stop, grafting non-stop, her Sunday name – Jacqueline – tattooed on the back of her neck, she shoves that wheelbarrow around the garden like Glasgow’s own Sisyphus. She’s a force of nature in whose life nature has become a positive force.