An offshoot of being dragged back into the creative industries after a fallow period of burnout is that I’d found a different kind of confidence. The fire service made me feel useful for the first time in my life so I now felt more at ease putting myself forward as an artist.
In 2021 @CreativeScots created a covid recovery fund to stimulate the grassroots arts sector that had been so debilitated by lockdown. @SEALLEventsSkye administered the fund for Skye/Lochalsh and created six jobs for artists to do community work in various creative disciplines.
I applied for the position that focused on reinvigorating community spaces, citing experience from when I organised events for Manchester label @debtrecords.
Working with @SEALLEventsSkye has integrated the two parts of my life. Until I joined the #culturecollective my music work had all been done remotely over zoom/email with people in faraway cities. Now I was finally getting involved in my local scene. It’s been a real joy.
That year I was asked to play the festival of Small Halls where musicians from all over Scotland/UK/Ireland come together as a brand new group, write new material, rearrange old favourites and tour round the island’s village halls. It’s a great series of events.
This year I’d so successfully wormed my way into the @SEALLEventsSkye inner circle that they put me on the other side of the microphone, helping organise, roadie, announce, call raffles, stack chairs etc. We’ve just finished Small Halls again and it was such a blast.
It’s great having an organisation like @SEALLEventsSkye in Skye & Lochalsh, they do such a variety of things: gigs, sessions, workshops, music in care homes and schools, online events, touring theatre, dance… If you’re in the area you should definitely check them out.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.