Preparations are going well for the Bloc show on 30th October at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, The Year of Unnatural Scotland. After an initially slow start the guys have been lobbing in some real smart bombs of material to me, and I now have the – actually rather pleasant – task of corralling it all together. Invite coming to a Facebook page near you (and Twitter, and goodness knows what all what) shortly.

I also wanted to share news of my  Andrew C Ferguson + friends show in November: Duality Tango The spiel goes something like this: Spoken word you can actually dance to

Using a mash up of handcrafted loops and live guitarists, one of Edinburgh’s best known spoken word performers creates a new set of soundscapes for his storytelling. Literary heft meets rock gig in a show that explores the duality of the soul with stories in turns funny, moving and surreal.

Ferguson has combined his words with music before (Kabarett, Unbound at the Book Festival, Illicit Ink) but this full length show is the culmination of a year’s preparations. Meet Spoken Word 2.0.

Is it rapscallion wordsmithery riffing on an A minor chord? We think so. Is it the long undead bastard twin lovechildren of punk rock and Fleetwood Mac squalling over a red Gretsch guitar? Quite possibly. Will you come out humming the tunes? Yes you will.

Hear the other side of the Jekyll and Hyde story; the new Old Testament Book of Bob; and those cheeky Utter Ballingristani nose flute players.

Duality Tango will feature Kelly Brooks (Gentlemen Prefer Blondie; Tribute to Venus Carmichael) and Mark Allan and Kenny Mackay (Isaac Brutal and the Trailer Trash Express; Shock and Awe).

Also special guests Gavin Inglis, and Dickson Telfer, bring their own unique combinations of spoken word and music to the party.

Reviews of Andrew C Ferguson:

‘Hilarious…’ Peter Ross, Scotland on Sunday (Literary Death Match)

‘Very cool…’ Kevin Gilday, Subcity Radio (Hyde’s Last Words)

For more info, go to www.andrewcferguson.com

For demos of some of the tracks, go to http://soundcloud.com/andrewcferguson

Duality Tango, Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate, Edinburgh EH1 1JX

14th November Doors 7.00 pm £7/£5 advance