andrewcferguson

writer, performer, musician, wine drinker

Tag Archives: robert louis stevenson

11 Reasons why you should go to Stevenson Unbound

1 Comment Posted by on November 1, 2014

1. It’s in the back room of an Edinburgh pub, centrally located, with good transport links and disabled access. There will be lashings of lemonade readily available, as well as something stronger (in fact, you’re encouraged to drink more, because that way I get my deposit back).

 
2. It’s Robert Louis Stevenson’s 164th birthday – sort of. RLS Day is on Thursday 13th, but it’s chock full of events already (some, or all of which you should really go to see!) but I’ve moved this event to Saturday 15th, when you might not be at work.

 
3. It’s in the afternoon – 2 till 5 – so if it’s a rubbish day weather wise and you just want a quiet night in, you still can do that.

 
4. It features readings of Thrawn Janet and Markheim, two of RLS’s best supernatural short stories. He wrote a whole load of other stuff beyond Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Treasure Island, and Kidnapped, and these two chillers are up there with any of them.

 
5. This isn’t just any old pub. This is the White Horse, 266 Canongate, which is the kind of place RLS himself might well have frequented in his velvet-jacketed yoof. The back room is regularly used for Free Fringe events and is a great wee performance space.

 
6. The combination of RLS’s words, the low light, and stereo sound effects throughout will make this event something special. It’s the culmination of two years or so of my experimenting with music and sound in my spoken word shows, and with the help of my esteemed sound engineer, Harky, it’ll be unlike anything else you’ve been to.

 
7. Halstead Bernard is taking part. Need I say more?

 
8. The payment is an honesty bucket system – suggested payment if you’re fully waged is a fiver, but if you’re unwaged, or a student, or just staying for one segment, less is fine.

 
9. It’s in three parts. There will be decent breaks between the three for you to get a drink, come late, or leave early. Although I’m hoping you’ll stay for the whole thing, obvs.

 
10. I have a fuzz box (technically, a squarer pedal, assembled by the Redoubtable Mrs F, which is one of the reasons she became Mrs F) and, in the last segment, I’m gonna use it.

 
11. It’s on November 15th. Come on, what else are you going to do on the afternoon of November 15th – your Christmas shopping? I don’t think so!

Advertisements
music and writing, RLS , , , , , , , ,

Back on the Horse

Leave a comment Posted by on September 14, 2014

A late-summer wasp, heady with its own venom, banks round for yet another bombing mission on unsuspecting giant bipeds. In external wall crevices, hunter spiders flex their chitinous legs and begin the long autumnal march indoors. The biomass plant facility tolls the knell of parting day, and leaves the world to darkness, and to me. The nights, as they say round these parts, are fair drawing in.

Those of you who know me best know why I’ve been quiet on the performance front this year so far. However, the two Tribute to Venus Carmichael gigs at the Free Fringe have revived my interest in not making a complete fool of myself in public again; and like the buses, I’ve a few things coming up rather than a single one.

The first thing isn’t actually a live performance: it’s a release on Soundcloud which, for reasons which will become obvious, I’m not releasing till 19th September. Watch this space for that one!

Then, on 2nd October, I don my spangly jacket for MC duties at Slam Factor Fife II. A stellar line up of judges – Miko Berry, Kevin Cadwallender and Rachel McCrum – will be performing as well as judging, and I might squeeze a couple of my own in. If you’re in some loose way associated with Fife, and fancy giving it a go, follow the link for an application form.

Then, I have an event to promote my Dad’s last book, A Huntly Loon Goes To War, at the Huntly Book Festival, on Saturday 4th October at 4.This event will be quite special for me, and I hope you can make it if you live locally.

On 3rd October, just before heading up to Huntly, we’re going to see Randolph’s Leap in Dundee, supported by St Kilda Mailboat and Blood Indians (for the syntactically acute, that’s Randolph’s Leap they’re supporting, not us: I don’t think we could squeeze them all in the back of the car). I plan to review Blood Indians’ excellent EP in advance, so keep the dial here for that.

Also in early October, or maybe late September, Kelly and I will be doing a session at Leith FM as Tribute to Venus Carmichael, on Ralph on the Radio. We’re really excited about this – more news soon!

Finally, on 15th November, I’m putting on a show called Stevenson Unbound. More details soon, but in the meantime, this is the spiel:

Spoken word performer Andrew C Ferguson (Writers’ Bloc, Illicit Ink) presents an atmospheric new show in back room of the White Horse, in the Canongate. On a darkening November afternoon, immerse yourself in classic RLS supernatural stories ‘Markheim,’ and ‘Thrawn Janet,’ as sound effects swirl through the half-lit space.
In the final segment, hear Ferguson’s own Stevenson-inspired poetry and prose, including Hyde’s Last Words, where Henry Jekyll’s worse half finally has his say. Do you dare to stay the afternoon?
With special guest. Part of the Edinburgh City of Literature RLS Day programme.
Stevenson Unbound, White Horse, 266 Canongate, 14:00 – 17:00 Saturday 15th November 14+
£5/contribution

Things are starting to return, slowly, as autumn advances on us, although it’s still more music-based than fiction. On the Venus Carmichael front, the old girl has been busy writing new songs; I’ve a feeling she might have more to tell us of her life story soon too. I still have high hopes of another musical project I’m collaborating on, although it has a missing component at the moment. I even started a poem the other day. There’s a fair chance I might finish it.

In the meantime, like almost every other Scot, I have strong views on a certain question needing an answer on 18th September. However, the necessities of the day job mean I’m not able to express a view, so unlike almost every other Scot, you won’t be getting the benefit of my opinions.

I’m sure the rest of them will make up for me.

progress reports, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , ,

Markheim’s Last Words

Leave a comment Posted by on August 28, 2013

Time, as Robert Louis Stevenson says in Markheim, has become instant and momentous, and I’ve run out of it to put the final cut of my audio version up today. RLS is up there somewhere laughing at me, fag in hand: to do the story justice, sound-effect wise, is a massive job, given the amount of aural cues he scattered through the text. I’ve made a start, having downloaded twenty or so sounds so far, and recorded a few of my own, but it’ll take a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I had hoped to at least put up the unfurnished version. Unfortunately, that was so massive it was going to take about forever to upload, so it’ll go up another day.

However, I have managed to upload the final version of Hyde’s Last Words, my own take on what Dr Jekyll’s dark side might have to say for himself. Utterson, Lanyon, and Jekyll himself get to add their voices to Stevenson’s multi-layered narrative: why not Eddy?

music and writing, RLS, Uncategorized ,

14, a Magic Number

Leave a comment Posted by on July 31, 2013

I’m not really into numerology, and I’m the opposite of into Maths. All the same, the number 14 seems to feature rather prominently in most of the shows I’m involved in for the foreseeable future.

First, on Wednesday 14th August, I’m taking part in the Writers Bloc collaboration with musicians John Lemke and Poppy Ackroyd at the Book Festival, as the Jura Unbound event that night. It’s on from 9 till 11, and is absolutely free. I’m really looking forward to this, and not just because I’ve booked a night at Hostal Inglis and will therefore, for once, be able to have a drink after the show.

It’s also the first time for a long time Bloc has collaborated on a story; the early rushes are looking good, and next week, the 8th, we rehearse with John and Poppy and see how it all comes together. Their material can be played on the Denovali site.

I’ve previously posted about my Virtual Fringe (see separate page). I’ve decided it’s now traditional for me to release an audio version of a Robert Louis Stevenson story as part of this, so this year it’s Markheim. As an extra bonus I’ll be sharing at the same time my own RLS-influenced Hyde’s Last Words. The Markheim trailer version is now available. And so, indeed, is the HLW trailer version. The full versions will go up on 28th August – weirdly, a number divisible by 14.

It gets spookier. Edinburgh may be filling up with bright, happy, shiny people just now, but come September the nights will fair be drawing in, and how better to celebrate the oncoming darkness than an evening dedicated to the Gothic Grandmaster itself, Nick Cave? Well, if there is a better way, I don’t know it – four bands, three spoken worders (self, Gavin Inglis and MC Andrew Wilson) on 14th September at the Citrus Club. More details to follow on the separate page for this gig.

Rather spoiling the sequence is the Writer’s Bloc Halloween show, on Wednesday 30th October. However, that’s going to be the only disappointing thing about the gig – on a theme of Unnatural Scotland, you can expect the usual mayhem from, amongst others, the returned (from France) Stefan Pearson. We don’t think he’s been anywhere near Lake Pub…

Finally, the solo show I’m planning of music and spoken word has a provisional date of Thursday 14th November. I’ll post more about this in the coming weeks, but trust me, it’s going to be something special.

cry of the cave people, music and writing, progress reports, RLS , , , , ,