Findlay Napier

Three Too Fast Runs

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:07:00 +0000

I've not been keeping this up to date... things get in the way like holidays in Paris (currently my favourite city on earth... after Dulnain Bridge), DIY shelving (or personalised sculptures in blood and sawdust) and teaching music. The first of this bad bunch was an after work loop up to Hogganfield loch. The GPS on my phone has been playing up so it's impossible to prove that the first three kilometres were done at a completely unsustainable pace. I think we managed to scrape a fairly mediocre 8.32 minutes per mile over the 5.7 miles. It's strange to think that while we were running we thought we were running the fastest 10k of our lives!

Fast Run 6th Oct

5.6 miles / 9.0123264 km
Created 10.06.11 by Findlay

This is another example of starting well. Running with Richard I have grown used to the sight of the back of his head as he disappears into the distance. I managed to keep up with him for just over 5k. Better than my last attempt which was 2k downhill with the wind at my back... so there is at least some improvement. I was glad of his general shouting and cajoling over the last few kilometres. I would probably have given up near the arch in Glasgow green if he hadn't started complaining we were loosing precious seconds off our lap time. There's nothing like a running partner who throws down the gauntlet to get another few miles out of those idolent pins.

Saturday Afternoon

8.7 miles / 14.0012928 km
Created 10.15.11 by Findlay

I always like to learn the hard way. I'm up in Grantown on Spey teaching at the 21st Feis Spe. You're only as old as you feel. I didn't feel old untill I realised that I was a student at the first Feis Spe and that my Uncle aged somewhere past 55 just kicked my sorry ass at a 10k. I'm not sure he even broke sweat. I however am in pain. A long series of yoga stretches in front of the fire followed by a hot bath have had little effect on my aching limbs. I'm sure it's not right to be seeing spots but after we sprinted up a particularly bad hill in the Angach woods I was seeing more spot than path. On the way down I'm sure one of my lungs shook loose and I have a vague idea that I might have sweated out my kidneys. We're going for another on Wednesday. I fear that a night of songs and tunes in The Craig bar tomorrow might put pay to that plan. Mind you if he can run like that in his fifties I've got twenty years of training to get better... and surely he'll start to slow down sometime soon... surely?

Run With Uncle Iain

5.9 miles / 9.4951296 km
Created 10.17.11 by Findlay

A Word on Football

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000

An over excited fan.

Football or soccer is "a form of football played by two teams of eleven players with a round ball which may not be handled during play except by the goalkeepers. Also called football and Association football. The object of the game is to score goals, by kicking or heading the ball into the opponents' goal. The game originated in England, and is played according to rules established by the Football Association, which has organized the major English knockout competition, the FA Cup, since 1872."

So is everyone clear?

Thursday night was the second time in over seventeen years I have played football. It should be pointed out that there were too many boys in my final year at school and four of us were 'volunteered' into the girls netball team. This may at first sound like an emasculating experience from which a man may never recover. Let me put it in a different light. There now follows descriptions of the two games.

Grantown Grammar School Football:

Football: GGS style.

At our school the beautiful game was essentially a barely disguised fight in the rain with a ball that tore from one end of the mud soaked pitch to the other. Regardless of what team you were on you would be berated by your classmates for touching the ball, going near the ball or looking at the ball. Generally it was safer to lurk near the back and run away if the ball came anywhere near you. The complex idea of playing as a team had been forsaken for the far easier method of giving the ball to the best player and he would attempt to score single handedly by bullying, clawing, fighting and swearing his towards the opposition goal mouth. The introduction of rugby at our school was simply adding a different shaped ball to a game everyone was already very, very good at.

My brother remembers his first foray into a game of GGS football was running onto the pitch and catching the ball with his face. The ball, moving like a space shuttle re-entering earths atmosphere, hit him so hard that he can still remember the DOOIIING sound as it rearranged his features and knocked him to the ground.

Grantown Grammar School Netball:
Netball involved hanging out with the girls. I was never ever picked last. Imagine that, take a moment to digest this. Never picked last! The next point is really the clincher, especially if you are a teenage boy. The girls are wearing their PE kit and have breasts. Take a further moment to digest this. Now which game would you rather be playing?

Back to Thursday night and the hallowed turf of the Lucozade Power Leauge. Power League? What a lot of macho bullshit. It's literally a bunch of unfit guys running around the inside of cages hopelessly chasing after a ball. I digress.

So Thursday night and the hallowed astro-turf of the Lucozade Power League. I'd like to share a couple of new tips and tricks I've learned about football this week.


I carry this diagram in my pocket to 'help'. I don't know why.

1) Defence (or attack I'm not sure... probably defense) Run at the opposition player holding the ball as fast as you can. The chances are they will panic and either (a) run away or (b) pass the ball without thinking about it.

2) Although I am a terrible football player I am a far worse goal keeper. Two minutes squatting in front of that net left nothing but a noxious smell (I'll come back to this) and the other team three goals up. I let in more goals in two minutes than the rest of the team in half an hour.

4) When someone shouts 'Man On' that does not mean jump on their shoulders.

3) Eat at least two hours before the game and try to avoid a rich lentil curry. Chemical attack is not permitted in the rules of a game of five a side. There is also a very real danger of being sick and/or shitting yourself.

5) When someone shouts 'Goal Side' that does not mean run to the left side of the goal. It also doesn't mean run to the right side of the goal. It doesn't mean stand in front of the goal so someone please fucking tell me what it means and stop shouting.

6) You do not require a pen when marking. I asked.

7) The major difference between playing 5 a Side with a bunch of grown ups is that they:
(a) attempt to play as a team
(b) don't threaten to kick your head in every time you make a mistake
(c) accept that it's just a kick about and the fate world doesn't hinge on the winning of a little game of football played by a bunch of unfit over grown children in a cage. There are also ample opportunities for half time smokes, beers and pies.

8) You will have a pre-conceived idea of how sore you will feel after a game. For a more realistic view take your original figure and treble it then punch yourself in the shins.

For more information on the beautiful game I can highly recommend this inspiring textbook on the subject, 'Unseen Academicals' by Terry Pratchett. It containsp pretty much all the information you'll need including the closest description of 'Grantown Rules' football I have ever read.

Fast Wednesday: Stick and Carrot Technique

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 08:24:00 +0000

Roger '4 Minute' Bannister

Room 101, the hate half hour or the running interval session as it has come to be known. Five kilometres in half an hour three of which are done in the style of a fat Robert Bannister all sweating, heaving and eye-popping.

I casually say to my running partner Douglas,"I did six of these last week. Let's go for eight this week." By the time we've completed one interval I make the executive decision that six will be more than adequate.

The Route on Glasgow Green

For this weeks painful experiment we chose Glasgow Green. At first glance Glasgow green appears to be flat. Let it be known to anyone attempting an interval session, unless you are running on a bowling green nowhere, I repeat, nowhere is flat. The slightest gradient becomes the north face of the Eiger and even flat surfaces begin to take on hill like properties.

The Charts. NB: 3rd interval nearly killed us!

On the charts 'Fast Wednesday' you can see that our attempt at jogging between intervals didn't last long. I hold myself fully responsible for that second executive decision. We did stick to our guns on one of missions. In fact we excelled ourselves in the final part of the exercise routine which was to Jog in a westerly direction for the full 5k then walk in a north easterly direction towards West Brewery and replace all the carbs that we'd just burned off. This we did in the form of a pint of their finest Hefeweizen which lasted all of two minutes and had to be chased with a further pint of St Mungo's. We did get some funny looks. The pair of us sweating profusely in our running gear pushing through the crowded bar carrying huge pints of beer. With that reward I am actually looking forward to next weeks half hour of suffering.

Mmm... beer in the sun.

Lost in the Dark

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:51:00 +0000

There are some things that you don't always take into account. One of the more obvious ones would be daylight. Douglas and I found ourselves somewhere between the canal and the Botanics running through the tunnels and under trees in total darkness. Knees up, arms outstreched and ears tuned to the faintest crack of twig lest we be set upon by a gang of ruffians.
Somehow we managed to navigate our way out onto what we thought was Queen Margaret Drive only to find ourselves at that weird shop on the corner of Kirklee Road and Great Western Road.
Excuses, excuses... had we not been benighted along the canal I think we might have turned in a fairly good distance in the allotted 1 hour 20 minutes which would have saved us the mile and change walk home.

3rd Sunday Long Run

9.2 miles / 14.8059648 km
Created 09.26.11 by Findlay

Saturday Morning Run

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 10:43:00 +0000

Never ever would I have imagined myself running along the Clyde footpath before 9am unless I'd been at a party the night before and was being chased home by some over zealous neighbourhood watch nazi. Nevertheless I found myself chasing Richard down to Glasgow Green and up river towards Rutherglen. Not a bad morning for it either and watching the racing skiff crews being shouted at by grey haired men on bikes kept my mind off my aching legs.

Pretty pleased with the 10k time here. I've knocked another two minutes off my personal best.

Jedburgh Half Marathon: The Reason Why

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:08:00 +0000

So here was yesterday's attempt at killing Peter Currie. You can see the points where we came close.

Thought it might be worth publishing photos of the reason I'm doing this. So here it is... The 70's swallow tail single fin. It's probably about the same age as me and in marginally better shape.

Half Marathon Training: 2nd Fast Session

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:56:00 +0000

This is fast (excuse the pun) becoming the worst part of the training. It basically involves me running like fuck round Alexandra park trying to avoid spewing or shitting myself.

Here's the charts.


I was stretching at 10 minutes and tying my shoelaces at 13... honest.

To add insult to injury I followed that run by attempting my press ups for the day. Reset the program to day one and at four press ups. More on this over the next few days.

Gym induction today which was just like all gym inductions. Getting patronised by a spotty youth who is clearly fitter than me but can't bear to let me leave the building without prooving it. A gym induction should go like this...

SPOTTY YOUTH: Do you know how to use all the stuff in the gym.
ME: Yes. This is my fifth gym induction.
SPOTTY YOUTH: Goodbye.

You'll notice in this version there are no parting shots like "Come again" or "Have you considered Spin classes" What actually happens is...

SPOTTY YOUTH: Do you know how to use the equipment. Don't answer fatty. I'm going to show you anyway. What do you work as?

ME: I photocopy rats for Glasgow City Council. It keeps me and the rats busy.

SPOTTY YOUTH: [on automatic pilot ignoring reply] Oh how exciting. Is that why you're fat? Don't answer. Use this machine. Smile you fat fuck. Let me show you how it's done properly. You'll never be like me. Does it hurt? I hope so you fat fuck. I hope so.

ME: I'm fine. It's just that I've run here from a meeting and haven't had a chance to warm up. [but wanting to say. 'What with the explosion of rats in the city centre these days I'm tired out from photocopying them for the council']

[Insert montage of me using every resistance and weight machine in the gym to the soundtrack of a choir wailing and cows being slaughtered]

SPOTTY YOUTH: We'll you lazy fat fuck that's the end of your gym induction. If you really want to loose weight become anorexic, get marooned on a desert island or get a gastric band. Don't ever come in here again. Have you considered a Spin class?

ME: No. I couldn't think of anything worse except perhaps a lifetime of gym inductions followed by interval sessions.

SPOTTY YOUTH: In the same way females must consider Zumba you are male and therefore must consider Spin. It has flashing lights and loud techno music and a man shouting at you. It is like the bridge scene from Apocalypse Now but with loud modern music and exercise bikes. You will taste the fear, sweat and mud. Come back and use the gym anytime you like but within the designated hours and not when there are people here who make you feel inadequate you fat fuck.

ME: Cheerio. Thanks for your help. [I will come back when there is nowhere in Glasgow left to exercise... so that'll be November unless it snows heavily in October this year]

SPOTTY YOUTH: No problem. Could you fill out this customer satisfaction survey. It allows us to measure the levels of awareness in all customers especially in these two key areas (1) Customers know less about fitness than us (2) Customers will never ever be as fit as us.

Folk Radio UK: File Under Fiction Review

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:32:00 +0000

Here's a review of File Under Fiction originally posted by Folk Radio UK. Go to their site for more information and piles of other stuff.

Folk Radio UK

Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers – File Under Fiction

by Neil on 19 September, 2011

in Reviews

★★★★★

File Under Fiction is the latest release from Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers. Findlay has enjoyed success, along with current collaborators, in Queen Anne’s Revenge and the very highly regarded Back Of The Moon. With File Under Fiction, Findlay and writing partner Nick Turner have delivered a collection of songs full of earthy humour, hopeless love and biting satire.

The opening title track is a poppy discussion of a librarian’s disappointment with her real love life when compared to literary content. There are further shrewed observations of love unfulfilled or unrequited in Cutting Her In Two or even simple table-turning obsession in the foot tapper Cut Me Off. Not everything, though, needs to be what it seems – Don’t Look In My Eyes hides a highland story behind the end of an affair. There are songs for the lonely, whether it’s the loneliness of a solitary Hogmanay, related with a gentle Country style in One For The Ditch, or the frustration, and snowballing disaster, of a lonely Valentine’s Day.

There’s no shortage of commentary on the human condition either, in Spread Thin and the restrained Heels Over Head, Napier and Turner relate droll observations on what makes us tick, while Waiting In The Wings deals with disappointment and missed opportunities in the name of family. In contrast, Raise A Glass tells the story of a man numbing his expectations with the help of a bottle.

In an unexpected gentle close to the proceedings, One For Me, Gillian Frame provides the vocals in a search for Mr Right.

An album can’t rely solely on the quality (or quirkiness) of the songwriting though, the music has to hit the spot too. And it does. Findlay’s naturally accented vocal is delivered with strength, precision and even tenderness when required. As for The Bar Room Mountaineers; Gillian Frame keeps her place in the team with characteristically accomplished fiddle and vocals, switching from melodic folky backing to lively Americana with her usual skill, while Douglas Millar provides staunch keyboard and vocal support. The established crew are joined by Braebach’s James Lindsay on bass Scott MacKay, of Manran, on drums.

Unlike their 2009 release, Out All Night, there’s an absence of tradtional material, and with a collection of songs this strong, There’s no place for it, really. Don’t fall for any ‘Scottish Nu-Folk’ labels attached to this album, this more ‘Michael Marra meets Elvis Costello’ than contemporary tradition. In File Under Fiction Napier and Turner are rightly and shamelessly showcasing their own considerable writing talent. This is not background music. These songs look you square in the eye and give you a quick slap around the sensibilities if you dare stop paying attention.

Half Marathon: End of Week One

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 17:48:00 +0000

Hard to believe but in one week there has actually been some improvement. My GPS hasn't been working so on Wednesday I ended up running the one hour ten minutes I'd planned for today. Today I ran a far harder course and managed to squeeze in an extra point four of a mile.

First Hour and Ten

8 miles / 12.874752 km
Created 09.14.11 by Findlay

2nd Sunday Long Run

8.4 miles / 13.5184896 km
Created 09.18.11 by Findlay

Surprised to feel my leg muscles really hurting after 50 minutes. I obviously haven't been running hard enough recently for them to get tired. The missing piece of the surfing the single fin came to me yesterday via Angus Lyon. He's got a bet going with the guys in Kilter to do 100 pushups in six weeks using this phone app http://hundredpushups.com/ I'd be happy with 10 pushups at the moment but I guess it's a chance to aim high... 15 maybe.

Day 2: Jedburgh Half Marathon Training

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:11:00 +0000

Out into the eye of the storm. What was I thinking about. At least on the fast run I can get back to the flat and hide in my bed... that was the thinking anyway. Here's what I managed. First time since I started running about four years ago that I've actually felt my eyes pop out my head. Finished the run with a fairly unpleasant 1km 'sprint', which in reality was a crawl, into the wind along the side of the pond at Alexandra Park.

Jedburgh Half Marathon: Training Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:16:00 +0000

The tail end of a Hurricane is not the perfect day to begin training for a half marathon. Sure enough it meant there was less people to watch me dragging my sweaty corpse up the hill at University Avenue around seven last night.

Sunday 7 miler

7 miles / 11.265408 km

Created 09.12.11 by Findlay

Fish Records Review: File Under Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:05:00 +0000

Those of you who bought the fantastic previous album from Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers will need no second introduction to hear this; those of you who passed on that disc missed out on a fantastic collection, but have a chance to pick up on one of the most distinct and unique artists in British folk/roots music with ‘File Under Fiction’.

Labelled as ‘Scottish nu-folk’ that doesn’t even come close to adequately describing the band – they are uniquely Scottish and come broadly from the folk tradition, but they have as much in common, (and probably more) with the settings, biting lyrics and black humour of Elvis Costello and Loudon Wainwright as they do the thoughtful storytelling and delivery of modern Scottish folk acts such as Karine Polwart and Emily Smith.

The core of the band is Napier on vocals and guitar, Gillian Frame adding fiddle and vocals and Douglas Millar providing keyboards – the trio are joined by James Lindsay (Breabach) on bass, and percussion from Scott MacKay. It’s a flexible range of instruments and players that allow them to move from driving full-on songs through to considered acoustic arrangements with ease.

The album is melody led and full of irresistible hooks that capture your attention on the first listen, but the real meat is in the lyrics – this is storytelling and character portraits of the highest order from the lovesick librarian in the title track through to the lovestruck/dumbstruck magician in ‘Cutting her in Two’ the observations are sharp, full of warmth and honest. It’s obvious that Findlay and his writing partner Nick Turner are quite a team as the quality is maintained throughout with the range of songs on offer, and it all ends on a beautiful song by Frame that sums the album perfectly with instant melodies and deep lyrics.

Once again, Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers have come up with a stunning album; forget the label of Scottish nu-folk, this is an album of real quality in every area and it deserves to be heard. Not to be missed.

Read the review and have a browse about Fish Records here.

Sunday Herald- File Under Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Not our finest review so for but by no means bad... I'd go as far as saying it's fairly even handed even though I'm described as being both insincere and not intelligent enough to spot when I'm ripping the piss.

Findlay Napier & The Bar Room Mountaineers

File Under Fiction

(Watercolour)

Findlay Napier is not a happy bunny. Whereas Paul Simon got slandered, libelled, heard words he never heard in the Bible and still managed to sound like a choirboy, Napier has been ditched, stood up, locked out and sleep deprived and wants his listeners’ guts for garters. Mr Grumpy is only a persona Napier affects on certain songs but its sneering, bitter shoutiness – closer to the punk rock ethic than the Scottish song tradition he studied at the RSAMD – tends to make his more reflective moments sound insincere. This is a shame because Napier and his offstage writing partner, engineer and producer Nick Turner, bring genuine songcraft and wit to their creations; the tracks on this latest collection are sympathetically arranged, punchy and well played with a certain pop-crossover potential. File Under Fiction, with its clever, literary punning, for example, follows in the Difford & Tilbrook tradition but, as with others, Napier’s delivery makes it even funnier, one suspects, than intended.

Rob Adams- The Sunday Herald

Scotland on Sunday- File Under Fiction Review

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:33:00 +0000

FINDLAY NAPIER AND THE BAR ROOM MOUNTAINEERS

File Under Fiction

**** (4 Stars)

Watercolour Music WCMCD042, £13.99

This album boasts clever lyrical lines, interesting contemporary, semi-acoustic, rocking arrangements and a rake of subject matter, from the eponymous lonely librarian's emotional frustration to a stalker's skewed imagination. If there is too much shouted singing for this reviewer, it just means he's of the vintage to remember when rock'n'roll first emerged and meant more. But hats off to them – they're courageous and creatively skilled.

Download this: Waiting in the Wings

Review by Norman Chalmers

Fish Records 'File Under Fiction' Review

noreply@blogger.com (Gill) — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:24:00 +0000

Reasons to Be Cheerful pt. 4

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Sun, 29 May 2011 14:23:00 +0000

If you're reading this on Facebook you're only getting half the story. Go to http://www.findlaynapier.blogspot.com

I've kept my mouth firmly closed on the subject for the last few weeks. I've had enough. The weather is fucking shit and it is pissing me off.

Last May I was up north at Watercolour Music with the Bar Room Mountaineers recording what was to become 'File Under Fiction'. We were taking breaks between sessions to go swimming in the River Scaddle.

In contrast this May has been spent hiding in the flat from nuclear winds, horizontal rain and hailstones. Hailstones are pointless, a half arsed waste of a good weather front. At least if it snowed properly we could either a) get a day off or b) go skiing.

"I don't like to moan but..." and that's how it always starts. Surely one is not moaning if one provides a solution to the problem? So let me creep from the negative into the locality of the positive via a pointless anecdote.


Landie in a normal Scottish Summer

I'm in the back of a Land Rover that smells of dog and damp climbing equipment somewhere on Kinveachy Estate at around midday on August (The Glorious) 12th 1997. Eight of us and three stinking black Labs are crammed into the rear compartment of a long wheel base Land Rover Defender waiting for the weather to clear. We had done two drives before lunch and animal rights activists will be pleased to hear that the guns had only managed to transform five wonders of nature into exploding balls of feathers, buckshot and blood.

We were going to squeeze another grouse-murdering drive in before lunch. I had already been struck in the face by an overzealous keeper trying to separate the dogs who had begun fighting in the crammed compartment. In his defence it was an accident. He was trying to separate his expensive, and in season, Lab bitch from three horny males using a five foot long metal shepherd's crook. Flailing this around in in the tightly packed compartment had only made things worse as some of the more stoic of the beaters were beginning to grumble under their breath.

The blow to the face came as a welcome reprise from the aggressive leg humping, savage barking and baring of teeth that had been going on since the eight beaters, three dogs and horny bitch had been pushed into the Landie for shelter twenty minutes ago. My feet are wet and beginning the blister, condensation from the roof is dripping down the back of neck of my soaked through clothes but worse, so much worse, one of the less stoic beaters had cracked and begun openly moaning.

Two Labradors 'fighting'

Things were bad enough and this inarticulate twat felt that he not only needed to vocalise but also to share his feelings. His voice, whiny and unwelcome at the best of times, filled the space like over ripe blue cheese. We waited till he finished, eyes firmly focused on the ground teeth gritted. No one spoke. Someone shrugged. The uncomfortable and over long silence, underscored by the rain beating the side of the Landie and the panting Labs, was broken by one of the older keepers. Till this point his only words had been a half grunt half "get in" when he'd picked us up in the square at eight that morning. He twisted round in the front seat, facing his foulsmelling flock through the steamed glass partition. "I'll give you some advice son. No one likes a moaner. It's eight miles to Carrbridge and further to Grantown. Do you like walking son?" He didn't wait for an answer "Shut the fuck up then." He slammed the glass partition closed.

Here's a few things I keep at the front of my mind to distract me from the weather. Here are a few reasons to be cheerful including the song that inspired this idea.

1) It's good to be alive! Check out St Andrew and the Woolen Mill's album The Word on the Pavey.

2) This summer is going to be amazing. It will be sunny all day but will rain around three in the morning for about one hour to keep the place looking green. On all beaches around Scotland there will be a constant gentle offshore breeze and a decent swell, at least big enough for longboarding.

3) There is an SNP majority in the Scottish Parliament. Don't let the little blue bits down the bottom bother you. Think of it as the bad shit settling at the bottom of good bottle of wine. I loved this article by Leslie Riddoch for The Grauniad... Who Are You Calling Dour?


Hardcore: Winter Surfer in Scotland

4) There are plenty of things to do in Scotland that don't require good weather. I'm referring to surfing, kite surfing, wind surfing, kayaking, canoeing and things where you're soaking wet anyway.

5) There are loads of great music festivals coming up. I refer you back to point two. I'd recommend you head along to these two... not just because I'm going to be there with The Bar Room Mountaineers but because everyone's been telling me how great they are.

The Insider

Belladrum 2011 The Tartan Heart

6) It's not really on message but I often use this gem to cheer myself up. We invented whisky. We, Scotland, invented it... and it's amazing. NB. I expect some comments on this one because I think as a nation we invented some other important things but this is the one that makes me smile the most. Just one more time folks... We invented whisky.

7) I'm not sitting in here any longer. I'm putting on my waterproofs, scarf, wool hat and a pair of stout waterproof boots and I'm going outside to enjoy the shitty weather. If you're staying in read Leslie's article listen to this video and put your shoes on... and no one likes a moaner.

Bright Young Folk Review

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Sun, 29 May 2011 09:20:00 +0000

A review of File Under Fiction that appeared on the Bright Young Folk site.

As soon as the opening chords of this album come crashing out of your speakers, you know that your ears are in for a treat.

Findlay and his band deliver a selection of songs about drinking and partying in a gutsy and sometimes earthy manner. Added to Findlay’s raw vocal style, are the fiddle and vocals of Gillian Frame and the keyboards and vocals of Douglas Miller. On this album the band is also joined by drummer Scott Mackay and bassist James Lindsay (Breabach).

Song titles like One for the Ditch and Raise a Glass leave you in no doubt that drinking is dear to their hearts, whilst Cut Me Off (about a restraining order) may not be a song to play to a maiden aunt.
The songs are full of energy, with the title track, File Under Fiction, providing a strong opening. It’s not all wild partying though - there are gentler moments, with Gillian taking the lead vocals on One for Me and this brings the album to a quiet and romantic close after the wildness of the previous tracks.

A really exciting listen, and a band worth looking out for.

You can find Shelley Rainey's review and loads of other great stuff at Bright Young Folk's site.

Shetland Folk Festival Review from The Scotsman

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Published Date: 04 May 2011

By Sue Wilson

Fabulously idiosyncratic, the Shetland Folk Festival again proved a showcase of Scottish island culture befitting its perfect setting; even the weather played its part

THERE could hardly be a more apposite location to celebrate Scotland's Islands (as part of that eponymous year-long promotion) than the Shetland archipelago, which comprises over 100 islands, 15 of them inhabited. Thus it was that the 2011 Shetland Folk Festival - following last year's landmark 30th spree, justly named as Event of the Year at December's Scots Trad Music Awards - featured concerts in no fewer than four of its outlying communities, together with 24 more shows throughout the Shetland Mainland.

The specific Scotland's Islands strand within the programme united acts from the Western Isles (Gaelic singer-songwriter Eilidh Mackenzie, with her band), Orkney (Wrigley and the Reel) and Shetland (multi-instrumentalist whizzkid Ryan Couper, with visiting guitarist/accordionist Tim Edey), for concerts in Lerwick, Unst and Fair Isle - the latter being the UK's northernmost and Shetland's southernmost islands respectively.

With Shetland Islands Council among the very few local authorities not to declare last Friday a holiday, the North Unst Public Hall in Haroldswick (two more ferries and two hours by bus from Lerwick) certainly felt as far removed as possible - without actually leaving the country - from those other festivities 600-odd miles "sooth", as they say round here. Rendering the scene yet more blissfully idyllic was the uncannily beautiful weather: completely cloudless and largely windless all day, a combination as rare as the touch of Unst sunburn acquired on an afternoon walk, taking in sightings of basking seals and frolicking Shetland foals.

In many respects, though, Shetland's remoteness distances it strikingly little from the 21st century mainstream. Upon boarding the boats up to Unst, for instance, electronic signs inform you that the inter-island ferry service is now on Facebook, and that its terminals provide free wireless internet.

Backwater, no. Fabulously idiosyncratic - Unst in particular - emphatically yes. Just check out www.unstbusshelter.shetland.co.uk - an institution lovingly decked out each year according to a different theme ("Underwater" in 2004; "Outer Space" in 2006), offering truly unparalleled passenger amenities and visitor attractions, including the adjacent John Peel Memorial Traffic Island.

Then there's the traditional Shetland yoal - a clinker-built three-man fishing boat - berthed on the grass a mile or so down the road, fitted out in wrought iron to form a gigantic glockenspiel. On Yell, meanwhile, the next island down, a prettily inscribed wooden plaque on the portside toilet block names it "Dunpirlin" - to pirl, in local parlance, being to do what mostly gets done in such facilities.
The 100-strong capacity audience in Unst were treated to a showcase of Scottish island culture vibrantly befitting its perfect setting. Couper and Edey's dazzling, implausibly high-speed workouts, with the Shetlander switching between guitar and fiddle, were complemented by hilariously un-slick stagecraft, as Kent native Edey claimed honorary Yell citizenship and made brave if lamentable attempts at the local dialect. Mackenzie performed mainly self-penned material from two recent themed projects, Saoghal Sona and Bel Canto, interweaving her spun-glass soprano with fiddle, mandolin, guitar and bass, Gaelic idiom with jazz, pop and calypso accents, while paying tribute to tradition in a haunting unaccompanied lullaby/lament from the 16th century. Orcadian twin sisters Jennifer and Hazel Wrigley, on fiddle, guitar and piano, flanked by accordion ace Billy Peace and bassist Ian Mackay, delivered a characteristically scintillating set, from wickedly nimble dance tunes to Jennifer's gorgeously evocative tone-poem Orca.

After their overnight trip to Fair Isle - involving nearly five hours at sea, yet still described by Mackenzie's fiddler Gordon Gunn, who's nigh-on phobic about boat travel, as "just one of the best times ever" - the three acts merged memorably into one for Sunday's finale back in Lerwick. That's when all the visiting performers, this year totalling 17 different line-ups, find themselves shuttled around three separate venues, playing for 15 minutes in each: just one example of the miraculous logistical feats carried off by the festival's all-volunteer team.

"Ever since I got here, I feel like I've just been carried along on this wave of euphoria," exclaimed one tired but exceedingly happy first-time visitor come that final night. Besides the peerless local hospitality, Shetland's swing is fuelled centrally by eclectic musical excellence, not only among the headlining professionals but also the islands' home-grown musicians, filling the support slots and stuck into the myriad after-hours sessions.

Winning an especially wholehearted welcome were such contrasting festival newcomers as St Louis combo Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three, with their brilliantly slick, stylish yet authentically earthy vintage brand of "riverboat soul", and pyrotechnic Scottish piper Fred Morrison; the awesomely accomplished cajun/Americana/pop amalgam of all-sibling foursome L'Angelus and Swedish/Norwegian quintet Sver's lush, panoramic instrumentals.

Then there was the splendid contemporary songcraft and punchy roots-rock arrangements of Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers; the jaw-dropping virtuosity of Irish banjo/bodhran duo Gerry O'Connor and Gino Lupari and the trancey, groove-driven soundscapes of Silesian outfit Beltaine, aptly summed by one admiring listener as "a Polish Peatbog Faeries".

Home-team highlights, meanwhile, included Rosanna O'Byrne's bewitching country-folk singing, the dozen-strong Aestaewast's energetic Afro-Cuban drumming, chanting and dancing, and Scalding Bragg's inspired cross-match of tartan punk attire with Pogues-style attack.

Bluesbunny 'File Under Fiction' Review

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:03:00 +0000

BLUESBUNNY

Findlay Napier & The Bar Room Mountaineers
File Under Fiction
No catalogue number
Released: 2011

Another day, another genre. I’ve lost count of trainspotter level categorisation of the many types and forms of music. Hey, the shit either works or it doesn’t as they would most likely say in a New York cop drama. Before I hit my head with a toffee hammer again, let’s try some Scottish nu-folk from Findlay Napier & The Bar Room Mountaineers.

I’m not entirely sure what nu-folk is supposed to be but it, apart from a bit of the old fiddle, it doesn’t seem to have much to do with Highland Clearances, boats from Liverpool or Aran sweaters generally. In fact, judging from the good Mr Napier’s album “File Under Fiction”, it has more to do with raising the IQ of Scottish song writing whilst cleverly packaging it as a descendant of luminaries of Deacon Blue or even the Blue Nile. It’s a worrying thing to say but he might just be too good for the mass market.

You won’t find me complaining about the spirited use of a Scottish accent in an enclosed space – as happens here – when that accent uses its parochial disguise to reflect on that greatest source of inspiration for any sort of music. That would be women, by the way (but you knew that, I hope?). Don’t get me wrong for this isn’t a relationship management kit. No, it’s a confident, and eminently melodic, look at the foibles of dealing with someone that doesn’t need a gun to be dangerous. Whether driven to drink (“One For The Ditch”), the long goodbye (“Don’t Look In My Eyes”) or the bleakness of confused inadequacy (“Heels Over Head”), the mark gets squarely hit every time. Perhaps surprisingly, there is little in the way of misogyny to be found in the words with the affection for the subject bringing much in the way of humour. That is indeed the way of a proper storyteller.

Ok, standout track time. There was a lot of competition here – as you might have guessed by now – but the winner had to “Cut Me Off” that started with a fiddle, overdosed on black humour and even managed to squeeze in a mention of Facebook. It’s obsession summed up in 3 minutes and 55 seconds and it’s more rock ‘n’ roll than fifty shitty indie rock bands. Fact!

If you haven’t been there then you’ll want to be after hearing this album and iIt grieves me to say it – especially given my notorious cynicism - but this is a quality album.

Review by: Bluesbunny

http://www.bluesbunny.com/tabid/122/xmmid/474/xmid/3169/xmview/2/default.aspx

One For the Ditch: Live at the Diving Bell Lounge

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 11:51:00 +0000

Here's the second of two videos I made with Richard and Jolene Crawford of Precious Productions at The Diving Bell Lounge in Glasgow.

Live at The Diving Bell Lounge - Findlay Napier - One for the Ditch from Precious Productions on Vimeo.

There are loads of Christmas songs but really, for me anyway, the best time of the festive season is Hogmanay and I felt it deserved a song. I was staying with my Auntie and Uncle in Rogart, Sutherland over New Year. We were discussing music and my Auntie reckoned I needed to write country songs as there's probably more money in country music. Later that night at a party her brother suggested the title 'One for the Ditch'. So I set about writing a country song in the style of coke and booze addled country legend George Jones.

“Country music to me is heartfelt music that speaks to the common man. It is about real life stories with rather simple melodies that the average person can follow. Country music should speak directly and simply about the highs and lows of life. Something that anyone can relate to.”
George Jone

If you're not reading this on my blog you're probably not able to link to the George Jones videos I've posted here... FrankSinatra said he was the second best singer in the world... Sinatra was full of shit.

Live at the Diving Bell Lounge

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:18:00 +0000

live at The Diving Bell Lounge - Findlay Napier - Waiting in the Wings from Precious Productions on Vimeo.

Filmed on March the 11th in the Diving Bell Lounge, Glasgow by Richard and Jolene Crawford. This is a little sneaky peek of one of the songs from our new album 'File Under Fiction'. The album is being released at Hazy Recollections in Stereo on the 15th May.

Also filmed that day were Washington Irving, Captain and the Kings and Seerauber Jenny. Keep your eyes peeled as there's another video due from me in the next couple of weeks and two each from these amazing bands.

There's already some great footage on the Precious Productions Vimeo site of Mike Nisbet, Endor and Inspector Tapehead.

Valentine's Day- Review- Russell's Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:12:00 +0000

Thinking of you on Valentine's Day

A review of our latest single Valentine's Day which appeared on Russell's Reviews.

Ok, so I may be late in posting this, but it's worth writing about nonetheless. If you were full of self pity and spite on the day of the lovers, yet still carried yourself with style and grace, this is the song for you. It's the Scottish equivalent of the Ben Folds Five track Song For The Dumped, in which the downtrodden fights back. There's a great knack to what Findlay does, writing tunes that could come across as MOR in lesser hands, but investing them with verve and vigour and more hooks than a cloakroom. With the aforementioned Mr Folds having lost his way slightly recently, it may well be time for Findlay to step up and take his place. The future of caustic radio friendly pop is in good hands.

link to the original review here

Big Jim McKenna

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:15:00 +0000

Fuck them afore they fuck you!

It's hard to criticise someone and make them feel good about themselves at the same time. Jim seemed to be able to do that naturally. He was at the first Back of the Moon gig in the Star Folk Club, Glasgow sometime in late 2000 early 2001. Quick to dispense praise and criticism each discourse was liberally punctuated with swearing... we all thought he was (fucking) great! I think we had immediate respect for him, he had a great voice and we loved his songs, he didn't seem to care that we were a bunch of upstart kids. We had already experienced a patronising attitude towards young bands so it was refreshing to be spoken to like what you had to say and your music was worth something; dues paid, welcome to the team.

He showed up at The Late Night Session at Celtic Connections last year. Security wouldn't let him in (no surprise there) and he was protesting loudly about their authority. I told them he was getting up to play which seemed to calm them down. "I'm not fuckin playing. They don't want tae listen tae an aul bastard like me. Fucks sake."

I did a short spot first, which garnered the usual appreciation and roasting... Go and show us how it's done then you grumpy old bastard... So he got up and played. The audience, who were getting a bit on the chatty side, went absolutely quiet. He played about four songs with no regard for genre; a bit of blues, a country tune, a folk song. When he finished the place went mental. One woman, moved to tears by one of his song pushed herself backstage desperate to talk to him. No act the whole year received that kind of reception. All the musicians hanging about backstage and in the room were coming up to me for the rest of the festival asking if he was going to go up on stage again.

Watch the video. It's funny, instructive and pretty much sums up the Big Jim McKenna we knew.

...And get some fucking backbone!

New Single Release: Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:58:00 +0000

Have you ever been stood up, locked out or kept awake by amorous neighbours? Does this sound like your worst Valentine’s Day? Well never fear because hope rises from the ashes of a failed Valentines Day in the new single by Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers’.

If you can’t beat them subvert them. That is the attitude taken by Findlay and his band on this new release. A darkly humourous stroll through the other side of the commercialised nightmare that is the 14th February, ‘Valentines Day’ celebrates the lows and lows of singles who have love and companionship rammed down their throats alongside the overpriced set meal for two with warm flat champagne.

Napier releases this single after the busiest January of his life. As host and performer for the Late Night Sessions and organiser, host and performer for Hazy Recollections this year he played over thirty gigs throughout the largest winter festival in the world, Celtic Connections in Glasgow.

‘Valentine’s Day’ is the second single to be released from the forthcoming release ‘File Under Fiction’ which Findlay and the Bar Room Mountaineers are recording at Watercolour Music, Ardgour. The first single ‘Raise a Glass’ was The Daily Record’s five star single the week.

'Valentines Day' an Exclusive for BBC Scotland Celtic Connections Website

noreply@blogger.com (Findlay Napier) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 12:06:00 +0000

param name="movie" value="http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/external/player.swf">