Scotland's thriving music scene

As good today as its always been!

The last few years have seen an incredible resurgence of musical talent in Scotland. From The View and Glasvegas to Paolo Nutini, Franz Ferdinand and The Fratellis, hardly a month seems to go by without a Scottish band riding high in the charts not to mention the world-conquering phenomenon of Ms Susan Boyle!

In fact, its worth looking at some of these bands in a little more detail. . . .

The View seemed to come from nowhere with their smash hit debut LP Hats off to the buskers, but in fact they had been playing talent shows in their native Dundee for some time before they were signed to cool London label, 1965 Records (which was set up by the team behind The Strokes and The Libertines). Nowadays, theyre more likely to be found headlining festivals than playing at school band contests.

Glasvegas (from Glasgow obviously!) are another one of the hottest bands from Scotland to emerge in recent years. Tipped by Alan McGee, the Glaswegian record boss who famously discovered Oasis, the past year has seen the band nominated for the Mercury Prize, NME and MOJO awards as well winning the 2009 XFM New Music award. This summer sees them supporting megastars, U2, across Europe and their second LP is one of the most keenly anticipated records of recent times.

Just outside of Glasgow to Paisley, which was the launching pad for Paolo Nutini, who decided that, rather than follow his father into the fish and chip business, hed follow his talent as a singer-songwriter. The fish and chip industry's loss was musics gain Nutinis current album Sunny Side Up went in at No 1 on the UK charts and the last few years have seen his music used on many prime time American TV shows including Scrubs and CSI.

Then there's The Fratellis, with their records a permanent feature of daytime radio, platinum albums galore and a Brit award from Best Breakthrough Artist, the Glasgow three piece seem unstoppable these days.

As do Franz Ferdinand who, in the space of a few short years, seem to have gone from a hotly-tipped new act to highly respected elder statesmen of rock! One of the most internationally successful of recent British acts the band who (like Travis before them) formed at Glasgow School of Art play to huge audiences all around the world and have won a clutch of awards.

And a quick trawl of MySpace shows you that, bubbling under these groups, a whole new generation of Scottish talent is bursting to emerge: Frightened Rabbit, United Fruit, Sergeant, Sonny Marvello, Isosceles, Citizens, The Ray Summers, Attic Lights, Codeine Breakfast Club, Cassidy and We Were Promised Jetpacks being just some of the names who will surely be making the leap from the Internet into the mainstream in the next year or two.

Live music in Scotland

Part of the reason there's so many great bands emerging in Scotland has to do with the live scene, which has never been healthier. Ask any agent or promoter and they'll tell you that today Scotland has some of the best live music venues in Europe.

The Barrowlands in Glasgow has been a world-renowned venue for decades now and regularly features at No. 1 in polls of bands favourite places to play in the UK. At the smaller end of the Glasgow venue circuit there's the legendary King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, the place where Alan McGee discovered Oasis and where bands like The Manic Street Preachers played their first Scottish gig.

But there's a host of other fantastic venues stretching the length of Scotland. From The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen, Fat Sams in Dundee and The Ironworks in Inverness, down to The Electric Circus and The Picturehouse in Edinburgh to The O2 Academy, the ABC and the Barfly in Glasgow, as well as more off-the-map spots like the BA Club in Fort William, wherever you are in Scotland youre not far from some great live music.

Music festivals in Scotland

Music festivals have been one of the single biggest growth areas in the music industry in the last decade. It's not just Glastonbury any more, from June through to September, theres a festival going on somewhere in the world every single weekend! And Scotland has more than its fair share of the action. . . .

T in the Park sells out well in advance of the gates opening in July. This is no doubt due to the festival's reputation for having one of the best atmospheres of any festival in the world. Every year, T in the Park attracts the cream of international talent, as well as promoting the best new Scottish music.

A more recent arrival on the scene has been RockNess, which according to stars like Fatboy Slim, is undoubtedly the most scenic festival in the UK. (And the only one with its own monster!) For the past five years, 35,000 fans have enjoyed some phenomenal bands playing in one of the most beautiful locations on earth.

At the smaller end of the scale, for those who prefer things more intimate, there's The Wickerman Festival near Dumfries, which has featured acts as diverse as The Human League and The Magic Numbers. Its been described as Scotland's Alternate Music Festival and was the winner of Best Grass Roots Festival at the UK Festival Awards.

Even smaller is the Homegame Festival, run in and around venues in the tiny town of Anstruther every April by local artist King Creosote. With just under a thousand guests, Homegame has a good claim to be the most beautifully formed small festival in the UK.

Fabulous bands, brilliant venues and, from April to August, some of the best festivals in the world - Scotland's musical dominance looks set to continue for many years to come.