A Kick Up The Arts with Nicola Meighan

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Jordan Young & Jemima Levick: Man's Best Friend
Send us a textWe’re at one of my old places of work for this episode - The Tron theatre in Glasgow, to celebrate a terrific one-man play called Man’s Best Friend - you might have seen the dogs who’re ostensibly at the heart of it all over social media - and it’s there until the 12th of July, before touring Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Edinburgh, Greenock and Inverness in the Autumn.It’s written by Scottish theatre lodestar Douglas Maxwell, and directed by Tron artistic Director Jemima Levick, who was previously at the helm of Dundee Rep, Stellar Quines and Oran Mor’s Play, A Pie and a Pint. That’s where this production first came to life with Jonathan Watson starring as Ronnie - a man adrift, in the wake of loss and lockdown, save for the leads of the local dogs he takes to the park, and the memories that keep bringing it all back home… That role’s now reprised in an expanded version of the play, thanks to Jordan Young, a River City bad guy, panto good guy, and an actor who’s equally adept at physical comedy and quiet tragedy, whether that’s in Black Watch, Chemo Savvy, or right here, in his first one-man play - a comical, heartbreaking meditation on what we have, what we have to lose, and the loneliness of the long-distance dog walker…I met up with Jordan and Jemima at the Tron this afternoon, and we touched on all of that... But seeing as every podcast I record, I check levels and plosives by asking guests to say A Play, A Pie and A Pint, I did that again today - and it transpires, perhaps to little surprise, that nobody does it better than its former director…
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36:46
Glasgow Jazz Festival 2025
Send us a textBefore we get wired into this week’s episode, I’ve just announced that wildlife cameraman, film-maker and rock ‘n’ roll lion tamer Gordon Buchnanan is the latest guest to join me for A Kick Up The Arts at the Edinburgh Fringe… We’ll be at the Stand on August 19th, and we’d love you to join us. My other guests that week - so far - are Gavin Mitchell on the 18thl, Barbara Dickson on the 20th, Grant Stott on the 21st, Justin Currie on the 23rd, and I’ll be announcing another guest soon… You can get tickets for all of those, right now, via akickupthearts.org…And before that - next month - Val McDermid and I are in conversation at the Portobello Bookshop - that’s on July 9th, and you should totally come to that too… same place for the tickets, if you fancy…I’m also delighted to be coming to Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Bute Noir, and I’ll tell you all about those events soon, or sign up for the newsletter for more - you know… news…But ANYWAY!This week, we're at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, as this year's 39th Glasgow Jazz Festival kicks off..The city's longest-running music festival runs until Sunday June 22nd, and among its wonders, it'll welcome Gil Scott-Heron's legendary collaborator Brian Jackson - a keyboardist, flute-player and vocalist who's also worked Stevie Wonder, Gwen Guthrie and Earth, Wind and Fire…He joins artists on the programme like Later With Jools favourites the Neil Cowley Trio, Colin Steele and his Quartet reimagining The Blue Nile - and incredible turntablist Mariam Rezaei joining forces with saxophonist Raymond MacDonald... With only a mere few hours till the opening events - and fresh from Alan Donaldson's excellent exhibition, The Glasgow Jazz Pictures - I met up with Glasgow Jazz Festival director Jill Rodger, and rising jazz star Marianne McGregor, who won best vocalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards in 2023, and who'll launch her new album - Make Believe - at the festival on Sunday...Jill, Marianne and I looked forward to some of this year's events, and Jill also looked back on a festival that she's been a part of since 1990... I didn't anticipate how much of our conversation would be taken up with Jill's memories of George Benson hanging out in Dorothy Perkins, or her taking soul icon Jimmy Smith underwear shopping - but then again, if jazz has taught us anything, it's to expect the unexpected...akickupthearts.org
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28:55
Bloody Scotland 2025: with Ian Rankin, Natalie Jayne Clark & Gordon Brown
Send us a textJust very quickly, a reminder that I’d love you to join me for A Kick Up The Arts - live at at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll be at The Stand, with Still Game's Gavin Mitchell on August 18th, Barbara Dickson on August 20th, Grant Stott on August 21st, and Del Amitri’s Justin Currie on August 23rd - and I’ll be announcing more fab special guests soon…Before that, the awesome Val McDermid will join me at The Portobello Bookshop on July 9th… There are ticket links to all of those shows via akickupthearts.org…I’m also delighted to be coming to Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Bute Noir, and I’ll tell you all about those events soon, or sign up for the newsletter for more news - that’s also via akickupthearts.org…Right now though, we’re in my hometown of Stirling for the launch of the brilliant Crime Writing Festival, Bloody Scotland, which started back in 2012…I’m just back from the launch, which was great fun as ever… I was in conversation with globally best-selling author Linwood Barclay about his new supernatural thriller, WHISTLE, which is out now, and the event also saw director Bob McDevitt and this year’s guest programmer Sir Ian Rankin chat about what’s on this year’s bill…As they were discussing the programme, I realised we should do a launch episode for the podcast, so my daughter dropped off my recording equipment, and I cajoled Ian Rankin along with Bloody Scotland founder and author Gordon Brown - aka Morgan Cry - and writer Natalie Jayne Clark, to join me for a flick through this year’s brochure…Natalie’s terrific novel, The Malt Whisky Murders, is shortlisted for the festival’s 2025 debut novel prize. This year’s McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish book of the year will also be unveiled at Bloody Scotland, which runs in Stirling from the 12th to the 14th of September…And can I just say now that I’m really looking forward to chairing a very special Rebus event, which you’ll hear about during our chat, and also a conversation with writers Mark Billingham and Laura Lippman who’ve written over 50 best-selling novels between them…Anyway, here we are - Ian, Natalie, Gordon and me - in a hastily-cobbled together studio in a room at the Golden Lion… Linwood Barclay even joined us…
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24:55
Kathryn Joseph and Lomond Campbell
Send us a textJust very quickly, a reminder that I’d love you to join me for A Kick Up The Arts - live - at at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll be at The Stand, with Barbara Dickson on August 20th, Grant Stott on August 21st, and Del Amitri’s Justin Currie on August 23rd - and I’ll be announcing more fab special guests soon…Before that, the awesome Val McDermid will join me at The Portobello Bookshop on July 9th… There are ticket links to all of those shows here.Right now though, we’re in Glasgow’s glorious record cafe, Some Great Reward for a chat with Kathryn Joseph about her stunning fourth album, We Were Made Prey, which is out today on Mogwai’s Rock Action label.As with Kathryn’s previous album - for you who are the wronged - and its attendant remix EP, the new record’s made in cahoots with singer, songwriter, producer and synth wizard Ziggy “Lomond” Campbell, who runs a stunning residential studio near Fort William, The Lengths - although, as we’ll hear, their musical (dis)harmony actually goes back decades…Let’s just say - the campaign to find and hear the early bootlegs starts right here…
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41:16
KELI (The National Theatre of Scotland)
Send us a textIn this episode, we’re celebrating brass bands, activism, teenage angst and community spirit, thanks to the National Theatre of Scotland’s latest production - KELI, which opened last week at Stirling’s Macrobert Centre and Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum.It’s running at Dundee Rep this week, before marching on to Perth Theatre and Glasgow Tramway in June…Marking 40 years since the miners’ strike, it tells the story of a stressed, and funny, and fired-up seventeen-year-old - Keli - dealing with life, and college, and work - and a mum who’s really struggling - in a former mining town…She’s also a brilliant tenor horn player, and a member of the local brass band, who’re still going strong long after the loss of the coal industry that brought them together…The music at the heart of this has long been an obsession for writer and composer Martin Green, who also plays in folk visionaries LAU… and Keli closely follows on from his Radio 4 documentary series, Love, Spit and Valve Oil, and his interviews with trade-unionists, miners, music teachers and brass band players - not to mention a gorgeous album, Split The Air.The show’s musical director is Louis Abbott, of Admiral Fallow among other wonders, the play’s directed by Bryony Shananan, and it stars Liberty Black as Keli, Karen Fishwick as her mum Jane, and Olivia Hemmati as two die-hard, very different friends - Amy and Saskia…And it’s always a thrill to see theatre and screen legends Phil McKee and Billy Mack onstage - the former playing band leader Brian, the latter as the town’s fabled hero - the former miner Willie Knox. We’re also treated to performances by either the Whitburn Band or Kingdom Brass at every show.I loved Keli when I saw it in Edinburgh last week, and I sat down with Martin, Liberty and Olivia at the National Theatre of Scotland’s headquarters, Rockvilla, to reflect on Keli’s journey so far - ahead of the rest of the Scottish dates…akickupthearts.org
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40:56