Alison Carlyle writes: If your organisation employs any staff, new pensions regulations mean that you will soon be obliged to provide a workplace pension scheme for them, automatically enrol those staff who are eligible, and make contributions to the pension scheme for eligible staff. The regulations apply even if you only have one employee (although … Continued

Guest blog by Charlotte Hathaway This April I had the pleasure of selecting and accompanying a group of 5 young traditional musicians to perform at UKM Arctic’s Art Impuls festival in Northern Norway. This is the second year of the visit and it is a partnership which I hope continues to develop. This April I … Continued

This year’s Trad Talk day, which took place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Saturday 28th March, had the theme Crossing Points. Where are the points where our interests and experiences converge? And what can’t we agree on? How do traditional artists, as a community, find our feet in the rapidly changing Scottish cultural scene, … Continued

Guest blog by Nod Knowles When Burnsong commissioned me to research the possibility of bringing a Folk Alliance International (FAI) event from North America to Europe – and specifically to Scotland – I talked to a lot of trad music people in Scotland and the UK about the idea. Initially I’d assumed that there would be a … Continued

Live Music Now musicians deliver thousands of performances for older people each year, all around the UK. These people usually tell us that they feel uplifted and happier, and their carers often notice the effects lasting for many days afterwards, even in the cases of people who have quite advanced dementia. It is important work, … Continued

Collaborative art is like skimming a stone across a pond. A ‘pebble’ catches your eye you weigh it in your hand and give it your best shot. You hold your breath as you count the bounces and as the pebble sinks the ripples form.

Although the TMF did not make a submission to the recent Smith Commission on Scottish devolution, as a member of the Culture Counts group it signed up to the following statement (which states some important principles regardless of the outcome of Smith). The Scotland Devolution Commission is an important opportunity for both the UK and … Continued

The act of passing on songs through an oral tradition, has until recent times, been a large part of Scottish culture. Rhymes and songs have been passed from generation to generation within families and communities. We know that singing and specifically singing to children is educational and healthy for the mind and body; however, I … Continued

Folk supergroup Treacherous Orchestra have just launched pre-orders of their new album ‘Grind’. They’ve gone for a new look, a more mature sound, and have chosen to record in the Hamilton Mausoleum which has had the record for the longest echo of any man-made structure in the world (a record now smashed by tunnels in … Continued

Guest blog by Erin Farley 20th September 2014 The Traditions in Place Day in Hawick took place in the Textile Towerhouse museum, bringing together traditional artists from Hawick and the surrounding area – musicians, storytellers and dancers – with museum staff, researchers and heritage professionals, to explore different perspectives on the question of how to … Continued