PREVIEW: Doune the Rabbit Hole nears

The festival is well and truly underway, and August is a highlight for small Scottish festivals as Belladrum just celebrated its 10th year. On a smaller scale but with an equally brilliant lineup, Doune the Rabbit Hole will take to Cardross Estate in Stirlingshire on the 22-25th of the month.

Doune is Scotlandʼs independent and entirely volunteer-run festival in its four year history. The event will showcase more than 200 acts over the weekend with lots of homegrown Scottish talent on a show.

Doune The Rabbit Hole aims to create a friendly atmosphere and the eventʼs small scale means that by the end of the weekend everyone will have made new friends, found a new favourite band and created some unforgettable memories to take home. Festival favourites like Bombskare, The Horndog Brass Band and The John Langan Band are programmed alongside more experimental acts like Zs, Clinic and Venetian Snares, opening up the opportunity for the audience to discover new musical experiences.

Some highlights from across the weekend include:

Thursday

Orkestra Del Sol

Friday

Alasdair Roberts & Friends

Rick Redbeard

PAWS

Stanley Brinks (of Herman Dune)

Meursault

Arbouretum

Miaoux Miaoux

Saturday

Clinic

The Pastels

Robyn Hitchcock

Panda Su

The Monochrome Set

Washington Irving

Stealing Sheep

John Knox Sex Club

Nevada Base

Sunday

Rachel Sermanni

Venetian Snares

The Horndog Brass Band

Randolphʼs Leap

Bo Ningen

Siobhan Wilson

Samba Sene & Diwan

Jo Mango

Tickets are a great value £88 for the whole weekend including camping and access to seven stages of live music, DJs, comedy and spoken word, plus workshops, a cinema, and a kids area.

Tickets are available from the festival website http://dounetherabbithole.co.uk/, or in person at Monorail Records (Glasgow), Avalanche Records (Edinburgh), Europa Music (Stirling) and Tickets Scotland.

Follow @dounetherabbit on Twitter or like the festival Facebook page.

PREVIEW: Doune the Rabbit Hole adds more acts!

Along with an animated video featuring the current lineup, Doune the Rabbit Hole announced some additions to their already brilliant lineup in the last few days. 

Cult Canadian electronic musician Aaron Funk AKA Venetian Snares heads up the additions and will play on Sunday August 25th. Adding to the already kaleidoscopically eclectic bill, Planet Mu Records’ Venetian Snares take drum ‘n’ bass and breakcore to a new level. Also on the Sunday festival goers will be treated to funky Afrobeats from Samba Sene & Diwan, a seven-piece international Senegalese band currently based in Scotland as well as rambunctious funk rock fusion outfit Bar Room Crawl play on the Baino stage.

Eclectic folk-rock band Trembling Bells and hypercolour indie dance producer- performer Miaoux Miaoux play the Baino stage on Friday; On Saturday we welcome back the indescribably mad and brilliant Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 and John Knox Sex Club make their return to the scene, to the joy of this blogrunner. 

These additions follow up the announce that the festival has also added a dance-themed performance space for live acts and DJs, curated by Glasgow’s Low End Collective. Acts include techno DJ Rebecca Vasmant, Glasgow hip hop duo Hector Bizerk, reggae soundsystem Argonaut Sounds and a plethora of Scottish talent over a range of styles to keep visitors dancing all weekend. 

And it all begins one day earlier this year with an extra mini line up on Thursday night – featuring Orkestra del Sol, at no extra cost to those arriving early.

These acts join those already on the bill – including Alasdair Roberts & Friends, Clinic, The Pastels, PAWS, Rachel Sermanni, Machines In Heaven, Stealing Sheep, Zs, Robyn Hitchcock, Arbouretum and many more.

Cosmic Dead will now play on Sunday and Mother Ganga will now appear with their project Flaccid House! July are unfortunately no longer able to join us on Sunday due to illness. Zun Zun Egui, The Wellgreen and Flamingods are also no longer performing due to other commitments.

Get tickets right now at http://dounetherabbithole.co.uk/tickets – buy before August 1st to save £10 on adult full price camping weekend passes. Under 12s go free and day tickets are available. Use Go Car Share, the festival’s lift share partners, to fix up up your carbon footprint-friendly ride and make some new friends! http://dounetherabbithole.co.uk/gocarshare/

Watch the animated lineup video below:

UPCOMING EVENTS/PREVIEW - Brew at the Bog 2013

Returning for its second year, Brew at the Bog festival will bring new music and new beer to Bogbain Farm in Inverness on Saturday 4th May. The festival showcases the best in homegrown Scottish talent combined with craft beer from the controversial brewery in an award-winning setting. 

This year's lineup has many notable bands/performers worth checking out. Here are my picks:

Shambles Miller - You won't find many other acts who can offer the same brilliant witty reparté and folk-pop tunes like Shambles does. It'll no doubt be one of the most memorable performances of the festival.

Michael Cassidy - Another solo performer Paisley's Michael Cassidy is a singer-songerwriter who offers dreamy tunes that will make your hairs stand on end. Having received great praise in the last year, he's certainly one to watch.



Trapped in Kansas - One of my favourite Glasgow bands for many years, Trapped in Kansas are a math-pop band whose sounds can make a special impact on the listener. The lyrical and sonic talent of this band suggests they should be much bigger than they are.



Fake Major - Hot off the release of their debut EP Fake Major will be gracing Bogbain Farm with their stunning arrangements and live show. They're anything but another indie-folk band and will not be a hidden gem for long.



Olympic Swimmers - Another longtime favourite of mine, their folk-filled power pop is taking Glasgow indie to new levels. They have a supreme talent for writing intense, powerful music that stays with the listener.


The full lineup is as follows:
Olympic Swimmers, Three Blind Wolves, Randolph’s Leap, Discopolis, Homework, Found, Miaoux Miaoux, United Fruit, Chris Devotion & The Expectations, The Little Kicks, Cherri Fosphate, The Stagger Rats, Fatherson, Kitty the Lion, Fake Major, Trapped in Kansas, The Whiskys, This Silent Forest, The Winter Tradition, James MacKenzie, JP Jones, Michael Cassidy, Donald MacDonald and the Islands, Adam Holmes and the Embers, Seznec Brothers, Sion Russell Jones, Jonathan Powell, Davey Horne, Tomos Lewis, Sienna, Bronagh & the Boys, Poor Things, Seven Summits, Shambles Millers, Verse Metrics, Ashley & the Cosmonauts, Sharfla.

Tickets are £30 (with camping)/£20 (without camping) and are currently available online as well as at BrewDog bars.

Full details are at brewatthebog.com.

LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT AND PREVIEW - Doune at the Rabbit Hole 2013

Back for its fourth year, Doune at the Rabbit Hole today announced its new location and full lineup to whet the appetites of festival goers everywhere.

Hoping to bring a psychedelic summer to Stirlingshire with a musical line up headlined by cult Liverpool band Clinic, Scottish folk-rock troubadour Alasdair Roberts & Friends and 60s psych heroes July. Glasgow indie legends The Pastels and punk-pop trio PAWS are also on the bill.

Also joining the festival at the new location of Cardross Estate, Port of Mentieth are Orkestra Del Sol who headline an extended Thursday evening bill with Machines In Heaven and Honey & The Herbs.

Friday sees headliner Alasdair Roberts & Friends on the main stage, along with The John Langan Band, Meursault and Haight Ashbury. The intimate Fruitstand stage welcomes Rick Redbeard, Steve Adey and Stanley Brinks and the Baino tent is headlined by PAWS as well as featuring Gallon Drunk, Arbouretum, Galoshins and The Cosmic Dead. A guest stage will be curated by Ten Tracks and features bands including Buriers.

Saturday’s main stage bill features Clinic, The Pastels, The Monochrome Set, Washington Irving and Panda Su among others. The Fruitstand line up includes Robyn Hitchcock, Rozi Plain and The Wellgreen. The Baino welcomes Zun Zun Egui, Bomskare and Stealing Sheep. A guest stage will be

curated by Edinburgh’s poetry and music fusion collective Neu Reekie and will feature among others The Sexual Objects and Teen Canteen.

Sunday’s headliner is 60s psych-rock legends July, the main stage also welcomes The Horndog Brass Band, Hidden Masters and Randolph’s Leap among others. The Fruitstand has Rachel Sermanni, The Banana Sessions, Jo Mango and Siobhan Wilson, while The Baino’s line up includes Z’s, Bo Ningen and Three Dimensional Tanx.

The popular Inspire Stage will run all weekend as well as the Low End Dance Stage – with guests including Rebecca Vasmant and The Line Of Best Fit DJs. Expect a cinema tent, art trail and lots of workshops suitable for the whole family.

“We’re thrilled with our new location,” said Jamie Murray, festival director. “Cardross Estate is on the boundary of Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. It’s a beautiful site which has experience of hosting outdoor events meaning we can make the production better than ever, suffice to say it's a lovely flat, oak and beech-filled pasture!”

Doune The Rabbit Hole is a small-scale festival where music, art, spoken word performances, workshops and activities for a family audience are the focus.

Tickets for the festival, which takes place August 22-25 2013 are available now from Brown Paper Tickets via Dounetherabbithole.co.uk. Full adult weekend camping tickets cost £78, children under 12 go free and day tickets are available, (see http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/305937 for full

details).