| Wide Days has announced the first artists on its expanded showcase programme which features two nights of emerging Scottish talent and finishes with M For Montreal and FOCUS Wales providing snapshots of their festivals.
Taking place across three Edinburgh venues from 13-15 April, the event is supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund, PRS Foundation and PPL, with the opening night line-up hosted in partnership with the Music Venue Trust.
This features four acts chosen by a diverse panel of over 30 music and media figures, with a strong focus on a spectrum of pop acts with The Big Day, Quiet Houses, Russell Stewart and Silvi. They will also participate in a 12-month mentoring programme.
Confirmed for the Friday ‘New From Scotland’ showcase is the organic soul of Becky Sikasa, the electronic infusions of Goodnight Louisa, dark anthems from Midnight Ambulance, classic indie-rock courtesy of SLIX and indie-folk songwriting of Lewis McLaughlin, who won Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition last year. More acts will be announced in the coming weeks.
The final night sees Wide Days partner with FOCUS Wales and M For Montreal, for the Festival Takeover, who will each guest-programme a venue. The Canadian event has already confirmed two acts – Laurence-Anne and Choses Sauvages – and is set to host a delegate reception at the conference.
As part of its commitment to supporting the showcasing performers to make the most of the event, all artists receive a complementary convention pass, a performance fee and are able to connect at an exclusive artist brunch hosted by a BBC radio presenter.
This year sees Wide Day expand the number of showcases for artists in Scotland to 16, up from 11 in 2022, where the line-up included Alex Amor, BEMZ, CHEF, Kapil Seshasayee and Katherine Aly.
Tickets for the Friday and Saturday showcase programmes are available at the early-bird price of £10 each, while a limited number of tickets covering both nights are available for £15. Limited free tickets are available for the Thursday showcase, pre-registration is essential. Priority access to all live shows is included with a Wide Days convention pass.
Full details can be found at https://www.widedays.com/tickets
Wide Days director, Michael Lambert said: “The expansion of our live programme is giving us the chance to present an even broader and more diverse range of talent than ever. There’s so much incredible new music coming out of Scotland at the moment, and we’ve been overwhelmed with applications in recent years. Our new showcase format means we can support as many emerging artists as possible.”
Jamie Houston, Music Officer at Creative Scotland said: “Wide Days is a key event in the Scottish music calendar, for industry, artists and anyone with an interest in making connections with Scottish and wider international delegates. This year’s showcase line-up offers a glimpse into the talent that Scotland continues to produce.”
Music Venue Trust COO, Beverley Whitrick said: “Music Venue Trust is proud to partner, once again, with Wide Days. Not only is this an important event on the international conference calendar, but it provides a focus on developing Scottish musical talent. Showcase acts regularly go on to play venues across the UK and beyond. We can’t wait!”
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