Social Networking: Myspace, facebook, bebo and the rest

I’ve been looking around a lot recently at various networking sites as new ones seem to be springing up every day. This probably isn’t the case but it certainly seems like that, and for every site that springs up there are dozens of anti networking site dismissing the commercialisation of webspaces where the content is mostly provided by people uploading their own content onto personal pages. Whilst I would hate to offer unqualified support for, well, anything really, it’s due to networking sites that Doghouse Roses really got our start.

I had been playing gigs up and down Scotland in pubs and small clubs for years, and a lot of these venues are run and owned by people that keep music alive at the grass roots level. Until recently I didn’t realise how lucky we are in Scotland to have venues like the Market Bar in Inverness, or Cafe Drummond in Aberdeen, who are open to giving new artists a gig and paying for the performance. Likewise, there are a few promoters and music clubs who will put a gig on, and ensure that the artists are paid, for nothing more than the love of music. I and many other musicians are indebted to these people as these are who keeps the whole music world turning and allow musicians to tour and develop their craft.

However, back to the point here, and it was due to the sending of a couple of messages on myspace that Iona is now in Holland rehearsing with the Willard Grant Conspiracy Pilgrim Road Orchestra for their European tour starting in Manchester on Wednesday, which could be interesting as I think there may be a football match on there that day. I seem to remember reading something about that anyway. The tour will take in Edinburgh, London, Paris, Berlin, Basle, and Amsterdam among others. As this is essentially a Doghouse Roses blog it would be foolish of me not to mention that DR merchandise will be available at the gigs.

Our single seems to accumulating a little bit of momentum ahead of it release on the 26^th with a few plays on good old auntie BBC already and hopefully more to come. For anybody who will be around Glasgow on the 28^th of May we are playing at Glasgow Americana Festival with Belle & Sebastians’ Stevie Jackson, and Glasgow songwriter Stephen Macguire. The Americana festival is organised and promoted by the Fallen angels Club who are firmly in the category I was taking about above, and the Glasgow music thing is all the better for it. Tickets for this show will be available in adavance form us and if your interested in coming along, please get in touch with us via our website or myspace. We also have a show the night after at the Green Note in London NW1…..Tickets for this will be available on the door and please get in touch if you would like any further info.

I hope it’s a sunny where you are as it is in Glasgow just now….winter seemed to give spring a miss this year and go straight to summer!