Walking Heads

16/07/2024

Well worth a look

27/06/2024

We’ve been quiet lately but that’s about to change. We are fair delighted to be joining the lovely bunch at Glasgow City Heritage Trust and Inner Ear in Series Three of If Glasgow’s Walls Could Talk

Tonight sees the launch of the latest podcast series as Walking Heads research director and co-founder (that’s me, Fay) joins GCHT director Niall Murphy to co-host stories from the heart of Glasgow

I have a go at explaining how it came about…

Generally, one thing leads to another - as I discovered around 2010 when I teamed up with the other Walking Headers founders Sharon McLaughlin Alan Gibson and Dougal Perman to create a different way of exploring cities

OK, here goes. Adjusts mic, pats headphones, clears throat. “Hello and welcome to Series Three of If Glasgow’s Walls Could Talk”. Is that really me? It seems my work has taken an unexpected new direction and despite the stomach full of fluttering butterflies it’s a great thrill. How did it h...

03/05/2024

30/03/2024

What a lovely start to our weekend.
Birdringing volunteers George and Ben arrived at 7am and caught a sunny morning as well as a beautiful pair of chiffchaffs among many other songbirds, (They also ringed 43 Siskins! Will find a pic)
Such a treat for us.
Our investment in sunflower hearts not wasted!

George and Ben also spotted 2 kingfishers, 1 dipper, and a pair of goosanders - as well as our resident swan, moorhen and mallard families. Red squirrels didn’t seem at all put out.
When I get time I’ll add all this to blog. It’s overdue. Hoping to involve local groups in wildlife visits and discussions. We’re supporting the inspiring work of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland () again this year

16/12/2023

Live now, Radio Magnetic Winter Live Stream, our festive party on air featuring Andy Watt, Hammy Sgìth, Noisebox (live modular set), Brother Jo Seph, Jamie Thomson, Turtle, Vic & Davie B2B, Anny & Dougal (me) B2B.

Broadcast live to your community of fans and tune in direct to creators from every genre

19/08/2023

A real feel-good post - we’ve been discovering from Inner Ear team some of the great stories of the people, the bands, the inspiring musicians, who make the championships echo round the world. Lots of stereotype-busting!! Thank you Wake and District Pipe Band. Looking forward to s treasure trove on Trad TV

Stories, sights and sounds balance our world. The digital media production company behind the UK's longest running internet radio station, Radio Magnetic (www.radiomagnetic.com),…

01/09/2022

More than heartwarming!
Cinema brings community together, A good cause to support.

We're very concerned about the impact the Cost of Living Crisis will have on our community.

Cinema is a comfort during hard times, and we want to ensure we're always here when you need us. Our ticket prices haven't increased since 2019 and we won't be raising them any time soon.

As a charity, the crisis will present many challenges for GFT too. If you are able, and would like to support us to continue to deliver Cinema for All throughout this period, you can make a donation to GFT online: bit.ly/GFT_Donate

We really appreciate your support 🖤

17/08/2022

Another lovely invitation from GFT ...maybe more welly-weather than going barefoot tomorrow but all the more reason to take seat in the cinema for a great Movie Memories film!

This month’s Movie Memories at GFT is a dementia-friendly screening of the charming romantic comedy Barefoot in the Park.

"Gene Saks’ 1967 film stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda as a newly married couple setting up home in a small New York apartment. But as the romance of their honeymoon gives way to the reality, they realise that married life isn’t all fun and games!"

All tickets are £3. More info and tickets from this link

Scotland’s original independent cinema is the home for film and film lovers in Glasgow.

08/07/2022

What’s inside?
Much more than you can see in one visit. I’m old enough to remember the first opening of the Burrell Collection in 1983 so it was good but a little strange to visit the newly refurbished museum. Familiar yet different. Old and new.

Staff of all ages very welcoming and enthusiastic.

In two hours we had barely begun! Will be back.

While Glasgow city centre still showing signs of Covid impact on daily life, it’s interesting to see how busy and bustling the Burrell is.

11/03/2022

A moment of magic in a time of turmoil - if you are able, enjoy this extraordinary beautiful sound installation, Sing the Gloaming, part of Cryptic Glasgow Sonica event in the Hidden Gardens which is open free to the public until Sunday 20 March

This is just one of the ‘fairy voice boxes’ (as one wee girl described them yesterday afternoon) located among ferns and emerging spring bulbs in a quiet corner of the gardens. I’ll add a video or two if I get a chance.

Featuring the work of Simon Kirby, Tommy Perman, Rob St John and many more voices. See more about Sing the Gloaming here https://singthegloaming.surfacepressure.net/

23/02/2022

Nonstop...for once it's a modest claim. PEOPLE MAKE GLASGOW has put together a 48 hour music trip for music lovers visiting the city. It's an extraordinary programme and all the more so after the last two years.

We're very pleased to see our 'flagship' audio, Glasgow Music Celebrated is included among the long list of things to do. Amazing to think we launched our first Glasgow tour ten years ago in King Tut's Wah Wah Hut one cold January night in 2012. And it's very moving to see King Tut's and so many venues coming back to life as we all begin to emerge from the tight grip of the pandemic.

Perhaps we all have a lot of rediscovering to do (we updated the text of Glasgow Music Tour during the sad days of lockdown). This route map of Glasgow life is a great place to start...

You can find Glasgow Music Celebrated free to download or enjoy as a beautifully illustrated audio visual tour via Guidigo bit.ly/GlaMusTour with an unbeatable music soundtrack (of course!)

Enjoy a music-themed city break in Glasgow. From lively folk sessions to music tours to gigs in iconic venues, check out our guide to 48 hours in Glasgow for music lovers.

05/02/2022

Still time and space for young musicians in Tides festival

Application deadline 12noon 7 February

TIDES, Argyll’s online music festival is back for another year 🥳
Want to fill the world with music once again? If you are a musician, apply to take part in the March TIDES online music festival. Deadline 7 February
https://www.chartsargyllandisles.org/opportunities/tides-digital-music-festival-march-2022-open-call-for-musicians/

📸: The Black Denims

Scottish Music Centre

02/02/2022

Final stop on our trip down memory lane this week. We posted some great atmospheric B&W pics taken by Brian Sweeney in King Tut's Wah Wah Hut January 2012. Now here's a lovely burst of colour and sound from that night.

Music! It's why Glasgow Music tour is our firstborn favourite. Press play.

Highlights from the Walking Heads: Glasgow Music Tour launch. The launch night took place at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Monday 30 January and saw performances…

30/01/2022

28/01/2022

Looking back almost exactly 10 years (ten years!) since we launched Glasgow Music audio tour with a fabulous real life live (legal) party at with real live music (of course) and hosts .

Hope join us taking a visual mooch down memory lane over the next few days - and you can hear the way we were on
bit.ly/GlaMusTour

26/01/2022

‘Art is what you can get away with’ Andy Warhol

Someone in J Lewis with a sense of irony - and an eye on today’s news perhaps

Brightened a walk through Edinburgh store yesterday

25/01/2022

Looking forward to getting out and about
Next stop

25/01/2022

Where is this?
Any guesses? Wonder if it’s still there. We will have to go look…

Recent downloads of reminded us how unexpectedly stimulating it was to discover the stories behind Glasgow’s derelict buildings for a great audio tour we made with - and thanks to - . Led by Prof Johnny Roger

It’s definitely not all doom and gloom. Or it wasn’t back in the very different pre-Covid, pre-Brexit days of 2016.
We will need to walk many old routes again and see how the city is emerging from lockdowns of the last two years.

Is there more or less dereliction? What are the stories on the latest Buildings at Risk register?

28/11/2021

Silent space
Good for walking freely - on the ground that is, not attempting a stroll across the pond!

24/10/2021

A great result on the tenth anniversary of The SAY Award Congratulations Mogwai

21/10/2021

Because we have only one world to make music

16/10/2021

Let’s dance? Wrestle? Embrace?
We finally made it to Yorkshire Sculpture Park at the beginning of October.

Posting this image in the shadow of today’s news.

Hazmat Love by Tom Friedman was created in 2017. Three years before it took on even greater significance, the protective suit was already a symbol of survival - for frontline workers against the chemical, nuclear, biological and yet unknown threats of 21st century life.

Friedman described this work as a scene of ‘dystopian romance – love in a toxic environment’ [see more on YSP website]

Ambiguity in every crease and wrinkle. Hazmat Love is cast in stainless steel (first created using oven roasting trays to imitate the texture of protective suiting). It is
one of many arresting works on the terrace at
We barely scratched the surface

06/10/2021

Autumn comes knocking

17/09/2021

On our first trip out of lockdown earlier this year, this image stopped us in our tracks when we were road testing the route for the new audio tour/drama

15/09/2021

Welcoming back Glasgow Doors Open Days – this memory is from inside that amazing church in St Vincent Street, Stop7 on Glasgow’s Landmarks, one of our evergreen audio tours.
“The church is the only surviving church designed by Alexander (Greek) Thomson, 'an architect who did not think in black and white'”

08/09/2021

Where’s Beauty?
Had a good day with at the first Pond Garden woodland open day with
We fantasise about a woodland audio tour - Talking Trees - could be a good collaboration with lots of voices!

01/09/2021

It’s been a hot summer in Scotland

21/08/2021

Great to be back - found the password lost during lockdown, somehow that feels symbolic. Look forward to catching up with you all
Image by Benny for our Find the Key game

06/08/2021

There are welcome signs that city life is reviving. But the future still looks blurry. How will Glasgow sound when Covid-19 has truly retreated from the streets? How many grassroots venues are in good health?

Change is part of city life and Glasgow was facing challenges even before the pandemic struck. When the city reopens fully Walking Heads will have to explore how much has changed to the landscape we thought we knew so well.

But here we celebrate what we all know of Glasgow as one of the world's greatest live music cities. We feel that such memories are the foundation for revival.

How will Glasgow sound after Covid-19? The question hangs over a city famous for its live music. Thriving venues have been closed and silent for over a year. Welcome signs of life returning begin to grow with most Covid restrictions lifting on Monday 9 August. First, this week's news that Trnsmit ca...

11/05/2021

Moving forward as Scotland steps from level 3 to level 2...but what happens to live music? Eyes are on live events happening beyond Scotland, with today's Brit Awards welcoming an audience of 4,000 to the O2 in London, including specially gifted tickets to key workers.

While we wait for the review of restrictions limiting audiences to live events in Scotland, we've republished our audio tour

Here's a flashback to Glasgow Green, "From washing clothes and drying fishing nets to modern day music..." festivalshttp://www.walkingheads.net/tour_stop/glasgow-green/

Granted to the people of Glasgow in the 1400s, Glasgow Green has been used and enjoyed in many different ways through the centuries. From washing clothes and drying fishing nets to modern day music festivals ( and hosting Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014) this green space has provided the people o...