KT Tunstall joins the line-up for Burns&Beyond

KT Tunstall, Blue Rose Code and Pictish Trail have been added to this year’s Burns&Beyond event.

Unique Events, organisers of Burns&Beyond with Johnnie Walker, today announced the full line-up for the flagship Burns&Beyond Culture Trail on Saturday 25 January and revealed two new venues.

A single ticket takes audiences on a journey through nine extraordinary spaces in Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns discovering live performances from some of Scotland’s finest musicians and artists from KT Tunstall to Blue Rose Code.

Al Thomson, director of Unique Events, said: ‘The Culture Trail allows local and visiting audiences to explore the city centre, discovering incredible live performance in landmark buildings and more secretive venues.

‘From hidden places including Freemason’s Hall and The Merchant’s Hall, to transformed spaces such as St Giles’ Cathedral filled with a stunning display of Chinese Lanterns, each venue will offer a completely different cultural experience, from comedy to music to spoken word and whisky tasting. All to celebrate the life and work of our national bard – and all for a single ticket.’

Over a packed four hours, audiences can enjoy a feast of entertainment curated and performed by leading artists from throughout Edinburgh, Scotland and beyond.

In the New Town, KT Tunstall & Friends will be taking over the Assembly Rooms Music Hall, George Street with four specially curated sessions of career-spanning hits and collaborations in association with Lidl Live, featuring sonic hermit and cult performer Pictish Trail (Johnny Lynch), local singer/songwriter Alannah Moar; who recently won a public vote and represented Edinburgh at The Quaich Project international fundraising event with KT Tunstall & Alan Cumming in New York, plus other surprise special guests.

In the Assembly Rooms Ballroom, Aidan O’Rourke (Lau) has curated an evening of spoken word and music, creating Lucky Middlemass’s Salon, featuring the dynamic sound of SAY Award nominees Kinnaris Quintet, the joyous music of BBC 6 Music favourite Rozi Plain and spoken word from award-winning poet Nadine Aisha Jassat.

Ticket holders can pop into a new venue in Assembly Lane which will be transformed into a dancefloor for the hugely popular Silent Disco with Edinburgh’s own The Great Calverto and Silent Adventures.

The New Town also offers a special Neu! Reekie! Presents show at Freemason’s Hall with music and poetry including the triumphant live return of cult Edinburgh Hip-hop group Stanley Odd, singer-songwriter Carla J Easton (TeenCanteen), spoken word from Michael Pedersen and an explosive rendition of Burns’ Tam O’Shanter by Kevin Williamson, accompanied by music by Craig Lithgow and the dancers and performers of the Kixx Collective.

The Gilded Balloon Basement on Rose Street presents a hilarious evening of comedy with sets from Gareth Waugh, Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, Majorlein Robertson, Susan Riddell, Jamie Dalgleish and legendary Scott Capurro throughout the night.

Whisky Tasting with Johnnie Walker was a huge hit of the inaugural event and returns for 2020 in The Merchant’s Hall (Hanover Street), providing audiences with exclusive whisky tasting sessions hosted by Nigel Robertson, allowing whisky connoisseurs and novices the chance to discover the delights of our national drink.

Moving to the Old Town, the immersive experience of hundreds of illuminated Chinese lanterns throughout St Giles’ Cathedral will provide audiences with spectacular images and a specially commissioned soundtrack.

Out of the Ordinary, the Edinburgh all-star band, follow up two sold out shows with a raucous evening in the Liquid Rooms (Victoria Street), featuring Leith’s finest singer songwriter Joseph Malik, legendary house DJ’s Jo Wallace and Ashley Beedle playing alongside the original Leith supergroup The Bum Clocks and actor Tam Dean Burn who has written and curated exclusive-new content especially for Burns&Beyond. The packed line-up also includes the full Easter Road Northern Soul Band, Stephen Christie, Malcolm Ross, Rusty Burn, Paul McNeil, Lynzie Dray, Roseanne Erskine, Daniel McGeever and the city’s King of Afrobeat Einstein.

Blue Rose Code presents a special evening of music with full band and strings sessions in Greyfriars Kirk. A nomad, both geographically and musically, Ross Wilson aka Blue Rose Code writes straight from – and to – the heart. His songs address universal themes of love, loss, travel, home, accepting the past and embracing the future in a deeply personal way. They are variously painted with the vibrant colours of folk, Americana, jazz, country, soul and pop; an eclecticism that has become a hallmark of his work and which has seen him compared to John Martyn, Van Morrison and Tom Waits amongst others. Wilson has spent the past few years producing four hugely acclaimed studio albums, most recently, The Water of Leith, named by The Skinny as its Album of The Year.

The evening will end with the Assembly Ballroom After Party from 10.30pm until late where audiences can enjoy music with DJ Davie Miller (FiniTribe / Paradise Palms Records) and surprise guests.

Burns&Beyond Culture Trail ticket holders will be given a start venue on receipt of their ticket but can visit as many of the venues as they choose to in any order.

Limited venue only tickets are available for Neu! Reekie! Presents at Freemason’s Hall, Blue Rose Code at Greyfriars Kirk and Out of the Ordinary at the Liquid Rooms. Full Culture Trail tickets, giving access to all nine venues, are priced at £25.00 per person. Single venue tickets for Freemason’s Hall, Greyfriars Kirk or the Liquid Rooms are available £12.50. All tickets can be purchased from www.burnsandbeyond.com.

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