Scotland's Big Session

Our project is part of the Creative Scotland Crowdmatch - we are 1 of 20 shortlisted creative projects in Scotland - that have the opportunity to win a share of £75,000 in match funding, up to £10,000 per project.

Music brings people together, and at the heart of Scotland's Big Session, is our mission to bring brilliant Scottish music to the world. We want to celebrate grass-roots Scottish folk music mixing professinals, amateurs and music lovers together. To do this we need to take the music to the heart of the community, in the pubs and halls across the country, and bring that unique atmosphere to the wider world through broadcasting online. Our aim is to bring Scotand's Big Session/Live at Five on tour!

Scotland’s Big Session was created as part of "Live atFive", an online, magazine-styled show which promotes traditional music in a light-hearted manner. Broadcast from MacGregor’s Bar in Inverness each Friday the programme is presented by BBC Radio Scotland’s Bruce MacGregor and fellow musician Anna Massie. The show is produced and filmed by experienced broadcast journalist/producer Jo De Sylva.

Scotland’s Big Session is the online collection of songs and tunes performed by many of Scotland’s leading traditional musicians and singers collected during lockdown and made available online for anyone to learn from.

Live at Five has been described as "Traditional music's answer to Wayne's World"and, "informative, entertaining and just downright silly". The most amazing thing about SBS and Live at Five has been the creation of a virtual community that draws its support from throughout the world. Viewers tune in from Japan, America, Canada, Peru as well as throughout the UK and Europe. Many of these viewers have now reached out to each other and friendships made.