SCOTS GROUP THE RONAINS RECEIVE RUSSIAN DEATH THREAT

SCOTS rockers The Ronains received a Russian death threat after issuing the artwork for their latest single Lunatics.  
The band beat Noel Gallagher to the top of the Uk Rock charts with their last single - a Corries approved version of Flower of Scotland. 
Their  latest single was mastered by John Davis of Metropolis studios, who has worked with The Killers, Dua Lipa, U2, Idles, Led Zeppelin, Inhaler and Noel Gallagher 
The track was recorded and produced by Brendan moon and Liam McCluskey @morsecode studio who’ve managed Paolo Nutini, Gun, The view and more.
The song Lunatics  questions how society labels those with mental health issues, had decided to use images of Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, North Korean Kim Jong-Un and other world leaders to question what real insanity might look like. 
They suggested Putin and his peers might be better suited to an asylum than others with mental health issues - and couldn’t believe it when they received a death threat from a Russian Facebook user. 
The message they received privately said: “Watch your drinks you Ukrainian British f***, we know what you look like and will track you. Russia forever”
Jim Ronain of the band which also has members Debi, Linzi, and Ciaran,  said: “We always like to question the norm and have a bit of a laugh at other people’s expense so we put out the artwork to accompany our single for its pre sale release ahead of August 5, but we couldn’t believe it when we got a message in Russian from someone who took our message way too seriously.
“It’s actually really scary, particularly because they said they know what we look like. With us gigging and touring they could access us at any time really and we are concerned because we do like a drink, and don’t always think about what we are gulping down.”
He added: “We actually have filed a police report on the matter because it is considered a serious threat.”
The Ronains, who count Peaky Blinders Tommy Flanagan amongst their famous fans, and worked with  received a further blow when  the artwork for the song which has been mastered by U2 and Oasis producer John Davis,  got banned from all outlet stores, Spotify, TikTok, Amazon, FB, Instagram and iTunes to name a few.
It’s not the first time the band have attracted controversy with their music. 
Guitarist Jim was handcuffed and fined £90 after he leapt inside an empty cop car to stick his band’s CD No Courage Without Fear EP a blast while coppers were in a filling station shop getting grub.
Their debut album Love, Drugs & on the Dole was also based on the true story of controversial local character Lizzy Coyne and her life of debauchery.

KT TUNSTALL PLANS DOGS AND CARPENTRY IN BETWEEN ROCK AND ROLL

KT Tunstall might have been recording a new album and talking about smashing up TV’s with Suzie Quatro but she says in the future she’d love to become a carpenters and make her own future. 
The Edinburgh born singer who is about to embark on some new tour dates and plays Summer Nights at the Bandstand in August revealed that she’d love to ‘grow a beard, not wear any shoes and get a lot of dogs’ in the future. 
The Black Horse and The Cherry Tree hitmaker laughed: “I’d love to be a jeweller and love to learn carpentry. I’d probably make surround console desks and make stuff for my studio, although don’t sit on any chairs I make. I just like making things. Whatever happens and whoever I am as an old lady I’ll continue making stuff.”
KT moved to LA’s bohemian Venice Beach in 2012 after she ‘woke up and smelled the cheese‘ and filed for divorce just weeks after her dad passed away. 
She was recently in Scotland to perform a series of gigs for Lidl and spent much of her time visiting schools and showing children how to cook. 
She said: “We visited my old school Dundee high school - it was really emotional actually playing for p5 and I did a home economics class for p3 and made them eat veg. The deputy head Rob at Dundee high is the husband of my best friend Ashley Meiklejohn who I’d not seen since I was seventeen or eighteen and her daughter Hannah was there and I was looking at this girl exactly like her and tried not to burst out crying.”
She added: “As I’ve got older I’ve realised how amazing it is connecting with kids and I really enjoyed playing for them. I have definitely, although it sounds a bit saintly, tapped into the fulfilment of what you can give. Community is an important part of our wellbeing. Through your twenties and thirties you are taking and taking and seeing what you can get. In your forties you are seeing what service you can be of to people and it’s really rewarding. I really love being this age.” 
Although she enjoyed working with the primary school children, KT claims she has her eye on a fur baby rather than a human one.  
Having turned forty five this year she explained: “Most of my friends are desperate to have kids and have one G and T and they are weeping about how they have not had babies yet. I’m like that for a mini daschhund. I’m desperate for a dog.  2020 might be my year for my mini doggy. It’ll have to be a tour dog and come in my bag with me, not on a plane. I just think dogs are too good for this world. They are amazing creatures.”
KT is looking forward to releasing her new album with Suzie Quatro with whom she has been writing her new album. 
She admits the singer has taught her some bad habits. 
She smiled: “If I had a devil on my shoulder I’d eat the cookies, drink the whiskey, smash the tv. I’ve never done it. I’ve just finished making an album with Suzie Quatro and she apparently did smash a tv. She is just an absolute legend. She had a biopic movie come out which was really amazing and I sat in her living room and watched it with her. She was the first ever female rock n roller and we really hit it off. I’ve learned a lot. I’m very lucky to find myself opening up on stage for legends.  It’s a masterclass every time you work with these people.”

Excerpts of this article have since appeared in the Scottish Mail on Sunday 

From Scotland with Love - theshowbizlion.com 

SIMPLE MINDS JIM KERR PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE FATHER JIMMY

JIM Kerr has paid a touching tribute to his late dad Jimmy who passed away just before he and Simple Minds embark on a 40th anniversary world tour and live album. 
Sunday soundtrack radio host Ricky Ross admitted he didn’t expect Jim Kerr to come into his Sunday morning BBC show following the tragic news. 
Rocky told Jim: “You’ve come in and I didn’t expect you to come in today. You’ve been looking after your dad the last two months and sadly he’s gone.”
Jim replied: “Don’t make me cry Ricky. People will be turning off. Let’s cut to the chase - my dad was a big fan of your show, a big fan of radio and a great great reader as well. You ticked a lot of boxes for him because you are a country show. That was his music. My dad would tell me you’ve got to check this and that. Only two weeks ago dad told me about the show you’d done then and Willie Haughey was on it.
“There’s no way dad would have accepted me not coming in here and it’s a pleasure to see you here. ”
Jim then said of his dad: “Dad was eighty three and I’m so lucky. He was just the greatest dad and I feel very fortunate to be born, that was my dad and he was also my best pal and a great great influence. 
He was a brickies labourer all his life. He was a strong guy. Perhaps uncommon or maybe not when you think of a lot of the shipyard guards, he was very keen on educating himself. 
”Although he could mix it with the rest of the labourers and go to the pub and football he had his head in a book from Monday to Friday. The only person Who can read as much is my other best pal Charlie Burchill. 
Jom said his dad taught him how to dream: “My dad, there was a great curiosity in him to know about world beyond the end of his street. Unfortunately his generation you couldn’t just decided you were going to Nepal and they had to knuckle down and thanks to them we were allowed to dream bigger.  My dad would point me out a window and say ‘over there is Africa’. 
I think that is the most quality - to dream big or to imagine big. The idea of being a dreamer or have your heads in clouds was once a derogatory thing. But I realised it’s the most potent thing ever. It all begins with imagination. Sitting here all these  years later  I’m bewildered that the things we had came to pass.” 
Jim also told of the moment his dad realised he would do well as a musician. 
He laughed: “My dad also gave up drinking a long time ago but when we were starting the band he was in a period where he had to go to the meetings and he was trying to sort himself out. It was more a subtle thing. He wasn’t happy and we were up and down in vans and going here there and everywhere. I didn’t have much dialogue with him for around a two year period. Dad didn’t grasp it but finally we got to play in Glasgow in Tiffany’s and it was a big deal to sell it out. Mum and dad were coming but dad went to the pub first and mum got fed up waiting and went to the gig herself. Dad wasn’t drunk but he didn’t go home and still had his working gear on and mum would have been humiliated. We did the gig. What a night.
“ I saw him the next day - Saturday morningHe made breakfast the next morning and he was a wee bit sheepish and he said ‘you are going to make it. You are going to be a big big band’. He said ’I was watching this one guy last night and he was in the queue and dancing and he got his chips and you started this song The American and he threw them up in the air and ran down. Anybody that can get people to do that. That’s a talent.’
That was his version of the old grey whistle test.”

SINGLE BY SUNDAY HEADLINE GLASGOW O2 ABC

SINGLE by Sunday can't wait to wow their crowds with their infectious pop rock this Saturday January 7 at Glasgows 02 ABC.
TheShowbizlion.com caught up with the Scots talents just before the New Year at the Scottish Music Awards when they were buzzing to mingle with people like Twin Atlantic.
The lads said: "A lot has happened in a year and now we are headlining the O2 and we are releasing our third EP."
The boys have grown a huge fan base over the last twelve months and recently had to be taken away by the police after fans got over excited.


Lead singer Josh explained: "We were at a gig in East Kilbride and the police had to come and help us out. We’ve got the best fans in the world, they're so supportive and we couldn’t believe how many people turned up. It was crazy."
The new EP includes previously unheard tracks ‘It Is What It Is’, ‘Never Ever Ever’, ’22.5.16’ and ‘I Can’t Go On Like This’.
Connect with the band @singlebysunday


- Posted with love from Scotland by theShowbizLion.com

PLAN YOUR T IN THE PARK 2016 HERE

Izzy Bizu, The Telermen, The Lapelles and Hey! Hello! will join headliners The Stone Roses, Calvin Harris, Red Hot Chili Peppers plus Disclosure, The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Jess Glynne at T In The Park.
The event at Strathallan Castle across July 8 - 10 has also just revealed its stage splits (pic above) for this year's fest. Organisers DF Concerts and founding partner Tennent’s Lager can't wait to welcome singer-songwriter, Izzy Bizu can count Sam Smith, Rudimental, Foxes and Jamie Cullum amongst fans, having supported them on UK tours as well as securing a coveted spot on the Brits Critics’ Choice award shortlist and the BBC Sound of… 2016 longlist.
Her soul, funk, jazz and pop fusion is sure to go down a treat when she performs on the T Break Stage at T in the Park.
Glasgow-bred, indie-rock quartet, The Telermen, who recently released their debut EP, Organic also play.
The band features Dillon Squire (lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar) whose father, guitarist John Squire, will headline T in the Park on Friday July 8 with The Stone Roses. With festival-worthy tunes including I’m a Liar, Lonely Mind and Trust You they will rock the T Break Stage this summer.
Having supported fellow T in the Park act The Last Shadow Puppets last night in Newcastle, and also joining Turner and Kane this evening for their Leicester show, Scottish five-piece The Lapelles are on the rise. Recently released track, Grab Life By was hailed by NME as possessing the “youthful swagger of Catfish and the Bottlemen”, with national airplay also secured from Radio X – catch them on the T Break Stage on Sunday 10th July.
Hey! Hello! are an international power-pop band formed by English singer-songwriter Ginger Wildheart. The band’s single How I Survived The Punk Wars was championed by Guns ‘n’ Roses’ Duff McKagan who commented in his Seattle weekly blog that the track was “perhaps the best and most real punk rock song in a long, long time. It actually stunned me”.
They’ll bring their melodic tunes to T in the Park this summer.
Tickets for T in the Park 2016 are on sale now from www.tinthepark.com and remain at the same price for a fourth year running.
Www.ticketmaster.co.uk or 08444 999 990.

- From Scotland with love from theshowbizlion.com

BIFFY CLYRO'S JAMES COVERS UP HIS NAKED SKIN AFTER REVEALING NEW ALBUM COVER

Beverley Lyons
BIFFY Clyro might have got naked for their new album artwork but bassist James Johnston was keen to cover up when he got back to Scotland.
The bearded brother loves his tattoos along with the rest of the group and was keen to complete one of his newest designs.
As soon as he got back from the States he headed straight to the Lucky Cat tattoo parlour in Glasgow for his latest fix.
James chose a very fitting watercolour Scottish thistle tattoo by artist Kevin and had been waiting to get it completed.
The band just released the artwork for their forthcoming album Ellipsis and tomorrow (Tuesday) they will reveal their video for new song Wolves of Winter, the first single off of Ellipsis at 3pm on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/biffyclyro


Simon had previously teased the album cover saying: "I think the artwork for this will shock some people"
He and his bandmates James and Ben Johnston are depicted lining up in the foetal position on the cover.
Their new song Wolves Of Winter is already gaining rave reviews after being played by Zane Lowe.
Simon said of the anthemic song which shows off different studio sounds and techniques: "It feels like the best thing we've ever done. We've found a new verbiage for Biffy Clyro. Wolves of Winter is about us being wolves on a patch and if you come onto that patch, we’ll tear you limb-from-limb.”




Sent from my iPhone


- From Scotland with love from theshowbizlion.com

BAY CITY ROLLER AND BGT WINNER SURPRISE AT CELTIC ROCKERS GIG IN DUNDEE

 BAY City Roller Alan Longmuir ended up playing Shangalang after becoming the  surprise guest at a Scots celtic rock gig.

 The legendary popster surprised punters at the Dundee gig by award-winning Scots celtic rock band Gleadhraich who were Rolling in Talent alongside Britain’s Got Talent winner Jai McDowall.

 The band, who were Angus Cultural Ambassadors in 2014, were joined by  two talents for their sell-out show at the Starlight Showroom.

After a kilted Jai provided vocals on Loch Lomond, the Carnoustie band welcomed Alan to the stage.

As he brought out his acoustic guitar the lads in the band joined him to play a special rendition of 1972 hit Shang-A-Lang sending the crowd into raptures.

The band then closed the show with their version of Take On Me from their second EP, Where We’re From, with confetti canons blasting into the crowd and showering the band as they took their final bows to David Bowie’s fitting Heroes.

 Both guest spots came about through piper Craig Weir who had supported the artists over the last few years.

 Craig piped on the Bay City Roller’s reunion tour last Christmas, with Queen at the SSE Hydro in January 2015 and twice with The Libertines. He’s also composed and played a tune to the Dalai Lama in 2012 and along with brother, Paul, played Arnold Schwarzenegger into his Edinburgh business event in January.

 Craig said: “We were keen to make this show extra special with the addition of a couple of special guests.

 We’d previously played with Jai and thought it would be great to get him to sing with us. When I was on the Bay City Rollers tour I discussed with Alan the idea of him guesting for us, so when I asked if he was up for it he agreed straight away. I still can’t believe it’s really happened.

 “To have both of these major Scottish artists playing with the band was amazing and hopefully the crowd enjoyed the surprises. It certainly completed the night for us!”

Afterwards, Roller Alan, who kept his promise to play despite suffering from flu, said: “They’re a great band.”

 Jai added: “I was panicky before the gig, as I normally am, but once I was on stage the audience were great and the boys were brilliant too.”