Jill Jackson's Xmas Show

Jill Jackson put on a very special festive show at Cottiers Theatre in Glasgow’s West End this past December. The night was called “A Very Country Christmas” and featured Jill’s solo material (old and brand new) as well some holiday season classics. There were also a few special guests, namely Kathleen MacInnes, Rab Noakes and Soul Nation Choir. It was a brilliant night, truly, and it was a pleasure to capture this event for Jill.

Behind the Scenes/Soundcheck:

A VERY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS:

GEAR
Nikon D4
Nikon D850
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8

Soul Nation Choir

Soul Nation Choir, run by the incredibly talented Chris Judge, is a Scottish rock choir that blends pop, soul and gospel in their performances. The best of the best vocal talents have gone through its ranks: X-Factor contestants, Bafta winners, West End stars - you name it. I've been photographing them since the choir's inception some 5 years ago: from candid, behind-the-scenes moments to images taken on music video shoots and during numerous live appearances. It's always a joy to work with them, I've made some friends along the way and I thought it was about time I compiled and shared some of my favourite images taken during these past 5 years. Enjoy and catch them live if you get a chance - they'll leave you smiling for days.

FRANCES THORBURN & FRIENDS

Frances Thorburn is a fantastic singer-songwriter and an actress, known to many for her role as Kim Monroe in River City, and a couple of weeks ago she put on a truly splendid evening of music to raise funds for Moe Abutoq, a film director and a friend of Frances who was diagnosed with MS 2 years ago. The illness has been rapidly advancing and its treatment requires travel to Mexico and some £60,000. Frances invited a host of musicians for the night including Martha L. Healy, Kathryn Joseph, Angie Darcy and many more. "Celebration of Songs", as the event was called, took place on February 8th at Saint Luke's and featured material ranging from show tunes to Americana, Broadway to Paula Abdul (yes, really). I was lucky enough to be there and capture the night (see images below). If you didn't manage to attend the fundraiser you can still help Moe by donating to the JustGiving page Frances set up: 

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/frances-thorburnmoeabutoq.

---

SOUNDCHECK

---

CELEBRATION OF SONGS

Kathryn Joseph

Joyce Falconer

George Drennan & Frances Thorburn

Moe Abutoq

Angie Darcy

Frances Thorburn

Martha L. Healy

Frances Thorburn

Ryan Joseph Burns

Frances Thorburn

David Farrell, Frances Thorburn, Kathryn Joseph & Chris Stout

The Dolls - Behind The Scenes

The Dolls are Louise McCarthy (Only an Excuse?) and Gayle Telfer Stevens (River City) and I wrote about working with them before. When their Dolls Abroad tour finally hit the King's Theatre in Glasgow earlier this spring (for 3 sold out shows no less) I was asked to document the process of putting the show together. It was a very, very long day but in all honesty, it was one of the most rewarding working experiences I've had. Have a look at some of the shots below:

The Dolls

The Dolls are Louise McCarthy (Only an Excuse?) and Gayle Telfer Stevens (River City) and I've known them for a few years through my work with Soul Nation Choir (Gayle and Lousie have both sung with this brilliant choir). I'd been hearing (and seeing clips online) of their double act for a while but somehow never got the chance to see it live until I was asked to photograph a couple of their sold-out Dolls Abroad shows at The Mitchell Theatre this September. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen - I was photographing it with tears streaming down my face! After 8 sold-out shows at The Mitchell Theatre, The Dolls are hitting the road next spring to bring Dolls Abroad to venues all over Scotland. Fat chance getting tickets (some dates were sold out within 10 minutes) but it's definitely worth trying cause these two (and the brilliant Alan Orr who also stars in the show) will knock your socks out!