Hello friend,

Pictish Trail, here. Put the kettle on, then.

I'm just back from touring with British Sea Power around Europe, which was amazing fun. Predictably quite boozey, but nevertheless one of the healthiest tours i've been on. We had a 'run club' going, doing 5K runs in the mornings ... the rider had loads of fresh vegetables and no Chomp bars ... and we got to dress up in BSP's bear costumes, dancing around the venues, producing endless pints of sweat. Look, here's a photo of my tour buddy, Suse Bear, quite LITERALLY living up to her name ...

Big love to BSP for having us along. Such an incredible band, was a joy to watch them play each night. Now I've got a few days at home to wash my poncho and beard, before heading back out on the road again. So here are some headlines ...

WE ARE PLAYING GLASTO - Yup, i'm returning to GLASTONBURY, the biggest festival in the cosmos, in a few weeks time. The full band are coming down with me, and we're playing William's Green tent on Friday 23rd June at 2pm, and some other "secret" shows on Saturday 24th. It's long since sold out, but if you're coming along, it would be lovely to see ya. You can see the full line-up, here: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/line-up/line-up-2017/#williamsgreen

FUTURE ECHOES LONGLISTED FOR SCOTTISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR - There's a thing in Scotland where they ask some Scottish people what their favourite Scottish albums of the past 12 months were, and they then check the list to see which ones were nominated the most, and double check to see that each act has at least one Scottish granny, and then they invite them all to a car park in Paisley to fight it out, with live commentary from Dougie Donnelly. When you put out an album on your own label, it feels a bit weird to go "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT THIS, LOOK, LOOOK!!" ... but, aye, my Future Echoes album has made the long-list, and the Award is announced on the 28th of June, during which time i'll no doubt be on a post-Glasto comedown brain-melt. You can see all the nominated albums here: http://www.sayaward.com/index.html

PT IN MOJO - There's a song of mine on the free CD accompanying the latest issue of MOJO Magazine. 'Strange Sun' is taken from Future Echoes, and is longest track on the album. Here's a YouTube link with some visuals courtesy of James Hankins (the director for the 'After Life' video). It's probably the most 'festival' sounding song i've ever done. The sort of song you'd wave one arm in the air to - whilst using the other arm to hold a pint glass in which to urinate.

RIGHT. Back on the road this Friday, playing in Reading ... and then Field Day in London on Saturday. In fact, here's a big list of all my upcoming shows ...

UPCOMING PICTISH TRAIL SHOWS

FRI 2 JUNE SOUTH STREET ARTS, READING, UK [TICKETS]
SAT 3 JUNE FIELD DAY FESTIVAL, LONDON, UK [TICKETS]
SAT, JUN 17 @ 20TH ANNIVERSARY CEILIDH, ISLE OF EIGG [TICKETS]
FRI, JUN 23 @ WILLIAMS GREEN, GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL [SOLD OUT]
FRI, JUN 30 @ IONA VILLAGE HALL MUSIC FESTIVAL, IONA [SOLD OUT]
SUN, JUL 2 @ BARRAS ART AND DESIGN, GLASGOW [TICKETS]
FRI, JUL 28 @ LOST MAP'S HOWLIN' FLING, ISLE OF EIGG [SOLD OUT]
SAT, AUG 19 @ GREEN MAN FEST, CRICKHOWELL, WALES [TICKETS]
THU, AUG 24 @ SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH [TICKETS]
FRI, SEP 15 @ GOOD LIFE EXPERIENCE, HAWARDEN, WALES [TICKETS]

See you soon!

PT xx