Music: David Roberts

David Roberts is an edinburgh based singer/songwriter who has been working in theatre for the last 11 years.(particular forum theatre ) now returing to his roots of music and especially singer/songwriting david is playing at radical, informative and educational events through-out edinburgh to promote the use of creative arts and music especially, in helping individuals to achieve their own personnel goal. Read more…

Are Singer Songwriters Valued? by Katharina Turner

My name is Katharina Turner and I am a singer-songwriter. I’ve been many things in my 32 years, and creating and delivering songs I’ve made is by far both my most challenging and most enjoyed pursuit. I approached Ragged University about the possibility of assisting me with my music and now I’m writing this essay to detail my experiences of the struggle to be paid.

I have as a singer songwriter encountered a lot of difficulty in being paid. I feel this is both about transcending through the system which has been in place as much as me myself, where I stand in my beliefs about the way the world interacts with me and things. And I am going to explore both these elements in this piece.

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Popular Music by Dan Zambas

Popular Music is easily definable as music that is popular. Although this category is generally saved for music that hits the Top 40 charts of its time, it can apply to any genre with a following. Society understands this term as chart music and may be met with some confusion when the claim ‘jazz is popular music’ is made. Musicologist Philip Tagg defined popular music with the following statement:

‘Popular music, unlike art music, is conceived for mass distribution to large and often socioculturally heterogeneous groups of listeners, stored and distributed in non-written form, only possible in an industrial monetary economy where it becomes a commodity and in capitalist societies, subject to the laws of ‘free’ enterprise, according to which it should ideally sell as much as possible of as little as possible to as many as possible’

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Popular Culture and Music by Dan Zambas

The word ‘culture’ holds a variety of meanings within the English language. Depending on its context, the word can be applied to the arts, fashion, sociological studies and nationalism. This makes the interpretation of Popular Culture an abstract term that cannot be defined easily.
For the purposes of this supplement the context in which popular culture will be used will be in a sociological format. Read more…

Music: Pat Dennis

Pat Dennis is a singer composer originally from Detroit, Michigan. He has 2 albums, ‘Mystery Train To infirmary Street’ and ‘Blessings…And Curses’, released in 2012 and 2013 severally. He and Sean have been playing together since June 2013. Pat sings and plays guitar, Sean plays lead guitar and mandolin. They play a mix of Americana, country, and folk. They play in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow.

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Music: The Bluesbrokers

The Bluesbrokers are a  group of seasoned Edinburgh based musicians performing with or without drums as a trio, 4 piece or 5 piece, The band plays classic blues (Freddy King, Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf), rock (Free, Cream, Stones, Beatles, Neil Young) and original material. The classic line up of drums, acoustic and electric guitars, keys and bass is augmented by electric mandolin and cittern.

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