BUTLER, BLAKE & GRANT

Event information

BUTLER, BLAKE & GRANT
Bernard Butler, Norman Blake & James Grant launch their debut album with a concert at FRETS on Saturday 22nd March 2025 in the Strathaven Hotel.
For Butler, Blake & Grant their eponymous LP brings a beautiful conclusion to 3 years of casual acquaintance, impromptu performances and late-night rambles in the sitting room of Norman Blake’s Clydebank cottage. At the suggestion of FRETS host Douglas MacIntyre, Bernard Butler was invited to sling his axe up the road for a Celtic Connections booking in 2021 with Norman Blake – an old acquaintance - and James Grant who he had never met. Heading straight off the train to Mayfair Rehearsals the trio had an evening to put together a set of their joint catalogues before debuting at St. Lukes the following evening to a sold-out crowd. Within these laid-back beginnings, a bond formed over a combined songbook spanning 5 decades of incredible music. Across three stools on the stage James then Norman then Bernard posed a song each harmonising over each other’s tunes as if this was how you had always heard these songs. From the outset, it felt like there was something there, something that could be mined, when they started playing together it all just seemed to work, they all found a space within what they were doing, unforced. It obviously helped that they also had a laugh together and enjoyed one another’s company.

A string of dates followed from Strathaven to Aberdeen to Bristol to London’s Union Chapel forging a union strong enough for James to suggest that writers do what they do best – only together. They bedded down in Norman’s sitting room with three guitars, a mandolin, some shared stories and a wee dram jamming for days at a time letting the songs flow. Throwing up mics to capture each unrehearsed moment recordings started to flow, and a record was born. In this rural setting, BBG captured the "vibe" of their live concerts. Vocal harmonies were arranged and recorded, and the songs were fleshed out with some additional overdubbing. Bernard mixed the songs at his London studio, resulting in an album that encapsulates the essence of the group's live performance on tape.

Bernard Butler, Norman Blake and James Grant are three established and respected musicians. Norman, a centrifugal force in Teenage Fanclub, Bernard, renowned for his production and songwriting with myriad artists, most recently for his Mercury nominated album “For All our Days That Tear The Heart” and James, best known as the songsmith supremo of Love And Money.