As Youth Beatz for the kids kicks-off in Dock Park on Saturday, one of the region’s best loved singer songwriters takes to the Plainstanes for an afternoon of thrilling musical entertainment for the adults.
Mary Barclay and her Sensational Band will entertain audiences on the High Street from 2pm to 4pm as part of the In Our Town programme of free family events taking place in Dumfries until the middle of September.
Mary and her band are well known for their sets of rock, blues, pop, folk, country and tear-jerking ballads and are a popular choice for music lovers throughout Dumfries and Galloway.
Formed in 1995, the band have performed across the UK at concerts, festivals, pubs and private functions as well as live on Celtic Connections for BBC Radio Scotland where they were described by host Iain Anderson as ‘one of Scotland’s best kept secrets.’
The band recorded their album Let It Fly Tonight in 2006 – an eight-track CD of original material written by Mary and husband and band member Doug Carroll. In Autumn 2007, Blackbird from the same album was judged (by the likes of singer-songwriter Karine Polwart, music industry professional
Ronnie Gurr and BBC Radio Scotland producer Stewart Cruickshank) to be a winner in the prestigious songwriting competition, Burnsong.
The band is currently working on their next self-penned album which will be released next year.
On Sunday, the popular climbing wall returns to the High Street and provides a great opportunity for kids to test their mettle on the wall face as well as take in some exercise. It’s fun, it’s free and it’s in our town from noon to 5pm.
Next weekend, performers take to the streets on Saturday 16 with another fun-filled spectacle from the Let’s Circus crew. At the same time, comic book artist Mark Toner Mark will be at the Yellow Door in Queen Street from 11am to 2pm to turn shoppers into comic book characters on his sketch pad.
On Sunday 17, Spinning Jenny workshops take up their usual slot on the Plainstanes for an afternoon of circus skills.
To find out what’s coming up for the rest of the summer in our town, visit www.inourtown.org.uk
