South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture

 

Dougie MacLean is “Scotland's pre-eminent singer-songwriter and a national musical treasure” (SingOut USA) who has developed a unique blend of lyrical, 'roots based' songwriting and instrumental composition. He is internationally renowned for his song Caledonia, music for Last of the Mohicans and inspired performances. His songs have been covered by Paolo Nutini, Amy MacDonald, Ronan Keating, Mary Black, Frankie Miller, Cara Dillon, Kathy Mattea and many other top performers.

He celebrated his 50th year as a professional musician in 2024 and his popularity is still growing. His weekly broadcasts begun in March 2020 from his Old Schoolhouse and have reached over 4 million viewers in 70 different countries! He has received two prestigious Tartan Clef Awards, a place in the Scottish Music Hall of Fame, a Lifetime Achievement Award from BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and an OBE!

Available to book online or by calling Lanark Memorial Hall on 01555 673199.

Cost: £25.00 / £23.00 concession (subject to £1.50 transaction fee)

 

Max began weaving in 2020 and is inspired by connecting to nature and our ancestral roots by weaving beauty out of what natural resources we have around us. In this mindful, beginners and improvers friendly workshop, you will learn how to weave a round bread or fruit basket out of willow. Over the course of the day you'll learn the foundational techniques of round basketry, a craft which is at least 10,000 years old!

Please bring lunch (half hour break).

To book please call The Town House Hamilton on 01698 452299.

Cost: £55.00

 

We have some very talented artists who deliver our weekly classes and courses programme. We want to highlight their experience and talents and are focussing on our drawing and painting tutors. You can check out information on each artist on Facebook. Each artist has a different style and teaching method therefore can bring new ways to learn. You can book a lesson with them in the various locations.

Kayleigh McCallum is a self-taught artist who creates emotive artworks in a range of themes and subjects; from landscapes to people, in both a figurative and abstracted way.

Cost: £10.10

 

Matt McGinn wasn’t actually born in Rutherglen. He was born just ‘down the road’ in the Calton and was one of a family of nine. However, him, his wife Jeanette and their four children, Anna, Matt, Eleanor and Shonagh lived in Rutherglen.

Jimmie MacGregor described him as ‘the archetypal Glaswegian of his class and generation: short, stocky, robust with a ruddy complexion and rough-hewn features surmounted by a tartan bunnet.”    

He was a genius sometimes writing several songs in one day. Also, his subjects varied from Wee Kirkcudbright Centipedes to Red Yo-Yo’, from Miners Lullabies to Rolling Hills of the Border, from Horse Manure to Bananas. If he got a subject in his mind he had to write a song about it.

Initially he worked in the shipyards and eventually became a shop-steward. He was very political which often caused problems for him. At the age of 31 he won a Trade Union Scholarship to Ruskin College in Oxford. He gained a diploma in Economics and Political Science and then on to Huddersfield Teacher Training College.

When there he entered a newspaper song writing competition and won. His song was about a factory worker who drowned his foreman by holding his head down a toilet. One of the judges was Peggy Seeger and this is where the McGinn/Seeger relationship began. Cutting it short, Peggy’s brother Pete was so taken by Matts work that he got him a concert in New York’s Carnegie Hall with Bob Dylan as one of the support acts.

Having returned to Glasgow after College as a teacher but soon became known as ‘this new songwriting phenomenon’, and he was.

This show in Rutherglen will be presented by several singers singing at least 24 of Matts songs and you will probably recognise them all!

Available to book online or by calling Rutherglen Town Hall on 0141 613 5700.

Cost: £15 / £12 (subject to £1.50 transaction fee)

 

Get ready to scream like it’s 1999! Boyband in the Buff is the ultimate throwback concert - starring pop heartthrob Gareth Gates and a cast of ripped and ridiculously talented performers. With nothing but harmonies, dance moves, and a whole lot of skin, the boys belt out the biggest hits of the ‘90s and ‘00s - from Backstreet Boys to NSYNC, Blue to Take That - in a show that’s as nostalgic as it is naughty.

It’s a celebration of pop, passion, and pecs, where the clothes come off and the heat turns up. This is the ultimate night out for anyone who’s ever swooned over a boyband.

Warning: Contains tight harmonies and tighter pants. (At least, for the first few numbers.)

Over 18's only.

Available to book online or by calling The Town House Hamilton 01698 452299.

Cost: £32.00 (subject to £1.50 transaction fee)