Welcome to the Clubhouse – Paddy Bort’s monthly round-up of what’s on at Scottish folk clubs – the discerning ‘Clubber’s Guide’, as it were. The Clubhouse won’t manage to be absolutely comprehensive in its covering of dates, but it aims at being as inclusive as possible. Organisers up and down the country, please send your forthcoming concerts and activities to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The first Clubhouse instalment, for August ’09, concentrates on the Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, with an abundance of highly attractive concerts, at the Acoustic Music Centre, the Queen’s Hall and the Royal Oak, as well as a number of other venues. Not all folk clubs, though, go into hibernation in July and August, Leith Folk Club and the Star in Glasgow, to name but two, are carrying on throughout what passes as ‘summer’ in these parts.

The track list of the first Clubhouse:

Old Blind Dogs, ‘Harris Dance’  (from ‘Four on the Floor’)

Linties, ‘Waiting on a Bus’ (from the eponymous album)

Nick Keir, ‘Festival Lights’ (from ‘Fishing Up the Moon’)

Blazin’ Fiddles, ‘Highland Plaid’ (From ‘Live’)

* By the by, Blazin’ Fiddles, the Clubhouse forgot to mention, are at the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh on 17 and 18 August, and on 19 August they hit the Queen’s Hall…

* Paddy’s fellow Garden Sessions panellist Karine Polwart appears with Annie Grace and Corrina Hewat (Women in Harmony) at the Queen’s Hall on 21 August. A fabulous trio – and Paddy (tied up at the Oak) won’t be around to annoy them with any reference to the  ‘Three Graces’….