Acoustic Edinburgh was inspired by a number of 'Acoustic Extravaganza' gigs organized by KT Tunstall in 2001 before she moved to London in pursuit of the massive international success she has since achieved. These were run in The Gilded Saloon in Edinburgh's Cowgate and after KT's departure, Paul Gilbody and Simon Kirby (regulars at Acoustic Extravaganza) took it upon themselves to create a regular monthly event to showcase the best of the original music coming out of Scotland. Acoustic Edinburgh was born in March 2002.
Our aim has always been to create a unique evening of musical entertainment in a relaxed atmosphere, focussing on high quality and an eclectic mix of styles. While we regularly promote singer-songwriters, we always try to feature local bands playing full acoustic sets as a departure from their normal show.
Kind of like Edinburgh's answer to 'MTV Unplugged'.
In the past we've had acoustic sets from the likes of Amplifico, Last Great Wilderness, Underbelly, Sans Trauma, Gecko 3, Shrinking Violet, Super 8 and X-Tigers - as well as sets from more traditionally acoustic acts such as Nizlopi, Rosie Brown, Douglas Kay Band, Andi Neate and Ellie Mulhern.
Musical styles have ranged from the mellow, lazy-cool of Floozie Soo to Seattle-inspired power of Battalion of Flies; from the satirical folk of Ballboy's Gordon McIntyre to the big band latino grooves of Das Contras; from the virtuosic harp playing of Phamie Gow to the Didgeridoo/Beatbox of Nathan Kaye; from the Senegalese beats of Diwan and Iranian magic of Mosca, to the squeezebox and laptop induced experimentation of Found and Ordinaryson; from the stunning guitar wizardry of Davide Sanna and John Gomm to the beautiful songcraft of our own KT Tunstall.