Stirling band Constant Follower are in the running for this year’s Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) title.
Their debut album ‘Neither Is, Nor Ever Was’ has made it on to the longlist for the awards, comprising a total of 20 albums.
The ultimate winner will be announced at a ceremony at Stirling’s Albert Halls on Thursday, October 20.
The band were formed in 2018 and comprise frontman Stephen McAll (vocals, guitar and synths), Andrew Pankhurst, or Kurd, (electric guitar), Amy Campbell (vocals and synth), and Dave Guild (bass).
Stephen, of Riverside, said: “Having our album make the longlist for this year’s SAY Awards is still quite hard to accept, for me. I never imagined this sort of recognition for it.
“For me, the satisfaction with the creation of the music and with translating it onto a vinyl LP was as far as I had gone in my mind.
“I knew that we’d created something meaningful together; something that 30 years from now, a kid might find in their parent’s record collection and take it for themselves – like I surely did – and find their own meaning in my words.
“I felt we’d created something that might last; we’d made an ‘album’ album, which was my hope. That it is now being recognised for the SAY Award alongside so many other beautiful albums by wonderful artists, well… just when I thought I was over the imposter syndrome! I’m humbled, and very grateful.”
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The band’s drifting, heart-rending sound is a dreamlike reflection of Stephen’s own life. Growing up in Glasgow, he was randomly attacked on his way home from his girlfriend’s house one evening near his seventeenth birthday.
The catastrophic head injuries left him partially paralysed, with permanent disability, unable to write or play guitar, and with all of his childhood memories up until that point gone.
The next decade was spent between home and a cabin on Scotland’s west coast, where he eventually relearned to play guitar and began composing again.
Constant Follower will play Stirling’s Church of the Holy Rude on Thursday, October 27 as part of a tour of Scotland.
Also included in the longlist for the SAY title are Dollar jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie for his album ‘Forest Floor’ and band Walt Disco - whose singer and bass player James Potter is from Balfron - for ‘Unlearning’.
Stirling Council community planning and regeneration committee convener, councillor Gerry McGarvey said: “Congratulations to all the amazing artists from across Scotland that have made the longlist for this prestigious musical award.
“To reach this stage in the competition is an achievement in itself and it’s fantastic to have so many Stirling-based artists, and artists that have their roots in The Tolbooth’s music development workshops, in the final 20, demonstrating the area’s dynamic and diverse music scene.
“To celebrate the longlist announcement, we have created a special interactive exhibition in The Tolbooth where people can sample the best of Scottish music in 2022.”
