It's easy to get lost in the music of Elias Alexander. It's trad-meets-electronic. Fiddle, bagpipes, guitar, whistles and keys, one minute. Samples, loops, and dance floor beats the next. 

You could just as easily be shaking your stuff to his music around a beach bonfire, drowning out the noise of the Atlantic, or contemplating his emotion layered lyrics on a drive home. 

Thoughts of Scotland, shores, mountains, but with a twist. 

It's all born in the USA. 

In Ep27 of the Good Stuff in Between podcast, Elias chats to Shaun Milne about how his love of bagpipes and fiddles happened, writing songs with emotion and a sense of knowing who you are, and a return to Scotland to perform at HebCelt and other big stages.

Episode 27 'Elias' is streaming now.

It's festival season, but how on Earth do bands and artists get to perform on the big stages, and what goes on behind the scenes to decide the all important line ups?

As the Artist Programmer for HebCelt and a veteran of other huge live events including the MTV Europe Awards, Celtic Connections and more, Michelle Shields knows the importance and impact of such decision.

She talks to Shaun Milne about planning, making connections, and always being switched on to the talent of today for the festivals of tomorrow, delivering some of the best live programming in the UK and beyond.

Good Stuff In Between Ep26 'Michelle' is streaming now.

Fred Well is a songwriter and singer from Bergen from the sameMade Management stable as the likes ofAurora,Sigrid,Skaar,Moyka and other top artists.

He is just back from touring with Norwegian DJKygo having performed on the superstar's eponymous album with 'Surrender' which was heading towards four million monthly streams, and co-wrote for Kygo's latest releaseHold On Me with Sandro Cavazza out today.

His own single,Little House, is also out now and he joined journalistShaun Milne on the Good Stuff In Between podcast to talk about the inspiration behind the song, life on the road, and how he is still chasing his own dreams for the future.

Sara Fjeldvær is a songwriter, musician and singer from Norway who weaves stories in song that provoke, challenge and comfort in equal measure. Part jazz, part folk with a flash of pop and aged like a vintage wine, her voice conveys feeling as she explores her place in the world, and its place in her. Love, loneliness and identity traverse each ofher two solo albums, a slew of EPs and singles, and her newestcollaboration which has her looking at music in other ways. Ahead of her debut live UK show inGlasgow on Monday, October 21, she talks to Shaun Milne about her inspirations, feelings and music and she prepares to share her work to an international audience that should get ready to pay attention to one of the most exciting emerging singers of the year so far.

Show Notes

• Live, Monday October 21, Glasgow's Old Toll Bar
• Sara Fjeldvær Official website
• Bandcamp
• Spotify
• VierLive replay

The supremely talented contemporary harpistPippa Reid-Foster discusses her stunning new album ‘Undercurrents’ which is out on September 6 with Shaun Milne in Episode 15 of the Good Stuff in Between podcast.

She has a brilliant story of overcoming adversity after fearing her career would come to an end following a terrible accident which saw her ability to play left hanging in the balance but for the determination and expertise of a surgeon and NHS to save her talents.

Her recovery and focus has come with the reward of musical legends includingPhilip Glass,Max Richter andAlexandra Hamilton-Ayres endorsing the use of their music in her new works to stand proudly alongside her original compositions which, as the album title suggests, dives deep into topics around water including the sea, wild swimming, nature and climate crisis to name a few.

Hailing from Helensburgh and born with a love for sailing, she is also working on an exciting new project collaborating with an international group of artists of all disciplines following a recent sea faring adventure with theThe Excelsior Trust that will see them tour around Norway, the Faroe Islands and other music loving nations next year.

She has just released her first single from the forthcoming album with ‘Turning Tides’ where she shares the rhythms and waves of her secret sanctuary from life’s challenges in the hope it helps bring calm to others. She will also appear in new work from the astonishingly talented singer, songwriter and composerSiobhan Wilson.

Chris Giubarelli sold his family business to chase a dream of playing music for a living as he does around the bars of Inverness and performing in a choir. It's a path that brought him to Belladrum where, at the heart of the festival, he chatted to Shaun Milne about his transformation from selling fish suppers to entertaining people as the Highland Folk Hero.

Author Christopher Brookmyre chats with Shaun Milne on his love for music, going to gigs, how songs inspire his writing and what readers can expect from his latest novel The Cracked Mirror which he read from during a literary performance at this year's Verb Garden stage at Belladrum.

Seán McLaughlin, Vicky Gray and Sandy Batchelor talk to Shaun Milne about their performance at this year's Belladrum festival, response to their latest album Goodnight, Lad and offer a sneak peek into some exciting film news involving one of the band.

Indie rockers The Sun Day - frontman and rhythm guitar Connor Ritchie, Luke Doyle on lead guitar, Aidan Forret on bass, and Craig Spink on drums - played their second Belladrum this year and took time out after to chat with Shaun Milne about what it is like being part of an up and coming band at a major festival.

Born in Leith, raised in Edinburgh, and a musician mum based in Dundee, the phenomenal Roseanne Reid has been carving out a reputation for herself in roots and country and is now dabbling in more traditional Scottish folk as she sets her sights on her follow-up album.

Her musical taste was influenced by her parents including one half of The Proclaimers, but her songwriting and playing is authentically hers alone. On her first trip to Belladrum, she spoke to Shaun Milne for the podcast about the experience, life as it happens, and what comes next.

Kenny Smith and Michael MacMillan from Highland folk rockers Torridon join host Shaun Milne at Belladrum music festival and reveal how they are going to mark 20 years of touring and recording as a band in this special bonus episode.

Laura Silverstone is a singer songwriter based in Edinburgh, a former finalist on TV show Spain's Got Talent, but more often than not seen out on the city streets enjoying her first love busking to live crowds most especially around festival season, but also across Europe, Asia and as far afield as Australia which has seen her sing with the likes of Glen Hansard and others along the way.

She is also a busy recording artist and has just released her new album - Heartwood - ahead of a mini promotional tour in the van that she has for years as a travelling troubadour called home, a place her many fans on Instagram have come to recognise thanks to her role as a social media influencer and storyteller too.

In this interview with host Shaun Milne she delves into how her music career began, the modern pressures for not just creatives and musicians but life on the road, the dangers of burn out, the balance of lost loves and new friendships, and how inspiration lies around every bend. An interview that is as much about a life story, as it is a career.

Episode 14 'Laura' now streaming.

Show Notes

https://linktr.ee/laurasilverstone

https://www.instagram.com/laurasilverstonemusic

https://www.laurasilverstone.com/

The show's title music is Nothing's Going To Bring Me Down courtesy of singer songwriter Willie Campbell .https://open.spotify.com/track/4BKdWV... https://www.williecampbell.co.uk/Good Stuff In Between is an independent podcast written, edited and produced by host Shaun Milne from Skog Media Associates.https://goodstuffinbetween.substack.com/https://skogmedia.com/

Ciarán O'Toole is the co-founder of secure music sharing and streaming platform Songbox - a platform with a difference.

It is designed from the ground-up for artists and musicians to privately and securely share their music in the creation, collaboration, pitching, marketing and release process with whoever needs it.

What's more it includes powerful data, user analysis, and a one-stop-shop for including Electronic Press Kits, personalised links and more.

It is music player in design, providing a slick and familiar user experience.

Here Ciarán talks to Shaun Milne on the Good Stuff In Between podcast about how he and co-founder Michael Coll developed the idea, their pedigree, and the ethos and values that run through their business development.

But most of all, why it matters.

SHOWNOTES

https://songbox.com/

Sign-up to Songbox - Good Stuff In Between affiliate link:

https://songbox.com/?via=goodstuffinbetween

Kenna Ross is a piano player from Nairn in the Highlands who has been making a name for herself supporting other artists at some of the biggest festivals in music. She has appeared everywhere fromCeltic Connections,Belladrum, andKing Tut's, toMontreal Jazz andLollapalooza in Paris.

The likes ofBBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball have featured her live in the alternativePiano Room sessions, after her cover versions of songs by the likes of21 Pilots andParamore racked up hundreds of thousands of plays online.

Now though she is stepping out into the light under her own name with the launch of her first original album -In The Moment - recorded at theWee Studio in the Western Isles and featuring a string of talented artists.

She talks with hostShaun Milne about where it all started, the hard yards she has put in playing hotels and other events along the way, inspiration, opportunity and the growing confidence that is allowing her to stage her own headline event for the very first time.

Episode 13: Kenna is streaming now.

Dougie Brownis a festival producer, promoter, artistmanager and very much more. He is the music dynamo behindThe Gathering andBelladrum music festivals that have brought some of the biggest artists on the planet to the Highlands, supported talent including the irresistible songs ofKatie Gregson-MacLeod and is a champion for the region on so many levels. In episode of 12 of theGood Stuff In Betweenpodcast, he talks to hostShaun Milneabout how it all began with a passion for drums and love of Guns n Roses, gigs in pubs and harbourside hotels, how vision and determination are among the qualities that can lift any situation, and how team work, talent and having the right people around can be everything. His is a story that is inspirational, fascinating and is essential listening or anyone looking to make their way in the live music scene.

Episode 12, Dougie, streaming now.

Show Links

• Belladrum
• The Gathering
• Episode 1: Naomi
• Good Stuff In Between substack

Xan Tyer has enjoyed a sparkling career spanning the fun and theatrical Death Bang Party and The Tarantinos to globe trotting pop duo Technique and Alan McGee's label Creation Records.

Now she is embarking on a new solo chapter with her debut album 'Holding Up Half the Sky' which is already attracting critical acclaim after working with the likes ofBoo Hewerdine, a host of multi talented musicians and a cast of female artists for a unique twist.

In Episode 11 of theGood Stuff In Between she talks to hostShaun Milne about her inspirations, journey in music, the challenges of funding and launching an album, and the lessons she has learned along the way.

Elephant Sessions mandolin player and founding member Alasdair Taylor talks with hostShaun Milne about how they went from ceilidh band to award-winning global trailblazers, the stories and people that have helped them along the way, plans for a new tour in the UK and US, and their first venture into staging a home grown festival with Black Isle Calling.Good Stuff In Between podcast Episode 10, now playing.

Innes Strachan has conquered the musical world as electro-trad pioneersNiteworks. Four years after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis he has used the diagnosis to push on with a long planned new project, electro-pop actLUSA, collaborating with co-songwriter Donald Macdonald, vocalist Beth Malcolm, fellow Niteworks founder Ruairidh Graham, Laura Wilkie on strings, Keir Long on piano and actor Lorne Macfadyen delivering a poem by Colin Bramwell. In Episode 9, Innes talks to host Shaun Milne about the inspiration and process behind thenew work.

Seán McLaughlinhas a pedigree of critically acclaimed music that takes in working alongside the likes ofIdlewild's Rod Jones onThe Birthday Suit, with his own bandDante and now a brand new project,Seán R. McLaughlin and The Wind-Up Crows. Ahead of the launch of their first albumGoodnight, Lad he sits down with podcast hostShaun Milne to discuss the inspiration behind the new music, collaborations with the likes of Jeremy Backofen ofThe Felice Brother,Andy Monaghan ofFrightened Rabbitand Indian violinist Ragini Shankar, the process of getting songs out there, and a trip down memory lane.

Episode 8, out now.

(Image Credit: R. McLaughlin)

Katie Macdonald has been immersed in the music business all her life.

From family to friends, to clients and concerts, hers is a career that saw her break new ground for female leadership in the industry responsible for some of the best attended events in the world.

She can reel off names of colleagues and people she has supported like others would read a playlist. The famous, the uber famous, and emerging talent too. Her passport has stamps from across the world, it was as good as it could get in many ways.

But the drive, determination as self-sacrifice to reach those dizzy heights as the go to person, the one everyone relies on and respects, inevitably came at a cost.

Burn out, health issues, emotional trauma.

Yet like the decades of work that had gone before, she took on this new challenge, found a way to own it, a better way to live her life in the fullest way she can and a new business was born.

Now instead of enduring the stresses and strains, she is coaching others on how to cope with her pioneering health and well-being organisationWell On Tour, travelling with artists and their entire crew to make sure they taking the steps necessary to make every count.

In this show she talks to hostShaun Milne about the highs, discusses the lows, and how she has come full circle with one of the most exciting projects in the music industry right now.

Episode 7, ´Katie´is streaming now.

Kevin Mackay's career could have gone in many directions including politics, international relations or his first love, music and touring. In the end he's managing to do them all at once as the first Sustainability Co-ordinator for live entertainment giantsDF Concerts and Events. He talks toShaun Milne about what may be one of the most important jobs in the industry, the ripple effects and what the future holds. Episode 6: Kevin is streaming now.

Craig Corse is the founder ofCCM Live, one of the world's leading folk-based music agencies, representing artists such as Siobhan Miller, Talisk, Blazin' Fiddles, Rura, Saltfishforty, Madison Violet, Mec Lir to name a few. He also helps steer the Orkney Folk festival, Scotland Expo and is a regular feature at Celtic Connections and industry talks around the world. He talks about where his journey began, examines the growing need for others to consider careers representing talent, and offers a rare insight into the workings of a top flight agency. Episode 5: 'Craig' now streaming wherever you get your podcasts.

What's involved in ensuring a live music festival comes together as planned, safely and on time?That's what Episode 4 of the podcast finds out as hostShaun Milne chats withIain Macphail, Site Manager and Board Member of the Hebridean Celtic Festival (Heb Celt) alongside his role as MD and Chief Visionary of theIDM Group Scotland consisting of IDM Energy, IDM Heb and IDM Safety Solutions. He takes us on a journey of more than two decades involvement with the festival first as a volunteer helping pick up litter to overseeing one of Scotland's best known live events.

As founder of Wee Studio and Wee Studio Records in the Outer Hebrides, every day Keith Morrison is help shape music careers across the islands, Scotland and the world.

Touring with his band Face the West and this year at HebCelt with his best friend Alasdair White, he's also leading from the front on stage.

Music is everything here.

From producing records to touring with bands, or getting that elusive sound to innovating with new ideas, all of it is forged with friendship, fun and for the right reasons.

In Episode 24 of the Good Stuff In Between he chats to Shaun Milne about his remarkable journey from Lewis to Las Vegas, festival site to main stage, and how the story may really only be getting started.

SHOWNOTES

https://weestudio.co.uk/

https://www.hebceltfest.com/

https://goodstuffinbetween.com/

Irish singer-songwriterMima Merrow first burst onto the music scene with her debut single'Freckles' which was soon followed by her debut EP in 2020 called'Good Grief' seeing her catch the attention of programmers at the BBC who were soon playing her songs on air long before she delivered her first album 'Almost Home' in 2022. A native of Belfast, she now calls Glasgow home, and a busy summer of live shows has includedBelladrum Festivalwhere she spokes to hostShaun Milne about finding her feet in the industry by learning as she went. She talks about her admiration ofThe Frames, support from influencers such asRoddy Hart and how collaboration might just be key to what follows next as her journey continues. Episode 3: 'Mima'.

Willie Campbell is one of Scotland's most respected and loved singer songwriters with a career that saw him achieve early success as a teenager as part of rising starsAstrid working with the likes of Edwyn Collins and touring with Belle and Sebastian. He was a founding member of theReindeer Section with Gary Lightbody fromSnow Patrol, and has gone on to work on films, produce music, share his love of songwriting and is using his past experience from the US as part of his new passion,The Tumbling Souls. In this podcast he sits down with host Shaun Milne and delves deep into his personal journey from where it all began, how success turned to trauma and joy again, offers valuable insights into the music industry and looks ahead to the future.

Naomi Hollas helps lead some of the best known music festivals in the UK fromBelladrum,HebCelt andThe Reeling to having worked atLeeds Festival,Celtic Connections and withDF Concerts. She is often seen chairing speaking conferences in Europe and foundedEvent Grads, the 2000+ strong future event leader community. With the summer season upon us, she joinsShaun Milne in looking back to how it began, the challenges she faced, her advice for others and examining where she is today, including all the good stuff in between.

The show's title music isNothing's Going To Bring Me Down courtesy of singer songwriterWillie Campbell.

It was an era of glow sticks, rave pants and dodgy haircuts. Sneaking into castle grounds with a carry out, scrawling notes on blank walls. Dodging the police to avoid a ride home.

And for some, a chance to make music and follow the bright lights.

Among them Willie Campbell, founding frontman with The Tumbling Souls, who are back with a new single due for release - 1995 - which is a nostalgia dipped love letter to those times, refections on lives lived in between, and homecomings.

He discusses how it fuses their blend of on trend country meets trad with a flash of indie. It will be among the songs on their at HebCelt Festival in July, where Willie has just been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

He also talks about how The Tumbling Souls have settled into a tight line-up: Iain ‘Spanish’ MacKay (guitar, vocals), Louisa Barron MacDonald (fiddle), Iain Kernahan (guitar), Stephen Drummond (accordion), Willie (guitar, vocals), and their sixth member, Paul Martin (guitar).

And he explains the process of recording at Wee Studio in South Dell on Stornoway with owner Keith Morrison and producer and performer in his own right, Scott C Park.

A second single – Nowhere In A Hurry – is already pencilled in as the follow-up release later this year.

Ep 23: The Tumbling Souls, is streaming now.

SHOWNOTES

• https://www.hebceltfest.com/artist/tumbling-souls
• 
  
• 
  

Skerryvore and co-founder Daniel Gillespie have been making music happen for 20 years. Eight albums, thousands of miles clocked up, and adoring fans across the globe ensure their legend will live long and proud for generations as one of Scotland's greatest exports. This week they were announced as new inductees to the HebCelt Festival Hall of Fame ahead of their appearance on the main stage in Stornoway in July. But before then, their biggest concert yet with an anniversary gig at Floors Castle in Kelso on Saturday. Amid the last minute checks and preparations, Daniel chatted with Shaun Milne about what it means to be in one of Scotland's most inspirational bands, what folk can expect this weekend, their love and dreams for HebCelt and the islands, and what advice he'd share with artists charting their own way in the music industry. Episode 22: 'Daniel' is streaming now.

Skerryvore at HebCelt

https://www.hebceltfest.com/artist/skerryvore

Skerryvore at Floors Castle

https://skerryvore.com/xx/

Navigating the music business can be as alien as it is confusing which is where Kitt Carr comes in. As event coordinator for Wide Events CIC, she organises industry essentials such as Wide Days and Off The Record Scotland, major events helping demystify everything from getting on the radio to releasing music, securing gigs, and more, by plugging into their network of industry experts to share leading advice. She talks to podcast host Shaun Milne about how she got involved, the work she and the team does, overcoming challenges, identifying opportunities and the next event coming up - all about growing live audiences.

Episode 21 'Kitt' is streaming now.

Record deals, late night bust-ups, overseas tours, NME interviews, the Peel Sessions, Glastonbury and pissing on historic monuments were all part and parcel of Scots band Mogwai's early rise as the young team went onto conquer the 1990's, driven in part by their then manager Colin Hardie.

As the band gets ready to embark on a 2025 world tour after the release of their latest album The Bad Fire, he takes us behind the scenes of what it was like going from playing small gigs in Glasgow and the Highlands to some of the biggest stages in the world, the qualities needed in a manager at the time, and whether or not he'd be willing to do it all over again.

Recorded in Glasgow with host Shaun Milne, its a nostalgia laden trip back to the 1990s when Kappa was still vogue, benefits supplemented life and no-one would be surprised if DF supremo Geoff Ellis phoned up your parents.

Episode 20, 'Colin', is streaming now.

The Smile You Send Out Returns To You couldn't be more fitting for the name ofConstant Follower's latest album, released on February 28 via Last Night From Glasgow. Because in this episode ofGood Stuff In Between it is the smile, the uplifting joy that oozes out from Stephen McAll as he talks about how it all came together, that dominates most. It is juxtaposed next to a raw, honest and deeply personal account of violence, substance abuse and societal cruelty that, in part, informs the beauty and creativity that has emerged through the ripples of time. It was a privilege, and inspiration, to record.

Show Notes

https://linktr.ee/ConstantFollower

https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/

https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/about-us/our-impact/constant-follower---its-a-feeling-of-support-unlike-anything-ive-had-from-any-other-organisation

https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/

https://seabassvinyl.com/

https://goodstuffinbetween.com/

Ainsley Hamill will be part of the Celtic Connections opening concert before also launching her brand new album, Fable, on January 17 including the new single Machir Bay out today, and December's release Ó Ho-ró ílle Dhuinn, before embarking on a mini-tour in England to kick-start her incredible year.

In Episode 18 of The Good Stuff In Between, she shares the inspiration behind her new work including the legends and landscapes of Scotland, the videos that accompany it, and the importance of friendship as her creative spark.

She also takes a look back on how her career began, offers advice to new performers based on her own experiences, considers how the folk community differs from others, and how performing at the likes of Eurovision, the Mod and other internationally renowned events have helped shaped her approach to music.

Episode 18, Ainsley, streaming now.

Katch Holmes has been a constant in the Scottish music sector for quarter of a century. A major driving force in the festival sector with Knockengorroch in south west Scotland, and artist agent, a coach, expert speaker on major global music panels, she has seen and done it all. Ahead of a series of workshops in Glasgow and Edinburgh on how artists can be better at self promotion and the scared art of touring, she talks to Shaun Milne about her career, the shape of the music sector and industry, and what motivates her to help.

Episode 28 is streaming now.

SHOW NOTES

Knockengorroch Festival

https://www.knockengorroch.org.uk/

Self-Promotion & Organising a Tour with Katch Holmes

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/tradmusicforum/self-promotion-organising-a-tour-with-katch-holmes/2025-09-26/10:00/t-qjlmpvz

Off Site Productions

https://www.offsiteproductions.org/about/