Chords not words in Linlithgow: Award winning poet set to strum verses rather than write them

Don Paterson’s first love was always jazz/folk guitar and he will be letting his musical lines loose at St Peter’s Church on Friday, November 10, sharing the stage with fellow six string slinger Graeme Stephen.

The poet played music professionally until he became writer in residence at Dundee University and subsequently Professor of Poetry at St Andrews University, but the guitar was never far from his thoughts.

“Playing music is like any activity, really,” said Don. “If you don’t do it continually, you can start to get rusty. I certainly felt as if I wasn’t playing as well as I could for a time when I picked up the guitar less and less often.

"So, it took quite a lot of practice to get back close to a level I was happy with and to play with musicians like Graeme, who is one of the best musicians I've ever heard.

Don believes his guitar playing colleague Graeme is a real kindred spirit.

"We both like a lot of the same musicians – pianist Bill Evans and guitarists Bill Frisell and John Abercrombie, for example. So there’s no shortage of music we both know and we enjoy playing each other’s compositions.

“We played at St Peter’s before the pandemic and it’s a great, very intimate space to play in. It suits the conversational style of music we play and the audience will be up close to us.”

Visit the website for tickets and more information.