Hometown hoedown for Bo'ness Belles

In the last 13 years, the choir has been fine-tuned with a fundraising mission at its heart too – raising more than £50,000 for local good causes too.

While the Belles have now entertained at venues across the country, they rarely stage a paid for concert in their home town – the last gig being in the Barony Theatre in 2019.

However, Jeni and the girls will be back on the Barony stage on Thursday, September 10 and Friday, September 11 – with the 21-strong choir all taking to the stage.

Jeni said: “Our last concert was just before the pandemic so I thought it was about time we did another one!

“The Belles have evolved so much in the last few years; to start with, we formed to entertain care home residents.

“We’ve come a long way and, thanks to musical director Julie Taylor, we sound like a choir now in terms of harmonising.

“The girls put in an incredible amount of time and effort to rehearse – we’ve been meeting twice a week in Bo’ness Parish Church to prepare for the concerts next month.

“A lot of folk had been asking when our next public concert was going to be so we’ve decided to return to the Barony – to meet demand!”

The theme was chosen not just because it rhymes but to show off two particular periods in the Belles 13 year history – lockdown, obviously, and hoedown for the choir’s theme in 2025 and 2026.

“During lockdown, it was tough for us to meet up and rehearse to keep the choir going,” said Jeni.

“So I set the girls challenges each week – be that their favourite movie track or a song that means something to them.

“The girls filmed themselves doing these songs and we’d play the videos on a Wednesday night online – when we would normally have had rehearsals.

“Some of the videos were hysterical, featuring the girls dressed up in a variety of places around the town, but we’ve never really featured the songs anywhere.

“It was a chance to revisit those songs, many of which we’ve not performed before.

“Country music was our theme for 2025 but there’s such a vast array of numbers and material that we decided to keep it going this year – hence hoedown.”

Among the artists who will be featured in the concert are Neil Diamond, The Proclaimers, Lulu, Amy Winehouse, Bucks Fizz, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers and, of course, Dolly Parton.

Jeni added: “It’s going to be a great night and a lot of fun, with quite a few costume changes along the way!

“We’ll also have some special guests appearing with us.”

Tickets are selling well with 75 per cent being sold out for both shows, so it may be best to book your seats fast at https://www.ticketsource.com/barony-theatre.

All proceeds from both concerts will be added to the Belles 2026 fundraising account, which will be donated to good causes in and around the town in January.

Bookings for the Belles Christmas care home tour begin on October 1.