The Stand comedy club is one of my very favourite places, and I’m going there again on the 9th of July – but this time I’m going to be one of the people on stage rather than one of the people in the audience. Don’t worry, I’m not becoming a stand-up comedian: I’ll be there to talk about music as part of Marginalia, a cultural show that promises to “massage your grey matter, tickle your funny bone and tug at your heart strings”. I’ll be appearing with comedian Christopher McArthur Boyd, the author Alan Bissett and poet Iona Lee. It’s fair to say I’m absolutely terrified and a little bit star-struck too.
Category: Books
Stuff I’ve read or helped to write
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Twice as nice
I’ll be doing not one but two events at this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival on the 10th and 11th of August.
First of all there’s 1995: Grrrls Aloud where I’ll be joining Emma Pollock, Cora Bissett and Chitra Ramaswamy, with a soundtrack by Hen Hoose’s Cariss Crosbie. We’re going to be talking about the other 1995: not the Oasis one, but the one where Garbage released their debut album and the Delgados and Chemikal Underground did amazing things.
And the following day, I’ll be in conversation with Gary West as we celebrate Scots music in the brilliantly titled God Save The Scene. Gary’s book, Brave New World, is a biography of the late, great Martyn Bennett.
I’m really looking forward to both events. I think they’ll be lots of fun.
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It’s oh so Quietus
And so it was that Marshall embarked upon a two and a half year project to research queer music in Scotland. Small Town Joy: From glam rock to hyperpop: how queer music changed the sound of Scotland is her wonderful, trivia packed, often fascinating and fangirling look at the LGBTQ+ artists that have shaped Scotland’s cultural landscape. She’s deliberately not aiming solely for a nostalgic, retromania style read either. After tracing historic lines, the second half of the book is a rich collection of her interviews and essays exploring current queer scenes, sometimes ones thriving in places where she least expects. (See her interviews with queer Scots trad folk musicians for example, or conversely, a notable lack of interviews with gay male rappers.)
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Time for a Snack
I’m a big fan of Snack magazine, the independent Scots arts, entertainment and culture magazine, so I’m really delighted to be in its pages this month talking about Small Town Joy. You can read this month’s magazine online for free here.
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Small Town Joy in Scots Whay Hae!
I was absolutely delighted to chat with Alistair Braidwood for the Scots Whay Hae! podcast about Small Town Joy. Here’s the video.
Our chat is also available as an audio podcast. More details and listening links are here.
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Here comes Joy
It’s publication day for Small Town Joy, my book about how queer musicians changed the sound of Scotland. It’s based on two years of interviews with musicians, music fans, grassroots groups and other fascinating folks, and I hope it’ll make you excited about the music it describes and the musicians who’ve been so generous with their time.
As my friend, the writer and crafter Karie Westermann, put it: “Queer people creating joy, crafting resilience, and finding community through music. It could not have been published at a better time.”
The book is available online from my publisher, from Bookshop.org and from good bookshops everywhere.
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I’m book of the month
“An absolute treat to read… This whole book feels like a mixtape lovingly assembled by a friend’s cool, knowledgeable older sister.”
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Joy as an act of resistance
I’m very pleased to reveal the cover of my new book, Small Town Joy, designed by Kara McHale. The book will be available in April and you can pre-order it from my publisher or local bookshop right now. Please do, pre-orders are a huge help for small publishing houses and indie bookshops alike.
After writing and promoting Carrie Kills A Man I made a conscious decision to look for, and to write about, joy. And this book is the result: it’s a history of how queer music and musicians changed the sound of Scotland, and in its pages you’ll hear from some incredibly talented and interesting people.
I’ll be talking much more about the book nearer the time but I had to share the cover. Isn’t it gorgeous?
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A cover girl again
I’m proud and delighted to be one of the contributors to, and one of the mentors involved in, the new Queer Words anthology Fierce Salvage. It’ll be published in January 2025 and features a dizzying array of LGBTQ+ talent. And me.
I haven’t had the opportunity to read the other contributions just yet bar one, a story by Colin McGuire that I helped polish a little bit. Colin’s great and his story is touching, funny and vividly told. I can’t wait for you to read it.
Pre-orders for Fierce Salvage are now open and you can order your copy here.
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An announcement
Bless my cotton socks, I’m in the news: the announcement of my new book is in today’s Bookseller. It’s been *so* hard to keep this quiet so I’m really delighted to say we’re putting the band back together for another 404ink book, this time celebrating Scots music of all kinds.
The book is called Small Town Joy: From Glam Rock to Hyperpop, How Queer Music Changed The Sound of Scotland and it follows queer musicians and influences in Scots music from the 1970s to the present. I’m having tons of fun researching, interviewing for and writing it and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with you in March 2025.
As I told the Bookseller:
“I’m delighted to be getting the band back together again for my second 404 Ink book. Small Town Joy follows Scots musicians from bedrooms to the Barras and beyond, tracing the glittery threads that link punk and pop, folk and funk, rave and rock. It’s a provocation and a celebration, a mixtape dedicated to the tunes and talent that’s crossed genres, genders and generations to change the sound of Scotland.”