Wickerman announces Solus Tent lineup, featuring Young Fathers and Hector Bizerk

Each year, the Wickerman Festival's Solus Tent (25-26 Jul) features a wealth of emerging talent, and some of the biggest names in Scottish independent music. Today, the festival announced the lineup for this year's bill, with Anticon alt.rap stars Young Fathers and Glasgow rap sensations Hector Bizerk heading up the weekend. 

It's been a banner year for Scottish hip-hop so far, with Young Fathers making some serious waves at SxSW and releasing their debut album DEAD to widespread acclaim, and Hector Bizerk winning the award for Best Hip-Hop Artist at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards, before going on to play a series of gigs in New York City. Another hip-hop-related event taking place at Solus this year will be an exclusive episode of the Badmouth Battles series, hosted by Badmouth founder and rising star of the Glasgow scene Gasp, a key member of The Being and Toy Control collectives. The Fathers' enigmatic occasional collaborator LAW will also perform in her own right.

It's not all hip-hop at Solus, by a long chalk – in addition there will be a glittering array of Scotland's best up-and-coming punk, rock, electronic and even classical ensembles in attendance, including Tuff Love, The Amazing Snakeheads, Neon Waltz, Cairn String Quartet, Tijuana Bibles, Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, Atom Tree, Thin Privilege, Pronto Mama, Deathcats, Call To Mind, Algernon Doll, Fat Suit, Gastric Band, Foreign Fox and Cutty's Gym, all performing live.

Chay Woodman, booker for the Solus tent, comments: "Musical genres and geography aside, this is a line-up that offers exactly what the Wickerman goers want when it comes to emerging Scottish artists. As for the headliners, getting Young Fathers took four years of waiting but it’s been timed perfectly and Hector Bizerk were always destined to return after their fantastic debut set back in 2012. Two days and twenty slots, it’s going to be a fantastic weekend." Find out more about this year's Wickerman Festival and book tickets here.