Edinburgh Oxjam 2011 launches

Tonight Oxjam once again offers a new slant on local live music with the launch of their Edinburgh 2011 programme,: a mini gig (like, 40 people mini) in the urban surrounds of Edinburgh’s Gorgie Farm. The volunteer-led festival, which in the past has hosted pop-up gigs everywhere from living rooms to grand church halls, this time keeps it organic and muddy, echoing the sentiment of their new global GROW campaign – aimed at addressing the broken food system.

Ian Tilling of Trapped Mice kicks things off, elevated above the crowd on the first floor of a hay barn, singing his fuzzy, beat-up love songs like a hairy-faced Juliet a-top his open-windowed perch. I Build Collapsible Mountains, aka former Gothenburg Address guitarist Luke G Joyce is next on the mock stage, doing his rather lovely one-man-with-a-guitar-and-some-melancholy-tales-to-tell thing.

Heading the all-local bill is one very hungover Scott Hutchison (of Frightened Rabbit), who launches with an opening gambit of: “I was sick in my mouth twice on the way here”. Alas, he plays a gentle, stripped-back set, including one new song alongside a strained and grainy version of The Twist, and a solo rendition of Poke, which he strums rather than fingerplucks, with softly coo-cooed vocal harmonies.

It equates to one of the more charming gigs we've seen so far this year – complete with a tea tray touting Tango and KP crisps – but then that’s the endearing thing about Oxjam, it’s all done with genuine warmth, imagination, and a hefty dose of good intention. The month-long festival kicks off proper in October, and will see them host another of their multi-venue Takeover events across the city (on October 21). Keep your eyes on the Oxjam Edinburgh Facebook and Twitter pages for line-up details and also information on some proposed pop-up gigs and events in the lead-up.