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404 Ink Small Town Joy.
Queer musicians have long mined beauty from the darkest of seams – and today's artists are taking that treasure and using it to make magic. In Small Town Joy, trans writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall discovers the sometimes surprising ways LGBTQ+ artists changed Scotland's soundtrack, meeting Scots artists, industry insiders and music fans to celebrate the music and musicians that filled floors, opened minds and changed lives.
Featuring interviews with Shirley Manson (Garbage), Lauren Mayberry (CHVRCHES), Sean Dickson (HIFI Sean), Maya Evan MacGregor and many more.
Featuring interviews with Shirley Manson (Garbage), Lauren Mayberry (CHVRCHES), Sean Dickson (HIFI Sean), Maya Evan MacGregor and many more.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 9, 2026
When I picked this up I was expecting a more personal journey through Scottish music, a queer version of a book like Stuart Braithwaite's Spaceships Over Glasgow, for example. In fact this is an almost forensic examination of not only queer music and queer musicians but also of their global influences. It also takes in politics, social history and intersectionality among other topics.
Roughly chronological, it begins with music I was mostly unfamiliar with due to my age or else didn't associate with queer people. Before long we move into the more familiar territory of the 90s but there were still plenty of surprises for me and I often went off to my streaming service to add new tunes to a playlist I made (only very late on discovering that Carrie Marshall provided a playlist at the end of the book).
As well as the music itself, the real joy of this book is the description of supportive communities and allyship between musicians. I was genuinely moved reading about Girls Rock Glasgow and Sunny Govan Radio. There's also fun in those hyperlocal connections, reading about venues in Dundee and Glasgow that I'm familiar with, bands that I've seen and loved myself, the music video filmed around a bandstand that I've performed on myself.
Roughly chronological, it begins with music I was mostly unfamiliar with due to my age or else didn't associate with queer people. Before long we move into the more familiar territory of the 90s but there were still plenty of surprises for me and I often went off to my streaming service to add new tunes to a playlist I made (only very late on discovering that Carrie Marshall provided a playlist at the end of the book).
As well as the music itself, the real joy of this book is the description of supportive communities and allyship between musicians. I was genuinely moved reading about Girls Rock Glasgow and Sunny Govan Radio. There's also fun in those hyperlocal connections, reading about venues in Dundee and Glasgow that I'm familiar with, bands that I've seen and loved myself, the music video filmed around a bandstand that I've performed on myself.
April 10, 2026
A love letter to all things queer, musical and Scottish. I absolutely adored this, and learned so much.
Carrie does a wonderful job weaving together a vibrant history and a hopeful future, while also handling darker subject matter (the AIDS crisis, transphobia and homophobia, the closure of grassroots music venues, and the reality of the music industry for new artists) with sensitivity and just the right amount of trademark Scottish humour.
Will be putting this in the hands of all my music loving friends and family, what an absolute joy. Off to listen to the playlist now!
Carrie does a wonderful job weaving together a vibrant history and a hopeful future, while also handling darker subject matter (the AIDS crisis, transphobia and homophobia, the closure of grassroots music venues, and the reality of the music industry for new artists) with sensitivity and just the right amount of trademark Scottish humour.
Will be putting this in the hands of all my music loving friends and family, what an absolute joy. Off to listen to the playlist now!
April 15, 2025
A charmingly insightful, at times devastating, and ultimately uplifting portrait of Scotland’s queer music scene; ‘Small Town Joy’ establishes its importance on the world stage.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews