Published: Wednesday, 27th August, 2008 8:55am

Frightened Rabbit bow out of festival season

by David Knox

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SUMMER may be all but over. But the sun-kissed festival season of 2008 will live long in the memory of Selkirk band Frightened Rabbit. The four-piece cut their teeth on the Fringe stages of Wickerman and Oxygen last season.

But the release of a new album and a growing reputation for a ripping

good gig has seen the Hutchison brothers, school pal Billy Kennedy, and

their new mate from Saltcoats Andy Monaghan, promoted into the big tents.

And following the latest in a mounting list of memorable performances at

Belladrum"s Tartan Heart Festival the boys admit the hard work is paying

off.

Singer Scott Hutchison told the Border Telegraph: 'This year has been

absolutely great.

'We"ve seen a real growth in the numbers at our gigs and the festival

shows, and our record is doing really well.

'My favourite thing about playing the festivals is that people are

discovering us. They pop their heads into the tent, like what they hear

and then stay. We"re packing tents all over the place now which is great.'

Frightened Rabbit began as a solo project almost five years ago for

lonesome student Scott who had emigrated from his Selkirk roots to the

giddy lights of Glasgow.

The one-man-and-his-guitar act picked up pace with the arrival of wee

brother Grant to play the drums.

And it wasn"t all that long before Billy Kennedy arrived in the Raintown

to add some bass to the harmonies coming out of the Hutchison bedsit.

Scott added: 'Selkirk was a great place to learn to play music but you

couldn"t get away with trying your own material. I was never brave

enough – it was covers only in those days.

'I came to Glasgow to study and watched a few bands play. Glasgow is

such a musical city and I could already play guitar, so I thought I"d

give it a go.'

The debut album, Sing the Greys, won them an underground following on

both sides of the Atlantic.

A combination of constant gigging and internet hype saw the

highly-anticipated arrival of the follow-up long player, The Midnight

Organ Fight, greeted with overwhelming approval in April.

And a packed summer of fervent festival appearances has established

Frightened Rabbit as an emerging heavyweight on the Scottish music scene.

Following the Belladrum performance Grant Hutchison told us: 'We"ve done

T-in-the-Park, Loch Lomond, the Big Chill, Summer Sunday and Belladrum.

The tents are always packed at the end of each show which is a great

feeling.

'You know you are doing well when there"s more people in the tent at the

end than at the start. We all went to festivals – that"s where you find

your new bands, and thankfully people seem to be finding us.

'It"s been a great year so far for Frightened Rabbit. We"ve played a lot

of big shows in America and our festivals at home have all been brilliant.'

Belladrum"s Tartan Heart is the hidden gem of Scotland"s overflowing

festival scene.

The eclectic age-friendly line-up allows budding contenders like

Sergeant, Black Affair, Jack Butler and The Twighlight Sad nestle

comfortably beside the big hitters of The Lemonheads, Edwyn Collins,

Idlewild and The Waterboys.

And it is the perfect place to gauge just how popular the Selkirk

quartet are.

The couple of hundred waiting patiently for the band on the Hothouse

Stage had swollen to around double that figure by the time they kicked

into third song, and festival favourite, Old Old Fashioned.

And as the set soared into the anthemic Keep Yourself Warm there was a

packed tent approaching 1000 bouncing along to Scott"s every word.

Bass player Billy Kennedy acknowledged the reception awaiting his band

in every tent. He said: 'It is ridiculous. They sing every word of every

song.

'I thought we"d maybe get 100 people or so for the festival shows as

there are so many other bands on but the tents are packed.

'I"m loving every minute of this. We never stop touring and playing

festivals just now.'

More than 20,000 fun-filled music lovers make Tartan Heart a Highland

haven for culture.

And the Selkirk quartet certainly added to the whole experience for many

that made the journey.

Cameron Stark from Glasgow wore a sandwichboard with Frightened Rabbit

lyrics for most of the weekend. The 24-year-old told us: 'I am trying to

convert everyone to listen to Frightened Rabbit. The Glasgow music scene was a bit stagnant until Frightened Rabbit came along. They"ve certainly been my highlight of the festival.'

And Aileen Forrest travelled all the way from Jedburgh to take in her

second Tartan Heart.

She said: 'Frightened Rabbit were fantastic – almost as good as The

Lemonheads.'

With an acoustic live version of The Midnight Organ Fight already in the

can and more than a dozen shows planned for the next few weeks this

year"s summer may run just that bit longer for Frightened Rabbit.