The BBC in Scotland is gearing up for a late spring / summer of free music, some of it of interest to the likes of you.

In the run-up to Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2014, which takes place at Glasgow Green from 24 – 25 May and has the likes of Coldplay and Calvin Harris alongside the likes of Pharrell Williams, Bastille, Jake Bugg, Kings of Leon and Lily Allen, the corporation have announced that the BBC Radio 1 Academy will take place at Queen Margaret Union in Glasgow from Saturday 10 May to Friday 16 May.

A Q&A session with Biffy Clyro is planned while Hudson Mohawke and Nina Nesbitt are among those who will take part alongside Emeli Sande (will host a music and songwriting workshop) as well as Rita Ora and Katy B. There will also be non-musical items – Kevin Bridges will host one a workshop on stand-up comedy, while cast members from Waterloo Road and In The Flesh will also feature.

There are also a pair of BBC Introducing live shows – free entry affairs hosted by Ally McCrae.
On Wednesday 14th May, Capitol 1212, Tuff Love and Holy Esque play live for an invite-only audience – apply here – while on Thursday 15th there are sets from Pinact, Eilidh Hadden, and Copper Lungs.

Later on the year – between 19 July and 3 August to be precise – the Beeb ties in coverage with the run-up to the Commonwealth Games with a ‘pop-up’ live venue outside the BBC headquarters at Anderston Quay, hosting over 70 shows over that 16 day period and with live music every night.

It seems that every strand of the BBC apart from 6music will be present (!) – though there will be a variety of BBC Radio Scotland programmes broadcast from the Quay. Inevitably the proceedings will be kicked off by Red Hot Chilli Pipers, followed by with live acoustic sessions from Iain Anderson’s show and live music every evening along with Celtic Connections in collaboration with Donald Shaw and an Americana music night with Steve Earle as a special guest performer.
There will be live performances from Texas, Simple Minds and Amy MacDonald as well as Paloma Faith and The Overtones on BBC Radio 2 while non-musical items include a Golden Ticket event with Still Game’s Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, plus international stunt bike rider Danny MacAskill (probably not soundtracked by Aereogramme, sadly).

Free tickets for the Quay will start to be made available from 30th May. More here.