To fully understand The Wee Jaunt, you have to first understand the logic and love behind the infamous Detour Scotland. Set up by two lads fresh out of university, both throwing their degrees to the wind and ploughing both their minds and savings into a venture which has inspired a nation. Or maybe just Glasgow, touching the students of Stirling and Edinburgh, and diddling a finger in Inverness occasionally. Detour is a podcast, followed up with a live night in Bar Bloc in Glasgow's city centre, dotted with kidnapping bands, 5-a-side football and a perfect showcase for talented Scottish musicians. The Wee Jaunt is a product of all this, it's a sort of walk-through of the podcast making process. Having missed jaunt number one, I was a Wee Virgin. Giddy as schoolgirls we made our way to St Enoch Square where we were met by an excited looking group of familiar Detour faces. Malky B, who appeared to be appointed 'man of sensibility', checked our names against a list (clipboard and everything, nice touch.) and told us to hold on tight. We waited patiently and politely until everyone had arrived, until we were led on by the booming Scottish tones of Ally McCrae and David John Weaver, both men who command attention with a simple 'AWRITE!' We began the day by filing into Carlton House, to watch Carnivores perform flawlessly without being able to see each other…filling up the spiral staircase we were treated to a different instrument on each level. I made the mistake of standing next to the drummer, lost an ear drum for the rest of the day but it was worth it for the energy which left us all bouncing downstairs in anticipation of what was next.

Back in the crisp sunshine of the afternoon we headed to the famous Arches venue, quite different during the day than what is usually seen by face painted revellers, if they manage to see anything at all. It is such an impressive building, funnily enough each room nestled in a huge brick arch. In fact, the subway is so close that it can even rumble a toilet seat, quite an experience I tell you. After grabbing a refreshing beverage, we gathered to watch Ryan Joseph Burns of The Seventeenth Century deliver a flawless acoustic performance to an effortlessly hushed audience. So, are the crowds that Detour calls in, polite when needs be, wild otherwise. Like a bee to honey his performance was pollenated by the ever ready Ross Clark. A firm Air3 favourite his crooning tones complimented Ryan perfectly. After a riotous applause which suited the effort if not the beautiful stillness created by that voice we were split into groups and told that drinks must be finished as it was time for a ghost walk. Comments all round, "Awww nut 'am a fearty!" and "Don't waste that pint, down it!". We were led through the very bowels of The Arches, and although the ghost walk was a ruse, I still found the dusty exposed brick work and old stone stairs just a little creepy, until we found ourselves walking into a hidden arch which had been turned into a simple auditorium. Taking our seats and seeing a single guitar on the stage below we were all surprised when a full choir filed in and took their places in front of us. A mix of male and female voices, The Parsonage Choir left not one arm without goosebumps. Their harmonies lifted even the hairs on the back of bald heads. After being treated to a set list which drew inspiration from the 16th and 18th century, they surprised us with a cover of non other than You're The One That I Want from Grease.

After enjoying a wee seat we took our next cue from Ally; "We're going to do a bit of shopping!" Gathering quite a few looks from real shoppers, we followed the boys through Buchanan Street into the hipster wonderland of Urban Outfitters. Admiring the indie fashion as we were ironically led in a pack upstairs to menswear we soon heard the thrash of at least two guitars and one hell of a drum kit. Holy Mountain were staged in what can only be described a wooden box without walls (whether there had been walls before they started playing is questionable). We spread out amongst t-shirts adorned with wolves, checked shirts and poser headphones to watch three young men fill this huge space with not only noise, but incredible amounts of energy, sweat and vests. They fulfilled every need any Detourer might have had for a good bit of hard music, long hair and obvious dedication from these decorated lads. A quick stop in Sainsburys for 'juice' and we were on to Love Music, formerly Avalanche Records, where we were mesmerised by the dancing fingers of R.M Hubbert on guitar. Sitting outside on the doorstop like a busker, we stood around gathering attention from commuters and locals alike. Not even a fair bit of drizzle could move us, pretty sure he did hypnotise us… In fact we were so entranced that not one of us noticed a bright blue double decker bus pull up behind us. Oh yes! School trip style we clambered on "Can ah sit next to you?!". Off we went on the second leg of this magical mystery tour. Opting to sit downstairs to escape the weather we didn't manage to escape the crass glaswegian tones of our on board entertainment. Wee Man is a YouTube sensation with his portrayal of a rapping 'ned' ["Here you, that'll be right" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scNLfr1EP08], sporting a gold chain or 6, trackie bottoms up to his armpits and a faux-burberry cap he had us all 'greetin laughing with his one liners, "Ah was at your maw's hoose last night, well ah say hoose, it's mare like a revolvin mattress at Louden Castle…" He even roped Ally into being a human beatbox for a rap about his lack of manhood, {"ah don't need no motherfucking jonnies, ah come inside ma-sel"} We barely noticed that we had left the motorway for the leafy suburbs of East Renfrewshire. Splitting up again we were led in different directions through Rouken Glenn park. None of us expected to see what came next, it wasn't a band ready to wow us, instead we were faced with huge plastic bubbles. Zorbing, sphering, whatever you want to call it, we basically played human dodgems in these things. Great fun being knocked over, getting stuck upside down and generally battered. Feeling thoroughly knackered we carried on into the depths of a lovely forest where we were met with my personal highlight of the entire day. Ross Clark in wellies, in a river with an ever so slightly smoking guitar. The surroundings were so utterly suited to his voice and we all sat on the banks not caring about wet bums. A quick wander saw us on top of a hill, being serenaded by Aerials Up. We munched on homemade cookies and were ourselves munched on by midges. Hungry and by this point, a little knackered we headed to the park's cafe for rolls on sausage and a live performance from Make Sparks who managed to scare off the swans with their Eminem cover…

 

Back to the bus for an impromptu Disney sing a long and on to Bar Bloc where their Sunday tradition of Blochestra was in full swing. From here on it's all a bit fuzzy but the stand out moments from behind the head of a pint or 6 were the fantastic Otherpeople holding court at the mic and Air3's very own Matt Rawlings treating us to a cover of Blink-182's What's My Age Again. So by now you surely feel you have been on this wonderful journey with us, reading about it however is no patch on attending. Keep an eye out at www.detour-scotland.com for more information.

 

Photograph: Euan Robertson @ euanrphoto.com