365 featuring Aidan O'Rourke & James Robertson

How to tell a story without saying too much? How to tap the oldest wisdoms, the hardest truths, add in love, wit and political rage across the seasons – and distil it all into humble miniatures?

This slightly mad and epic project began back in 2013, when James Robertson set himself the challenge of writing a short story, each exactly 365 words long, every day of the year. The strange, sprawling collection of fairytales, memories, keen observations and bold provocations was published by Penguin as 365:Stories. 

But that was only the beginning! 

Enchanted by the potent atmosphere of James’s tiny prose pieces, intrigued by the notion of an inescapable daily creative ritual, Aidan O’Rourke – fiddler, composer, curator and one third of Lau – decided to write a tune every day in response. The result is a major new body of sparse, exploratory and emotive music.

Hear the highlights from the acclaimed albums 365: Vol 1 and 2 tonight in this stunning venue. Aidan is joined by long-time collaborator Kit Downes on piano and harmonium, Sorren Maclean on guitar and special guests, while James reads some of the stories with guests Tam Dean Burn, Gerda Stevenson and Iona Zajac.