Rod Jones of Idlewild has been a busy man over the last decade and a half. Having formed the band in Edinburgh in 1995, the following years have seen seven studio albums, a lot of gigs and general awesomeness. The band are on hgiatus, but Rod has never been a man to let the grass grow under his feet.

Having released his first solo album A Sentimental Education in 2009, and been involved in the Scottish mental Health Music Like A Vitamin Shows, he is now fronting a new band called The Birthday Suit. They are about to tour and release their debut album.

Their album The Eleventh Hour is available from the band’s website now (price £5) and generally released on November 11.

1. Do You Ever? (scroll down the page for a free download!)
2. Hope Me Home
3. They Say I Love You
4. On My Own
5. Sell It All
6. World Gone By
7. Are You Ok?
8. A Nation
9. Don’t Look Down
10. The Eleventh Hour
11. Talking Over You

Those tour dates:

UPDATE: Tour postponed; will let you know when rescheduled…

The Birthday Suit – Do You Ever? by abadgeoffriendship

There are also two Scottish Mental Health Foundation gigs coming up in Scotland:

Rod Jones, James Yorkston and Withered Hand mentored some young musicians, helping them with writing and recording, culminating in a live gig at Nobles Bar, Leith, on Thursday 20th Oct, 7pm (http://mhfestival.com/events.php?display=details&event_id=185

Composer Malcolm Lindsay wrote some music with some local kids, which will be performed by a classical string quartet for the first time at Platform, Glasgow, on Monday 24th Oct at 12.30pm (http://mhfestival.com/events.php?display=details&event_id=215). They used special music software which helps people write music using colours/shapes rather than traditional notation. The project was commissioned by his pal/music programmer at Platform, Alun Woodward (Chemikal Underground/Delgados).

(As someone who has battled with depression I feel pretty strongly about supporting events like this)