ESOL Magazine June 2014 | Page 10

H ello Alfie. How are you? I am fine, I’m very fine. We would like to ask you some questions about your job at The Smokie Blues Organisation? Yes, that is not a problem. What is the Smokie Blues like? The Smokie Blues Organization is an organization which was setup in 2003 and it’s a nonprofit organization. Nonprofit organization means it that the people who run it don’t make any money out of it. So in a nonprofit organization everything is voluntary and it’s all about blues music. What do you do at Smokie Blues? At the Smokie Blues, with me being the chairman of the Smokie Blues Organization, I oversee and organize festivals, concerts and gigs locally. Do you travel in Scotland? I do travel all over Europe, travel in Scotland, England, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, France all to do with the blues. Do you do festivals? I do, yes. Smokie Blues was the first organization to bring blues music to Arbroath and in 2004 we had the first festival and we started off with 6 venues and we had 8 bands. That was the first festival in 2004.