Scotsman

Resurrection shuffle

AN EARLY and deserving contender for the 2010 Best Fringe PR Stunt Award is Glasgow bluesman John Alexander, who recently scaled the highest mountain in Morocco's Atlas range with his guitar strapped to his back to belt out his newly penned song Call me a Doctor.

There's a Youtube clip, of course, showing Alexander sitting on the 13,700ft summit of Mount Toubkal performing a twangy-and-lonesome number, mostly in this case about how he's nearly dying of exhaustion: "Well I should be, full of coffee, but I feel, like I'm dead."

Even at altitude and in the Moroccan summer heat, with temperatures of 44C, Alexander proves his worth in a strong performance. The jaunt, dubbed the Ain't No Mountain Charity Challenge, was to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Support. After playing to sell-out crowds at the Fringe last year, he's back with "Dustbowl Blues with a Glasgow Kick," in two performances at the Acoustic Music Centre in St Brides on 12 and 19 August.