Scotland’s Playlist artists announced

Inverclyde duo The Laurettes and Edinburgh bands Daytime TV and Go To Girl have been announced as the winners of a nationwide competition to unearth some of the country’s best musical talent and reward them with a chance to play live at Scotland’s largest venue.

As winners of Scotland’s Playlist, the young musicians will perform in the Fan Village at BT Murrayfield prior to Scotland’s upcoming Autumn Nations Series matches against Tonga, Australia, South Africa and Japan and their music will also be featured on the Scottish Rugby social channels in the build-up to the games.

When the Scotland men’s rugby team play a home international in front of a crowd for the first time in 20 months on Saturday, best friends Lynette Beaton and Lauren O’Donoghue AKA The Laurettes will be there to warm up the crowd.

The pair will not only have the chance to play the North Stand stage prior to Scotland’s match against Tonga, but also before the national team kick-off against South Africa on 13 November.

Lauren, a 28-year-old from Wemyss Bay said: ”We were ecstatic to say the least. Scotland is at the heart of our songwriting and to be able to perform and support our national team is an honour and a dream come true. We hope our songs will get the fans and players in high spirits before the game!”

The duo raised more than £10K for Scottish charities through live virtual gigs during the pandemic.

Scotland’s three other Autumn Nations Series matches against Australia, South Africa and Japan are sold out, so the game against Tonga this weekend (kick-off 2.30pm) is now the only opportunity for fans to see Gregor Townsend’s team in action at BT Murrayfield this autumn.

Scottish Rugby Head of Group Marketing & Commercial, Toni Blackhurst, said: “As we get back on our feet as a sport we want to show our support to others too and open our platforms up to aspiring music talent that’s had a rough time of it recently. It has been a tough 20 months for us all, but particularly the performing arts and music industry – we wanted to show our solidarity.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of the entries and it’s been great to see the response from performers eager to get involved.

“We want BT Murrayfield to have a party atmosphere. There are so many incredible up-and-coming Scottish bands out there, so it was an incredibly tough decision but we’re certain the bands we’ve chosen are more than up to the challenge of getting our fans ready to get behind the Scotland team this Autumn.”

Daytime TV will take to the stage before the game against Australia on Sunday 7 November, while Go To Girl will perform before Scotland’s final match against Japan on Saturday 20 November.

Scottish Rugby will be paying appearance fees agreed in partnership with the bands themselves and is happy to continue financially supporting the performing of live music, which it does on every occasion acts are booked to play at the stadium.

Scotland and Tonga go head-to-head at BT Murrayfield for the first time in 20 years, and returning fans and those making their BT Murrayfield debut will be treated to excitement on and off the pitch including a Halloween Instagram trail and a performance from Scottish singer-songwriter Callum Beattie.

Prices for this game start at £16 for adults and £11 for U18s and students, with U12s tickets only £1.

Secure your tickets for Scotland v Tonga here.