THREE local music venues were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief after being successful for funding.

PJ Molloys, 1703 Dunfermline and the Woodside Hotel in Aberdour, have all received money from the Scottish Government’s Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund.

Aimed at providing grassroots live music venues with emergency support to help address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent closure, the £4 million fund closed for the second round of applications on Wednesday, February 3.

PJ Molloys has received £52,732 through the fund and Calum Miller, from the venue on Canmore Street, told the Press it will help the business massively in the coming months.

"I'm completely relieved," Calum said.

"This will solidify the business until the end of June and it looks as though that's when we could be getting back to some form of normality and we can look at getting gigs going again as that's what we're here for and that's what we love doing.

"Our fixed costs are now covered until the end of June and we have this sense of excitement again.

"I'm hoping that we can look forward now and stop worrying about spending my time fending off bills, paying pills and speaking to suppliers.

"Hopefully we can go from that to booking gigs and getting out of this constant cycle to keep the business going.

"That's what the past twelve months has felt like. It feels like we have hope now.

"If we can get through this period to having gig after gig after gig, it'll be amazing for us."

Calum added that the KT Tunstall gig at PJ's, slated for some time in 2021, will "definitely happen".

She will perform an intimate show as part of the Passport: Back to Our Roots project in efforts to raise money for independent grassroots music venues.

Another successful venue in the town, 1703 Dunfermline, has also been successful for £35,000 of funding.

The Bruce Street business puts on as many as 250 gigs a year, and David Stein, owner, was delighted to hear their application had been successful.

He told the Press: "I'm utterly thrilled we've been able to get this funding and be a part of Scotland's thriving grassroots music scene."

The Woodside Hotel in Aberdour has also benefitted from £15,000 of funding, delivered by Creative Scotland.

The family-run hotel, operated by John and Lis McTaggart, also runs gigs at the hotel with a host of local talent performing each week.

John told the Press: "We're very pleased and appreciative of that fact that we have received this money as I understand that not everyone was able to get it.

"Putting on live, original music is a big source of income for us as it does bring people into the venue. It is really important to us.

"It has put a spring in my step, actually.

"Just this afternoon I've booked a few gigs for later in the year. It's good to think positively about the future and hopefully we can get back to putting gigs on.

"There has been a bit of a boost in the past week with the speed of the vaccinations in Scotland, the good weather we've had and the belief that come later in the year we can have gigs on again."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “This is an incredibly difficult time for the live music sector and it is important that we support our grassroots music venues – which are key to our rich and diverse music scene – to survive until they can reopen.

“This fund, part of our ongoing commitment to support cultural sectors during the pandemic, aims to do that by ensuring financial support reaches a wide variety of music venues across the country.

“I thank the music sector for continuing to work with us to identify the most effective ways to help it.”