You can order Dig With It here. This is a new magazine about music, arts and ideas.

It is made in Belfast. It celebrates the writers, the players and seditious talent. It admires punk rock, poetry, high art, street politics and keen expression.
Here is a swift guide to Issue 3:

Dig With It – Issue 3 – is here. Another 72 page special, massive with Hannah Peel, Sinead O’Connor, Jordan Adetunji, Phil Kieran, Kerri ni Dochartaigh, Pillow Queens, Adrian McKinty. Also Bap Kennedy by Anthony Toner. Reviews, style, opinion, fine writing.

The core team is Stuart Bailie (former Assistant Editor of NME, author of Trouble Songs, co-founder of the Oh Yeah Music Centre) and Betsy Bailie (Manchester School of Art design student, Hive Radio Station Manager/DJ and blogger).

Dig With It takes its name from a Seamus Heaney poem about the primacy of the pen. The magazine took shape in early 2020 and completion was delayed by the coronavirus outbreak. Stuart and Betsy decided to press on, and kept the optimistic tone of the pre-pandemic interviews.

The magazine is quarterly. Issue 4 is due in the Spring of 2021.

Dig With It is about quality writing plus original photography and design. The magazine is an act of faith – the sure belief that creativity matters, especially now.

Stuart Bailie says: “In an era of falling print sales, it might seem foolish to put out a magazine. But it felt like a vital idea in January 2020 and it feels even more important now. We’re surrounded by immense art and stories that aren’t being told. So, we dig away.”

Betsy Bailie says: “I’ve grown up in the local music scene. I’ve been a teenage photographer, blogger and musician. I’m glad at the chance to use my design skills to create a wonderful magazine to show the love I have for the scene.”

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All Posts

• April 4, 2021  —  Easter Parade, Van Morrison and the Healing Game

• March 26, 2021  —  Hannnah Peel – Fir Wave album review

• March 24, 2021  —  A Boi Named Sue: Suzie Blue Profile

• March 19, 2021  —  NEW PAGANS: The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All

• March 12, 2021  —  Enola Gay: “you don’t get to be racist and Irish”

• January 27, 2021  —  New Pagans: A Collision, Mother and Artist

• January 21, 2021  —  Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Thin Places book review

• December 30, 2020  —  Weatherall, Heavenly, Magic in Progress

• November 13, 2020  —  Lyndon Stephens: King of Gordon St.

• October 9, 2020  —  Therapy? The Authorised Biography by Simon Young

• October 4, 2020  —  The Gospel According To Sinead

• October 3, 2020  —  Rocky O’Reilly And The Thrill Of The Fight

• September 14, 2020  —  Joshua Burnside – Into the Depths of Hell

• August 5, 2020  —  John Hume, Bono, Trimble, Ash and the ‘Yes’ Gig, 1998

• July 28, 2020  —  Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death

• July 19, 2020  —  The Defects – The Death of Imagination

• June 7, 2020  —  Up Went Nelson: Songs For Swinging Statues

• June 6, 2020  —  James Ashe: Do The Strand

• May 29, 2020  —  Dexys Midnight Runners, Internment, Ardoyne’s Burning

• May 28, 2020  —  Joel Harkin: Never Happy

• May 24, 2020  —  Dara McAnulty: To Be Different

• April 18, 2020  —  Lyra McKee: Lost, Found, Remembered (Faber & Faber)

• April 13, 2020  —  Arborist: Q&A with Mark McCambridge

• April 10, 2020  —  Anthony Toner, Ronnie Greer Albums

• April 3, 2020  —  Malojian – HUMM (Rollercoaster)

• March 5, 2020  —  Fontaines DC, The Murder Capital, Homelessness Benefit, Dublin

• January 28, 2020  —  Arborist – A Northern View

• January 10, 2020  —  Greg Cowan: Forever An Outcast

• December 11, 2019  —  Lyndon Stephens: The Quiet Arch Man

• November 25, 2019  —  Goodbye Vibrations – Terri Hooley Plays Out

• November 19, 2019  —  Abomination and the Anti-Paisley Underground

• November 19, 2019  —  Playlist Selections, Sunflower Bar, 16.11.19

• November 11, 2019  —  Lankum, Darkling Air, Orphan Brigade

• September 4, 2019  —  Binge-Watching With Paul Muldoon

• June 3, 2019  —  Lyra’s Walk: Sisters, Blisters and Resisters

• May 24, 2019  —  Lyra: Dreams and Responsibilities

• May 3, 2019  —  SOAK – Grim Town Review

• April 2, 2019  —  Miami Showband on Netflix

• March 25, 2019  —  Inhaler, Touts, Voodoo Belfast

• March 16, 2019  —  Fontaines DC: Hard Rain Falling

• February 27, 2019  —  Robert Holmes 1976-2018

• February 21, 2019  —  Ubu The King – The MAC, Belfast

• February 18, 2019  —  Music Drugs Love War – Geraldine Quigley

• February 11, 2019  —  Bridie, In The Name Of Love

• February 10, 2019  —  David Quantick – Go West

• February 2, 2019  —  Inflammable Material – 40 Years On

• January 25, 2019  —  Brand New Friend, American Bar, Belfast

• January 24, 2019  —  David Keenan: For The Good Times

• January 9, 2019  —  Radio Free Derry, 1969

• December 31, 2018  —  Kurt, Courtney and David Cavanagh 

• November 24, 2018  —  Foo Fighters In LA, 1997

• October 4, 2018  —  We Are Not Afraid

• September 6, 2018  —  Good Vibrations, Lyric Theatre

• May 14, 2018  —  JD Fennell: Red Storm Rising

• April 27, 2018  —  Brand New Friend: Seatbelts For Aeroplanes

• November 20, 2017  —  Raving For Bap – Sleevenotes

• November 7, 2017  —  Neil Hannon, Sunrise and Remembrance

• August 19, 2017  —  Jackie Flavelle, Bass of Ages

• June 11, 2017  —  With Radiohead In 1997: Viva La Megabytes!

• June 5, 2017  —  Michael Longley – Angel Hill Book Launch, Belfast

• May 25, 2017  —  Katharine Philippa, Across The Rooftops

• April 14, 2017  —  Rothko And Red: Maroon With A View

• April 12, 2017  —  Touts. Punk Fever. All Crimes Are Paid.

• March 24, 2017  —  O’Riada, Heaney, McGuinness and the Republic of Conscience

• March 5, 2017  —  John T. Davis at 70

• February 27, 2017  —  Sock It To ’Em, James Brown

• January 30, 2017  —  Billy Bragg, Joe Henry, Ulster Hall Belfast

• January 16, 2017  —  Glen Hansard, Seamus Heaney HomePlace

• December 23, 2016  —  Remembering Frank Murray

• December 21, 2016  —  Bullitt Style and Steve McQueen

• November 1, 2016  —  Remembering Bap Kennedy

• October 14, 2016  —  Late Night Tales: David Holmes

• September 25, 2016  —  Belfast To Bogotá: Singers With Altitude

• September 19, 2016  —  Seamus Heaney: No Kicks On Route A6

• August 21, 2016  —  The Darkling Air – Untamed & Beloved

• August 12, 2016  —  66 Days, Back Home & Bobby Sands

• August 3, 2016  —  Gerard Dillon’s Dream

• July 25, 2016  —  John Dee, David Bowie, Prospero’s Books

• July 22, 2016  —  When Pete Seeger Met John Doherty

• June 16, 2016  —  Henry McCullough: Gone To Meet Hank

• April 9, 2016  —  Ryan Vail – For Every Silence

• March 31, 2016  —  Jealous Of The Birds – Parma Violets

• November 18, 2015  —  Julian Cope Is Dead, Viva SLF

• October 7, 2015  —  Neil Stuke And The Robot Connection

• August 24, 2015  —  Cyprus Avenue, Van Morrison And A Meaning Of Trees

• July 29, 2015  —  The Miami Showband Massacre – 40 Years On

• May 27, 2015  —  SOAK – Before We Forgot How To Dream

• May 11, 2015  —  Jealous Of The Birds, The Bar With No Name, Belfast

• May 3, 2015  —  Cáit O’Riordan, The Black Box, Belfast

• May 1, 2015  —  Camille O’Sullivan, St. Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast

• April 12, 2015  —  The Gay Ballads Of Ireland

• March 28, 2015  —  Word Wrestling & The Longley-Ormsby Tag Team

• September 29, 2013  —  My Favourite Shirt

• September 7, 2013  —  Early Dolores

• August 31, 2013  —  Van Morrison, Seamus Heaney, Among The Regions

• August 21, 2013  —  The Invincible Soundtrack

• August 19, 2013  —  Never Mind The Bullocks

• August 7, 2013  —  Face Saving Exercise

• August 5, 2013  —  The Abbey Habit

• August 1, 2013  —  The Life Of O’Brien

• July 31, 2013  —  From Bad To Verse

• July 23, 2013  —  Postcard From A Young Manic

• July 17, 2013  —  Bear//Face Necessities

• July 16, 2013  —  Dr. Simone, I Presume