A musician who first came to Edinburgh with just seven Fringe performances is set to reach a 1,800-show milestone at the festival this month.
Dan Clews, founder of Night Owl Shows, arrived in the capital in 2016 to perform his James Taylor show — spending his days handing out flyers to promote the seven appearances.
A year later, he returned with two friends and three shows a day, staging 69 performances across the festival.
These “tribute acts” are about the artists, not pretending to be the artists.
Now, a decade on, Clews’ company is bringing 12 music productions to the Edinburgh Fringe, with a team of around two dozen performers.
By the end of this year’s run, Night Owl Shows is expected to have staged around 1,800 Edinburgh Fringe performances since 2016.
The company’s shows bring audiences the music and stories behind major artists, including Dolly Parton, Amy Winehouse, David Bowie, Queen, Simon and Garfunkel, and Billy Joel.
Clews said the productions were deliberately different from conventional tribute acts.
He said: “We do try and put our own slant on everything, and that is the Night Owl way.
All the shows now tour with a full band.
“No one’s up there dressing up as an artist. Our main objectives are to educate as well, tell a really concise and quite detailed story about each artist, find loads of information that people perhaps wouldn’t have known — even the hardened fans — and then obviously entertain.
“We try and get everyone quite emotional and get them dancing in the aisles.”
This year, Clews is appearing in California Dreams, which returns to the Fringe with a full band for the first time.
The production explores the music coming out of California’s Laurel Canyon scene during the 1960s and 1970s, featuring songs by artists including The Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Byrds and The Doors.
But the Edinburgh-born success has grown far beyond the Fringe.
Back to Black is currently touring in the USA.
Night Owl’s Carole King and James Taylor production has already completed two US tours this year, with another planned for September and October.
Its Amy Winehouse show, Back to Black, is also due to tour the Netherlands and Australia next year.
Clews said taking the company to America had been its biggest achievement so far.
He said: “We’ve been doing quite a lot of shows in America.
“I think actually really breaking America is my biggest achievement — or our biggest achievement — because it’s certainly not just myself.”
Despite its international expansion, Clews said Edinburgh remained the company’s spiritual home.
He said: “It really did all start in this city. Ten years ago, I had absolutely no idea I was going to be here.
“Edinburgh is king in my mind. It’s the greatest festival in the world and the best place you can be in August on the entire planet.”
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