Still, though, there were some mightily effective publishers and promoters out there already, with everything in place to propel a savvy, talented, edgy pair of musicians straight into global recognition, so it was a bit of a leap to imagine Duncan somehow emerging overnight as a contender, even if he could already lay claim to having discovered this pair. After all, this was dear, clueless Duncan Lomax, who spent his days playing music in a record shop, blowing dust off the stylus in the listening booth, drinking coffee with customers who might, or more often might not, buy a record. In all the years he’d owned this shop he’d never bothered to have a website built, never bothered to put his stock online, so that a person who was looking for, say, some early Status Quo, or a white vinyl special edition of Sound and Vision, had to get to Edinburgh, talk to Duncan, and wait in hope while he fished through all the likely boxes. So, it was evident to Dan that not only were they too late to this party, but also, they were ill-equipped to join it, and the very best advice they could give the McBride sisters was to sign up with an existing company, get a buzz going, build a digital presence, and hope it translated to the big time.

Duncan’s shop was at the top end of Jeffrey Street and although that’s where he should’ve been headed, and despite being way too early in the day for a drink, he’d argued a strong case in favour of stopping for a beer in a new craft-ale bar, all industrial chic, with bare brick and scaffolding on the inside and benches made from stacked railway sleepers. They’d bought a couple of German wheat beers from a serious, bearded young man in a long brewer’s apron, then Dan decided the time was now and said, ‘Look, I have to say, buddy, it’s a complete non-starter,’ and Duncan’s smile faded to dismay.

‘Wha’?’ he said, his glass of beer halted on its way to his mouth.

‘We don’t have the skills, man,’ Dan said. ‘Or the time. Well, I don’t.’

Duncan stared with hurt eyes, as if this was the biggest let-down of his life.

‘Have you looked online?’ Dan said. ‘Have you seen what’s out there already, for new artists? They don’t need a label to pick them up any more, there’s stacks of companies they can go to, get a publishing deal, royalties tracked, money for YouTube views, live performances administered, no strings or tie-ins, wham-bam, hello success.’

‘So?’ Duncan said. ‘We could do that, you and me.’

‘No, we couldn’t.’

‘Aw c’mon, dude, we’re the real deal, we live and breathe this world.’

‘It’s not enough to love music, Dunc, you got to do the admin too, and be clued up on tech skills.’