There’s a lot of news to bring you in this Blog, so let’s get down to
business.
Foundation Records, our
Community Record label, and collaboration with Myplace, Rotherham, has
announced the first three audition events. They are:-
7th February
21st February
7th March.
All starting at 2:00pm and finishing around 5:00pm at Myplace, St Ann’s
Road, Rotherham.
Priority will be given to performers between the ages of 14 and 24 from
all genres of performance Arts, music and spoken word. Bands, Solo artists, poets, story
tellers. We will also be giving some
priority to artists from the ethnic Communities.
These audition sessions will not be conducted like X Factor. We just want to get an idea of the young
talent out in the Rotherham Community before planning the Recording
sessions
for real.
At the sessions we hope to have experienced musicians and poets on hand
to help by providing advise that may help development. We also hope that those participating will
network and even collaborate with each other to create new material.
Everyone is welcome to the sessions but to be sure of a slot you will
need to Email HERE or Tom HERE
Over the next few months every performer will have the opportunity of studio
recording at least one track.
All tracks will be added to a Sound of Rotherham compilation digital
Album – initially on line but when funding is secured hard copies in the latest
format.
Plus –
We will be offering the chance to join in Workshops about Sound Engineering;
Graphic Design; Marketing; Performance; Lighting; Song Writing and Poetry
Writing.
One could say that we are seeking to create a Performing Arts Youth
Club which we hope will be long lasting.
And initially, thanks to an agreement between RAE and MyPlace there is NO CHARGE.
Come along and discover how you might benefit from joining in on
this great project.
Other details can be HERE
SLAMFEST News. SLAMFEST is RAE’s annual flagship
event. 2015 see’s our fourth event and we
have been learning with each Festival.
The Festival weekend is stressful for all those on the organisation
team which is very small, much of it self-inflicted because we try to do so
much and offer as many Bands as possible the opportunity to take part in the
event. This year there are several major
changes.
First the positives. There will
be two opportunities to take part as we have decided to split the event,
enabling AC/DC ticket holders to not miss out.
July 4th – 5th
will see our two day Festival THE CHANTRY BREWERY SLAMFEST, with the main
stage at The Cutlers; Acoustic / Spoken Word stage at the New York Tavern; and
a Youth Stage at MyPlace.
August 22nd will see
the BRISTOL STREET MOTORS ROTHERHAM TOWN
CENTRE SLAMFEST running from 12pm – 6:00pm., with a flow over into a
session at The Cutlers starting from around 6:30pm and running until late. Acoustic Stages and Youth Stage will depend
upon demand.
The negative. We will not be
attempting to involve any other venues.
I’ll tell you why. Over the three
years we have run we have transported kit, attempted to arrange kit etc for all
the participating venues. Not only is
this time consuming but when we are let down by suppliers and in some cases
Bands failing to turn up it has cost RAE money, not to mention our reputation. Mick, Dan and I (the Masher) can no longer
afford to subsidise the event. This is
especially the case when venues that have benefited with increased bar sales on
the day of the event have made minimal contributions towards the cost of the
Festival. The final straw being a £100
donation for £1.8K show that put over £5K over the bar!
I’m going to be frank with you, if it had not been for the intervention
of Chantry Brewery the 2014 event would not have happened and been the massive
success it eventually turned out to be.
If other venues wish to participate they will be welcome to join in the
Festivities, by piggy backing the event.
If they wish to be included in the publicity for the event then they
will need to get details to us by 25th May 2015 for which there is a
£50 charge which includes avert, and where requested Bands. BACK
LINE AND SOUND will be the responsibility of the venue.
We will be producing the usual Brochures and Sponsors are most welcome
to partner event. More Information HERE
And here’s another opportunity to play.
MATTFEST GOES GLOBAL. We will be joining close on 200 other venues
around the World to raise cash for the “Justice for Matt” campaign. Saturday
11th July.
Matthew Cryer was a young lad who went off his first holiday abroad and
never returned having died of brain injuries following being thrown out of
night cub in Greece. Witnesses have said
that Matthew was the subject of an unwarranted attach by the bouncers, who so
far have escaped justice due to the complexities of Greek Law.
The family of Matthew have so far spent over £20K on lawyer fees in
their attempt to get justice for their son and Mattfest is just one means by
which funds have so far been raised to date.
This will be the fifth Mattfest and due to it’s Global reach the biggest
so far.
We will be hosting stages at The Cutlers, and an Acoustic Stage if
there is enough interest.
If you would like to take part in this Charity event then Email us HERE
A few outings to report on.
I had a lovely afternoon out with The Masher Road Crew, Sue and Barrie
for a bit of folk dancing and music.
Great to see some old chums at the event, although there were dancing
steps to be spotted at the bottom of my legs.
Unfortunately nothing outstanding to report from being marched to
Rawmarsh T & L Clubs offerings these past two weekends. Let’s just say there was noise. It does make me laugh though when what are
average Bands in the main churning out them rock classics are at first met with
wide spread indifference by the audience yet by 11:15pm are hailed as “rock
Gods”. I think the six or seven pints
sunk during the evening might have something to do with it…………………..
This last Sunday I managed to make my first afternoon session at The
Cutlers with those fine examples of Rotherham beef, The Thurmanators. I noted another new drummer – they seem to
wear them out with a little too much regularity. It was great to see the Pub so full for the
event; it seems as if the afternoon chill out and a couple of pints fits with
the working patterns of most people.
Next up for The Cutlers Sunday session is the amazing Systems of Hate, who are promising some
new material during their set.
LIVE AT THE TRADES News. Unfortunately the Simple Minds Tribute,
Alive and Kicking has had to be re-arranged, this means that our first event of
2015 will be The Jammed making a welcome
return to Live at The Trades on February 21st. Watch this space for more details of the
2015 programme.
The Web Site redevelopment continues, we have now added a Resource Page
to the RAE site, replacing the one which used to be found on the Acoustic
Rotherham site. We’ve updated the links
to many useful sites of use to musicians and spoken word performers and
activists. GO HERE to check it
out.
A top weekend of live music in Rotherham is kicked off on Friday night
at The Cutlers with Ian Huddleston’s Be The Revolution taking centre stage
again, making a welcome return after last month’s successful Gig. On Saturday, it’s again all down The Cutlers
for some not so predictable classic rock from Crimson Moon, well worth the
outing if you’ve not seen them before.
Then on Sunday afternoon if you’ve not been real aled enough it’s System
of Hate. WOW. A busy weekend there then.
Wednesday 28th January a stand out folk event at Firbeck
Village Hall with Steve Knightly of Show of Hands fame is making an appearance. Links to details can be found HERE
Also on Wednesday 28th it’s ROAR’S 10th
Anniversary AGM from 6:00pm. Besides the
usual dry stuff of AGM’s there’s a lot of Arty type activities taking
place. The evening comes complete with
refreshments and is open to everyone with an interest in the Arts in
Rotherham. There are a number of very
exciting projects in the mix for 2015,
so well worth the trouble to pop along and find out what they are.
All the normal listings along with the specials can be found HERE
Finally. Oh dear, so Chris
Bryant, Shadow Arts Minister, wants a more level playing field when it comes to
the Arts. Would this be the same Labour
Party that chooses Arts Projects as the first thing to cut when asked to find
savings by the Coalition? I think
Ministers who live glass houses should stop throwing stones that make them look
completely stupid and of touch with the reality of the situation in the
Arts.
So my friends, whatever you’re doing this week, have a great time, support
your local venues - and KEEP IT LIVE.
