-
Update and Call to Arms
Hi all.
I havent been able to make a Monday in a little while but hope to be back soon. I just wanted to thank everyone for your advice and support. It was so helpful and has really opened my eyes for what I want for Backbeat and our community.
@christinareal-word-com – our meeting and your advice was so helpful, really great and encouraging so thank you for sparing some time to talk to me.
@stu – see you Tuesday – I have a long list be warned!!
So I thought I would take the plunge and talk about what Backbeat has coming up.
This weekend we’ll be at the Lindford Village Fete, which we’re really excited about. It’s our second year supporting the event and we’ve already been able to increase the size of the stage, so we’re hoping to keep building it year after year. it allows young acts from the rising Music festival that we hold at the Phoenix arts Centre as well as local talent we have in the area.
One of our biggest projects is the Rising Music Festival – a not-for-profit festival dedicated to giving local musicians aged under 24 real performance opportunities, industry experience, mentoring and a platform to develop their confidence and careers. It’s all about investing in the incredible young talent we have here in our community.
As with many community events, funding is always a challenge. We’re currently trying to raise the remaining funds for our Truck Stage, with around £3,000 still to find.
Support doesn’t always have to be financial. We’ve already had some fantastic local businesses get involved. Brandstorm, for example, kindly donated branding support by creating the Battle of the Bands winner’s logo for last year’s winners, Cold July. Whether it’s sponsorship, rehearsal space, equipment, prizes, professional advice or services, every contribution helps create opportunities for our local young people.
Away from the festival, a couple of our tutors and myself also perform in the Pink Floyd tribute show Atom Heart Floyd, which has recently started touring. I’ll be sharing a few of our gig adventures from around the country too! We’ve got some exciting plans for next year with a full promoter and production company behind the show, so if you’re a Pink Floyd fan, we’d love to see you at a gig.
Looking ahead, I’d love Backbeat Collective to become even more involved in the community. We’re exploring ideas such as:
- A community choir open to everyone.
- Expanding our Home Education music provision with more creative opportunities.
- Monthly Rising Sessions showcasing local artists.
- Music and wellbeing projects for the community.
- Mentoring and industry workshops with local businesses.
- Community songwriting and recording projects.
- Opportunities for businesses to support young musicians through sponsorship, work experience or sharing their expertise.
I’d really love to hear your thoughts. What would you like to see in our local community? Is there something you think is missing that music or the arts could help with?
If you know of a business that might be interested in sponsoring the festival, supporting a community project, or simply collaborating on an idea, I’d really appreciate an introduction.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to getting to know you all. Here’s to building something brilliant together! 🎶
Colin Slade, Matthew Laakvand and 2 others5 Comments-
Great post, Aly – lovely to hear all your news. Good luck with everything! And it was a pleasure to talk marketing ideas with you 🤩😎
-
Thanks Aly this is a lovely post to return to! Hope to see you on Monday morning soon (or a Thursday eve at the Royal Exchange? !
-
Atom Heart Floyd sounds amazing!!
-
@backbeat cannot wait to chat later! Sounds like a lot of exciting opportunities
-
Love this post. Being part of an open and generous business community has made all the difference for my business, not to mention the trust some of you have placed in me already.
