www.passportbacktoourroots.org
#BackToOurRoots
Pet Shop Boys, KT Tunstall, Russell Watson and Passenger have pledged to play gigs for ‘Passport: Back to Our Roots’, the campaign to raise money for grassroots music venues at risk of closure. Two further artists will be announced on BBC Radio 6 Music during the station’s ‘State Of Independents Day’ on Thursday September 10th.
Classical singer Russell Watson said “Grassroots venues were crucial in the development of my career. I spent almost nine years in the working men’s clubs in the North West of England before my touring career as a recording artiste. It’s heart-breaking to see so many of these venues – which are the fabric of our communities, where people gather to drink, procrastinate and be entertained – under such huge financial strain. Entertainment is essential to the U.K. It’s fundamentally crucial in driving a large part of our nation’s economy but also in the employment of hundreds of thousands of incredibly talented people – from lighting engineers to prima donnas. This is a time for us all to reflect on just what the entertainment industry means to us and to keep it alive during these most unprecedented times.
I’ve chosen Manchester’s Stoller Hall, a small but beautiful and intimate venue, to perform a free concert in aid of Passport: Back to Our Roots. Please come and join me.”
Also performing will be Pet Shop Boys at Camden’s Electric Ballroom, Passenger at Brighton’s Komedia, and KT Tunstall who will be playing at two venues – Windmill Brixton and PJ Molloys in Dunfermline. The artists will be playing these celebratory intimate shows, on dates to be confirmed, when venues are able to open with no social distancing.
Entry to the shows will be via a prize draw which will run for three weeks from Monday September 14th until Monday October 5th via crowdfunder.co.uk/passport–back–to–our–roots. For a £5 minimum donation to the campaign, music fans will be entered into the draw to win passes to the show of their choice for themselves and a guest.
This announcement follows the news that £75,000 was raised from the first prize draw for entry to concerts by Elbow, Public Service Broadcasting, Everything Everything, The Slow Readers Club and Ash.
Sally Cook, co-founder of Passport: Back to Our Roots said “We’re blown away by the incredible response to the first block of fundraisers, and want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated, and to every artist who pledged to play a grassroots venue show. The outpouring of support (we read all the comments!) just proves how important grassroots venues are to the UK’s music fans. £75k is an amazing start and will help make a real difference to the venues involved and the sector as a whole, but we’re not stopping there. We are really excited to be announcing this new group of artists this week.”
On returning to Brighton’s Komedia venue, Passenger said “I’m delighted to be able to play at the Komedia again! It’s a venue that I used to play frequently when I was starting out and it will be lovely to go back!”
Speaking about the grassroots scene, KT Tunstall said “Without grassroots music venues, there are no big acts. It’s as simple as that. The incredible eco-system of small venues exists, in the vast majority of cases, as labours of love. Constantly up against rapidly rising business rates and big developer interests, these essential community hubs are kept alive by often overworked owners and staff with an unending passion for music and the music lovers and musicians they serve.”
Further groups of artists will be announced every month.
www.passportbacktoourroots.org
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For further information:
Consumer media:
Sue Harris
Republic Media
Tel: +44 (0) 777 568 5376
Music industry Trade media:
Andy Saunders
Velocity Communications
Tel: + 44 (0) 7939 133050
About Passport: Back to Our Roots
The brainchild of Sally Cook, Director of Operations at Band on the Wall, and Stephen Budd, creator of War Child’s Passport: Back to the Bars and Passport: to BRITs Week series, Passport: Back to Our Roots has partnered with Music Venue Trust to raise much needed funds to safeguard the futures of grassroots music venues struggling to survive the COVID-19 crisis.
80% of all money raised will go to the Music Venue Trust, who in turn will distribute half of the amount to the host venue with the remainder going into their Crisis Fund, benefiting all venues in need of financial support. The remaining 20% will go to Inner City Music, the charitable organisation that operates the multi-award winning not-for-profit historic music venue Band on the Wall in Manchester, which is responsible for the administration of the project and will cover its overheads.