Arts Council grassroots live music funding for True North Music

After another successful year in 2019 for Huddersfield-based music promoter and booking agent Maria Wallace, 2020 plans came to a screeching halt with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with venues closed and international tours cancelled. A recent award from Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund will allow True North Music to continue bringing world class live music to local, national (and international!) music fans, supporting a live streamed virtual festival in late October, and two real-life concerts to be performed, filmed and live streamed in Meltham in early 2021 (subject to strict Covid-safe protocols). This support will enable True North Music to pay all the participating musicians a reasonable minimum fee in this very difficult time, and will also fund the provision of some technical equipment to host, film and live stream music events more effectively.

The live streamed Fall into Autumn Virtual Festival will take place on Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th October, featuring an exciting line-up of talented Americana, bluegrass and folk/roots musicians from the USA and UK, including The Honey Dewdrops, Bill and the Belles and Mishra. The evening concerts will be live streamed on True North Music’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. There will also be several late afternoon participatory music and dance workshops. These will be ticketed events hosted on Zoom – full details will be announced soon.

Maria has organised around 50 concerts in Yorkshire since 2015, about half at the Carlile Institute in Meltham, where her regular bluegrass, folk and Americana gigs usually attract a sold-out crowd of local supporters and music fans from further afield. The concert room in this beautiful community building has played host to some world-class talent from the USA, Canada and UK, as have True North Music’s other events at Marsden Mechanics and Hepworth Village Hall. Maria has been active on the bluegrass and folk scene for many years as a musician and fan, making connections which have enabled her to bring the finest acoustic talent to these community venues. She won the Outstanding Promoter Award at the Yorkshire Gig Guide Grassroots Awards in 2017, and was a finalist in 2019. In March last year Maria was selected to participate in the prestigious Leadership Bluegrass course in Nashville run by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). With the pandemic ongoing and venues having to impose strict attendance limits, True North Music welcomed the Arts Council’s assistance which helps them move their events online.

True North Music’s Maria Wallace said, “Live music is so important as a source of joy, connection and community, and we’ve received tons of positive feedback from audience members over the last few years. In a time of no real life tours, gigs or ticket sales, this Arts Council funding will be a lifeline to enable us to continue our work to champion top quality grassroots music. True North Music will be able to help musicians by giving them paid work, and continue to bring top quality live music to our audiences, both online during the pandemic and at our local community venues in the future.”

https://www.creativekirklees.com/true-north-music/true-north-music-presents-the-fall-into-autumn-virtual-festival
For more information visit True North Music’s website at http://truenorthpromotions.co.uk/ and follow the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/truenorthmusicuk

For more information visit http://truenorthpromotions.co.uk/