PREVIEW
Abel Rodríguez installation view, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead. Image by Rob Harris (c) 2020 BALTIC NARC. scribe Catharina Joubert has kicked off her new podcast series Regeneration Studio with some excellent content exploring how the independent creative sector can weather the Covid19 storm. Future podcasts will explore inspirational stories of business creatives and the positive impact their work has on their communities, with arts and culture at the forefront of her explorations. Listen here. The Star & Shadow Cinema is a much-loved staple of the region's music, film and artistic scenes. While they're regrouping and their volunteers are helping out in the community, they'll also be broadcasting a radio show and invite listeners to get involved with tracks, recorded messages, idents, reportage, mixes and audio treats. Listen via Mixlr here. South Shields actor and pub manager Stephen Sullivan has turned his hand to storytelling on his increasingly popular Facebook page. Storytime With Stevey offers live storytelling with tales for kids and adults, often complete with costumes and unusual props. Running out of educational diversions for the kids? Newcastle-based singing teacher Kate Covell-Bullock is hosting online singing lessons every Monday at 10am for children stuck at home via her Facebook page. Aside from this fair magazine, of course, there's nowhere better to get your local music fix than our region's BBC Introducing programmes. Broadcast on BBC Radio Newcastle and BBC Tees on Saturday nights from 8pm, the lovely Nick Roberts (Newcastle) and Rianne Thompson (Tees) will keep you entertained and informed.
When you're as plugged in to the local scene as Stockton's Georgian Theatre, it can be incredibly hard to go dark. The venerable venue and their hard-working team are determined not to let music lovers fall by the wayside, every Saturday they'll be streaming live sets via Facebook from 7.30pm. Artists you can expect to hear from include Shakk (4th April), Kaitlyn Kempen from Komparrison (11th April) and Joe Ramsey (18th April). Keep an eye on their socials for more info as it happens.
Spearheaded by acoustic vocalist Gareth Beddard, a group of North East musicians have banded together to provide entertainment via Facebook page Live Jam @ Lockdown. Their aim is to bring performances from across the UK, festival-style, with a pre-booked roster of performances. Artists are able to add a digital 'tip hat' but the main aim is to share and enjoy live music. They're hoping to run the project every weekend across the lockdown period.
We Shall Overcome kicked off in 2015 in response to the government's austerity cuts, and have been using performance and musical events to raise money for a variety of food banks, outreach organisations and crisis centres. In continuing their good work, they'll be hosting WSO Isolation Festival, an all-day virtual gig on Facebook on Saturday 11th April. Musicians and poets will perform in their own homes, beaming their performances straight to interested viewers, from midday to midnight. Performers include Grace Petrie, Phil Odgers, Attila The Stockbroker, The Wakes and many more. Voluntary donations are requested at the group's GoFundMe page
Local vloggers NAMI Up North are hosting live takeovers on their Facebook and Instagram pages from North East artists, taking place every evening at 8pm until 20th April. Expect everything from live music to stand-up comedy and spoken word performance.
All systems are go for Lindisfarne Festival, which takes place from 3rd-6th September at Beal Farm in Northumberland. To keep prospective festival goers entertained they present the Lindisfarne Lockdown, a series of livestreamed performances from some of the artists taking part in the festival. So far there's been yoga classes and live music, with poetry, comedy and much more on the way a couple of times a week, all streamed via their Facebook page.
Award-winning composer and regular performer of lunchtime piano recitals back when we were all allowed outside, Steve Luck's talents are still available to those in isolation thanks to his livestreamed recitals, which take place at 1pm every day via Facebook Live. See the link on his page to buy him a coffee in return. Durham-based record label Nice Mind Records are working on a new podcast to add to their series, planning to premiere on Easter Sunday the new show will have a theme of Spring and rebirth. It's also a great place to stop off for info on what their artists are up to. Joining the bedroom acoustic gigs and housebound techno DJs in what is now being called #coronacore (© Ben Myers), ‘Stagger’ Lee Fisher is going to be replacing
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