applications now closed
This will be our third songwriting workshop - each one has had a different focus and outcome, first one was about intergenerational connections with Hackney Elders group, we then held a workshop with Hackney Windrush Generation and this time we are reaching out to NHS staff who live in the borough.
Our festival for 2021 is called 'Staying Connected’ During 2020 we have all experienced a very traumatic year, for our artist members their industry has all but fallen away, but as creatives, we have found ways to deal with the emotion and stress through sharing music and connecting with fans on social media. We all joined in and cheered and clapped for our NHS heroes at the start of the pandemic and then when that stopped we didn’t forget that the work continued, the sick carried on being cared for and NHS workers have gone beyond the call of duty to keep us safe, we want to find a way to give back in the best way we know-how.
We found with the past two workshops that it was a very cathartic experience for all, some saying they felt like they had been on holiday. Once the songs were performed, we could see how emotional it was for them and also from the feedback we found it had helped them to deal with some life trauma, experiences, and things they hadn’t been able to express before - the medium of 'song' was something that enabled them to share poetically without it being too heavy and still be meaningful to the listener. We now want to share this experience with NHS workers and hope we can make it another really powerful event for all involved.
There will be 6 pairings - so 6 artist songwriters will be selected from our membership and then paired with 6 NHS staff from the borough of Hackney. Due to social distancing, we will carry out the workshop on Zoom through various group sessions and individual songwriting sessions. The NHS staff do not need to worry about performing the song as this will be done by the co-writer - the final songs will all be performed and released on YouTube.
We feel this will be another moving event for all involved, for the NHS staff to be able to talk about their lives and experiences, see them transformed into songs and for our songwriters to experience writing songs on subjects that are not directly their own stories. If this idea sounds like something you would like to take part in then please apply below - spaces are very limited so please let us know why you think you should be chosen. You will need to demonstrate that you have songwriting experience, you will need to be able to write songs using a guitar and to be aware and sensitive to the fact that your partners in this process are not artists or songwriters. You will need to be able to be available to carry out this workshop in the first week on December 2020, then be able to perform and record your song ready for Youtube by the start of January 2021. We will in return give you a free three-day wristband for AmericanaFest UK and the UK Americana Awards ONLINE 26-28th January 2021, you will be given £150 towards expenses and time.
