Folk On Foot podcast organises “Front Room Festival” to raise funds for musicians hit by the coronavirus lockdown.
The UK’s finest folk musicians offer to play from their front rooms to yours.
The award-winning Folk On Foot podcast hosted by Matthew Bannister has pulled together an amazing line up to take part in The Folk on Foot Front Room Festival on Easter Bank Holiday Monday (13 th April).
Bella Hardy, Beth Porter plus the Bookshop Band, Jon Boden, Julie Fowlis and Éamon Doorley, Karine Polwart, Kris Drever, Lisa Knapp, Martin Simpson, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Peggy Seeger, Rachel Newton, Sam Lee, Seth Lakeman and Steve Knightley of Show of Hands have all agreed to film sets of up to 30 minutes’ duration in their front rooms.
If a crowdfunding campaign succeeds, Bannister plans to stream the performances on the Folk On Foot YouTube channel and Facebook page, linked by him from his own front room. The show would start at 2pm and run for about six hours. The funding campaign has an initial target of £5,000 with all the proceeds divided equally between the charity Help Musicians UK and the participating artists.
Matthew Bannister said: “The lockdown has been financially devastating for many musicians – but listening to music is one of the most soothing and uplifting ways to get through these challenging times – so it’s important we do everything we can to support the talented people who perform and compose it. The line-up for this festival is amazing, and we urge you to donate so we can make it a reality.
“Imagine joining people up and down the land as they settle down in their front rooms on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon with a beer or two or a cuppa and watch these artists perform their extraordinary music in their own homes. It’ll be a unique and uplifting event which will connect people even though they’re isolated.”
The address for donations is www.folkonfoot.com/festival.