By Helen Fay
A family-friendly music event is set to take place in Kirkstall this Saturday (1 August). TCV Hollybush is the location for the Daytime Summer Special event, hosted by community music organisation Tower of Song.
Anyone wanting to attend/take part can arrive from 12pm, with performances starting from 1 pm and going on until 4pm at the latest.
The main proviso of the event is that participants perform original songs they have written on any theme and no cover versions. Non-performing ‘song listeners’ are also welcome to the event, which is free. Donations to TCV Hollybush are welcome.
Nicky Bray, freelance Community Music Leader, co-founded Tower of Song alongside Carl Flattery, who is Course Director in Music at Leeds Beckett University.
Nicky told WLD: “Tower of Song is a free monthly open mic night for songwriters and song listeners, which we run at the Fox & Newt pub on Burley Road in Leeds city centre.
“I’ve been running the open mics with Carl for the past 13 years, to inspire and encourage people to write songs and to provide a safe, friendly and supportive space in which to perform them. The event on Saturday is the family-friendly Daytime Summer Special we run at the wonderful Hollybush each year.”
Tower of Song has been running monthly open mic nights since the inaugural event in February 2013. The original songwriting monthly showcase, initially inspired by a Leeds Beckett student’s residential, now attracts members of the wider music community who form the majority of attendees. Both audience members and participants are invited to suggest themes to write songs about for the following month’s session.
This will be the fifth year in a row that the Summer Special event has taken place at TCV Hollybush.
The café at Hollybush is closed on the day, but flasks of hot water, teabags & coffee (plus jugs of water) will be provided for DIY drinks – a suggested donation for drinks is £1, so attendees will need to bring appropriate change.
Microphones and a small PA to plug in instruments or phones with backing tracks are provided on the day for participants to use.
More information about the day can be found here.
The link toTower of Song’s Facebook page is here.
To find out more about TCV Hollybush and the activities and other events held there, follow this link.
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