The importance of that band down the local and everything behind them

I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural Sound Music Awards in Liverpool last week. A great evening bringing together people from all over the Liverpool music scene, artists, promoters, radio hosts and many others for a great celebration of the talent the city has to offer coupled with some great performances from local bands (Brandon Tew, Paint me in Colour, Waiting Till Marriage and Zuzu). Aside from highlighting some of the great music and artists in the city the awards also shone the light on some of those behind the scenes. Photographers, venues, promoters and producers amongst the award winners – congratulations Lucy McLachlan, The Jacaranda, Liverpool Acoustic and Ben Harper respectively!

All vital pieces in the machinery that keep local music scenes running and functioning. Liverpool’s is fantastic, there’s such a gigantic heritage that makes it one of the most vibrant music scenes in the world but it’s clearly made that way by a lot of hard work by a lot of people. I’m sure though, there are plenty of local scenes up and down the UK and across the globe and they all need support, one thing that was brought home to me seeing everyone at the awards. They love this but they also need to get buy in from those in the area – the real world isn’t Field of dreams, you can’t just build it and they will come.

It can be all too easy to not bother with local music, despite the low cost and the relatively small effort involved. It’s easy to imagine big bands just turn up stadium ready, that they are picked up by labels early on and magically rise to their place at the top of the musical pantheon. It’s easy to think that in the modern era you can produce something in your bedroom, post it on Tik Tok and ride the wave to viral fame and fortune. The reality even for those who do seem to do this isn’t the same, the age old “years long, overnight success” is more often the case. It’s also easy to see huge stars with their mansions and believe the music industry is awash with cash and that being involved with it, at any level, is a lucrative business.

So this is a plea, or lets be more inspiring, and say it’s a rallying call, get out there and support those local bands, those local venues and everyone else involved. You don’t even have to go as far as your front door, maybe next time you’re not sure what you want to listen to then check out a local band on Spotify instead. If you like their stuff buy something from Bandcamp, follow them on social media (you can even write a post on Mumubl.com 😉 ). it all helps and it doesn’t take much.
But if you can then get out of your door and go and enjoy some live music, you’ll not only have a great time but maybe one day you’ll have the bragging rights of telling people you saw “Waiting till Marriage” before they were massive.
There are a lot of great people and great musicians out there and they need your support otherwise they go away, and if we lose the grassroots we lose the great music at the other end as well.

If you want to find something that’s on and worth going to the Music Venue Trust isn’t just a fantastic charity helping out grassroots music venues, it also has a handy gig guide you can search.

And if you’re in Liverpool then be sure to keep an eye out for next year’s Sound Music Awards event, but in the meantime check out some of the very deserving winners – full list here on the Liverpool Echo.