556 Grassroots Music Venues in the UK are at imminent risk of being closed permanently. John Elliott of The Little Unsaid launches album series with proceeds going to the Music Venue Trust.
Relay is a new series of download albums featuring an on-going chain of cover versions by artists from the independent music scene.
Volume One features contributions from Billy Bragg, Emily Barker, Edgelarks, Dan Whitehouse, Dear Pariah, Jacob & Drinkwater, The Rail Abandon, Catherine Feeny, Chris Cleverley and The Little Unsaid.
Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown by John Elliott of UK alternative band The Little Unsaid, the project began as a small way to keep independent musicians in creative contact in the wake of live event and tour cancellations.
Offered as a pay-what-you-want Bandcamp download, all proceeds from the albums are going to Music Venue Trust, who recently launched their #SaveOurVenues campaign in support of grassroots music venues across the UK.
The idea behind the project is simple, an artist records a cover version of someone else’s song; someone they’ve crossed paths with through their zig-zagging community of touring musicians. When an artist’s song is covered, the baton is then passed to that artist, and they in turn cover someone else’s song, and so on – a kind of musical ‘relay.’ Volume One features the first ten tracks recorded so far, with more volumes to follow periodically as the baton continues to be passed.
Elliott says what started as a small idea between friends quickly took on a life of its own: “I got in touch with a few musicians I know and suggested this as a way of us keeping in touch while everyone’s off the road. As well as the shows, one of the things a lot of us miss about touring is being part of this sort of scattered gang of musical wanderers, playing the same venues and listening to each other’s records in the van and all that. Obviously there’s no substitute for that, but Relay seemed a nice way to do a little musical nod to one another, sharing each other’s songs whilst raising a bit of money to help the venues that have supported us over the years.”
“Within days my inbox started filling up with all these intimate cover versions as the baton got passed around, everyone was so up for it, and it’s turned into this beautiful thing that will hopefully keep growing.”
Artists were encouraged to embrace whatever recording resources might be available to them in lockdown, be it a home studio or simply the microphone on their phone, resulting in recordings that each have their own kind of raw, intimate quality to them.
Elliott says he hopes it might also be a way for music fans to discover new artists whose work they can delve into during this time. “The way people have responded to this so enthusiastically, it really taps into something about the spirit of our independent music scene I think, how vibrant and precious it really is. I hope listeners follow the musical jellybean trails and check out all of the artists they might not yet know on this record and show them support if they can too. It’s a good time to gather up new music to love – we’ll all have plenty to go out and see when we can finally get together again.”
Volume One of Relay is available as a download on Bandcamp for a price of your choosing now.
Released 4th May, features contributions from Billy Bragg, Emily Barker, The Little Unsaid, Edgelarks and more.
Order Relay Vol 1 via Bandcamp: https://relayuk.bandcamp.com/releases
Music Venue Trust #SaveOurVenues more info: https://saveourvenues.co.uk/#/