100 BANDS STEP UP FOR GREAT MUSIC STORIES’ WELLBEING RADIO FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND
6th August 2020100 live sets – An all-female headliner bill, led by Deborah Bonham, Melissa Etheridge & Verity White – Plus debate led by 20 artists & industry figures.
Following the storming success of June’s Spirit of Wildfire2 radio festival, Great Music Stories Radio is set to give music fans a special music festival this weekend: a music event that celebrates the role music has played to help people through lockdown, and also brings everyone together to have the conversation about mental health and wellbeing – aspects of life everyone has experienced in some form during the dark days of home isolation. The event will be broadcast between Friday 7th August – Sunday 9th August on greatmusicstories.com
The event originally aimed to present 60 bands, but the reaction has been so strong that the bill now will showcase 100+ acts from different geographies and sub-genres.
The headliners for the three-day weekend will all be female acts. Event organiser GuyB explains: “My Friday show has always celebrated diversity and equality with musicians. Some of our finest acts today are female artists. I can’t remember the last time I saw female acts take the headline slots for a festival, so I thought it was high time we did something about that. And headliners don’t come much better than Deborah and Melissa.”
Deborah Bonham headlines Friday night – the festival starts this Friday at 5pm – then Melissa leads the Saturday line-up on. Sunday’s headline slot has been earmarked for a rising talent and Verity White was chosen for the way she has created, entertained and championed wellness issues during lockdown.
The bill has attracted some top USA artists including BadFlower, JD Simo, Robert Jon & The Wreck, Sari Schorr and Austin Jenckes; also, some British icons including Toby Jepson, Nick Van Eede and Irwin Sparkes from the Hoosiers.
Three of Great Music Stories’ five bands of the year (since 2015) return to open the festival on Friday, ensuring that the event opens with rock ‘n’ roll fireworks. Current band of the Year Scarlet Rebels will be joined by alumni bands of the year – Massive Wagons and The Virginmarys – to open the weekend in style!
The sets have been recorded especially for the weekend to give festival-starved rock fans the real sense of a festival. Some artists are doing unique sets. Ash Wilson will be playing a 25-minute tribute to Peter Green; Hoss from Thirteen Stars will be doing a second set of fun 80s guilty pleasure covers; and Daxx & Roxanne have recorded a full rock covers set. Over the weekend, a number of bands will also premiere new songs.
Great Music Stories has always been about the fusion of words and music, and during the weekend 20 artists and industry figures will discuss a range of wellbeing and mental health issues. Musicians Toby Jepson, Carrie from HAVR, White Raven Down and Ally from The Virginmarys will be joined by industry figures such as Rob Town and The Rock Fairy.
GuyB adds: “After the NHS fundraiser for the last festival, for this one there’s not a financial element. I’m really conscious that as the economic impact of the pandemic starts to bite, some people are worried about money. This weekend it’s really important that everyone can feel involved, so what we’re doing this way is focusing on awareness: raising of issues and charities, and the bands will lead the debate on the issues we need to research, support and share. Longer-term, changing mindset actually can do much more than raising some money over a weekend.”
People can listen to the festival on greatmusicstories.com radio from 5pm Friday to 11pm Sunday.
As Guy B says: “It’s a totally non-commercial event that’s all about the music and bringing people together. As we come out of lockdown, it’s a moment in time to celebrate the healing power of live music and I hope the happiness, positivity and togetherness will also help us all re-charge and prepare for the challenging times that may be ahead this autumn.”
Full line-up details below:
A Thousand Horses
Alcantara
Anchor lane
Ash Wilson
As Sirens Fall
Austin Jenckes
Avarus
Autumn Killers
Amongst Liars
At The Sun / Kieron Heavens
Alcantara
Bad Touch
Badflower
Blurred Vision
Black Lakes
Bootyard bandits
Bastette
Beth Blade
Cloverhill
Cormac Neeson
Coma Rossi
Cutting Crew
Calum Ingram
Circus 66
Cry For Mercy
Copperworm
Deaf Mute Society
Dead Shed Jokers
Dust Coda
Deborah Bonham
Dead Man’s Whiskey
Devilfire
DeadBlondeStars
Daxx & Roxane
Deadfire
Dig Lazarus
Elles Bailey
Ebb
Empyre
Fugitive
Fyresky
Gallows Circus
Geoff Tyson
HAVR
Hells Addiction
Hollin Kings
Hoosiers / Irwin Sparkes
JD Simo
Johhny Hammond
Jack J Hutchinson
The Jokers
Jason Sweeney
JoanovArc
Kyros
Little Red Kings
Last Alibi
Lynne Jackaman
Luke Appleton
Massive Wagons
Melissa Etherdige
Miss Kitty
Mike Ross
Mercury Rising
North Atlas
OhNova
Pure Black
Promethium
The Quireboys
Robert Jon & The Wreck
Ravenbreed
Ryders Creed
Rebecca Downes
Sari Schorr
Scarlet Rebels
Safire
She Burns Red
Sertraline
Sky Hunter
Stevie Craven
Sons of Liberty
Salt River Shakedown
Swamp Born Assassins
Troy Refern
Theia
Thirteen Stars
TakeAway Thieves
Thundermother
These Wicked Rivers
Twisted Illusion
Toby Jepson
Verity White
Virginmarys
Wille & The Bandits
White Raven Down
Wildhorse
White Tail Falls
Rbb Town
Rock Fairy
Samarkind
Gasoline Outlaws
The Texas Flood
Fireroad
Mason Hill
Little Brother Eli
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