CROWDFUNDER LINK: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-thunderbolt-covid-19...
BRISTOL’S VENUE OWNERS UNITE IN SONG TO SAVE THE THUNDERBOLT
The musician-owners of four leading Bristol music venues have banded together to record a song to help save the Thunderbolt.
And they’ve done it without ever being in the same room together!
The landmark venue on the Bath Road in Totterdown is under threat because of Covid 19. But unlike many popular haunts, it was unable to use the government’s Culture Recovery Fund to help it survive. As a sole trader rather than a limited company, Thunderbolt owner Dave McDonald didn’t qualify for the fund. So now his fellow venue owners – all of them current or former members of bands – have rallied round to help.
THE VENUES are Matt Otridge of the Exchange (guitar & vocals), Chris Sharp of the Fleece (bass & vocals), Mig Schillace of the Louisiana (drums) and Dave McDonald of the Thunderbolt (guitar & vocals).
The single is three minutes of belting rock and roll entitled SAVE OUR VENUES and is recorded by the one-off band called – surprise surprise – THE VENUES.
And through the magic of lockdown technology, they all recorded their contributions remotely, without ever being together in the same room.
“It was a brilliant piece of coordinated communication, as all the guys are really busy at the moment with building improvements at their venues”, said Dave McDonald.
“It was engineered and produced by Rowan Deverson, a red hot young Bristol producer who has contributed massively to the project. We couldn’t have done it without him”.
Then they went even further and made a remote-recorded video, with the help of Paul Matthews and Tom Thomas, with editing support by Damian Polley.
Proceeds will go in the first instance towards the Thunderbolt’s crowdfunder, which is half way towards its £15k target, with any surplus donations going to the Music Venue Trust, which is fighting to keep open grassroots music venues threatened by Covid 19.
VENUES member Matt Otridge of the Exchange is one of the MVT coordinators for South West England. He said:
“I think it’s important to remember that at a time when everyone’s being really positive about the Culture Recovery Fund grants, some of us have not been so lucky – and touring music is an eco-system where we all depend on each other.”
The Thunderbolt has been hosting a distinctive mix of music and talk gigs since 2007, giving audiences access to sets by performers as varied as Will Self, Kate Tempest and This Is The Kit.
“This is brilliant” said Dave McDonald. “It just goes to show that the music business is not just about competition and back-stabbing – it’s about everybody pulling together when the chips are down, as they certainly are right now.
“Three campaigners in particular get a namecheck in the middle eight of the song – Brendan Murphy of the Bristol Association of Restaurants, Bars and Independent Establishments (BARBIE) and Mark Davyd and Bev Whitrick of the Music Venue Trust UK.”
SAVE OUR VENUES is available from Thursday 29th October on Curfew10 records on the Bandcamp music download site https://thevenues1.bandcamp.com
THE VENUES SONG VIDEO: https://youtu.be/lEgkJJRm2xg
BANDCAMP: https://thevenues1.bandcamp.com/releases
THUNDERBOLT CROWDFUNDER: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-thunderbolt-covid-19-appea
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT DAVE MCDONALD, 07983 778361, info@thethunderbolt.net