Four events in

This blog has been a little neglected! We are now four events into Micro Music with the fifth less than two weeks away. It still amazes me that I have managed to set up a company and arrange events that people have come along to. It is a very good feeling and a lot of fun, but a lot more work than I anticipated. I knew there would be an investment in my time, but I did underestimate how much time would be required.

So, what takes the time? There is communicating with musicians, venues and charities of course which is fine and what I expected to have to do. The real time has been social media. I came into this project as a somewhat occasional user of Facebook and that was about all. Now I find myself learning the intricate arts of Facebook algorithms and Instagram Stories. All good fun and I can see the Micro Music community beginning to gradually grow. The other time taker (is that a real phrase?) is the admin and other bits and bobs. Keeping track of finances and plans as well as creating posters and flyers. One day when this is big enough and I have a team of people…

In the first four events I have had some amazing musicians and I am very grateful to them for saying yes. We really do have a strong pool of local talented musicians. So far everyone has been a solo artist or a duo – no bands. This is largely down to my limited equipment set-up and my inexperience. Both of which I would love to improve over the next few months. There are some excellent bands that I would love to invite to play so I will keep working on this one.

If you haven’t made it to an event yet, then please do try. It is always lovely to see new faces each time. Supporting local music, businesses and charities is what it is all about!

The first event

On Thursday 4th April the first Micro Music event took place at the Retro Cafe. After taking nearly a year to get from thinking about the idea to actually listening to some live music it was something of a celebration in my head. It was a proud moment to see people enjoying a music show in a cool Cafe that I had organised.

I can’t remember the last time I felt so nervous about something. Arriving at the Retro Cafe at about 6pm with the equipment I could already feel the butterfly's. Setting up didn’t take half as long as I thought so there was plenty of time to think and worry – what if no one turned up.

The doors opened at 7.30pm with no long queue stretching down the road as one of my more ambitious dreams had foretold. However, a steady trickle of people soon had the cafe feeling like a lively little venue.

Cat Eliza T kicked things off at 8pm. I had seen Cat play before and already knew how talented she was and she spent 45 wonderful minutes playing lovely songs with an easy going charm that had everyone in the room hooked.

Second up was Dan O’Farrell, another supremely talented performer. Starting off with new songs before playing some more familiar tunes from his impressive back catalogue he also had the room eating out of the palm of his hand. With Clare Canning providing backing vocals for several songs it was a set of beautifully balanced catchy songs and even a sing-a-long for the chorus of Rosaline wins.

The end of the evening came too quickly but people seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Two fantastic musical performers in a fun venue and a bunch of happy people. I can’t ask for much more than that. There will be more Micro Music events...

Crowdfunding update

First can I say a huge thank you to the people that have backed the Micro Music campaign so far. It means a huge amount to me. As part of the build-up to the crowdfunding, and now during it, I have reached out to and discussed the idea with many musicians and music fans and there is a huge appetite out there for something like this and live music in general, which is fantastic.

Although the amount of interest hasn't translated into backers in quite the way I might have hoped I am not disheartened and Micro Music will happen! I can reflect in slower time on how I set up the crowdfunding, the perks offered and all those things that make a campaign successful.

But for now thank you again and I hope to see you at  Micro Music event really soon. I am a few small details away from announcing the first event...