Rock City - Birmingham?
On 21st November I blogged on Selling a Musical Birmingham for the Big City Plan reflecting on the Birmingham Mail's Stirrer column discussion on the need for Birmingham to celebrate it's heavy metal music connection.
The Guardian's Music Blog thinks we ought to think about this too. Although it notes "Birmingham, however, is not a music city. That's not to say it has no history of music", http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/feb/05/birmingham-rock-metal.
From the 1970s Birmingham has a history of music to 'all but rival Manchester' with Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Napalm Death and Godflesh amongst others and modern metal Beestung Lips and Einstellung but all outside of the British mainstream and also not being shouted about. Lisa Meyer from Capsule, the promoter behind Birmingham's annual metal festival Supersonic, notes "with Brummies not being very good at singing their own praises, is probably why, culturally, the region has been overlooked."
In my November blog post I suggested this history might be another opportunity linked to the Big City Plan for our musical heritage to be shown off, perhaps as the Stirrer suggested with a museum or festival. Capsule it seems are doing that with their Home of Metal, a civic project which the Guardian's blog describes as a sort of Antiques Roadshow for the denim-and-leather crew.
The Birmingham Mail reports that £50,000 grant to tell story of Birmingham's rock music history with a community heritage project receiving £50,000 grant to explore Birmingham's musical tradition.
The Guardian's Music Blog thinks we ought to think about this too. Although it notes "Birmingham, however, is not a music city. That's not to say it has no history of music", http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/feb/05/birmingham-rock-metal.
From the 1970s Birmingham has a history of music to 'all but rival Manchester' with Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Napalm Death and Godflesh amongst others and modern metal Beestung Lips and Einstellung but all outside of the British mainstream and also not being shouted about. Lisa Meyer from Capsule, the promoter behind Birmingham's annual metal festival Supersonic, notes "with Brummies not being very good at singing their own praises, is probably why, culturally, the region has been overlooked."
In my November blog post I suggested this history might be another opportunity linked to the Big City Plan for our musical heritage to be shown off, perhaps as the Stirrer suggested with a museum or festival. Capsule it seems are doing that with their Home of Metal, a civic project which the Guardian's blog describes as a sort of Antiques Roadshow for the denim-and-leather crew.
The Birmingham Mail reports that £50,000 grant to tell story of Birmingham's rock music history with a community heritage project receiving £50,000 grant to explore Birmingham's musical tradition.
The Creative Community Network will be exploring Birmingham’s musical tradition from 1965 to 1985. Directors have set up a website and are hoping to create a heritage trail, taking music lovers on a tour of the city’s past, as well as a DVD of interviews.
“For 20 years, the city was never out of the charts, yet people don’t know about it – lots of people think Duran Duran are from London, for example.
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2009/01/30/50-000-grant-to-tell-story-of-birmingham-s-rock-music-history-97319-22813267/
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