Andrew Marston, the host of BBC Introducing from BBC Hereford & Worcester, provides us with a summary of regional music updates as reported by the BBC.
Festival re-brands
A Ross on Wye festival has rebranded and renamed their annual event. The festival is held at Ross Rugby Club in memory of popular player Ollie Floyd, who died in an accident in 2015.
The festival, which is formerly known as Olliefest, made a statement saying: “Olliefest first began in memory of Ollie, a much loved talented young man. Originally, it was called Smilefest which reminded us of his infectious cheeky smile! Over the years, the festival has grown so much and we are truly grateful for the continued support of Ollie’s friends and family.”
The festival is now called YFest.
Help for Mappfest
The organiser of Mappfest in Malvern, which has been running since 2009, is appealing for help so it can happen this year. Andy Mapp had considered pulling the plug on the volunteer-run festival because of the increased cost of traffic management.
Andy has now set up a GoFundMe page and is hoping supporters will help raise the £500 he needs to stage the festival in June.
Becky bags Best Dance Act
Pop superstar Becky Hill has thanked her ‘powerful’ fans for helping her bag a Brit Award for the second year in a row. The Bewdley singer was awarded her second ‘Best Dance Act’ prize at the annual awards show, which was held at London’s O2 Arena. Becky was up against Calvin Harris, Bonobo, Fred Again and Eliza Rose for the award. People were able to vote for the nominees on TikTok.
Wacky Weekend in Worcester
A new three day festival will take over Worcester Racecourse this summer.
Wacky Weekender are bringing 3 days worth of live entertainment, food, drink and a fun-fair to Worcester’s city centre in Friday, 21 July to Sunday, 23 July. The headliners announced so far are Dodgy, The Bluetones, Toploader and Scouting For Girls.
A number of BBC Music Introducing supported artists are performing including Chevy Chase Stole My Wife and The Delray Rockets.
It’s the Talk of the Town
The world-famous Herefordshire band The Pretenders are the latest headliner announced for Black Deer festival this summer. Herefordshire’s Martin Chambers has been the drummer since he founded the band back in the 1970s. The annual event is an Americana music festival that takes place in Eridge Park, Kent over the weekend of 16 – 18 June. The Pretenders join the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats on this year’s line-up.
Englishmen in New York
A Worcestershire band will be playing their first US show in June.
The Bug Club, who hail from Kidderminster and Bristol, have received praise from BBC 6 Music, BBC Music Introducing and have toured extensively over the past year. They will be flying to the United States to perform in New York – which will mark their America debut. They told fans on social media: “We’re coming for you New York, you better get your tap shoes and your party hats on!”
Andrew Marston
BBC Introducing in Hereford & Worcester
BBC Music Introducing in Hereford & Worcester – Weekends, 6pm
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