OneFest and Shabaka Hutchings announce 'twin city' festivals in London & Sheffield in March 2020

10 December 2019 - Press release

By day: Challenging the 'North-South divide' & bringing music business education to young people
By night: Bringing together the cream of British jazz across generations

The Leadmill, Sheffield Sat 7^th March 2020
EartH, London on Sat 14^th March 2020 

 

Stephen Budd  "OneFest exists to reach the next generation of Shabaka Hutchingses, the young talent that might not otherwise get the access to opportunities because of the 'North-South' divide."

 

Award-winning festival and non-profit talent development organisation OneFest, and key leader of the British jazz vanguard, Shabaka Hutchings, have announced the major return of the festival in March 2020, featuring leading lights from the UK Jazz scene.

The former winner of AIM 'Best Independent Festival', OneFest innovates for 2020 with a unique 'twin festival' concept in Sheffield 's Leadmill andLondon's EartH. Mercury Prize nominee Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming) has carefully curated an ambitious line-up with OneFest masterminds and co-founders Sandra Bhatia and Stephen Budd.

Each OneFest venue will host a daytime programme of talks and workshops, chaired by journalist and author John Robb and musicians such asAhnansé (Steam Down), SK Shlomo, Ross Gautreau and Skinny Pelembe, aimed at educating aspiring young music industry professionals across the North-South divide, partnered by Ivors Academy. Both London and Sheffield will also host a next-level evening programme of music, with unique one-off collaborations across generations of British Jazz, including Steve Williamson, Leafcutter John with StringTing (Tomorrow's Warriors), Maisha with Nat Birchall and Okumu, Herbert, Skinner Trio with Byron Wallen.

One of the original, pioneering 'social conscience' music festivals, OneFest returns following its hugely acclaimed 'Lost Evenings with Frank Turner' in 2017 at London's Roundhouse.  OneFest is a festival with a grassroots talent development programme, that is a pipeline for young people into the music industry. Over the year, it has supported a cohort of seven young people (who have come through Doncaster-based organisation Higher Rhythm) from disadvantaged backgrounds in the North, who have received support and education via industry partners MMF, PRS for Music, PRS Foundation and PPL, showcasing opportunities, plus practical experience working in the production crew at OneFest. 

With OneFest 2020, the aim is to duplicate the programme across two cities, providing a platform for young grassroots talent in London and South Yorkshire and highlight the obstacles they face as they embark on music industry careers, with particular focus on a major challenge – the 'North/South divide'.

 

OneFest 2020 highlights include:

• Daytime - An inspired daytime programme of talks, panels and workshops, with panels chaired by award-winning journalist and author John Robb and speakers including artists Ahnansé (Steam Down), SK Shlomo, Skinny Pelembe, Joe Hastings (Help Musicians), Ross Gautreau(Fairwood Music), Chris McCourt (Warner Music), Michael Caulfield,. Sessions include

• The North South Divide 'Bridging the Gap'
• Access to funding
• Mental Health 'Let's Keep the Conversation Going' with Help Musicians
• Female Entrepreneurs in the Industry
• Extra special Workshop and Q&A with Shabaka Hutchings
• Generation Next' with Ivors Academy,
• Fairwood Music Listening Session with Ross Gautreau
• 'How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea: Lessons from Film, TV and Tech'
• Business advice drop-in surgeries with Big Star Business.
• Emerging Talent showcase with six acts coming through OneFest's talent search in the summer, chosen by Shabaka Hutchings, these are Linda Sikhakhane, Mark Hanslip, Join the Din, Jelly Cleaver, Mansion of Snakes and LIO.

 

• Evening - Featuring showcases from emerging talent and special one-off collaborations with members of the cohort and the best emerging and established British talent including Steve Williamson, Leafcutter John and StringTing (Tomorrow's Warriors), Maisha with Nat Birchall andOkumu, Herbert, Skinner Trio with Byron Wallen.

 

OneFest curator Shabaka Hutchings said "It's an honour to curate OneFest 2020 and continue to support and encourage the work the festival does for new and emerging talent throughout the industry. With its day and evening programming, OneFest is doing something exciting and unique, by day it's a platform for young people who want to get a foot in the door and in the evening we bring different generations of musicians together in a series of one-off, unexpected collaborations. This is an element that was important to me when joining forces with the OneFest team. It's incredibly important to me that the festival takes place in both the North and South, again challenging those unnecessary boundaries that have evolved within the music industry." 

Sandra Bhatia, OneFest founder and director said "We can't wait to take OneFest to the road with Shabaka Hutchings for an even more ambitious programme that will not only entertain music fans with its lineup, but also be a beacon to the under-served entry level talent in the North and South. Our industry insights show that young people still don't tend to leave their city, there are limited opportunities, for performance, networking, collaboration and making a decent living. With our daytime programme, we want to provide that much needed platform in London and South Yorkshire for those young industry hopefuls. Understanding the business of the music industry is key to sustaining careers and young people need access to experts and specialists where they are."

OneFest co-founder and Director, Stephen Budd  said, "OneFest exists to reach the next generation of Shabaka Hutchingses, the young talent that might not otherwise get the access to opportunities because of the 'North-South' divide. So I'm really excited to launch OneFest this year with such an important social mission at its core. Our musical curation this year is in first class hands with Shabaka and the line-up speaks for itself. There is an incredibly exciting current tilt towards Jazz at its most cutting edge right now and mixing the young with the generation who inspired them is in itself an inspiring concept.  The higher vision, the cohort of young people, the musical collaborations, alongside our exciting line-up of workshops and panels, will all ensure that OneFest is an unmissable event for those interested in real music and real music business talk."

John Robb added "The 'North south divide' continues to damage the future success of the music industry. It is a moral and psychological chasm that needs change. Part of OneFest's remit is to tackle this, reconnect with the lost youth born on the wrong side of an invisible barrier and connect the talent to the business, the lost towns to the capital. OneFest listens to what people need and finds solutions."

For information about the OneFest cohort http://onefestuk.com/cohort