Last call for Fundraising Rock Concert this Saturday Our first fundraising event to mark our new phase of raising money for construction of the bridge is this coming Saturday 29 September at Burley Social Club, starting at 7.30. Three rock bands, more used to playing clubs and pubs in the Leeds area, have generously offered to perform free for us in order to kickstart our appeal. We are very grateful to Mike Richmond from Bleach Mill House (the drummer in Sure Fire Affair) for his hard work in organising the music side of the event.
Sure Fire Affair is a four piece commercial / indie rock band who will be performing self-penned numbers including from an EP currently in the pipeline. They comprise Marc Gunjal on vocals, Tom Moon strumming the guitar, Joseph Paget with the bass licks and Mike Richmond banging on the drums. They say 'We have a very wide range of influences, hence the music we create. We really enjoy writing, recording and playing our music. In fact, there’s not many things better..... Our only aim in all this is that people like and appreciate our music and our live shows!! We hope you enjoy it all and hope to see you at some of our gigs.
The second band, Titan Soul is a rock band built on a foundation of powerful riffs that conjure up the heady days of 70's rock. They aim to tie together diverse influences and stark creativity to forge a sound that delivers energy and passion in precision blows. Expect power and grunt, punctuated with astute and incisive song writing from this experienced four-piece.
Finally, 'Me and Dan' are a duo formed from one of Leeds' finest covers bands, Strangers in Trainers. They will be performing an acoustic set for the event, packed with treats that will delight all tastes.
Tickets cost £10 and can be purchased from www.ticketsource.co.uk/burley-bridge-association or at the door on the night. It would be great to see as many supporters and members as possible to celebrate the start of the main fundraising campaign. Please come if you can for what should be a lively and entertaining evening!
Burley Summer Festival: It was good to see so many supporters come and see us at our stall on the first Sunday, the first time the BBA has been represented at the event. Lots of interesting conversations were had, including suggestions for funding, and a number of new members have subsequently signed up. The Coffee morning on the second Saturday of the Festival also drew in a lot of supporters. We raised an amazing £151, with no cakes left at the end to sell off! Thank you particularly to Madeline and Peter Rylands and Gill Morgan for their sterling efforts throughout the morning.
Folk Concert 17 November Queens Hall Our next fundraising event will be an evening of the finest contemporary and traditional folk music. Three local groups have generously waived their usual fees in order to help raise funds for the bridge:
Yan Tan Tether Yan Tan Tether is a female close harmony folk trio from Otley, West Yorkshire consisting of Rosie Knighton, Tess Leslie and Lynne O’Malley. They have been singing together since September 2013 and have already built up a reputation in the local folk clubs and festivals around Yorkshire. They play a host of instruments between them (piano, banjo, guitar, fiddle) but concentrate mostly on creating beautiful a capella arrangements of traditional and more modern folk songs. Their voices blend as if they were family who have been singing together for years, creating spine-tingling harmonies interspersed with some rollicking good chorus songs. Their music has been played on the Mike Harding Folk Show who describes them as the “Golden Tonsils of Otley!” www.facebook.com/yantantetherotley/
Rum Doodle Rum Doodle are a folk roots acoustic duo from Leeds. Martin Brennan and BB Tim play mostly their own original songs with influences as broad as Christy Moore & The Dubliners to Bob Dylan & Neil Young. They say 'a lot of our material draws its inspiration from these islands we live in, be it about our wonderful heritage and different languages to growing up besides the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. But most important is the CRAIC'! www.facebook.com/rumdoodle1000/ or www.reverbnation.com/rumdoodle
Duncan McFarlane and Anne Brivonesse Classy English Folk, eminently listenable vocals and great songs, both traditional and contemporary with a strong rhythmic impetus that's infectious in the extreme. Duncan's a punchy guitarist in the 'English folk' style and offers a set about equally split between his own songs, other people's and traditional. Duncan has an obvious feel for the traditional and a deep-rooted belief that it has a place in the current folk scene, aspects which he puts across with lively showmanship. His own songs show a canny grasp of, and response to, the tradition, while his intrinsic seriousness of intent and approach is often laced with a healthy irreverence that happens to be hugely entertaining. His acoustic duo features Anne Brivoness on fiddle and vocals. www.facebook.com/duncanmcfarlaneband/
New Website shortly to go live! We have been busy updating our website through the summer. We hope to go live over the next week, so please have a look and tell us what you think. It will remain work in progress for a while as we carry on revising content and adding new features. We hope you like it!
A busy Autumn ahead for the BBA As well as work on the website and organising fundraising events in Burley, we will be busy over the next few months preparing to apply for grants from fund awarding organisations. We have an initial target list of some twenty or so. Many of them need evidence of local fundraising in order to match the bigger sums we will be applying for – hence the need for local events and for local donations. If you have any suggestions of potential sources of funding, for instance local businesses including those involved with construction or engineering, please get in touch.