Shakespeare in the Alley

My last post was a very sad one – I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that no one gets why I am so upset nor gets what the whole live music at the Tree House thing is all about. Grief comes in waves – sounds melodramatic, but I haven’t felt this low in a very long time. It has made me rethink my friendships.

But it’s not at all the end of my enthusiasm and support for the musicians I will no longer be hosting. I will do my best to continue supporting them in other ways: sharing their music, sharing their tour news, and playing them on my radio show.

You may not have heard my radio show – I have been doing it for four years but have very few listeners! It’s on our local community radio station here in Kenilworth, Radio Abbey, which broadcasts from the Kenilworth Centre, as part of its community output and support. The Kenilworth Centre is a charity, focusing on provision of facilities and events for young people but in practice offering a lot more. It’s one of the three charities the Tree House supports on a monthly basis.

My radio show is called Shakespeare in the Alley, which some will recognise as a reference to Bob Dylan’s song Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again: ‘Shakespeare he’s in the alley With his pointed shoes and his bells Talking to some French girl Who says she knows me well…’ I try to talk about books as well as playing the best in contemporary folk music, and my definition of folk is broad. The show’s title brings together literature and music and one of the things I always love is music that references books.

I also play other things that I love – Bob and also Nick Cave feature regularly, along with other songs from bygone decades. Book chat is sporadic and largely unsuccessful…I talk about what I’ve been reading and encourage use of libraries, mainly. I keep trying to start a Radio Abbey book club, maybe this will be the year. Radio Abbey is an internet station, so you can listen from anywhere – my preferred way to listen is via the TuneIn app on my phone through my bluetooth speaker, but you can go direct from the website or via your smart speaker. Shakespeare in the Alley is on a Thursday morning from 10-12, and then later on Mixcloud if you can’t listen live. You can also find lots of old shows on Mixcloud.

Let me know if you’re listening! Both the show and Radio Abbey have Facebook pages, and Radio Abbey is also on Twitter and Instagram. Happy to take requests too!

But mostly I use it to highlight and promote and give airplay to the wonderful contemporary folk musicians who work so hard against the odds, bringing beautiful live music to small venues around the country. If you see live music happening near you, get a ticket and go! It often costs hundreds of pounds to see major music acts in stadiums and arenas, but for £10-£15 you can see some truly wonderful live music in a much more intimate setting.

So – if you like the music we have hosted at the Tree House over the last 10 years, give Shakespeare in the Alley a whirl!

Let love in

The bookshop has been full on since we reopened at the start of May, just 7 weeks ago – which is great! But hard to find a moment to stop and take stock and keep everyone posted about what’s going on.

One thing that has become clear to me, however, is which charities I would like the bookshop to support. I have chosen one local, one national and one international.

The local one is the Kenilworth Centre, doing such wonderful things especially for young people in Kenilworth, and also hosting various groups. If you need a room for a one-off event/meeting or a regular session, do get in touch with them. It’s right in the centre of town with parking outside, and a variety of rooms to offer. It also encompasses Radio Abbey, and I would like to find a way to support the radio station in particular. I am no longer doing my radio shows, but my heart is still there!

The national one is Help Musicians UK. I have been doing what I can to support musicians during the pandemic, those whose gigs we had to cancel and others besides. Despite the return of sporting events and some indoor entertainment, live music is still struggling, and group singing indoors is still not allowed. So touring musicians and other live performers have lost nearly a year and a half of gigs, and while things are looking more positive, it will be a while before things get back to normal. I decided that rather than try to support individuals, I would support this national charity that offers help to musicians in need. One day we will get back to live gigs at the Tree House, but as we are so small, it won’t be for a while.

The international charity I have chosen is brand new. It is Ellis Park, a wildlife sanctuary in Sumatra co-founded by our wonderful patron Warren Ellis. He has been so lovely to us, and generous, and when he announced this new project, I knew we had to support it. There has been work going on in Indonesia for some years with animals who are so badly treated by humans that they can’t survive in the wild, and now, with Warren’s help, there is a team setting up a permanent home for such animals. It’s a heartbreaking but beautiful project to read about. They need funds to build enclosures and other facilities, so do have a look.

This is Baron – we will be sponsoring him at Ellis Park.

And here is an interview with Warren from The Quietus about the park.

We will give regularly to these three charities. We are not a charity, not even a social enterprise, so our ‘non-profit’ status is not official, but we use any profits we have to improve our own business and premises but also to support charities. I take a wage, though not a full-time one, and everyone else is a volunteer. Our books are all donated, which is a system based on our operating model, but also means we can keep prices low.

Yesterday, Wednesday 23 June, we had a day where all our takings went to Ellis Park, and our takings were £125, which is a good midweek total for us. Recently the wonderful Simon from The Gauntlet pub in Caesar Road gave us £150 from books sold when he was housing donations for charity while the charity shops were closed; £100 of that went to Help Musicians UK and the rest to support a couple of individual musicians. We give a small amount each month to the Kenilworth Centre, and I will look to increase that or add to it by supporting Radio Abbey specifically.

Do have a look at all these charities:

The Kenilworth Centre

Help Musicians UK

Ellis Park Sumatra

And now you know where the profits from your purchases and donations go. I also have a collecting tin for the Brompton Fountain for loose change or any time people pay us with coppers! The shop has been doing really well since we reopened, so I hope that carries on and we can continue to support these three wonderful causes.