FOUR of York’s creative arts professionals, musicians Kymberley Kennedy and Vesper Walk, Graeme Smith from York Calling magazine and Ellen Cole from York’s Little Festival of Live Music, are in the running for the Yorkshire Gig Guide awards.
Thrilled to bits at their nominations, they now need your votes to help them make October's awards ceremony. To vote, visit yorkshiregigguide.co.uk/grass-roots-awards-2015.html
Kymberley Kennedy, an alternative R'n'B/electronic singer, has been nominated for two awards: Yorkshire’s Outstanding Artist/Band of the Year and Yorkshire’s Outstanding Songwriter of the Year.
"We're humbled to have received two nominations for the Grassroots Awards," says Kymberley, who is soon to embark on her first British tour with her band, Miles Williams, David Soulsby and Sam Whiting, to promote her debut album, Head Games. "It means the world to us and has spurred us on to push for bigger and better things."
Vesper Walk, an eight-piece theatrical band, have been nominated for Yorkshire’s Outstanding Band of the Year, after performing shows filled with theatre, music, movement and poetry at the Edinburgh Fringe and elsewhere. Sisters Lisa-Marie Baker and Catherine Cowan, who run the band, say: “It's an honour to be nominated for this award. It just makes us want to keep writing, keep performing and keep making music.”
Kymberley Kennedy, second from right, and her band members at York's Apollo Festival. Picture: Marc McGarraghy, Yellow Mustang Photography
York Calling, an online and printed music and arts magazine created and managed by Graeme Smith since 2013, is in the running for Outstanding Media of the Year.
”We’re thrilled to be considered alongside some real heavyweights of local media. Three years ago we set out on a mission to ensure York’s vibrant scene is celebrated and we continue to do so today through our website, mag and live shows," says Graeme. "It’s humbling to get some recognition in kind. We greatly appreciate any votes we receive. Win or lose, next year is going to be big for us, with a whole programme of York Calling gigs being planned.”
York’s Little Festival of Live Music and their festival director, Ellen Cole, are up for three awards: Outstanding New Festival of the Year, Outstanding Contribution of the Year and Outstanding Promoter of the Year.
Ellen, a freelance marketing, PR and events professional, is overwhelmed by the nominations, in particular the one for outstanding festival. “We're a not-for-profit music festival, offering both music fans and those who haven't experienced live music before the opportunity to see live music free of charge," she says. "There are so few free music festivals across the UK these days and I feel music is important to any community.
"This year we received just under 800 applications from acts from across the UK who wanted one of the 24 slots we have available, while our database seems to grow each year, which is a big achievement for us. A not-for-profit/community festival has never won this award before, so it would be the icing on the cake if we won, so please vote for us.”
York’s Little Festival of Live Music will return from September 23 to October 1 in the Music Marquee on Parliament Street, running alongside the York Food and Drink Festival, with free admission for each day's bill from 5pm to 9pm. For more information, visit facebook.com/YorksLittleFestivalOfLiveMusic; follow @Live_Music_Fest on Twitter or email yorkslivemusicfestival@gmail.com
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