AT a challenging time for the music industry, a promoter has said that continued local support for grassroots venues and gigs is "invaluable".
For decades, stretching back to the pomp of the King's Head in Allendale, the Allen Valleys have always been at the forefront of the alternative music scene in West Northumberland.
In the contemporary day, the Allen Valleys Folk Festival - started in 2014 - draws in big artists and crowds, and Phil Ogg, head of promotions company Twango, continues to champion the scene, hosting artists like Steve Davis' Utopia Strong, Gong, Martin Carthy, Michael Chapman, and Prefab Sprout's Martin McAloon.
Ogg says that the "exciting" element is hosting a variety of musicians, all with their own genre, style, and sound. Continued support from the public for local gigs is vital to sustain the industry, he said.
"In the context we're in right now, musicians are working harder than they've ever worked to make a living; sales are so down on actual products that they have to tour", said Phil.
"Martin Stephenson is a prime example; he's been at this for 40 years, and he's on the road all the time and still fills out venues. So, to still have local support for great live music in small venues is invaluable, and that's why we keep doing it."
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In the next several months, Twango is presenting various gigs in West Northumberland, hosting artists like Kavus Torabi (February 5, Sinderhope), the Often Herd (March 6, Sinderhope), Jon Wilks (March 21, Sinderhope), and Martin Stephenon and Daintees Trip (April 17, Wylam).
Phil says that the area is "lucky" to be able to continue hosting artists of this calibre.
He added, "I think having people of note like this, and the others that I've put on historically in small venues, is really invaluable, and it's a big part of the huge tradition of live music in the Allen Valleys.
"For some reason, people just keep wanting to put on music in these places, where no money's really been made. There's a real vibrancy about that, and you can see it in people's faces."
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