ARTIST CALL OUT
Dear artist,
Citizen Songwriters is a social enterprise based in the North East of England that brings people from different backgrounds together through creating original songs about the people, places and causes that matter to them.
We’ve been running community music projects over the past 6 years from Sunderland to Newcastle, Stanhope to Shildon with young people and old people, working with people from a variety of different backgrounds and experiences. The vast majority of this work has been taken on by a very small team of two music practitioners, working part time with other commitments. While we’ve loved every moment of it, we need to grow to accommodate the demands of interest in the work we do.
So, we are changing how we do things. We want to create a pool of freelance songwriters who are musicians living and working in the North East that we will support to run exciting and life-giving community projects. In addition, we are looking for musicians who also have the skills and interest in supporting the running of our social enterprise (for example, social media, grant applications, widening our network etc.).
We have noticed over the years:
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An increase in the demand for music as a therapeutic means of self-care and well-being in schools, communities, businesses
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Musicians who are very interested in getting involved but encounter barriers to participating, whether through finding difficulty in getting funding, lacking in confidence to know how to run community sessions or simply not knowing how to get involved in this rather entangled ‘industry’.
So, to meet this trend, we want to build a pool of songwriters who we can support to deliver community songwriting projects.
Over the past 6 years we have built a strong reputation with schools, communities, local authorities and other organisations who come to us with opportunities (though at present, we aren’t always able to take on every enquiry).
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FROM YOU:
Either you come to us with a group you’d love to work with, perhaps with a funder in mind (or maybe a half-completed application for a community project). We will support this project to happen. This could be anything from using Citizen Songwriters simply as a CIC for the requirements of the funder (so long as the aims of the project meet ours, i.e. songwriting/music activities in the community) through to a more support-based approach where we help you apply for funding, signpost you to other resources (like training) and match you with a community group.
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FROM US:
At the same time, any enquiries we get, we’ll approach our pool of songwriters who are suited to this role. This could be as little as a musician needed for a one-off workshop, or a series of workshops with a community group.
THE PROCESS
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Please note we are a small social enterprise operating on a commission basis and therefore cannot guarantee you work, but we will offer you suitable opportunities when they arise and support your own ideas and projects where we can. There’s no formal interview process, just an informal conversation with us when we first meet you. This is to learn more about you, your musical preferences, your current skills and experiences so we can work out how we can best support you to work with groups with a community-based approach.
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If you are interested in finding out more about getting involved with Citizen Songwriters as a music practitioner, please fill in the expression of interest form linked below and someone from the team will be in touch.
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