Pledges, donations and offers of help came in from all directions in an outpouring of love, support and solidarity from the wonderful Norwich musical community.
As reported here, Adrian’s beloved guitar – a gift from his mother – was broken beyond playable repair during a street altercation whilst he was out busking last week. Shocking though the physical assault was, something about the destruction of his guitar particularly touched a nerve with the people of Norwich, any artist will empathise with how awful it would be to lose the tool of the trade, and the outlet for creative expression.
So, a Bandcamp download album with a “Pay £1 or more” donation price was put together with all proceeds going to the fund for a new guitar for Adrian. A total of twenty tracks donated by the likes of 4D Jones, Feral Mouth, The Osborne Files, Joykiller, Nobodaddy, KC (feat. Yve Mary B), The Bogeymen, Cries & Whispers, Joe Quinn, Jon Christophers, Matt Watson, PMT, Sacred Harmonic Society, Natalie Lake make up the album, and a number of the same artists performed at the Blueberry Fundraiser.
The album is still available for download here: https://norwichblog.com/2014/04/18/adrian-howes-telecoustic-guitar-fundraiser/
So successful was the fundraising via the download that enough money was raised to get a guitar just in time for it to actually be presented on the night. He looked delighted with it, christened it “Beauty” and played on it with great joy. He was photographed by the press with the whole pub singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” ringing in his ears.
Adrian has never recorded in a studio before so the plan is to book him some studio time with any left over funds raised.
The night itself was a great success with more than a dozen acts each playing 2 or 3 songs and some mighty jamming at the end. We had appearances from Don’t Lose Heart, Nobodaddy, The Corner Band, Anto Morra, Steve Pulford, Little Red (Mojo Preachers), Natalie Lake, Matt Watson, Jos Brunwin, Dove and Boweevil, Jon Christophers, Roger Dowe, Adrian himself, and even the Norwich Samba Band!
An unforgettable and uplifting night and great music and big hearts.
Too many people to thank to name everyone but extra special thanks to all the artists who played and donated songs, all who bought the album or gave money, Sarah Burns and The Blueberry for hosting the event, Andy Sacre, Matt Watson, Dickie Hartt, Jon Christophers and Nic Leech, Holly Ryan, Hannah L Balcam, Bandcamp and everyone involved in putting this all together. The EDP also came along to photograph the presentation.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/759964287360782/
https://www.facebook.com/events/611211022306131/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular
http://adrianhowesfund.bandcamp.com/album/smashed-guitar
http://www.theblueberrymusichouse.com
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