Travelling piano bar off on the right note
‘Box’already hired for fests and Amazon do
Stirling’s very own mobile piano bar is striking a chord with audiences across the country.
Despite having only launched six months ago, Rusty’s Travelling Piano Bar has already performed for guests at the summer TRNSMT festival in Glasgow and at a private party in London for retail giant Amazon.
The project is the brainchild of local event organiser Billie Rowan and her fiancé Chris Russell – formerly of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.
The idea is to provide live music and a bar service to clients from the inside of a renovated horse box.
Billie admitted that they couldn’t have gotten where they are so quickly without the help of Business Gateway Stirling.
She said: “It’s been an amazing six months. People are loving what we’re doing and every time we perform we get more enquiries which leads to even more work.
“When I first came up with the idea for Rusty’s I went to Business Gateway for reassurance that it wasn’t a crazy idea.
“Our adviser loved the concept and put me in touch with the Prince’s Trust. I successfully pitched to them for the funding needed to renovate our horse box.
“I also completed Business Gateway workshops on tax and finance and the DigitalBoost’s digital marketing seminar.
“I was transfixed throughout that seminar and immediately used the information to write a social media marketing plan that has helped increase our exposure. Without that help, it would have taken us a lot longer to get started.”
Frank Dunne of Business Gateway added: “Billie first approached us for reassurance and has since benefitted from our connections and our workshop programme; in particular our DigitalBoost events have given her the knowledge needed to use social media more effectively to grow the business.
“Enquiries and bookings are coming in thick and fast so Billie will now meet with one of our growth advisers to help her plan how best to take advantage of the growing interest.”