Musicians band together with ‘defy Brexit’ tour

A Stirling music promoter has vowed to‘defy Brexit’ with a new music initiative.

Chrissy Wilson has created a band of Stirling musicians who will head to the continent this week to kick-start their bid to minimise the impact Brexit will have on touring artists once the UK leaves the EU.

Chrissy has brought together the Stirling Life Collective band, comprising eight musicians from the city aged between 25 and 72.

They are heading to the Netherlands today (Wednesday) for a week-long tour that will see them appear on Dutch TV and radio to spread the word of the initiative.

It’s hoped the group will make links with people in Haarlem, a town near Amsterdam, to make a ‘twin artistry town’, connecting both areas through arts. It would include painters, poets, visual artists, dancers, musicians and filmmakers.

Chrissy came up with the scheme because of fears over an increase in the cost of taking musical instruments abroad after Brexit.

He said the main concerns for artists after Brexit is‘freedom and finance’. He said:“The majority of the world’s most popular music comes from the working classes and without the freedom, the rawest talents could be sidelined to the people who can just simply afford to tour; talented or not.

”One person is already on board with the project and is bringing his band to Scotland next year, playing at Stirling’s Abbey Road Festival, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

“The basis is not only to create twin artistry towns, but to make sure that when people tour Britain they have no costs but their transport.

On the Scottish side, the Stirling Life Collective will supply all the musical equipment, exhibition spaces, venues and all the other tools for presenting art. This will be reciprocated at the other end. This exchange will open up doors for all artists, poor or rich.

“I see this leading on to much more than music. I will be speaking to schools, health and wellness representatives, sports teams, scholarship seekers, university societies and more.”

The Stirling Life Collective are performing at Medeterranea in Viewfield Place on Thursday, December 19.