Enjoying the best local music has to offer at the Garden Bar
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IT feels like a long time since the coronavirus pandemic took hold and life as we knew it was put on hold.
Many aspects of life that we took for granted were forced to stop, literally overnight.
Music was one of those with live performances curtailed and festivals up and down the country cancelled; we faced a summer without live music.
The positive impact that music has on our wellbeing and mental health is widely recognised and musicians found new ways to help keep spirits up during lockdown.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin performed a mini concert from his studio while Sophie Ellis-bextor held Friday night concerts from her kitchen with her sons playing while she danced under her glitter ball.
The days of packing into a venue for a live gig appear still to be some way off.
The Cheltenham Trust stepped in to fill the void, bringing local live music to the Pump Room and Garden Bar, and its weatherproof marquee in Imperial Gardens has created a safe, socially distanced environment for people to enjoy.
Cheltenham benefits from a vibrant music community and the Garden Bar will deliver a varied programme of musicians and music throughout the autumn and winter.
So if you have been missing your dose of live music, there is a new place in town where you can meet up with friends, enjoy a drink and good food and listen to the best local music has to offer.
This week it’s solo acoustic guitarist and singer Tom Clissold who will be performing tonight [Thursday] from 6-7pm.
Tom draws inspiration from country, bluegrass folk and blues, and performs a mixture of originals and covers. On Friday join us for The Jelly Roll Brothers who are Chris Eatwell on vocals, guitar and ukulele and Graham Harrison on vocals, harmonica and ukulele. They will be playing rock, roots, blues and Americana from 6pm to 7pm.
On Saturday, September 12, popular local singer and songwriter Andy Smith will be playing from 4pm to 5.30pm. Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, wrote that ‘music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.’
This year that message resonates more than ever as we continue to chart our way through Covid19 and find what’s good for our soul. Keep up to date with the Garden Bar’s live music programme at www. cheltenhamtrust.org.uk