Idlewild, Belle & Sebastian and more to cover songs with their crew to raise money for live music workers

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Idlewild, Belle & Sebastian and more Scottish groups will cover songs with their roadies for a new album in a bid to raise money for live music workers.

The live events industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with restrictions on group gatherings seeing tours and festivals cancelled.

• Read more: #LetTheMusicPlay: Artists and industry call on government to protect crew and “the individuals that make up our treasured music scenes”

In an effort to help those who work in the live music sector, The Fruit Tree Foundation have announced a new benefit album, ‘Whole Lotta Roadies’. The record will see a number of artists team up with their road crews to cover songs together.

Idlewild, Belle & Sebastian, Twin Atlantic, Honeyblood, KT Tunstall, The Proclaimers, Fatherson, The Xcerts, Emma Pollock and The Rezillos have all signed up to take part in the album. Fans are able to vote for what songs they want to see the artist and roadie teams cover by entering their choices on this Google Form. Voting closes at 8pm BST on October 25.

In a statement, Idlewild’s Rod Jones said: “The devastating impact Covid-19 has had on the music industry is well documented and few are far more affected than live crew. On speaking to members of our touring crew I realised how they were falling through the cracks in government funding and with no gigs and tours upcoming the outlook for them was bleak. I wanted to try and find a way to support them and the wider Scottish Live Crew industry.

“Knowing how many crew members are also very talented musicians in their own right I thought it would be fitting for them to showcase this by covering songs of the bands they have been working with over the years, and releasing an album of this to create a hardship fund and also awareness of their situation.”

He continued: “The support from bands and for this project has been amazing and with singers from each one singing on the cover versions we hope to create a really special album to celebrate and support the people behind the shows that we all love to play and go to, without them the music industry and artists would be lost.”

‘Whole Lotta Roadies’ will be released on December 11. It can be pre-ordered from Bandcamp now.

Earlier this month, musicians and crew called for a ‘Seat Out To Help Out’ scheme to be implemented by the government, along with tailor-made job support.

Musicians’ Union General Secretary Horace Trubridge suggested the music industry could be given help in a similar way to the restaurant sector’s ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme, where subsidised meals would be replaced by tickets so venues could safely reopen at reduced capacity for musicians and crew to work.

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