Catch the Best new Bands in Buxton, this Saturday 24 Feb

The line-up’s been announced of 6 incredible bands, performing ahead of Illuminate Buxton, a massive lightshow coming to Spring Gardens this Saturday, 24 February 2024.

The bands all feature young musicians aged between 10 to early 20s, who will be performing a mixture of covers and their own music.  They’ll be taking to the stage from 2.30pm, at the bottom of the slopes. Each will play their own set, before coming together, for one night only, to form a new collaboration called The Echoes. 

The young people involved have spent five months attending workshops on how to produce their own music.  They’ve been working with High Peak Community Arts, and alongside professional musicians such as Ríoghnach Connolly, BBC Folk Singer of the Year, producer Gareth Carberry and singer-songwriter Rhiannon Stephenson from indie-pop band LONG ISLAND.   The initiative has been led by the Buxton Our Street Youth Panel, a group of young people who meet regularly to discuss what opportunities they’d like to see in the town and then work to make them happen.  It is funded by Historic England, with their partners the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England and is supported by High Peak Borough Council as part of Buxton’s High Street Heritage Action Zone project.

The bands performing are:  Isaac Neilson, followed by Hillside Playback, The Echoes, Tall Tales, The Developers and finishing with Cheap Shades at 5.40pm.  Then at 6.30pm Illuminate Buxton kicks off at the other end of Spring Gardens.

Toby, a member of The Echoes says ‘everyone involved has created songs with all their own instruments, their own ideas and everyone has their own unique role in the project’.  When asked what to expect, he explained ‘there’s some big band, blues, hip hop, R&B-ish music, a variety of different sounds and feelings.  But the tracks all fit around a similar theme of overcoming obstacles and understanding yourself.  Those were the kind of things we all had in common, and when we started writing about them, we felt they actually holds good life lessons for people of various ages.’  Another member, Hannah, who’s 14, explained why she got involved ‘I thought it sounded really interesting to work with people of a similar age to me to create music. It’s been really nice getting to know all these people that live around me.’ She says it’s been a positive experience ‘I’ve gained more confidence around people my age and I like creating music with other people because I know that they’ll support me and I can support them in that way.’  Toby agrees, saying ‘There’s a lot of creative freedom… because it’s just people around our age with similar interests and it’s really easy to just work with everyone and create something.’

Illuminate Buxton promises to be a night to remember, with original works made in Derbyshire –  from the young bands who’ll be performing, to the stunning light show later in the evening.  Toby urges everyone to get down to the town centre from 2.30pm, saying ‘it’s free live music, it’s original, and there’s various new young rising bands involved” and Hannah adds ‘it’s just an experience for local people to come together to see how much talent our town has, and the different ways people can get involved in things.’