Dear Friends, Artists, Sponsors and Colleagues, This time last year, I sat chewing a pencil and wondering whether or not Harpin’ By The Sea could ever happen again. Following our tenth anniversary bash, co-producer Stuart McKay retired from the pressures of event management, and the global pandemic brought live music to a standstill. The outlook was bleak. Meanwhile in the US, SPAH took the bold decision to deliver their annual summer convention online. HarmonicaUK followed suit with a chromatic weekender and their virtual online festival. A brave new world of opportunity had been pioneered, and Harpin’ By The Sea was next in line to carry the torch.
HBTS REVIEW Richard Taylor Joint Vice-Chair
With a rekindled appetite for adventure, a new production team was recruited, and the fresh twist on our festival took shape. What better way of bringing our past guest artists together, acknowledging their contribution to our ten-year history, and raising funds to support them in a time of lockdown? The production team rallied round the concept. Russ Turner set to work on a schedule of archive video footage, Ben Reese approached a shortlist of trade sponsors, and Matthew Edwards designed a brand new logo to carry us forward. Paul Gillings took up the task of translating our charity raffle into an online feature while managing our guest artists, and Trevor Yeo masterminded the necessary technical checks, risk assessments, and a contingency plan against outages and meltdown. Two of our former guest artists were unable to join the party. Our thanks go to Rory McLeod and Jerome Godboo for the joy they shared through their respective past appearances. Two newcomers therefore made their HBTS debuts in the shape of Mickey Raphael
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The magazine for HarmonicaUK
