Announcing From Memphis to the Mersey
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | 14 JUNE 2017
MONKEY MIND PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES ‘FROM MEMPHIS TO THE MERSEY’ SONGWRITERS EXCHANGE
Submissions open today for immersive talent development experience
(LIVERPOOL, UK) – Memphis and Liverpool are two cities long connected by the cotton trade and their music legacies. This summer, their music scenes will again collide as Monkey Mind Productions and Music Export Memphis present From Memphis to the Mersey, a songwriters’ exchange that will select two emerging artists from each city for an immersive cultural and creative experience on both sides of the ocean.
The emerging writers will be coached by and collaborate with an exciting pool of mentors during the exchange: GRAMMY-award winner and Stax legend William Bell, Memphis singer, songwriter and producer – Susan Marshall, the face and the voice of UK and international chart topping Liverpool band The Christians – Garry Christian and Christians band member, multi- instrumentalist, writer and producer- Joey Ankrah.
Applications for the exchange open today and will close at 11.59pm on Monday, 26 June. Interested songwriters are asked to submit recordings and lyric sheets, among other things, and finalists will be invited to a live audition on Sunday, 9 July. For full application details and to submit, visit: http://monkeymindproductions.net/apply/
The four selected songwriters will spend three days working in Memphis (4-6 August) and Liverpool (26-28 August), with each city experience concluding with a public event featuring the performance of new songs and a curated conversation about the exchange itself and the connections between these two international music cities.
“I’m made up to be celebrating the music history of both my hometown of Liverpool and the amazing town of Memphis,” says Monkey Mind Productions Founder Emma Foxall. “The two cities play major roles in shaping popular music as we know it. This project is especially important because it’s going to offer four emerging songwriters the once in a lifetime opportunity to be mentored by greats in two of the most iconic music cities in the world – how inspiring is that!”
Cawein and Music Export Memphis are partnering on the project with Monkey Mind Productions and Founder Emma Foxall.
“From my first visit to Liverpool, I’ve felt that our two cities have similar personalities,” says Music Export Memphis Founder Elizabeth Cawein. “It just made sense to try to connect creatively. A project like this one challenges our artists and gives them an incredible opportunity to work with top-level mentors, but it also puts our cities on display and reinforces that unique cultural and historic relationship between them.”
To begin the application process, visit: http://monkeymindproductions.net/apply/
Memphis to the Mersey is made possible by support from the Memphis Convention & Visitors’ Bureau and Arts Council England.
ABOUT MONKEYMIND PRODUCTIONS
Monkey Mind Productions was founded by Artistic Director – Emma Foxall in February 2015. The company launched with the highly successful Bluebird at the Bluecoat project, since then the company has continued to produce exhibitions, large scale culture and arts events and talent development exchanges. Learn more at www.monkeymindproductions.net
ABOUT MUSIC EXPORT MEMPHIS
Music Export Memphis is an export office for Memphis music focused on creating opportunities for Memphis musicians to make Memphis a desirable place to live and work, while driving outcomes in talent attraction, economic development and music tourism. MEM’s three flagship programs are Experiences, Ambassadors and the Export Bank. Learn more at MusicExportMemphis.org.
