Announcing Our Curator Lineup – Tipping Point Live 2019

Internationally renowned producer Bernard Butler will be an official curator for this year’s Tipping Point Live music festival in Newcastle.

Recognised as one of Britain’s most original and influential guitarists, Bernard has worked extensively as a producer/guitarist making records with the likes of The Libertines, The Cribs, Paloma Faith and Kate Nash to name a few. He also contributed to Duffy’s 7 million-selling debut album ‘Rockferry’, which was nominated for three Grammy Awards and won several Brits

Tipping Point Live, which will replace the pioneering festival Evolution Emerging, will also welcome a high-profile list of celebrated North East music icons to the curation team including Paul Smith of Maximo Park, Barry Hyde of The Futureheads and Nadine Shah as well as a string of music industry professionals including BBC Radio 6 Music’s Tom Robinson.

To tie in with the eagerly anticipated launch of the new look, forward-thinking festival, the team of curators will bring a unique insight into the opportunities and pitfalls that exist within the industry and championing artists for the event, which is set to take place on Friday 21st June and Saturday 22nd June at multiple venues throughout the Ouseburn.

Speaking about his involvement in Tipping Point Live 2019, which will include a specially crafted workshop, Bernard Butler said: “I am excited to be trying a songwriting experiment to a live audience and attempting this for the first time in Newcastle.

“I have worked with young people from all over the world in this way as a closed workshop collaboration. This will be the first time I have tried it to a live audience, and I am excited to meet my collaborators and young people I will have never met before or whose music I will not know.

“We all come at this with no pedigree and no history. It will be a largely spontaneous 90-minute journey, setting questions and challenges in front of the writers, and posing the group a set of “what-if?”s around the song arrangement.

“Creativity has been blessed by the infinite possibilities of technology, but what interests me most is what we can do with our limitations, our mistakes, and our human interaction. Creativity so often overlooks these powerful factors in the modern world. I will also be curious to see how an audience responds to the crude methods of creativity that make up a song arrangement.”

Delivered by the team behind Generator’s development programme, Tipping Point Live, will this year feature a full day of family activities, commissions, masterclasses and music industry sessions running alongside a full and diverse line-up of first-class musical entertainment.

Tipping Point Live’s Festival Organiser, Charlie Dancer, continues: “We are undertaking a fresh look to Generator’s annual new music showcase across the Ouseburn

Valley and we are really pleased to be bringing some of the organisation’s friends and alumni along to champion some of the brilliant artistry we intend to show the people of the North East this summer.

“Tipping Point Live isn’t going to be your normal multi-venue festival. It will contain insightful conversations with our curators, panellists and workshops which will be delivered alongside the live music showcasing.

It’s a real honour to be able to bring some of the country’s leading music industry figures back to Newcastle to do this!”

As well as Bernard Butler being on the curator list alongside some of the North East’s leading musical lights, the panel will also see the likes of Rianne Thompson (Amazing Radio), Claire Dupree (NARC Magazine), Lucy Scott from creative music charity, Brighter Sound, the team behind the Durham Jazz Festival and Lauren Sadler and Tamsin Austin of Sage Gateshead join the team.

Speaking about his return to the region and his hopes for the launch of Tipping Point Live 2019, Bernard Butler, added: “Musicians need to get out of their bedrooms and heads out of their laptops to really gauge where they are as artists and as people.

“There is no better instant source of feedback than throwing yourself to an audience in a performance setting. A community run event such as this, focussed on your city brings a welcoming atmosphere rather than a corporate, global affair based around brands, can only be a fantastic thing.

“The people running this event are music people and thrive off showcasing their community art and I’m really looking forward to being involved.

“I have great memories of the North East. I recently had a wonderful time working with Frankie & The Heartstrings, rehearsing with them in Sunderland, recording at Blast Studios in Newcastle, drinking with them in The Cluny, running along the river every morning, and of course playing in the Pop Recs store in Sunderland with Field Music, such a credit to the individuals for their achievements there. I had a lot of great times with them, made lots of friends, and now always jump at the chance to return. Bring on Tipping Point Live 2019!

Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased via this link: http://bit.ly/TPL-EarlyBird