Dig in yer pockets, it’s all for a bleedeh marvelous cause.
Local singer-songwriter Cibele Alvarenga and other Notts musicians have rounded up together to write a song using words from Nottingham’s homeless community.
The song is called Back on my Feet, with every single lickle penny including royalties going 50/50 to homeless charities Emmanuel House and Framework.
Thirty eight musicians from the area are involved in the project, including singers Motormouf, Josh Kemp and The Most Ugly Child. They play with a fourteen-piece string and flute band, as well as a drum, bass and guitar band composed by Rob Rosa, who also performs in it.
Cibele Alvarenga said: “I’ve always been interested in helping people, and I have been documenting my meetings, photos and notes from talking to homeless people for two years.
“The first few people I hugged were so grateful just for that human contact, but it struck me how cruelly they are treated by members of society, that being on the streets wasn’t the worst part of it.
“When I met Natalie, and Lou her dog, she was very sad at the loss of her partner, and I was also struck by the fact she moved up Nottingham when she was fifteen and had a home - that’s when I thought I could make lyrics and a song to help people like her, on the streets.”
She describes the song as having a different story each verse, as well as statistical information about the homeless that is relevant to Nottingham and the Midlands. The song ends with a grand finale rap to bring home the hard-hitting issues they face.
“The different styles and flavours are exactly what I wanted in this, as each artist had to relate to the people in the verse, but to keep their styles we have gypsy jazz, Americana, indie and pop.”
The launch, mostly funded by The Beeston Hop, will be at The Bodega on the 22nd of June 7-10pm. Each support act will play two original songs and then collab with an artist they’ve never worked with before, in the spirit of the launch song.
They also hope to release the single on digital services like iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp on the same day.
Emmanuel House is a day support centre for homeless people that’s primarily funded by donations. Framework run hostels in the area, and reach out to homeless people to help them and bring them opportunities.
The Back on my Feet launch takes place at The Bodega on Friday 22 June, 7pm
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