Warrington Music - Friends of Viola Beach to release charity cover of 'Swings and Waterslides'
The project was coordinated by the Editor of (WAM) magazine, Lee Harman and supported by Viola Beach's former sound engineer Cal Bate, who both wanted to create a tribute to the band. All proceeds from the single will be donated to the chosen charities of the families of Viola Beach. One of the vocalists on the upcoming release Jessica Luise, was able to fund her recent single thanks to the bursary from the River Reeves Foundation - which is one of the charities set up by River's family to provide funding to musicians from the local area. Jessica mentions: "I started working with the River Reeves Foundation around a year ago, I love everything they stand for and think that what they do for musicians is wonderful, I never knew the lads personally but getting to experience the legacy they legacy they left behind is amazing. It's been an absolute privilege to be involved in this project and I can't wait for everyone to hear it."
Lee Harman speaks on the project: "Viola Beach left their own legacy despite their short time together. They were the first of a new wave of bands who were proud to be from Warrington, and all the artists involved are honoured to be involved. We should have seen Viola Beach headlining the biggest five years on but despite the pain and sadness getting easier every year, they put Warrington on the map, and we want to show that they're still an important part of the town's culture."
"Kris (Leonard), Jack (Dakin), Tom (Lowe) and River (Reeves) have such an important part to play in keeping the Warrington Music (WAM) website active as I had all but stepped away from the blog but their tragic passing galvanised the town scene and myself. I felt it was important to cover as much as I could about everything that was happening in the days and weeks of their tragic accident."
Cal Bate who was the sound engineer to the band for six months, and now works with Blossoms who had Viola Beach as their support on tour said: "Viola Beach are a huge part of mu life, the big stepping stone to my whole career. So to be able to produce a version of one of their songs with amazing musicians from Warrington meant the world to me. I was lucky enough to hear their songs and mix them a lot whilst working with them and they were always songs which you could tell they wrote for people to dance and love forever. They will never be forgotten and they are everything to Warrington and its music scene."
Viola Beach were a rising indie rock band, who were set to take the UK music scene by storm, the band were Kris Leonard (vocals, guitar), Jack Dakin (drums), River Reeves (guitar) and Tomas Lowe (bass). The guys had sold out gigs, national airplay, an album in the works and European tour dates book. Sadly, on the 13th February the band and their manager Craig Tarry were killed in a car accident whist travelling through Sweden.
The news of the terrible accident sent shockwaves through the music world, in particular their musical peers in their hometown of Warrington. However, over the years these musicians have strived to keep their memory alive by continuing their legacy.
Across the music scene, tributes came in from word famous acts such as Liam Gallagher and The Stone Roses, who encouraged people to get the bands debut single 'Swings and Waterslides' to number 1 in the charts. Coldplay also paid tribute to the band, covering their song 'Boys That Sing' during their headline Glastonbury set. In 2016 their debut self-titled album was posthumously released, reaching number 1 in the UK charts.
The full line up on the charity cover:
Vocals - Joe Banks (The A.V Club), Lucy Bell, Liam Hillyer, Jessica Luise, Calan Nickle (Sienne), Olly Thorton (Uno Mas) Guitar - Amy Woodall (Crawlers) & Nathan Greenfield (Aligners) Drums - Chris Peake (Filthy Tricks) Bass - Ed Dowling (The Zangwills)
Mix - Cal Bate (Former Viola Beach sound engineer)
Artwork - Cameron Brown
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