Bluebird Goes Bluecoat For Liverpool Music Festival

The Bluebird Café will travel to the home of the Beatles for the first time ever Aug. 29 as part of the Liverpool International Music Festival. The three-part event, “The Bluebird at The Bluecoat,” will recreate the Bluebird magic for UK listeners at in-the-round shows featuring Jim Lauderdale, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Kim Richey and Don Henry alongside aspiring UK songwriters who have won a national competition to perform.

The show’s idea originated from Emma Foxall, Director of Monkey Mind Productions, a Liverpool songwriter who spent a few years in Nashville waitressing and playing at the Bluebird herself. In January an open call was put out to writers for a chance to win a trip to Music City to work with Nashville writers, attend Tin Pan South, and play the Bluebird. The open call winners, Karen Turley and Kirsty McGee, were selected by Monkey Mind Productions, Bob Harris with BBC Radio 2, David Macias from Thirty Tigers, Bluebird COO Erika Wollam, ASCAP’s Ralph Murphy, and Yaw Owusu of the Liverpool International Music Festival.

The Bluecoat venue will be transformed into the Bluebird for these special shows, which will mark the start of a synergistic relationship and talent development initiative between Liverpool and Nashville.

“The relationship between the two cities, Liverpool and Nashville, and their musical history is unmistakeable,” said Wollam. “Great songs have come from both these cities—songs that have changed the world. For The Bluebird Cafe to connect in this way with Liverpool’s musical heritage is a significant joining of hands and one we hope will continue beyond this initial partnership.”