Issue 58 / August 2015

LIVERPOOL’S CONNECTION
WITH THE WORLD
Words: Phil Morris / @mauricedesade
Illustration: Jemma Timberlake / jemmatimberlake.co.uk
This year Liverpool International Music Festival is asserting
its international substance with a series of commissions
that celebrate and explore Merseyside’s diverse global music
connections. As the pendulum of influence seemingly swings
between Liverpool and the rest of the world, Phil Morris
examines the events commissioned by LIMF under the theme
of MUSIC MIGRATIONS – unearthing the city’s impact abroad,
highlighting the influence of black music in our heritage and
sustaining music scene’s attributes on the digital stage.
As a cosmopolitan port city, Liverpool has been a gateway
for social migration and a place of settlement for international
communities, and this movement of people has shaped the
global evolution of music. Over time, geographic and political
boundaries fluctuate in how easy they are for people to navigate,
but, somehow, music and culture will always find its way
through.
Perhaps the flagship event of LIMF’s commissioned events this
year is the Routes Jukebox project. LIMF music curator Yaw Owusu,
esteemed photographer Mark McNulty and producer Jernice
Easthope have embarked on an ambitious musical exploration of
the USA, Jamaica, Ireland and Liverpool to find the untold stories
of the key influencing records that made Liverpool one of the
greatest musical cities in the world. The documentary presents
the definitive picture of the cultural impact of music from abroad
and the resulting tide of influence Liverpool bands have had on
the world of music. An accompanying live event featuring Steve
Levine and Janice Long (28th August, The Epstein Theatre) will also
retrace the transatlantic connection of the 1950s.
“Routes Jukebox is, for me, the most important project we
have as part of LIMF 2015, as it looks at the roots and routes
of the music and sounds that have brought Liverpool to its
storied height within the music world,” Yaw Owusu explains,
brimming with enthusiasm for his curation. “Both elements – the
live event and the documentary – are entertaining, educational
and, ultimately, a celebration.”
For the documentary, LIMF visited the ever-evolving music
scene of New York, reliving the journey of the Cunard Yanks –
the much-mythologised seamen who would return to Liverpool
with the music commodities that would eventually spark
the Merseybeat boom. The team also spent time examining
musical links in big-hitting cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and
Nashville. The latter of those locations is also to be honoured
in a separate LIMF-instigated venture aimed at forging a special
relationship between Nashville and Liverpool. The Bluebird At
The Bluecoat partnership will give two local songwriters the
opportunity to travel to Nashville to perform at the worldfamous
Bluebird Café, while twenty runner-up songwriters
will participate in workshops at LIMF 2015. On 29th August,
BBC Radio 2’s legendary ‘whispering’ Bob Harris will host a
live representation of this partnership, as The Bluecoat brings
a little bit of The Bluebird’s famed Listening Room to Liverpool.
Replicating the signature Bluebird format, the songwriters on
show (Grammy Award-winning bluegrass artist Jim Lauderdale
and Ohio-born country musician Kim Richey among them) will
perform together in the centre of the room, surrounded by the
audience, as they share stories and accompany each other on
various improvised pieces.