Our first thought, when we realised that all [ THE UNTHANKS] shows would need to be postponed, was to support venues. So we asked venues to keep any money they could hold on to, through the generosity of ticket buyers willing to wave their refunds to support the arts. We waved any cut of that, because we believe it’s vital that venues have cash now, to stay alive, so there will still be places to play when this is all over! We’ve also committed to rescheduling shows when its safe to do so, and have promised anyone who donated their ticket cost to the venue, that they can have a free album from our merch stall at the rescheduled show. This isn’t virtue signalling. It’s just another way to motivate people to donate to venues now, by offering to reward them later.
Part of that plan to prioritise the plight of venues, was to look after ourselves by raiding our archives and setting up this sale of rarities! We hope this sale offers you the chance to help us in return for something special.
With every purchase, we’ll also send you a signed photo and two Magpie “One’s For Sorrow / Two’s For Joy postcards.
If you can afford a little extra to donate, as well as buy something, we will send 30% of your donation to the domestic abuse charity, Refuge. Please only do so if you can afford to.
As well as needing to feed and cloth the seven children we have between five band members (plus we are planning to support our sound engineer who lost work with us through cancellations), we have another financial predicament. We are looking forward to spending this period of cancellations and isolation, making the follow up to Mount The Air – a BBC Folk Album of the Year. If all our funds are wiped out by basic survival over the next 6 months however, we will not have the money to finance, manufacture and market our next record, all of which, for an independent artist, must be paid for upfront. Plus, until we can afford to do that, there will no new album to tour, so our live earnings will be compromised too, until there is a new album to tour!