Assessing the (Sub) cultural Heritage Significance of Grassroots Music Venues

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This project concerns the heritage significance of grassroots music venues. The project builds on previous research into cultural heritage and popular music to which SCHOFIELD has contributed, examining how popular music as a democratic practice is validated as heritage through its relationship with memory and history. This project will make an original contribution by: 1) focusing on live music venues and gig-going; while 2) assessing the vitality and importance of local music scenes in terms of heritage production, place attachment and identity. This innovative collaboration combines SCHOFIELD's research in heritage studies with SCHOFIELD and SHERRINGTON's shared experiences of live music and its contribution to community, place attachment and identity, including digital identity. It also extends the definition of heritage to incorporate both non-traditional (sub)cultural heritage communities and the night-time economy while building on DeNora's (2000) study of the propensity of music both to link individuals with their past and to emotionally ground them in the present. The project comes at a time when GMVs are under increased threat, partly due to COVID-19 but also due to development threats, increased commercial rents and reduced sector funding. Yet they remain hugely popular. In 2018, 25 million people attended concerts across the UK's 650+ GMVs and other concert sites, while in 2019 the UK music industry contributed £5.8 billion to the UK economy, up 11% from 2018. Live events are important for performers but also to audiences for whom the venues are vital social spaces. The recent periods of lockdown provide a unique opportunity to examine and model the cultural impacts of their closures on local communities while also challenging negative assumptions about venues and gig going. The project poses four key research questions:1. In what ways do GMVs contribute to the heritage and identity of the places in which they are located and those people (performers, promoters, gig goers) whose identities (including digital identities) are often forged within them? 2. What distinct contributions can a critical heritage perspective make to understanding the cultural significance of local music scenes, including their venues?3. In what ways might collaboration between cultural spaces enhance their significance, impact and longevity?4. To what extent might a venue's cultural significance shape its models of practice and community engagement strategy; and ultimately influence policy?To address these questions, the project will focus on three Yorkshire towns that each have a strong music tradition in spite of their comparatively small size: Holmfirth, Hebden Bridge and York. Built around these case studies, and on the foundations of previous research (e.g. Frith's History of Live Music in Britain, Finnegan's The Hidden Musicians and the AHRC Cultural Values project), the project will conduct surveys and interviews with audiences, performers, promoters, networks and collectives, to gather qualitative data on the cultural significance of venues and gig-going including engagement with policy issues before, during and after a time of pandemic.