Alison Curry and Sean Grace perform as a duo called GraceNote. This July they took on an incredible challenge of playing 15 gigs in 15 days to fundraise for Crisis. They've shared a bit about their experience below.
We play acoustic versions of pop songs from across the last 60 years with both of us singing, Sean playing the guitar and Ali adding cajon and other percussion.
We have been playing around our home town of High Wycombe for several years but always fancied doing a bit of a tour. So we came up with the idea of travelling around the south of England, playing a gig in every place we stopped.
As we started to think more about the plans, we realised we could do something more and turn it into a fundraising opportunity. So the 15 gigs in 15 days challenge was born. Having a personal connection with a local homelessness organisation, we wanted to support that cause and thought that Crisis would be perfect.
We plotted a route and then started asking on the local musicians’ social media groups for suggestions of venues that might be willing to help. Within hours we were getting offers from bars and cafes and the tour started to take shape.
We started and ended the tour by busking in High Wycombe and huge thanks must go to the venues who hosted along the way. The Guildford City Social Club, The Beacon in Eastbourne, The Star & Garter in Bognor, TAO in Bognor, The Belvedere in Weymouth, The Eliot Arms in St Germans, The Fairway Buoy in Westward Ho!, The Pitcher & Piano in Taunton, Raddy’s Cafe Bar in Weston-Super-Mare, Castle Cary Market, Stroud Brewery, The Garden Bar in Cheltenham and The Brewery Tap in Abingdon.
We travelled over 750 miles, performed for over 35 hours and played more than 450 songs. Most importantly, we raised over £2,400 for Crisis which is just fantastic.
Thank you GraceNote for this amazing achievement and for supporting Crisis!