Marty Longstaff - Speak Up Sunderland LIVE #2

Alreet! We're back, live from the Peacock in Sunderland city centre on Wednesday, with Sunderland-based singer & songwriter Marty Longstaff (a.k.a. The Lake Poets).

You may know Marty's song "Shipyards" as the title track on the Netflix documentary series "Sunderland 'Til I Die", detailing a difficult season for the SAFC (Sunderland Association Football Club), produced by Fulwell 73...

But tonight, in front of a live audience, Marty shared the origins of this beautiful, heart-wrenching song, and led a conversation about Sunderland's shipbuilding history, the value of arts in education, and the importance of supporting local music.

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us live at the Peacock, but especially to everyone who joined the discussion with Marty:

• Victoria Armstrong, a Dancer & Choreographer based in Sunderland
• Andrea Bell, a property agent who's planning to open a soup kitchen in Sunderland
• Ken Devine, artist & owner of the Frederick Street Gallery in Sunniside
• Lesley Etherington, who was actually Stevie's form tutor for 5 years back when he was at Thornhill School
• Jacob Kirkbride, an MA Radio student at the University of Sunderland
• Lee Milburn, who's devoted 27 years to working at Nissan
• Adam O'Wellen, foundation student at the University of Sunderland, whose incredible poetry we featured on the previous episode of Speak Up Sunderland
• Stephanie Smith, a Sunderland-based visual artist recently featured in "Drawing in the Dark" on BBC Radio 4
• Barrie West, a visual artist who runs the Sunderland INDIE artist collective

--- --- ---

Speak Up Sunderland is proudly made in Sunderland!

Our hosts are Betty Ball and Stevie B, with music by Timecrawler 82, and our producer is Jay Sykes.

Follow our journey on Twitter - @SpeakUpSun, on Instagram - @SpeakUpSunderland, or join us on Facebook!