Eight Years of Storytelling
It's nearly our eighth birthday! And we have some pretty big news...
Hello Friends!
This Sunday marks the eighth anniversary of the first ever OneTrackMinds show. On May 19th 2016, I took to the stage (in a suit, if you can believe it…), and introduced our small-but-rowdy audience to a new live storytelling show all about the ‘life-changing power of music’.
In the build-up to the show, I was beside myself with nerves. A couple of days beforehand, I was crossing Oxford Street, and briefly contemplated stopping in the middle of it so I could get run over by a bus, and therefore get out of having to do the show. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and I was convinced it was going to be a total shambles.
I’ve just spent a fruitless half-hour digging around in my laptop’s archives to see if I could find the recording of that first show. I’d love to listen back to my introduction, and to share it with you. I remember being so incredibly nervous. My overriding memory of walking up onstage that first time was how desperately I clung to the microphone, grasping it with both hands, holding on to it to stop myself from falling over.
But as soon as I introduced our first guest - the wonderful poet and author Jemima Foxtrot - and her warm, vibrant energy won over the audience, I knew we were going to be okay. The concept of the show - sharing stories about songs that have inspired, consoled, connected and affirmed - was simple enough that everyone in the room that night seemed to get it, and together we all revelled in the magic that happens when stories are shared live onstage.
We got away with that show, and we got away with the one on the following night (even after David Quantick called my sister a c*nt), and now, eight years, over seventy-five shows, and very nearly four-hundred stories later, we’re still, somehow, getting away with it.
Those numbers are wild, by the way! Four hundred stories (nearly)! I can’t remember all of them of course, but then I also can’t think of a single one that I wasn’t grateful for hearing. Yes, OneTrackMinds is about the life-changing power of music, but perhaps more than that, it’s about the life-changing power of sharing stories, of human vulnerability, of openness, generosity of spirit and, at the bottom of it all, the kindness and sensitivity it takes to share and - just as importantly - to listen to them.
I feel so lucky to be able to put on this show - which I’ve done for the past five years with one of the very best humans in the whole world, my dear friend Adam Shakinovsky - and I’m so grateful to everyone who has allowed us to continue to do so. That goes, especially, for all of you fine people. Thank you for continuing to come to the show, for telling your friends about it, for sticking around for a drink afterwards, for your kind comments, for reading this newsletter and for everything you do to support the show.
I’ve been hinting at some big news about OneTrackMinds for a few weeks now, and while I still can’t tell you everything I’d like to, I can share one key piece of news: our show on July 2nd will be the final show we do at Wilton’s Music Hall.
I say final - but who really knows what might happen in the future. But while Wilton’s has been our home since the very beginning of the show, from September onwards we’ll be hosting OneTrackMinds in a new venue, where we’ll be able to do a regular, monthly show.
It is a really exciting opportunity for us, and I promise I’ll share all the details as soon as I can. But, of course, such a change is bittersweet. Wilton’s Music Hall is one of the single most magical places in London - nay, the entire world - and it’s been the perfect space for our show. When our guests tell their stories on that wonderful big Victorian stage, it’s impossible not to think of all the hundreds and thousands of other stories that have been shared in that space over the 160 years since it first opened its doors, and to feel a small part of that incredible history. We’ll be desperately sad to leave it, and I’m sure those of you who have experienced its unique atmosphere will be too.
All to say, we only have three more shows at Wilton’s Music Hall before our big move, starting with our next show at the end of this month on Friday 31st May. If you’re feeling sad about our impending move, let me urge you to buy tickets so we can lap up that special atmosphere together while it lasts.
You’ll be treated to the usual magic of live storytelling, and you’ll be hearing from some truly wonderful guests, including Gethin Anthony, Elf Lyons, Evanna Lynch, Onjali Rauf and Ella Frears. And, as always, you can get top-price tickets for just £11 by using our discount code OTMCast.
Don’t delay…
That’s all for this week! As always, thanks for reading. We’ll be back next week with more news. Until then…
KB.
Next Show - Friday May 31st | Tickets Here
Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday (repeat several times to the tune of Altered Images if you’re old enough, google it if not!).
Aww no more OTM at Wilton’s, that’s so sad 🥹. I always feel a bit smug when I say I’m going there, a teeny, tiny step closer to cool (although we do see other stuff there too).
Looking forward to monthly OTM though.
With love
Maria x
Am bit traumatised that no longer at Wilton’s but relived that One Track Minds will continue .
We will try support Wilton’s still. Seem amazing things there including OTM x