In this episode of Canny Creative, the guys chat to Andy Garner, founder of AMV Live Music, arguably the largest live music agency in the North of England. Luke and Megan pick his brain about what his focuses are when running a successful business, and discuss what qualities they look for in a good function band, as well as what businesses may look for from them as an agent. Don't worry, there's a good embarrassing story too! Andy also picks his dream function band, a task that Luke found thoroughly enjoyable also, as he happens to run one himself! 

Jayne Dent of Me Lost Me joins us this week to discuss her new release 'Walking', how her sound has developed over the years due to her use of sampling and synths, and her upcoming album 'The Good Noise', due to be released in November. 

Enthusiastic is a word that gets thrown around when discussing today's guest, and you'll soon see why - James Harrison's electric personality is one of the many reasons he is such a successful character in the musical theatre world. In this mega-pod (by our standards at least!), we talk to James about his upbringing, his incredible aural skills, and multiple embarrassing mishaps in what has been a bizarre and eventful career for him already, despite being only 27 years old. 

In this episode of Canny Creative, Megan and Luke chat to Ben Fitzgerald,  Geordie composer and multi-instrumentalist, who performs and writes across vastly different genres. We talk to Ben predominantly about his new BBC Arts Commission Mind, Matter and Perspective, which interweaves discussions of mental health with Ben's newly composed pieces, many of which took inspiration from mental health issues and his personal interactions with them. But don't worry, we also get a great embarrassing story involving a very memorable drumming performance, but all for the wrong reasons!

In the second episode of Canny Creative, Meg and Luke chat to Andy Haggerstone, director of Kaleidoscope, an Artist Management label based in Newcastle, who manage artists such as Callum Pitt, Shields and Fever Days. Andy breaks down some of the aspects of the music industry that are vital for an artist to have a handle on, and weighs up the pros and cons of being an artist in the North of England instead of elsewhere.

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In this first episode of Canny Creative, Megan and Luke chat to Ada Francis, an Edinburgh-Born, Newcastle-Based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is equally adept in both trad-folk and contemporary-jazz styles. A pianist, harpist, vocalist and guitarist, Ada has been surrounded by creatives from a very early age. She also plays a live session for us at the end, playing her new song 'Our Days'. 

Welcome to Canny Creative, a podcast series exploring all things creative in the North-East of England. In this introductory episode, your co-host's Megan Savage and Luke Gaul give you a taste of what to expect in this series of pods, as well as a introduction to themselves and what they do in the creative industry.