Rob Hopkins

In September 2017 I attended a weekend workshop run by the Spontaneity Shop, their Level 1A Improvisation training. It was taught by Jeremy Finch, and so in this short podcast, I talk to Jeremy and to some of my fellow improvisers, to get a sense of what improv is, and how people found a weekend of learning to play. http://www.the-spontaneity-shop.com/workshops/

What would you do if you were appointed to run a museum, with very little budget, a very small team, and a sense that the place had run out of direction and vision?  If you’re Hannah Fox, and you’ve just been asked to come up with ideas for the future of the Silk Mill Museum in Derby, you turn to the imagination, in particular, to how best to enable the people of the city to apply their imaginations to the museum’s future.  It’s a fascinating story.  I visited the Museum in July, and Hannah kindly showed me around, and made time for the interview that follows.  Their approach was implications for how many different organisations might approach change in a way that releases, rather than sidelines, the imagination.

The Proper Ornaments brought our New Lion Brewery Sessions at Sea Change Festival to a close. Their brilliant short set is recorded here in full. What a great way to bring a perfect day to a close! https://theproperornaments.bandcamp.com/

Our second New Lion Brewery Session was Jim Ghedi. Here is his brilliant set in full. Jim Ghedi is a 6 & 12 string guitarist and folk singer from the outskirts of Sheffield, England. He spent a good proportion of the last 2 years touring the UK & Europe in support of his debut album ‘Home is where I exist, now to live & die’ (Cambrian Records, 2015), gaining radio play in the US, Australia, Belgium and UK.

His current solo work explores connections to the natural environments and heritage of rural communities and landscapes across the British Isles, including the village in which he grew up along the Yorkshire/Derbyshire borders. Drawing musically from some interesting genre-crossing ideas combining finger-style guitar composition, orchestral arrangments and traditional Folk Song..

Jim Ghedi is busy touring and in the process of releasing his next solo record planned with Basin Rock record label for late 2017 alongside a duo project with guitarist Toby Hay in the following year.

Our 2017 New Lion Brewery Sessions, part of Drift Records' brilliant Sea Change Festival, brought 4 very different artists in to play in the Brewery. The first was Seamus Fogarty and his band. Here is the full audio of their brilliant set. Seamus' new album, 'The Curious Hand', is out on October 6th.

As part of the Sea Change Festival in Totnes, New Lion Brewery hosted 4 performances. Ryley Walker packed the brewery out for his set, which was, as we will hear, celebrated with the launch of a new beer, a rye NEPA called 'Ryeley Walker'. Here is the lightly edited recording of his set in full.

On Sunday 16th July 2017, Transition Town Tooting held their 'Tooting Twirl' event, and rather wonderful it was too. I popped along to see what was happening, and spoke to some of the key people involved, including Lucy Neal, Hilary Jennings, Richard Couldrey, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (MP for Tooting), Jeni Walker as well as some of those visiting the Twirl.

Julian Dobson is a writer and facilitator specialising in regeneration, placemaking and social change. He is author of 'How to Save Town Centres'.

JR calls himself “an artist until I find a real job”. His work, around the world, is amazing. I was fortunate to get to speak to him, as somehow, on the phone, he cycled across Paris to get to a meeting without sounding even slightly out of breath. At least, that's what he told me he was doing. With artists you can never be too sure... http://www.jr-art.net

Bruce Alexander has spent his whole career as a psychologist working on the topic of addiction, and wrote the seminal ‘The Globalisation of Addiction: a study in the poverty of the spirit’, one of the most remarkable books I’ve ever read.  He lives in Pender Island, British Columbia, in Canada.  I wanted to explore with him any overlaps between his work and the imagination. It was a fascinating conversation.