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The Independent’s Main Stage initiative to support grassroots music venues continues with Albert’s Shed in Shrewsbury.
The popular venue opened at the site of the former Source Bar in Barker Street, Shrewsbury, in March 2017, and has since played host to hundreds of musicians, as well as comedians and other live performance artists.
General manager David Gregg spent 18 years working in corporate hospitality before an opportunity arose with his current business partner seven years ago. Albert’s Shed was born.
Hi David, what’s the ethos behind Albert’s Shed?
We were looking to fill a gap between someone playing the guitar in the corner of a busy pub on the weekend, and larger venues. There seemed to be a middle ground for a venue that puts the music first and the bar second, rather than just putting it in as a bit of an add-on.
The music we put on is quite eclectic. I studied in Manchester (I’m from Shropshire), and I was quite interested in the dance music side of things. But that’s a very different experience to watching musicians actually create music onstage, so it’s always been two-fold. I’m lucky, because we do also dabble with DJs for the club nights, but it’s the live original music that we’re really passionate about.
How do you juggle audience demands with the music you really love?
There is a danger of becoming “too cool” or being scared to “sell out” and lose credibility, so you end up taking your eye off the bottom line. If we can make some money from having a covers band play then make 50 people really happy because we feature something really new and different, whether that’s hosting a new all-female thrash metal band or a songwriting session, then I think we’re striking the right balance.
Do you think the new government will have any impact on the situation for grassroots music venues?
I’m not particularly excited about what Labour might offer in terms of help for the grassroots music sector. In the grand scheme of things, with politicians, I don’t think grassroots music is particularly high up on the agenda. Maybe that’s fair enough, with everything else going on in the world, but I don’t think we’re going to see a massive change.
The cost of living crisis poses a far greater threat to these venues than Covid did. If people were spending their leisure time doing something else, we’d be able to figure out what they’re interested in and adjust. But if people are sitting on their bums at home because they can’t afford to go out, that’s something else entirely.
How do you address those challenges?
It’s really hard. It depends on the metrics, in some ways we’re quite fortunate that we’re taking similar money in the week as we were pre-Covid, but if you factor in how energy costs have risen between 30 to 40 per cent, it really changes things. In the past we could take more risks and if we made a loss, we’d be alright. But now we’re having to have some quite hard discussions. We’re still a business, and if we can’t operate successfully we need to look at what we can do to combat that.
Special mentions go to:
The Flapper, BirminghamThe Tin Music & Arts, CoventrySunflower Lounge, BirminghamThe Temperance Café, Leamington Spa
