On Saturday night I attended the The NMG Awards​ in Cambridge with my beautiful wife Ali.
I am not a big lover of awards or band competitions because music is subjective and it is already an overly-competitive industry (it may also be because I have never won!). I was, therefore, maybe a little bit uncertain about what to expect.
Whilst there is no point denying that I felt a little pang of hurt and disappointment at not winning anything, that feeling didn’t last long. That’s because the event was so inspirational.
Not only was the night really professionally presented but the room was filled with over 300 people and I think that was probably only a fraction of the great musicians we have in Cambridgeshire (I know plenty of great artists who weren’t there).
The artists that performed, won awards and were showcased were all exceptionally talented. Whilst it is easy to feel jealous at their moment in the spotlight, what I actually felt was inspired. Inspired by this amazing music scene developing in Cambridgeshire which covers so many genres and types of musicians. Inspired that I am part of that scene. Inspired to want to be better, to push myself, to develop as those artists appearing on the stage have.
There may have been winners but what The NMG Awards were really about was celebrating music. The world would be a pretty depressing place without it. I think Cambridge would be a pretty depressing place without it.
The Cambridge music scene is building and it is a really exciting time to be part of it. We are on the cusp of something special here and I think people across the UK and the world will be starting to take note.
So if you’re not a musician but just a music lover then thank you for being part of it too. Let’s keep it going.
Support local music, support live music and let’s create something outstanding.
