Lockdown Jukebox 2020

What does a musician and charity fundraiser do whilst in the middle of a pandemic-induced social lockdown? Bust out the tunes for donations, that’s what.

Normally, the Holly Jukebox Challenge takes place in December every year (see info about how it works here) . However, as most of us now find our worlds flipped turned upside down, with minimal social contact and live music events being postponed or cancelled during the Spring and Summer of 2020, I want to do my best to bring some comfort, tiny moments of joy and cracking tunes back into your lives.

Here’s how it works:

  1. You request a song you’d like to hear me play using the form here
  2. I’ll confirm the request personally with you via email and agree a go live date
  3. I’ll learn the song, perform it and upload a live video to my YouTube channel (I’m aiming to do a new upload every 48 hours between 21st March – 25th April initially)
  4. You make a donation of whatever you can afford (suggested £20 per song, but please see below for my guidelines) to my chosen charity York Mind via my JustGiving page

The rules:

  1. Please make sure I’ve confirmed your song and go live date via email before making a donation
  2. I’ll have a go at almost any song that brings you joy! But ideally please choose songs already in the public domain if you can I.e. no obscure b-sides (it makes them more entertaining for people watching the vids, and makes learning them from YouTube much easier for me!). Bonus points for pandemic related song choices like ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ etc.
  3. There’s no fixed amount for donations. Times are tough for lots of us right now, all I’m trying to do is bring joy and fundraise as best I can for York Mind. If you can afford to donate £20, that’s cool. If you can afford to donate £5, that’s cool. If you can afford £100, that’s cool too.
  4. I’m aiming to do one song every 48 hours until 25th April. If I have loads of requests, I’ll either extend the deadline or fit some more songs in as we go.

So, you ready? Make a request for your favourite song here