Yahoo News North East Mayor Kim McGuinness plans tourism drive celebrating Tyneside musicians
The new North East Mayor Kim McGuinness is planning an ambitious tourism drive that will celebrate Tyneside musicians.
Sting, Mark Knopfler, Jimmy Nail, The Animals, Hank Marvin and Sam Fender are among those set to feature in a Tyneside version of the Beatles attractions in Liverpool. They will form a crucial element of the drive to bring jobs through music and the arts.
The idea is the brainchild of Labour's new mayor, Kim McGuinness, who wants to take power from Westminster "and hand it to the people". She defeated former Labour-turned-independent Jamie Driscoll by 58,399 votes to represent around two million constituents.
She hailed the successful investment attracted by the new 'Hollywood style' studios on Wearside. Now she wants arts to inspire skilled jobs in theatre, music and film production. "My reason for wanting to be mayor is the pride which I feel for the North East," she said. "It is a really key identifiable part of who we are.
"I think that is woven into our art and culture, it's part of the fabric of the place. So there is the emotional element. But economically, it makes real sense to us. We have to stop treating arts, culture as an add-on."
Liverpool has a statue of the Fab Four by the city's ferry port, tourist trails and a museum. Visitors from around the world want to see sites such as Strawberry Fields and John Lennon's birthplace. Tyneside would celebrate Hank Marvin, 82, former guitarist with The Shadows, who was born as Brian Robson Rankin at 138 Stanhope Street in Newcastle. His father was an army officer. Sting, real name Gordon Sumner, 71, is from Wallsend, North Tyneside.
Mark and younger brother David Knopfler were brought up in Blyth, Northumberland. Knopfler spoke of his love of Tyneside, and his pride in his song 'Local Hero' being played at St James Park before Newcastle United games earlier this year. He feels his love for his hometown every time he crosses the Tyne Bridge on the train heading north or south. And the River Tyne features heavily on his own forthcoming album.
Young star Sam Fender, from North Shields, has been recording in Knopfler's studio. Lauded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Knopfler is famed for his solos on songs like Sultans of Swing and Telegraph Road.
