Janky Jukebox - musicians against loneliness

Please note: this post is 78 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Janky Jukebox is a fun and creative way for musicians to support those who have been most isolated by Covid-19. The campaign is raising money and awareness for The Cares Family, who connect older neighbours (65+) with younger volunteers (18+) to alleviate loneliness and bridge social divides across the UK.

Here’s how it works...

• From the 29th January 2021, the public have two weeks to nominate songs that they’d like to see participating artists cover in return for a donation - the more they donate, the more likely it is that one of their nominations will be chosen.
• After nominations have closed, we will draw one song for each participating artist to cover out of the songs that have been nominated for them.
• Artists will then have two weeks between the 15th and the 28th of February to record their cover version - ideally this will be in video format, but the approach is totally up to you! It could be a stripped back, acoustic performance to camera or a multi-layered production with accompanying visuals.
• We also encourage artists NOT to be true to the original! We want to see Eurodisco covers of Nirvana and Baroque Pop takes on Jay-Z.
• We will make it clear to the public that all artists have power of veto over any song nominations they deem to be inappropriate.
• All cover versions will be released via The Cares Family and regional branches social media channels.
• The Cares Family will publish the video and submit relevant copyright/licensing claims to the PRS.

We ran a pilot version of the campaign on a smaller scale in Manchester earlier this year; it was a fantastic success and participating artists had a great time. This video explained how the campaign worked and you can watch a couple of the great covers that came out of it here and here. We know it’d be even more successful and make an even greater impact on a larger scale!

What we need from artists

We’re asking the UK’s best musical talent to take on the challenge and show off their creative responses to whatever their fans throw at them.

We would also be extremely grateful if participating artists could share the campaign through their social media channels during the nomination period in February.

The difference you’ll make

The Cares Family brings older and younger neighbours together in big cities where they’re increasingly living side by side, but seldom interact. Across our five branches (North London Cares, South London Cares, Liverpool Cares, Manchester Cares and East London Cares), we’ve connected over 18,000 older and younger neighbours in free Social Clubs and in one-to-one friendships on our Love Your Neighbour programme.

The Covid-19 outbreak has meant that our communities have needed friendship and support more than ever. Since April 2020, we’ve been running our Social Clubs on Zoom, helping older neighbours to get online, creating intergenerational friendships over the phone and have made over 2,000 practical interventions to support with urgent needs, from food deliveries to support with energy bills.

By taking part in Janky Jukebox, not only will you raise vital funds so that we can continue this work as the Covid-19 crisis develops; you’ll also help us to find new supporters across the UK at a time when building community has never been more important.

To get involved or find out more, contact Jodie on 07944405957 or [email protected]