Providing gutsy and arresting interpretations of Cohen's powerful works, framed with a personal narrative, D'Arrietta and his band do not offer an impersonation of Leonard Cohen. This campaign aimed to reach out to fans of Cohen's music, aswell as new audiences, while stressing the performers' independent musical identities.
Before the festival, the show found its audience demographic on Facebook. Through regular and diverse posting of multimedia content, which encouraged conversation around the music and its inspiration, along with targeted boosting to audiences in the UK, these Australian-based musicians were able to establish an enthusiastic and loyal following on social media before their arrival in Edinburgh. Reaching out to new potential followers built strong relationships with the audience and opened up valuable opportunities for media coverage. In advance of the show's opening, preview coverage was achieved in The Skinny Magazine through contributions to an article on cost and funding, and music from the show aired on Grace Black's The Jazz Lounge on K107fm.
Offering a rich and theatrical musical experience, D'Arrietta and his band came as perfect candidates for live interviews and performances for broadcast. Such appearances included performances on Janice Forsyth's The Culture Studio on BBC Radio Scotland, Mervyn Stutter's Pick of the Fringe and SBC's live chat show Edinburgh Fest Live!.
Early and consistently strong reviews, including 5 stars from Daily Business, 4 stars from Broadway Baby, 4 stars from Scotsgay Magazine, 4 stars from One4Review, among others, allowed the show to build momentum early in the festival. Sharing these reviews on social media leveraged our large number of online influencers to provide powerful reach for the show through their personal recommendation.
Written and performed by Stewart D’Arrietta
Produced by Sandy Bruns
Guest Vocalist Sunny Amoreena
Musical Director, Guitar and Vocals Don Miller Robinson
Piano and Accordion Michael Kluger
Bass Guitar David ‘Demus’ O’Donaldson
Drummer Willy Molleison
Bass Guitar dep Emma Smith
Drummer dep Jamie Graham