"My music career has really taken off since the Freedom Festival" – Keith Hagger

Ysabelle Wombwell on stage at Freedom

Gig of a lifetime

Performing in Queen's Gardens to thousands of people at the Freedom Festival was the biggest moment yet in the careers of singer-songwriters Ysabelle Wombwell (19) and Keith Hagger (24).

They were among a number of local performers who took part in the music and live arts festival in Hull city centre in August.
They got the chance because they are part of the Hull Urban Collective, a music project backed by The Warren, which aims to discover and promote local talent.
"It was an amazing experience and when it was over I just wanted to get back up there and do it again," says Ysabelle, a Hull College music student, who had ten minutes on stage playing her own songs.
Keith, who has worked in the same east Hull fast food restaurant since he was 16, writes songs in his spare time, and when a mate gave him a leaflet for the Hull Urban Collective, he decided to get involved.
"My music career has really taken off since the Freedom Festival and so I'm now working part-time at the restaurant," says Keith (pictured right).
Members of the London-based British Urban Collective came to the city for two months to set up the Hull Urban Collective.
They held auditions for 150 young people to select 30 to join the collective, and then gave advice about writing songs, composing music, and recording work in the studio.
"The collective will be an ongoing thing – the idea is for Hull artists to work together and inspire each other, and we will hopefully have some of their tracks released for sale and download in the near future," says Stewart Baxter, an arts development worker at The Warren.

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Hull Urban Collective performs at the acoustic lounge in Durty Nellys, High Street, on the last Thursday of every month. For more information visit www.myspace.com/hullurbancollective or call The Warren on 218115.