GB09 headliner Duke Special recently parted company with his record label. But how does a dreadlocked troubadour survive when the music industry is going through its toughest time in decades? He turns to an alternative method of funding his artistic projects; something new, DIY, and unique, which lets an audience connect directly with their favourite artist.

And that's how the Duke decided on Pledge Music, a method by which fans can directly invest in the band and their projects. Income raised will help with the release, promotion and touring of three new records being officially launched in 2010, live events through May and June, the building of a promotional team, as well as a percentage going to Duke Special's chosen charity Depaul Ireland (www.depaultrust.ie) which works with homeless and disadvantaged people.

His new approach has already been highlighted in a blog post on the Guardian website, and over 250 pledges have already been made, so do look into supporting the Duke's work by pledging on his Pledge Music site, or have a browse through some of the other artists funding their work through similar means.

In our last podcast of 2009 – and of the decade – we take a look back over Greenbelt's noughties.

We talk to Andy Thornton, The Festival's Manager coming into the decade, about the move to Cheltenham, Jude Levermore, The Festival's Chair in the early part of the decade about beginning to turn things round, Karen Napier, the Festival's Chair in the mid-to-late part of the decade, about moving Greenbelt from crisis to sustainability, and Andy Turner, the Festival's brand new Chair at the start of a new decade, as he looks forward to what the next ten years might bring.

Click here to download the .mp3 podcast file (34.8MB)

Or stream the audio using the player below.

[podcast]http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/downloads/podcasts/gb_dec_09_final.mp3[/podcast]

Timings – so you can dip in and out if you want to:

00.00 – 01.20 – Intro
01.20 – 03.30 – Andy Thornton talks about the 'hairy' early days of the decade
03.30 – 08.00 – Jude Levermore talks about how close Greenbelt came to death
08.00 – 10.20 – Karen Napier talks about steadying the ship and setting a course
10.20 – 13.50 – Andy Turner looks back to look forward
13.50 – 16.20 – Andy Thornton talks about where he sees the Festival being now
16.20 – 17.20 – Jude Levermore talks about the good things that have been born
17.20 – 19.00 – Karen Napier talks about the wonderful volunteers
19.00 – 19.55 – Jude Levermore says 'thank' you to Christian Aid
19.55 – 21.00 – About Greenbelt's 'Just Peace' campaign
21.00 – 24.11 – Goodbye and play-out with Sufjan Stevens

Resources and links

The Thirty Book
The book Greenbelt published on turning thirty in 2003
Read about it and download a PDF version of it here
Read it online here

Video
Click here to view video footage captured at Greenbelt
Click here to view BBC 1 Heaven and Earth Show footage from GB07

On the record
What people have said about Greenbelt over the past 10 years

A decade of Festivals – those we have sections for on the website
2002: Kiss of Life
2003: Diving for Pearls
2004: Freedom Bound
2005: Tree of Life
2006: Redemption Songs
2007: Heaven in Ordinary
2008: Rising Sun
2009: Standing in the Long Now

The Soundtrack of the Greenbelt Decade

Jah Wobble – Heaven and Earth
ADF – Obsession
Bugge Wesseltoft – Stille Nacht
My Morning Jacket – I'm Amazed
U2 – I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Jose Gonzales – Storm
Coldcut – Music for 18 Musicians
Hope Springs Eternal – Autumn Leaves
Eddi Reader – Lazy Heart
Sufjan Stevens – Sister Winter

Credits

• Narrated by Grace Wroe and Garry Rutter
• Mixed and Edited – bigJohn Noble
• Written and Executive Produced by Paul Northup
• Co-production – bigJohn Noble
• Narration recording – Iain Archer
• Field Recording – Paul Northup

Andy Cato – of Groove Armada fame – is blogging for the duration of the UN Climate Change summit in Copenhagen "rooting for a deal that's ambitious, fair and effective".

He seriously knows his beans, so if you want an interesting and fresh perspective on what is going on visit http://andycato.tumblr.com/

And if you're still not sure what all the fuss is about, or need to be convinced, he's also produced a great little booklet called 'The condensed version of Climate Change and a simple way to stop it'.

Last month we asked you to show your support to Trust Greenbelt recipients Heavy Load by voting for them. Well, they won both the awards they were nominated for:

• CDN Diversity Award for Excellence in Creative Output: (presented to the film)
• DADA Community Arts Award (presented to the band)

Congrats, congrats, congrats!

… interviewed about her job at GB

Open between 11 & 4 on the weekends leading upto Christmas its well worth a visit if you're anywhere near Leeds. You can see some pictures from the private view on Friday night on the exhibition blog, and there is a review with a short movie here

Curated by Si Smith,who is also one of the team programming the Visual Arts at Greenbelt, the exhibition has works by several greenbelt artists past, present & future and has been supported by trust greenbelt.

photos by barnaby aldrick