Paul McCartney is turning his childhood home into a conservatory for young artists
Some of the Beatles’s biggest hits were written in that Liverpool house.
If you’ve ever dreamed of creating music on hallowed Beatles ground, you might finally get your chance. Paul McCartney and his brother Mike recently announced The Forthlin Sessions, named for their childhood home (now owned by the National Trust of Great Britain) at 20 Forthlin Road. The program will allow unsigned artists to spend time writing and performing in that Liverpool home — the very spot where John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned some of the Beatles’s early greats, like “I Saw Her Standing There” and “When I’m 64.” Artists selected by Mike will have the chance to use the space as inspiration and a venue.
The Forthlin Sessions is also meant to be reverent to Beatles history; this year marks Paul McCartney’s 80th birthday, 60 years since ‘Love Me Do’ became The Beatles’s first single, and 65 years since Paul and John Lennon first met as teenagers.
“This house to me, is a house of hope. And I hope it will be for the young people that come through the doors,” Mike told Sky News. He continued, reminiscing about the space’s creative energy during their childhood, “I would be in the other room learning photography, but whilst I’m doing all that I could hear guitar noises coming from this room. In there were what turned out to be two of the world’s greatest songwriters, McCartney and Lennon. They were rehearsing from a school book on the floor, that’s why this house is so unique.”
He added, “I think it's a brilliant idea, inviting young people to this house and giving them the opportunity of doing the same as us, coming from nothing and seeing where it takes them."
Applications to participate in The Forthlin Sessions are open through the month of April 2022, and more information to apply can be found on the National Trust website. Artists will be chosen by Mike, Beatles expert Pete Paphides, and members of the National Trust. Non-musicians who want to get involved are encouraged to share their memories and anecdotes about The Beatles through the hashtag #TheForthlinSessions, which chosen applicants can then peruse for inspiration as they write a song to perform in the space this summer. And the experience won’t stop there: They’ll also get six months of mentoring from experts at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
As for the rest of us, the Forthlin home is a rather intimate venue, but we will be able to watch the performances on YouTube and the National Trust’s social channels on June 17.
