It's happening now

Y'know... that title means a little more these days.

The initial spark for this project happened a few years ago. In between music gigs I'd been working in The Queen's Head pub here in Stourbridge. The landlady, Jo and I built something really cool there I think. Got in the good beer guide 'n' everything!

There's nothing quite like working in a pub to get to know some faces in a new town. It became clear to me though, that whilst there was climate change concern within the minds of the punters, and of course everybody tries to recycle what they can, climate change really is something that is far away. Not an immediate danger, more an existential threat that can be drowned out by our middle of England lifestyles.

Common Truths Radio aimed to close that gap a little. By sharing personal stories from people around the world through the lens of something we can all identify with; homes, families, work, we aimed to subtly get people in the Black Country talking in a more present tense.

On August 13th of this year I was travelling from the south and up into Stourbridge. You could see the smoke from the motorway. We'd had a couple of fires of late, but nothing close to this scale. I pulled over with some crowds on the edge of town, right by the scene. Some people were running, some were crying, some farmers were tearing tractors through their fields trying to make fire breaks.

It doesn't get much closer than that. For many, the gap was forever closed. The hottest UK summer ever recorded turned this middle of England town into a tinder box, and one spark burned it into a new era.