| Good evening - I hope you are having a good Thursday. If you are into your music, you'll know many of your favourite bands and soloists made their name travelling around Europe and gigging. Now, if the coronavirus pandemic has not had enough of a devastating impact upon the music industry with the cancellation of gigs, concerts and festivals, the impact could be even more long-standing. Today Sir Elton John stepped in to call out the issue, saying musicians are facing a ‘looming catastrophe’, not just because of Covid but because of post-Brexit travel restrictions on touring in the European Union. New and emerging artists will be unable to tour Europe freely - an essential part of their education and development - due to the prohibitive costs of visas, carnets and permits, he pointed out. He admitted established mega-stars like himself could buy the expertise to get them through the red tape, saying “Put bluntly, we are currently in grave danger of losing a generation of talent due to the gaping holes in the Government’s trade deal.” Sir Elton says he fears careers will stall before they’ve even started due to this ‘infuriating blame game.’ He has a point. There are so many talented artists just starting out and travel within Europe is key to making their careers fly. Are you a local musician and feel you impacted - we'd love to talk to you. Contact [email protected] Have a great evening, Nicola Drop me a line at [email protected] with your views and please subscribe to support sustainable local journalism in your community. Click here to view our offers. Here are some of today's top stories ... | 
