In a busy year Crowflies’ Darren Johnson talks about some of the most inspiring projects he worked on in 2017.

Bernie Tormé – album launch ‘Dublin Cowboy’

When Gillan guitar legend, Bernie Tormé, announced plans for a pledge-funded triple album last Autumn it reached 100% of its target in just 8 hours and forty-five minutes. Working on the initial announcement and the subsequent album and tour publicity was genuinely inspiring and it has been great to see how many excellent reviews ‘Dublin Cowboy’ has been picking up this year. Read the full story here https://darrensmusicpr.com/2017/07/20/bernie-torme-and-dublin-cowboy-story-of-a-phenomenally-successful-pledge-fund-campaign/

Setsuko Thurlow – Hiroshima survivor’s London speaking tour

A survivor of one of the most pivotal events in modern history, Setsuko Thurlow has displayed enormous courage and leadership throughout her long life, sharing her atomic bomb experiences in order to inform people about the real consequences of nuclear war. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year it was a genuine honour working to provide PR support for Setsuko on her UK visit. See her harrowing but passionate interview with LBC here http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/shelagh-fogarty/hiroshima-survivor-on-nuclear-devastation/

League Against Cruel Sports and Vinny The Fox – 2017 General Election campaign

Taking on a temporary contract as interim Head of Campaigns for the League Against Cruel Sports, within days of starting Theresa May had called a snap general election and I found myself organising a national bus tour in support of retaining the hunting ban. In what turned out to be a disastrous campaign for Theresa May hunting ended up being one of the most talked about issues of the entire General Election and after failing to get a majority Theresa May was forced to abandon plans to repeal the hunting act. Here’s what the Sun had to say about the way her support for fox hunting lost Theresa May her majority https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3778175/theresa-mays-support-for-fox-hunting-lost-conservatives-huge-election-majority-say-campaign-chiefs/

Thunderstick – album launch ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’

Three decades on from the original Thunderstick, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal icon, Barry Graham Purkis, resurrected his Thunderstick alter ego and released a brand new album. Handling the PR for this was a real buzz, especially as it rapidly began picking up very favourable reviews from around the world including the UK’s Classic Rock magazine and many others. Promising a return to live gigging in 2018 it’s been great to see the return of this rock icon. Catch links to some of the album reviews here https://darrensmusicpr.com/2017/09/14/thunderstick-reviews-round-up-for-something-wicked-this-way-comes/

SpeakUpCIC – Event at Margate’s iconic Turner Contemporary to mark World Metal Health Day

A hugely important issue and a great day out it was a real pleasure to work on the publicity for SpeakUpCIC’s World Mental Health Day event. Over 80 participants and over a dozen performers took part in Listen Up, a poetry, music and art event held at the Turner Contemporary back in October. The staff on reception said they had more visitors through the door for the poetry event that day than for Tracey Emin’s unmade bed. Happy to take that as a recommendation! Read the write up in Kent Online here http://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/listen-up-event-turner-contemp-133813/

Here’s to 2018 and lots more exciting projects to work on!