Faye Fantarrow is one of the most promising artists in the region, but she’s currently fighting for her life. A fund-raising gig to help her is taking place in Sunderland this January, and it’s got a line-up featuring the cream of the local crop.

We featured Faye Fantarrow on our Local Scene page in 2021 when we cooed all over her alt-indie-pop. We also told you how she had pocketed the prestigious Alan Hull Award for Songwriting. So it came as a massive shock to us when we learned about her diagnosis with an aggressive Glioma brain tumour. There is no cure for this in the UK, but she has been accepted on a Cart cell trial in the US, which can cure her. This treatment, however, costs £450,000. A Just Giving page has been set up to help reach this sum, and £200,000+ has already been raised. More is needed, and all proceeds from this gig will go to the appeal. And what a gig! The line up includes Field Music, Frankie & The Heartstrings, Tom A Smith, Reali T, Komparrion, Nadedja – and Faye Fantarrow herself. It’s not often you can support a really great cause and have a fab night out, but this extravaganza ticks all the boxes. RM

Faye Fantarrow & Friends, Friday 27 January, Fire Station, Sunderland, 7pm, £22.50. sunderlandculture.org.uk