GUITARIST Bernard Butler will be an official curator for a North-East music festival.

Tipping Point Live, in Newcastle, which will replace Evolution Emerging, will also welcome a high-profile list of celebrated musicians to the curation team including Paul Smith of Maximo Park, Barry Hyde of The Futureheads and Nadine Shah as well as a string of music industry professionals including BBC Radio 6 Music’s Tom Robinson.

The events takes place on June 21 and 22 at multiple venues throughout Ouseburn.

Butler, who performed with Suede, said: “I am excited to be trying a songwriting experiment to a live audience and attempting this for the first time in Newcastle. It will be a largely spontaneous 90-minute journey.”

Delivered by the team behind Generator’s development programme, Tipping Point Live, will this year feature a full day of family activities, commissions, masterclasses and music industry sessions running alongside a full and diverse line-up of first-class musical entertainment.

Festival organiser Charlie Dancer said: “We are undertaking a fresh look to Generator’s annual new music showcase across the Ouseburn Valley and we are really pleased to be bringing some of the organisation’s friends and alumni along to champion some of the brilliant artistry we intend to show the people of the North East this summer.

“Tipping Point Live isn’t going to be your normal multi-venue festival. It will contain insightful conversations with our curators, panellists and workshops which will be delivered alongside the live music showcasing.

“It’s a real honour to be able to bring some of the country’s leading music industry figures back to Newcastle to do this.”

As well as Bernard Butler being on the curator list alongside some of the North-East’s leading musical lights, the panel will also see the likes of Rianne Thompson (Amazing Radio), Claire Dupree (NARC Magazine), Lucy Scott from creative music charity, Brighter Sound, the team behind the Durham Jazz Festival and Lauren Sadler and Tamsin Austin of Sage Gateshead join the team.

Speaking about his return to the region and his hopes for the launch of Tipping Point Live 2019, Butler, added: “Musicians need to get out of their bedrooms and heads out of their laptops to really gauge where they are as artists and as people.

“There is no better instant source of feedback than throwing yourself to an audience in a performance setting.

“A community run event such as this, focussed on your city brings a welcoming atmosphere rather than a corporate, global affair based around brands, can only be a fantastic thing.

“The people running this event are music people and thrive off showcasing their community art and I’m really looking forward to being involved.”

The full line-up will be announced on April 4.