A popular local music cafe in Oakham will be closing this weekend.

In May, the team at Music agency DG Music, based in South Street in Oakham, announced that they would be closing The Piano Cafe.

They opened during the pandemic and, having fought through some challenging times, have deiced to concentrate on their core business of providing professional bands and musicians for events.

Director, David Graham, said: "We took on the lease at 61 South Street in October 2019 as office and showroom space for DG Music. Within 5 months we were in lockdown and all events were cancelled. So we diversified by opening a small record shop and cafe within the premises in order to keep trading and to create something positive for us and the town."

The pandemic meant that 1000s of weddings, parties and events had to be cancelled and the agency spent two years rescheduling events for their customers for free. Now the pandemic is over and events have returned, strengthening the market for live entertainment.

David Graham and Matt Luker who work in the shop, derived immense satisfaction from running the Piano Cafe and creating a welcoming space for Oakham shoppers to drop in for a friendly chat and a coffee.

Oakham's Piano Cafe has been a hub for live music since 2019. Image credit: DG Music.

They would like to thank everyone who supported the Piano Cafe venture during an extremely difficult time for the music industry and would like to assure everyone that they will remain actively involved in the town as they shift their focus to running DG Music online.

Matt adds, "We pride ourselves on offering personal service and will continue to meet customers face to face to discuss their event needs in the many welcoming cafes, hotels and pubs we have in our town or at the client's home or event venue."

DG Music will be celebrating its 20 year anniversary in 2024 and is planning a big event in Oakham to mark the occasion. More information is to follow.

In the meantime, the Piano Cafe will close this weekend, with last day of trade on Saturday 22 July 2023. 

For more information about the ongoing operations of DG Music, please visit the company website, email [email protected] or call 01572 75636.

Alternatively, sign up for the Oakham Nub News newsletter for more hyper-local news, views and more.