‘I could have put a deposit on a house or do this crazy experiment’: the British musician playing 365 gigs this year

Isaac Neilson is burning through his savings to play a gig every day in 2026 in a bold bid to break through – and champion Britain’s struggling grassroots music scene In a lively pub in Oxford this week, Isaac Neilson picked up his guitar and performed live for the 231st day in a row. The singer-songwriter’s performance at the Old Bookbinders is part of a marathon effort to play a gig every day this year. The challenge has seen him put nearly 20,000 miles on the clock of his Peugeot 208 and cost him the best part of his life savings. “I was in a position where I could maybe put a deposit on a house or I could do this crazy experiment,” says Neilson, 26. “I chose to go all in on the music.”..