Tag: acoustic

Rooks; New Single From M3G

Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward โ€œEโ€) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunes on hold for a moment, because this is a beautiful, epic journeyโ€ฆ.

M3Gโ€™s seventh release, Rooks, poignantly pulls on the heartstrings when presented by the rise and fall of a romance, rooks often being a slang for cheating someone. It runs into six minutes, and reflecting the heartbreak of the subject, the song rises and falls accordingly. It creates a spellbinding ambience of both hope and worry equally, and is of magical vocal and acoustic guitar composition, with a gentle cajon drum subtly placed.

Inspired by the likes of Florence Welch and AURORA, Meg was open about her autism in our interview from 2023, and claimed it as the backbone to her creativity. In this, what she creates is completely original, unique, and unequivocally personal. Meg doesnโ€™t just sing, she projects her innermost thoughts and expresses them, angelically. In Rooks, you can literally feel the characterโ€™s heart breaking, causing yours to inevitably go with it.

The hyphen in the term singer-songwriter has never been so apt with another. Sure, I hear lots of brilliant expressive singers and lots of songwriters who can pen a marvel, but no one merges them so seamlessly and forgoes any fear theyโ€™re exposing too much of their innermost thoughts, dreams or desires. You only need to venture ten seconds into Rooks to observe what I mean, and if Meg constantly strives for improvement, causing me to say this is her best song yet each time, here we go again; this is awe-inspiring, her magnum opus to date.

Recorded and mixed by Phil Cooper, his genius registers on it, yet still, itโ€™s Just M3G; layering her backing chants over her main vocals like choral had a singular tense, and who even designed the cover. She says working with Phil is โ€œa massive step above my other releases. I am so proud of it.โ€ It is on a next level, Iโ€™m uncertain what she could do to top it, but assured she will, and Iโ€™m certain Rooks will appease her fans and make her find new ones.

Rooks streams tomorrow, 19th December 2025.

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Lady Nade; Sober!

Dry January, anyone? Well, Lady Nade just plunged into an outdoor 4ยฐC eucalyptus sauna for a social media reel. But whilst I’d require a stiffโ€ฆ

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Rooks; New Single From M3G

Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward โ€œEโ€) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunesโ€ฆ

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Burning the Midday Oil at The Muck

Highest season of goodwill praises must go to Chrissy Chapman today, who raised over ยฃ500 (at the last count) for His Grace Childrenโ€™s Centre in Uganda, with a little help from talented friendsโ€ฆ.

Years back as soloist singer-songwriter One Trick Pony, Chrissy organised annual fundraising gigs at the Southgate around Christmas time, but now tuned up a notch with her incredible Americana band Burn the Midnight Oil behind her it was a high noon lock up and load for a Sunday afternoon hoedown at the Muck and Dunder rum bar in Devizes. The better half, Mrs Devizine, has been asking me to take her somewhere tropical, so given such an opportunity, we bused it to The Brittox.

With Burn The Midnight Oil rightfully grasping the top slot with the same intensity as me holding my pineapple vase of piรฑa colada, all kicked off at half-two with Gary Hewitt-Long performing a rare acoustic set. New to the game, and while I obviously cannot condone a satirical song aimed at a certain rogue local councillor, Gary was unnecessarily bashful, as he acoustically played out some great originals to warm the crowd!

Perhaps it was the crowd which, understandably nerved him; it sure was building, as Martin Rea sauntered through them, sporting a fashionable bum bag and dishing out raffle tickets.

A Wiltshire duo new to me, One Plus One may offer sums even I can handle in name, but their performance was delightful. A proficient and lovable pop cover duo to please any event, One Plus One is guitarist Dave, and Emily on vocals, confident to take on an Amy Winehouse cover or two and come up trumps. Chapel Roan’s Pink Pony Club also got a superb makeover, and they polished it off with the seasonal Fairytale of New York; why not?

Maybe only because our modest local folk legend Vince Bell, who followed, also planned to finalise his sublime set with the UK’s best loved Christmas song, with his wife Lisa as Kirsty MacColl. Though more musical theatre, no stranger to the limelight, Lisa nailed it, and the handsome, pretty, and the queens of New Devizes City crowd never minded the doubled up cover and sang the chorus.

Vince also offered Chrissy the accompanying chair for a spellbinding middle duet they supposed they should record, and they should. But beginning his set with his divine self-penned melancholic earworms, garnished in percussive rhythm guitar mastery akin to flamenco, and raising the spirit with the more spritely Spiderman Pajamas, Vince is a local treasure and never fails to charm.


Exactly a year after we first interviewed the original lineup, Burn The Midnight Oil came bursting on and delivered their awesome set with unified passion and precision, seemingly lapping up every minute. You’d be excused for assuming this band has been playing together for decades despite it being less than a year in the new format.

They appeased the audience with a taste of what they’ve been working on, looked fantabulous, and, most importantly, put 210% into their show. Yet it was arguably the sum of all these parts and the community festive spirit, which made it the wonderful afternoon it was.

Jol Roseโ€™s Ragged Stories

Thereโ€™s albums Iโ€™ll go in blind and either be pleasantly surprised, or not. Then thereโ€™s ones which I know Iโ€™m going to love before the first notes ring out. Quite familiar with Swindonโ€™s beloved Dylanesque singer-songwriter Jol Rose, Ragged Stories is another notch in his sublime discography you simply have to listen to on repeatโ€ฆ.

Similarly thereโ€™s many attempting Americana, a few leave themselves open for criticisms of clichรฉ or authenticity while others refine it with a certain level of finesse, then thereโ€™s Jol Rose. Prolific writer and recording artist, but a perfectionist with that defining quality to paint mind masterpieces through his music. 

Though Jol has no standalone anthem, there never seems to be a magnum opus and fans select a wide range of his songs as their personal favourites. His portfolio is never samey, nor completed. Euro ballad Meet me in Berlin makes an appearance on this new album, and is one of my favourites from last yearโ€™s album, Peace, Love & Americana. But this is a stripped back acoustic version, and thatโ€™s the thread through a variety of themes and temperaments; this Jol, raw.

Thereโ€™s other stories of travels; two songs venturing over to the USA it wouldnโ€™t be Americana without, and some Road Boogie to boot. But itโ€™s not without ditties of homebased subjects too. If Springsteen writes romantically of New Jersey gangland warfare, why canโ€™t Jol humbly justify Swindonโ€™s attractiveness with a certain beguiling jollity?! But if Swindon Saturday Night is tongue-in-cheek, Not My Cherie takes cheekiness to a whole other level, as a jokey French rejection from Swindon Conservative Councillor Cherie Adams.

Yet if Not My Cherie doubles-up as his social political observations and Liars & Thieves, makes its political stab humorously, the others on this sixteen songs strong album are far more poignant than satirical. A battle with corruption, Eucalyptus Lullaby opens the album, with the lines, โ€œAs I lie on a bed made of ashes, and ponder the wreckage below, I survey all the things brought upon us, by ignoring what we should have known,โ€ which confirmed weโ€™re in for brilliantly constructed anti-establishment prose.  

Perhaps none more than Day & Night Collide, underlining our anger and ignorance hiding our fears in regards to immigration. If you only listen to one song before going to a polling station, make it this one.

Afternoon Nightmares, is relationship bittersweet, the most Dylanesque, and yes, Jol tackles romance themes with equal edge. In its simplicity Beautiful Denial is gracefully wonderful, but my biggest surprise came via Love Story, a simple title which does what it says on the tin, and you might recognise it, but Jol stamps his mark, and makes this Taylor Swift cover his own.

Just man and guitar, the pure essence of sole quality, and in Jol Rose it is exceptional, this album showcases it without pretence or ignorance. Heโ€™s a figure of reality in a world gone sour, and he expresses it sublimely.

CD of Ragged Stories is available from Jol Rose’s website HERE.

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St John’s Choir Christmas Concert in Devizes

Join the St Johnโ€™s Choir and talented soloists for a heart-warming evening of festive favourites, carols, and candlelit Christmas atmosphere this Friday 12 th Decemberโ€ฆ

For Now, Anyway; Gus White’s Debut Album

Featured Image: Barbora Mrazkova My apologies, for Marlboroughโ€™s singer-songwriter Gus Whiteโ€™s debut album For Now, Anyway has been sitting on the backburner, and itโ€™s moreโ€ฆ

Butane Skies Not Releasing a Christmas Song!

No, I didnโ€™t imagine for a second they would, but upcoming Take the Stage winners, alt-rock emo four-piece, Butane Skies have released their second song,โ€ฆ

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Vince Bell in the 21st Century!

Unlike Buck Rogers, who made it to the 25th century six hundred years early, Devizesโ€™ most modest acoustic virtuoso arrives at the 21st just short of twenty-six years late! We’re looking at Vince Bell‘s EP, Songs, Poetry and Motivation, as it makes off for a futuristic online adventureโ€ฆ..

Devizes knows โ€œour Springsteenโ€ Vince, loves Vince, unless they’re selling tickets for โ€œThe Bin.โ€ โ€œIt’s three quid to get in,โ€ Vince jests in a song popular with locals, as reasoning for not attending the town’s only nightclub, which is actually quite reasonable these days! Its references strictly imply Devizes, but the concepts could relate to another market town, that song of his. Composed of contemporary scuttlebutt and twisting it into urban legend for intoxicated natives to chant the chorus’ self-mocking punchline about never leaving, back at him, if Vince is, (and deserves to be leaving at least on a national tour,) branching worldwide, this one rightfully doesn’t appear on the EP.

When plugging his new Spotify account to me, we meandered onto the better between the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, after he confessed his family encouraged him to put his songs online. A self-deprecating retrospective attitude relayed in Spiderman Pajamas, which also doesn’t appear on the EP, and was likely the reasoning behind the world waiting so long for Vince to give into the virtual realm.

Vince doesn’t have stars in his eyes, he’s an unassuming musician who sees it as an eternal labour of love. Yet in true folk fashion, his guitar finesse is equal to his delivery of some genius wordplay, and that love for more universal observations are of those five tracks which made his own exceptionally high level of EP grade. Songs of local satire or retrospective are adored here, but concentrated observations are more universally acceptable.  

Though the opening title Lisa’s Kitchen has obvious personal, homely connotations. Itโ€™s a five minute sketch comparing the cliche places of solitude to the simplicity of a family kitchen, and an apology for casually acting on promises made in the freedom of this  daydreamy oasis of mรฉnage calm.

The guitar riff rolls intensely after this, and things arenโ€™t so calming. Haunting like embers randomly sparking from a campfire, for First Fire of Winter. This song is a summary of the contemplating sentiments evoked by a fire; of trust and conviction, weakness against strength, pain of loss and fire in a heart of longlost boys homecoming. When Vince mentions โ€œsubmissive machines in a world thatโ€™s gone too farโ€, and โ€œGodโ€™s own simulation,โ€ itโ€™s a vehemence against war, yet while the poetry is poignant enough, itโ€™s the urge in his delivery which drives the sentient home.

With a more lighthearted and playful muse, Monkey Puzzle Tree is a metaphor for the progression of time and the difficulty in the acceptance of ageing. Whereas in Preacher, Leaders and Dealers, the contentment in delivering fear are compared and contrasted from all three classifications, and is delicately expressed with perfect pathos.

Weโ€™re Between Earth & Paradise for the finale to this outstanding EP. Thereโ€™s an instrumental two-minute opening where intricate guitar-work sets a scene of seemingly encapsulating the beauty of nature. Despite the title, thereโ€™s still dark pressure in the narrative in the form of bleak news stories, but it offers an escape with a virtually heavenly premise. And in this, it sums up the EP and Vinceโ€™s impressive ability to conjure and project vivid images and lucid ideas within his music, a rare gift.

Though this is commonplace in the celebrated artist, so too is modesty and undervaluing of oneโ€™s own work, risking it falling into obscurity unless we take it upon ourselves to shout about how engrossed, entertained or enthralled we were, on their behalf. Vince has, and here I am, advising you to take heed, not because heโ€™s a friendly guy locally gigging on my circuit, though he is, but because Vinceโ€™s music is breathtakingly brilliant and deserves a far wider accolade than that which a Wiltshire market town can provide.ย This EP proves it.

Oh yeah, catch him down the Southgate, Devizes, on Thursday 30th October 2025 for a session with Tamsin Quin; see what Iโ€™m on about if you donโ€™t know already!

Tidy: Talk in Code at The Vic with Riviera Arcade and Flora Flora

It was only ever supposed to be a single launch gig but it could’ve been for a gold-crested gatefold triple LP, because Talk in Code were larging it last night at their hometown premier venue, Swindon’s Victoria. The crowd was ecstatic and the atmosphere was highly flammableโ€ฆ..strike a light!

If witnessing a great band on their own turf adds a communal elevation to the thrill of seeing them at all, Talk in Code certainly pulled out all the stops, even if the je-ne-sais quoi of these masters of indie-pop perform with sublime quality anywhere they happen to appear.

If this crossing the friend barrier themed quintessential grower, More Than Friends sits perfectly into their eighties vibe discography, we were leaked forthcoming singles might venture somewhere slightly different, but right here, now, at The Vic, Talk in Code was rewarded equal rapturous praise in throwing it out there as they were marching triumphantly through their beloved anthems.

Tunes which, like the best memorable pop, have universal and timeless appeal. At a Talk in Code gig you could mute the sound and still comprehend that the individual takes what they want from their style by observing the diversity of the demographic present. Here, this tight group of musicians evoke memories of everything gorgeous about eighties pop from Ah-Ha to Simple Minds, for me. One generation younger, especially when they backtracked to Oxygen, might wallow in nineties indie, and likewise youth will recognise their own contemporary influences.

If homeliness provides confidence to experiment, we were treated to something I’ve never seen Talk in Code do before; as the band Twix breaked, dynamic Adidas- sponsored frontman Chris Stevens proved he was no one trick pony, and blessed the Vic with an immaculate acoustic number, an original he called We Remain.

If appreciation was a pair of knickers, Talk in Code would have a visible panty line, as devotee โ€œTalkersโ€ in blue sunglasses and merch amassed between Vic regulars, equally relishing their vibrant, danceable and electric hoedown! And all took home a CD embossed goodie bag akin to a toddler’s birthday party, save a slice of squashed sponge cake!

Yet if there’s an honourable family-fashioned ambience surrounding this band, where Talkers would follow them to the four corners of the globe, else create Lego fan-videos or shower them with deserved fondness, the mood for a quality evening was pre-set by two awesome support acts TiC cherrypicked.

Gloucestershire soloist, songwriter and model Flora Flora opened the gig with acoustic splendour. New to me, I’m now keenly following her socials. Not because she took control of my phone from my intoxicated sausage fingers to ensure I did, though she did, but because I’ve since come to realise there’s subsequent levels to her talent than the perfection of her rocking performance last night!

An inspiring Gen Z Swifty wordsmith, crafting evocative songs praised and played by our hero James Threlfall on BBC Introducing. A new one drops on streaming platforms on 29th August but is available now on Bandcamp, Need to Say; it’s far more ethereal than Flora Flora’s edgier performance, and you’ll be foolish not to bookmark it as a favourite; fill your ankle-length boots.

Penultimate act, Bristol-Swindon longstanding five-piece rockers Riviera Arcade, I must confess, I preconceived to be a fair, hard rock band; they certainly came out like one. It only took near to the completion of the first song for me to come to complex reasoning why they’re punching well above that weight. Multi-layered precision with captivating guitar riffs set me contemplating subtle nods to eighties mod or punk, sometimes skanking, but still, it heralded heavier rock. They’ve a 2022 album Gone By Ten on stream, so you can hear what I’m waffling about.

An interesting and certainly unique style which, while I was thinking The Police or Costello, they finalised their set of beguiling originals with an apt and superbly delivered cover of The Stonesโ€™ Paint it Black, a perfect summary to their ethos. I returned home as a newfound fan, a bit wobbly on my feet and Notra-Dame bells ringing in my ears fan, but deffo a fan!

Talk in Code was officially on the best form I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness, but it was the combination of acts, venue and atmosphere which famed this fantastic night too; The Vic is renowned for doing so, historically. Owner Darren Simons assured me, though the venue is up for grabs, it’s only going to someone prepared to continue in his shoes, so this flagship to Wiltshire live music should thankfully continue to reign; dodge magic roundabouts and onwards to The Shuffle!

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Crowned Lightbringer: New EP From Ruby Darbyshire

If I was bowled over backwards by Rubyโ€™s teaser single last week, its title, Crowned Lightbringer, now also belongs to this five-track EP, released today, and as you might guess, youโ€™re in for a treatโ€ฆ..

Thereโ€™s so much incredible time, effort and adroitness pouring out of this itโ€™s actually scary how talented Ruby Darbyshire is at such a young age, and in pondering the journey her music will take her. Youโ€™re left numb to what to listen to next, in awe, and spellbound by its harmonic perfection. Thereโ€™s also a general theme of journey, often rinsed in ingenious metaphors, which connects you to Rubyโ€™s world and imaginings, the hallmark of a musician who knows what buttons to press to engage an audience and leave them spellbound.

Rubyโ€™s Scottish roots are displayed in a bagpipe instrumental bonus track, The Spirit of Jenny Whittle, the rest relies on her accomplished acoustic mood-setters, and the ambience is as ever, hauntingly choral, layered with dedication, folk emotive and saturninely uplifting soulfully, edifying a matured Ruby, compared to her debut EP. But if Crowned Lightbringer displays a whole new level for her music, what comes next will be anyoneโ€™s guess. It is, in my humble opinion, an EP which needs to be in everyoneโ€™s life.

Vocally itโ€™s faultless too, profoundly as guiding as Nina Simone, as variable and soulful as Billie Holiday; comparisons of such high accolades, I know, I donโ€™t know where else to go to balance her sublime vocal range. Lady Nade and Mayyadda the only contemporary likenesses I could fairly credit. Opening with Timekeeper, as deeply emotive as Crowned Lightbringer, chilling and as distant as an autumn zephyr. With a rustic vinyl crackle, Calling Hades captures a timeless acoustic goodness of underworldly Greek gods, with a romantically liberating hopefulness as its theme.

Black Dog has a deeper blues feel, yet sprinkled with northern celtic, spiritually-guiding us away from the omen of solitary, the Gytrash. Ruby is folk, primarily rooted and understanding of it. Thereโ€™s much to unpick from her beautiful music tapestry here, Iโ€™ve only had a quick listen, couldnโ€™t wait for a complete analysis before telling you how fantastic this EP is, but I believe, in time, this might be my personal fave! But hey, the title track follows, and weโ€™ve mentioned this last week, itโ€™s a metaphoric shanty which depicts perfectly where Rubyโ€™s music is taking her and all the demons which might lurk on her journey.

All I know is this should put Ruby not a local circuit map, but on an international stage; I donโ€™t flatter, and if you donโ€™t take note more fool yourself. Listen, just, listen! 

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Stranglers Frontman Hugh Cornwell Coming To Cheese & Grain

Image: John Kisch

Legendary songwriter and original Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell has announced a run of UK dates this November, accompanied by special guests The Courettes, and it includes Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain on Saturday 15thโ€ฆ..

Golden Brown, Strange Little Girl, Always The Sun… sound familiar? All big hits, all great songs, all penned and performed by Hugh Cornwell, the songwriter behind the legendary early eighties punk band The Stranglers.ย 

 When future historians of music draw up a list of the movers and shakers who changed the modern musical landscape, Hugh Cornwellโ€™s name will no doubt be amongst them. As a pioneering musician, songwriter and performer, his pervasive influence persists in the record collections of music aficionados, across this spinning globeโ€™s radio waves, and on stages around the world. Hughโ€™s presence is unquestionable.

 As the leader of The Stranglers, Hugh was the main songwriter of all of the bandโ€™s most memorable songs across ten stellar albums. After their 1977 debut Rattus Norvegicus, follow-up albums such as No More Heroes and The Raven consolidated Cornwellโ€™s stature as a unique songwriter and musician. His multi-layered lyrics to Golden Brown, from La Folie, remain a songwriting masterclass.

Hugh embarks on his Come And Get Some tour in November, appearing at Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain on Saturday 15th. A full band show with Stranglers choice cuts and solo delicates, plus support from The Courettes, an explosive group from Denmark and Brazil. With Flavia Couri on vocals and guitar and Martin on drums, they provide the perfect blend of Wall of Sound, Girl Group Heartbreaks, Motown and R&B. Imagine the Ronettes meeting the Ramones at a wild party in the Hitsville echo chamber, thatโ€™s the Courettes!

โ€œCornwellโ€™s still doing things his way and often with striking results,โ€ said Mojo, โ€œThunderously tribal garage rockโ€ฆ the ex-Strangler not yet gone soft,โ€ Uncut provided. 

Kicking off at Epic Studios in Norwich on 6th November, Hugh Cornwell will be playing favourites from his time with The Stranglers as well as a range of solo material, including his 1979 album โ€˜Nosferatuโ€™ in full. The record saw Cornwell teaming up with Captain Beefheartโ€™s Robert Williams to create a record as gothic as the film it takes its name from.

Throughout November, Cornwell will make stops at beloved venues up and down the country including Hangar 34 in Liverpool, Concorde 2 in Brighton and Islington Assembly in the capital. Heโ€™ll be joined on the road by retro-inspired punk rock duo The Courettes, helming from Denmark and Brazil. 

Tickets are on sale HERE

Hugh Cornwell UK 2025 Live Dates

6th Nov – Norwich, Epic Studios

7th Nov – Holmfirth, Picturedome

8th Nov – Liverpool, Hangar 34

13th Nov – London, Islington Assembly

14th Nov – Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre

15th Nov – Frome, Cheese and Grain

16th Nov – Brighton, Concorde 2

20th Nov – Glasgow, St Lukeโ€™s 

21th Nov – Dunfermline, Carnegie Hall

22nd Nov – Newcastle, Digital

You; Lucas Hardy Teams With Rosie Jay

One of Salisburyโ€™s most celebrated acoustic folk-rock singer-songwriters Lucas Hardy teams up with the Wiltshire cityโ€™s upcoming talent who’s name is on everyoneโ€™s lips, Rosie Jay, for a charming Sunday morning ballad called Youโ€ฆ..

Ah, newfound love, I remember it well! That ray of peerless positivity, like a sunbeam which cannot be clouded; nothing can spoil your mood now youโ€™ve found that certain someone. Many artists have tried to capture it, many overthink it, but You is simply saccharine, and captures the concept beautifully.

This is staring out of a window of a moving car on a sunny Sunday morning music, contemplating when your longing will be over and youโ€™ll be in the arms of your soulmate again. Thereโ€™s nothing negative here, no hidden concern like many such songs, itโ€™s blissful and an the ideal harmonious coupling weโ€™d love to hear from. Check it out!ย 

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Phil Cooper is Playing Solitaire

Trowbridge singer-songwriter and one third of The Lost Trades, Phil Cooper has actually been doing more than playing solitaire, heโ€™s released a new solo album called Playing Solitaireโ€ฆ..

Released yesterday (2nd May) Playing Solitaire is Philโ€™s first solo album in five years. The last being These Revelation Games in 2020, which was a varied bunch where Phil experimented extensively. Perhaps lockdown inspired artists to scrutinise and pilot new ideas, though through his part in the Americana harmony trio The Lost Trades, fronting the harder rocking The Slight Band, and BCC project, where Phil dives into synth-pop, heโ€™s never been one to shy away from testing new waters. But the principle beauty of Philโ€™s work lies in the simplicity of his idiosyncratic and solitary acoustic outpourings, a clear and clean line of self-reflection, drenched in honesty and poignancy, and thatโ€™s precisely what youโ€™re getting with Playing Solitaire.

Apologise for the delay in announcing this; I had to take one more listen this morning, before deciding if I should call this his best work to date, as heโ€™s a prolific artist with an outstanding discography already. But I think I can safely say, because of the wonderful way this flows, coalescing in mood and style, I think I can safely suggest that it is.

If an all-out anarchistic thrash of rock n roll is what you require, this isnโ€™t for you. For everyone else Playing Solitaire is beautifully crafted and passive, gorgeously taut and accomplished. Thereโ€™s no whimsical introduction. โ€œLook out world, Iโ€™m here to stay,โ€ Phil confidently announces without warning; good! Because Phil knows precisely how to construct a song, and itโ€™s this dedication to composition where he shines best. The opening song, Still Holding My Breath is quintessential Phil Cooper. Itโ€™s the acme of his observational writing, a homage to the notion hard work pays off, a characteristic we know Phil well for.

Moving to the next tune, romantic dejection is his soft play centre topic, and oh, how you wrote that note, disregarding how it might be interpreted by the receiver; perhaps weโ€™ve all been there. If itโ€™s a personal reflection, you identify, and the magic lies at the feet of this contemplation, the very magic of Philโ€™s words, song and ability to combine them, hard at work. And this is an observation we could make to summarise the whole album.

That Easy Road, is remarkable heart on a sleeve content again, it drifts with a stormy sea metaphor to convince himself heโ€™s loved. Another peace of mind ballad follows, then Bijou comments on struggling grassroots music venues, and even if Iโ€™m not a musician, itโ€™s exceptionally touching and poignant. The passion Phil delivers this with and the construction of the riff, itโ€™s my personal favourite on the album, maybe replacing Road Songs, my past fav Phil Cooper tune. 

Halfway mark of this ten strong album, and weโ€™re in another foreboding place with Beauty in the Cracks, a frustration at progression, perhaps. Uptempo, and weโ€™re on a lighter note next, followed by a live favourite, They Will Call Us Angels. Eric Bogle fashioned or Guthrie, even, if we suggest an Americana route, but weโ€™ve definitely arrived folk inspired by his work with The Lost Trades. Phil glows through a moving account of a frontline medic, and itโ€™s something kinda wonderful.

Maybe Phil lessened on the deeper narrative in the middle of this album and left three moreish golden nuggets to finish on. Directionless is as it says on the tin, it drifts, and rises halfway through. And we finalise akin to where we began, a little self-help guide type lyrics, but hey, Phil is always on-point. It is an almost one-man choral twinkle, defining Phil as a perfectionist.  

If you worked with Phil in an office, he might be the friendly confidant you relay youโ€™ve prepped nothing for this meeting, and heโ€™ll assure you heโ€™s done equally poorly, and then, at the meeting heโ€™d turn up with a full presentation! Not a show-off by any means, just a dedicated precisian, motivated to the hilt, but seemingly oblivious of the haphazardness of the more spontaneous type, and thatโ€™s a rare trait in a musician, making for something individual, solitary, like the one who plays solitaire when they could engage in a two-player game, usually with our Jamie!

Image:ย Andrew Bert Greaves Photography

This album gets top marks as it reflects his personality sublimely, even by title, and you take a little bit of Phil Cooper away with you. In other news, The Lost Trades are back in the picture since the departure of Tamsin Quin. Jess Vincent takes her place as the third Lost Trader, their touring dates are announced, and we look forward to seeing them with the new addition. For now, Playing Solitaire is out, and you can find it HERE.

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Steatopygous go Septic

If you believe AI, TikTok and the rest of it all suppress Gen Zโ€™s outlets to convey anger and rage, resulting in a generation ofโ€ฆ

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Ruby, Sunday at the Gate

It’s a rarity that I should drag myself off the sofa on a Sunday these days, one usually reserved for the monthly Jon Amor Trio residency at The Southgate. But beyond doubt my favourite young singer-songwriter right now, Ruby Darbyshire, is down my favourite watering hole, and such an occasion would be unmissable even if she did it weekly; twist my arm, why don’t you?!

This raw and self-disciplined talent when I discovered Ruby a little under two years ago was so breathtaking it caused me to state, โ€œRubyโ€™s music will grow into a phenomenon, and you need to hear it blossoming.โ€ I’m honoured to note it’s quoted on her website, one which everyone took heed of, on our local scene and beyond, and one which we can safely convert to past tense; Ruby’s music has blossomed and is now phenomenal.

Everyone was held spellbound throughout, this is now standard protocol wherever Ruby plays. Though Ruby remains modest and โ€œshowyโ€ simply doesn’t equate for her performances, alongside her refined multi-instrumentalism, her confidence to present herself and engage with an audience has accelerated to level up with the naturally sublime soulful voice she’s blessed with. A voice which may be kingpin to her excellence, but is really only the cherry on a cake with top marks all round.

A cake which covers virtuosos Nina Simone to Freddie Mercury, and makes them her own homages, then flips to bring Rag’n’Bone Man’s magnum opus to an older audience, and slides her own compositions in so effectively it’s divinelyย  encapsulating. Then, there’s the additional nods to her Scottish roots; folk sing-a-longs and her distinctive introduction to the second half of her set, with bagpipes. Even if you know it’s coming, you’ll never tire of it or any of it because that’s simply the magic Ruby brings to any venue.ย  Ruby Darbyshire is the whole deal now.

New Album from Illingworth; Man Made of Glass

Four years of hard work in the making, and it sure shows, Man Made of Glass, the third album from John and Jolyon, aka Illingworth, is released across streaming platforms this week. If youโ€™ve seen this Salisbury duo performing on the circuit, the unyielding passion they inject into the obligatory classic rock covers set isnโ€™t half of what they put into their own compositionsโ€ฆ..

Pardon me if you came here for a respite from the onslaught of inflammatory international headlines and to read a nice music review, Man Made of Glass contains much prose on the tyranny of contemporary politics. As the idiom is defined, this narcissistic disorder of egotistical figureheads is fragile and therefore likely to shatter manifests abstractly, particularly in the title track and single Gaslight, but hey, I think itโ€™s safe to say we know the people it is directed towards.

Itโ€™s a floating opening, building in layers, this title track, richly written even if poignantly critical of power corrupting. As ever with Illingworth thereโ€™s this breezy air of feelgood rock too, of Foreigner or The Cars, which enriches the sound naturally. Soulless might be the subject, but soulful is the expression; itโ€™s a contrast.

Superior single Gaslight does similar theme-wise, but as powerful as an indie rock anthem, and rolling on a tougher riff than the title track, throughout, it takes the manipulation of its titleโ€™s term to the worldly encouragement of avoidance; this โ€œdonโ€™t be convinced by propagandaโ€ concept.

Bittersweet is the general ambience Illingworth delivers with here, and thatโ€™s no new thing in rock, but they do so with such passion and expertise it polishes the delivery and leaves you feeling alive and stimulated, with nothing bad you could possibly say about their songs. They are rich with honesty over vanity, reflecting on the theme. Gaslight may be the kingpin to the album, the running motif becoming less prominent in the other tracks. Every tune is a beauty though, embracing all stimulating elements of being uplifting, inspiring and catchy, just subtly with differing moods and tempos.

We Donโ€™t Have to Try is a country-rock ballad on an eternal love subject, whereas, Heart To Rule Your Head, is an inspiring โ€œyou can get it if you really wantโ€ upbeat track. 

Another Passion is upbeat too, of if, buts and maybes, whereas New Year is arousingly paced, reflecting on the unification and love perpetrated by the annual occasion. Love conquering over evil becomes the inclusive factor as the album drifts archetypically. This conquering notion to avoid the brainwashing of those seeking power lessens somewhat in favour of identifying affections, yet never fully expires. The finale is not to let it worry you, as the matter will shatter like glass.

While great, if previous Illingworth albums can feel fragmented, like randomly placed collections of their memorable songs you rarely hear enough of when theyโ€™re gigging, Man Made of Glass is more rounded, it has an overall concept. Like a classic rock album, the tracksโ€™ narratives combine and flow wonderfully. Itโ€™s not a โ€œconcept album,โ€ per say, but in the same classic fashion, and thatโ€™s a welcomed rare find these days of media overload and the average attention span of a goldfish!

Man Made of Glass is more suited to a vinyl, CD or cassette format, of a time when album composition contained an all-inclusive message, and you sat in the dark listening to it. Just like those albums of yore it feels like something to cherish, a testament to a bleeding heart of sentiment you identify with and get emotionally involved with, rather than simply hearing it while you wash the dishes. But hey, streaming is the mainstay these days, and thatโ€™s where youโ€™ll find this treasure buried.

Apple Music Link

Amazon Link

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DOCAโ€™s Young Urban Digitals

In association with PF Events, Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts introduces a Young Urban Digitals course in video mapping and projection mapping for sixteen to twentyโ€ฆ

Jol Roseโ€™s Ragged Stories

Thereโ€™s albums Iโ€™ll go in blind and either be pleasantly surprised, or not. Then thereโ€™s ones which I know Iโ€™m going to love before theโ€ฆ

Vince Bell in the 21st Century!

Unlike Buck Rogers, who made it to the 25th century six hundred years early, Devizesโ€™ most modest acoustic virtuoso arrives at the 21st just shortโ€ฆ

Deadlight Dance New Single: Gloss

You go cover yourself in hormone messing phthalates, toxic formaldehyde, or even I Can’t Believe It’s Not Body Butter, if you wish, but it’s allโ€ฆ

Salisburyโ€™s Rosie Jay Releases Debut EP

Salisbury acoustic singer-songwriter Rosie Jay released her debut EP today, taking its title from her first single from June this year, I Donโ€™t Give a Damn. Thing being, I do, I give much more than a damn about Rosieโ€™s musical outpourings, because this doesn’t sound like a debut EP from a nervous teenager warbling immature ruminations. This sounds like an accomplished artist who’s been with an agent, producer and mainstream record label for eons, and established a name for themselves by acquiring the skill to balance a hook and identifiable narrative, and compose them into a beautifully stylised soundโ€ฆ.

Rosieโ€™s been working with producer Joylon Dixon on these four tunes, and it shows. Likely a perfect match, for this is faultlessly fresh, like Kirsty MacColl in her prime; a comparison Iโ€™ve used before for Rosie, and though a high accolade, itโ€™s fully deserved. For there is nothing to dislike here, the mood is breezy, the prose is thoughtful, both reaching out to her generation, while maintaining the classic template for acoustic folk rock for all to appreciate.

Beginning with her heartfelt breakup song, I Donโ€™t Give a Damn, the opening has this easy to sing along to chorus, but defines the potent melancholic and ironic thought pattern of the victim of a relationship breakdown in its verses. Akin to Sinead O’Connorโ€™s Nothing Compares 2U, and just as expressly delivered.

For Rosieโ€™s voice is magnetism, flowing gracefully and earnestly, but the whole composition suits this, perhaps with no better example than the second tune, also the second single released, Sing Another Love Song. As it sounds this is a flowing, more positive angle yet while thereโ€™s still a clever hook, in so much as McCartneyโ€™s ironic Silly Love Songs conveys the opposite effect.

If I preferred this song from the debut at the time, the next two, so far unreleased tracks, proves Rosie though beginning with a firm base, her songs will improve each time. Mind Fuckery is her magnum opus, but only to date. Isolation and affliction brought about by addiction is spelt out in the imperfections Rosie compares within herself and her generation. Again, weโ€™re sneaking through an open door into Rosieโ€™s mindscape, and it’s a poignant landscape of intense pensive and evocative prose.

The measure of a good singer-songwriter is when a listener feels like they bring a little subconscious of the artist back with them, the notion they identified and made a friend through their performance, as if they knew this person all along. I had been reviewing Rosieโ€™s singles for a few months before finally meeting her. When I did, it was exactly like this, it felt as if I had known her for ages, because even at this young age she projects herself, her thought processes and emotions so utterly exquisitely through this beautiful music. The final tune, well, despite all thatโ€™s been before, Carry Me, is the most graceful yet.

The final song is angelic, and steeped in astute metaphors Rosie faces her โ€œpersonal battle,โ€ it is, just as the other three songs, an emotive treasure wrapped in sublimity. There’s something standalone in the simplicity of person with guitar; the stripped back diploma for a musician, the final exam, and Rosie passed with flying colours. She should be setting the exam rather than taking it! What an amazing start.

Just as Iโ€™ve seen the careers of profoundly talented local artists like George Wilding, Tamsin Quin, Kirsty Clinch and Jamie R Hawkins progress from first reporting on them, I have high hopes for many of our aspiring newcomers, from Ruby Darbyshire to Meg and Harmony. Rosie Jay is high among these others, and based on the excellence of this EP I see no reason not to compare her to the likes of Elkie Brooks, The Beautiful South or Cerys Matthews. You simply have to allow yourself a quarter of an hour to take this in, released on all streaming platforms and as a CD. Follow Rosie on Insta. TikTok. YouTube. Thereโ€™s an EP launch party at the Winchester Gate in Salisbury, tonight.

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Things to Do During Halloween Half Term

The spookiest of half terms is nearly upon us again; kids excited, parents not quite so much! But hey, as well as Halloween, here’sโ€ฆ

CrownFest is Back!

Yay! You read it right. After a two year break, CrownFest is back at the Crown in Bishop’s Cannings. So put a big tickโ€ฆ

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Chapters, New Single From Kirsty Clinch

Okay, so, Iโ€™m aย  little behind, recently opting to perfect my couch potato posture and consider hibernation, meaning Iโ€™ve not yet mentioned Kirsty Clinchโ€™s new single Chapters, released at the beginning of the month, which I should have done. Why, you might ask, is it any good? Did you hear me right, itโ€™s Kirsty Clinch?!

Eloquently sentimental as ever, Kirsty suggests it would make the perfect wedding song, and Iโ€™m inclined to agree, though I had my turn already, choosing Ben E King; for prospective newlyweds though, take heed! This bears all the hallmarks of a breezy country classic from the likes of Dolly or Wynette, with a contemporary sense subtler than Swift, that is, added bass by local legend Pete Lamb, who also mixed and mastered this delicate beauty recorded by Kirsty herself.

It trickles like water, with a loose narrative to be interpreted to suit your dreams too, but if thereโ€™s the opening of a new chapter of thoughtful prose, the character in the song admits to being too young to reminisce on previous chapters. In fact, it has been a few years since past chapters opened musically for Kirsty, her Evolution album was released in 2021. She has been concentrating on Westburyโ€™s Award Winning music school, First Melodies, which she created to coincide with a series of preschool music books. I love this project as itโ€™s perfect for Kirsty, but, itโ€™s a warm welcome back to recording, as this song sure makes up for lost time!

Buy Chapters on iMusic HERE

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Six Reasons to Rock in Market Lavington

Alright yeah, itโ€™s a play on band names and thereโ€™s only really two reasons to rock on Friday 17th October at Market Lavington Community Hall;โ€ฆ

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New Single: Phil Cooper Still Holding His Breath

If Phil Cooperโ€™s 2018 โ€œThoughts and Observations,โ€ was one of the first albums we ever reviewed here on Devizine, itโ€™s been a while since Iโ€™ve been able to say โ€œa new single from Phil Cooper,โ€ but here we are, and itโ€™s a great place to beโ€ฆ..

As the name suggested โ€œThoughts and Observations,โ€ as Philโ€™s songwriting template, in general, is relatable personal reflection which often provides pointers for his audience, it was brimful of such, and while the new single Still Holding My Breath does likewise, it offers a matured side to Philโ€™s convictions. Plus, it rides that cool acoustic value we know and love him for, remarkably well.

Thereโ€™s a definite and poignant message of perseverance here, opening with the line โ€œlook out world, Iโ€™m here to stay,โ€ and a measure of success whereby the creative mind must continue nonetheless. As is Luke 6:38, the songโ€™s indispensable line, โ€œI still believe the more you put in the more you will get in return,โ€ rewards any labour of love for the hard worker with the notion to keep at it.

Phil is one such hard worker who I see setting himself high goals, and in embarking on many projects, some formulated, others more experimental, has had varied success with them. Perhaps none more than his grouping with Jamie R Hawkins and Tamsin Quin as The Lost Trades. If this modern folk harmony trio has achieved more than the sum of all their parts as individuals, it is with hard work they’ve achieved so and with an โ€œa little help from my friends,โ€ sentiment evident in the depths of this song, and more visually with the excellent accompanying video made by Jamie. The song is, besides the labour applied to The Lost Trades, something wholeheartedly solitary, an introverted savoury sentiment.ย It’s nice to see them take a short break from the trio in order to align themselves once again with their separate identities, as they were before the dawn of The Lost Trades all remarkable within their own rights.

I believe the hard work has paid off for Phil, relatively, making me wonder what his expectations or goals are, what he dreams to achieve, being Still Holding My Breath suggests quintessentially he still has โ€œbarriersโ€ to overcome, but a single this good is surely proof of his worth; it is a valuable song. And in that, this is more an outward facing concept, delivering a message to us.

To the artist personally, do take a deep breath, itโ€™s an outstanding song, Phil; inspiringly evolved from everything which has gone before it. To everyone else, decide for yourself by taking a listen!

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Oh Danny Boy!

Oh Danny Boy, oh, Danny Boy, they loved your boyish Eton looks so, but when ye was voted in, an all democracy wasnโ€™t quite dying,โ€ฆ

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A Quick Shuffle to Swindon

Milkman hours with grandkids visiting it was inevitable a five hour day shift was all I was physically able to put into this year’s Swindonโ€ฆ

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The Mist; New Single from Meg

Chippenhamโ€™s young folk singer-songwriter Meg, or M3G if you want to get numeric, will release her 6th single The Mist on Friday 18th October, and itโ€™s got me thinking about the film Rain Manโ€ฆ.

Showing my age, I saw it at the flicks in 88! Tom Cruise was everywhere in the late eighties, and this film began like any other. Cruise, an egomaniac businessman, but in his reassociation with his lost brother, played by Dustin Hoffman, surprisingly bucked the trend of Cruiseโ€™s Hollywood template. For the masses it was an awakening, raising awareness of and offering a fascinating insight into autism.

In an interview for Devizine conducted by my daughter, this celebrated upcoming singer-songwriter was comfortable discussing her autism. โ€œI honestly donโ€™t think I would be doing this if I wasnโ€™t autistic, in a weird way,โ€ Meg explained, โ€œAll of my songs are about me in some respect and itโ€™s a part of me I canโ€™t escape.โ€ The Mist echoes this sentiment, precisely and wholeheartedly.

At the time of the 2023 interview, Meg figured the single they were discussing, Together was the only song she had written about autism, but connoting her later tunes, I believe others are, perhaps none more than The Mist. It is the most evocative and poignant on the subject, and being, as Meg said herself, โ€œitโ€™s part of who I am and I really value that part,โ€ Iโ€™ll boldly declare this is the best of her singles to date.

Weโ€™ve come so far since Rain Man in understanding, identifying, and accepting autism spectrum disorder. The most important factor, I believe, is that everyone is an individual. Ergo, while at the time we may have considered Rain Man this insight into the autistic mind, it was, actually, only ever an insight into the character of Rain Man.

This song is on a similar level, as Meg opens up and expresses her deepest thoughts on sociability and correlation versus serenity and solitary, angelically. The line in the song, โ€œmy piece of mind got up and left my side, said Iโ€™d be better off without them,โ€ is a haunting example. It is also a fascinating insight, to Megโ€™s sentience, yet in essence, it too is a beautifully crafted song with powerful ambience.

In thoughtful prose it drifts, still as the night air, and candidly as chilly, as if Meg invites you into the depths of her consciousness. It is a tested formula, astute honestly in songwriting, to leave a listener believing theyโ€™ve taken a piece of the singerโ€™s life with them, and in turn, identified with it. Yet Meg does this so utterly uniquely it could only be her thoughts done her way, thatโ€™s the only hook needed; weโ€™ve all put a square peg in a round hole. The solitariness of her delivery matches the theme and it combines into something wholesomely composed, yet sublimely forsaken.

Even the production matches the solitary of the sound, Meg provides her own backing vocals, to create layers of angelic voice, choral, like her thoughts reverberating, questioning or venerating her meaning. She will also produce and master her own work, so it is solely her outpouring, untainted by anotherโ€™s input. And that is what makes it work so wonderfully. That is why Meg can hold a crowd willing to intensively listen, spellbound; Iโ€™ve witnessed this first hand, first time at the Pump, last time at the Tuppeny, it is something worth savouring timeover. If The Mist is a metaphor for the hindrance which obscures Meg from relating to others, it is also our musical Rain Man, a fascinating insight to how oneโ€™s personal autism conducts their innermost thoughts. And that, my friend, is how you write a masterpiece!

The Mist is out Friday 18th, check in then, on M3G’s Spotify page to hear it!

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Talk in Code Down The Gate!

What, again?! Another article about Talk in Code?! Haven’t they had enough Devizine-styled publicity?! Are their heads swelling?!ย  Didn’t that crazy toothless editor catch themโ€ฆ

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Rachel Sinnetta & Rosie Jay at the Crown, Bishops Cannings

Must confess it felt somewhat odd to return to The Crown in Bishops Cannings for my weekly ration of live music. The only pub in the village has been closed a short while, since verbal pitchforks and torches from a crotchety minority who wanted the tavern to be little more than a museum artefact drove the previous landlords outโ€ฆ..

Prior it was a bustling community hub run immaculately with gusto and enthusiasm, hosting a variety of events and raising funds for charities. Seemed crabby witches and even a lord of a manor were prepared to gang-up, lie to police, and misquote Devizine when we failed to appeal to their better nature. It backfired, they didn’t own one, but let’s not dwell.

New landlords are in, pleasant and keen to maintain the pub’s reputation amidst the prying Karens. Sarah, the new landlady praised her new chefs, and the pub hosts an open mic every first Thursday of the month, Tuesday evening quizzes, and intends to begin a men’s mental health group and possibly a football team.

Tonight, however, will be the new owners first live music night, and they’ve wisely hoisted in promoters Wiltshire Music Events to organise it. Though without much advertising unfortunately the crowd was slight. Never the simple accomplishment it may seem when established venues have the monopoly through a regularity of gigs, to sporadically host will require endless bashing about it on social media. It is, however, easier with the increased 49 bus service, that a night bus will drop into villages enroute, of which you should take note.

I’m in attendance not only to support and encourage the importance of entertainment in villages, save the thought of losing your local watering hole. Rather it is because Wiltshire Music Events is hosting two new acts on their roster, one who’ve yet to explore outside of their Salisbury circuit. A wise choice being the neighbouring church is a mini replica of the cathedral to make the bishop feel at home in the Cannings, or at least so the myth goes!

Firstly, in support, young singer-songwriter Rosie Jay, one I’ve been dying to meet and see live since fondly reviewing her first two singles. Rosie didn’t disappoint despite the pedestal I’ve put her on. Her self-penned songs are rippled with the poignancy of the classic template acoustic wordsmiths who made it big will follow; concentration on the hook, something even more essential with the attention span of the Tik-Tok generation.

Her voice is rich, affectionate, and she delivers songs with passion and blossoming stage presence. An interesting choice of covers from a young artist, often, she explained to the audience, inspired by their usage in films. Okay, Elvisโ€™ Can’t Help Falling in Love is timeless romantic, and The Cranberriesโ€™ Zombie is most formulaic, but Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe, is a cynical rare choice to pull from her magician’s hat. Though it relates in theme to Rosie’s first song, I Don’t Give a Damn, and her general subjects. Rosie nailed them all, beautifully, with particular evocative expressions in the reclusive and heartfelt jaundiced emotions of Dylan, and likewise her own intelligent compositions.

Currently pursuing a Level 3 Diploma in Music at Wiltshire College and University Centre, Rosie told me of her work on local radio, and was enthusiastic about her forthcoming EP. Part of the growing Wiltshire Music Events family now, as Joylon Dixon has worked with her to produce it. And Joylon accompanies the next performer, the incredible Rachel Sinnetta.

Renowned for a two-year stint supporting Gerry & The Pacemakers, singing to Prince William and recording with Pete Townshend, Rachel intended to tour aย  “Wuthering Heights: The Music of Kate Bush,โ€ project which unfortunately fell through.

Music teacher Rachel  set to tour this tribute extensively throughout the UK; that’s what the blurb told me. All I know is Kate Bush is the vocal epitome of singularity, the individuality debatably overlooked in today’s pop industry, as the penchant to sound akin to Whitney Houston seems paramount.

Just like Dolly, Cher, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Tom Jones, Alanis Morissette, even KT Tunstall et al, you need a seriously powerful vocal range to convincingly take on a Kate Bush cover. And Rachel did, sublimely delivering Running Up That Hill, and popular hits of all the aforementioned. Seemingly having her own deal with god, Rachel naturally reaches the notes with ease, her husky yet divine rock voice is the eloquence and faculty able to adapt to take those powerhouse ballads on with such precision and poignancy, particularly with the female giants. She even rinsed Arthea Franklinโ€™s Natural Women, and left me tingling, Chaka Khanโ€™s Ainโ€™t Nobody too simply wowed. Proud Mary in the key of Tina Turner; who would dare attempt them in an intimate gig such as this?! Rachel Sinnetta made them look childsplay.

Sassy with Tom Jonesโ€™ Kiss, joyful with Erasureโ€™s A Little Respect, covers came thick and fast, coupled with the secret legendary Jolyon Dixon without rehearsal was a match from heaven, and the whole shebang was utterly blissful; shame only us, a few regulars and their dogs were there to witness it. Such is the uphill struggle for new landlords to plant their establishment into a local music circuit, partially my reasoning for doing this blog.

So, take heed now, especially everyone in Pewsey; this wonderful formula, Rosie Jay followed by Rachel Sinnetta with Jolyon Dixon will be continued at the Royal Oak, in Pewsey, with a free gig from 8pm, next Saturday, the 19th October; they are in for a treat.

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Chatting with Josh Oldfield on Blues, Inspiration, and Drums in Suitcases!

I was chatting to Josh Oldfield last week, a Devizes singer-songwriter I believe weโ€™ll be hearing a lot more of. Though this interview was pending before Iโ€™d had the opportunity to see him perform, coincidentally the Sunday before I was fortunate enough to, at a private partyโ€ฆ.

And it was worth a fortune, Josh has confident stage presence, a guitar soloist with soothing baritone vocals, white shirt and waistcoat, and a vintage suitcase foot-drum akin to a travelling Southern bluesman of yesteryear. ย Connoting retrospective style, the drum gives depth to an otherwise acoustic set, and the show is quirky, but oozing with professionalism, like a one-man skiffle band. Itโ€™s something different from the norm, locally, which was the starting point to our chat.

Josh amended my description as โ€˜slightly different,โ€™ โ€œit’s a fair bit different,โ€ he suggested, โ€œand I didn’t mean to do it on purpose, it’s just naturally how it came out.โ€ Fresh from Peggy-Sueโ€™s local showcasing Don’t Stop the Music Radio Show on Swindon 105.5, he said it went โ€œfantastic; there seemed to be people into it. And I don’t actually know what I’m doing, but it’s something different!โ€

Pinning his sound only for want of conveying it to you, I jested he caused me to think a โ€˜skiffle George Ezra!โ€™ Said with upmost respect, despite Ezraโ€™s commercial success, he never waivers his style, possibly opening a door to others with deep vocal range. Josh ducked the Ezra comparison, concentrating on the skiffle and deepness of his range. โ€œSkiffle’s perfect. It’s something I should have realised with gigs; people seem to like originally. Years ago I’d try and move away from how deep my voice is, because it’s not popular. Professionals and singing teachers will tell you, that because my voice is baritone, they’re like, oh, you got to learn higher range for popular music.โ€

I supposed that was the appeal. โ€œWell, yeah,โ€ Josh continued, โ€œturns out people like hearing the lower ranges, as it’s not so common, and maybe there’s a comeback now, where people are kind of picking that up a little bit more.โ€ We waffled for some considerable time on the templates and expectancies of modern pop vocals, compared to a unique time of yore when a voice was a personal signature. Josh cited Tom Waits and Nick Cave as influences, favouring โ€œobscure stuff,โ€ over contemporary pop.

He first picked up a guitar at thirteen. โ€œMy dad just had a guitar knocking around the house. He used to play a bit, but didn’t really play anymore,โ€ but stressed he didnโ€™t start singing until recently. A couple of months ago he sang at the open mic at the Cellar Bar, โ€œthe first time my mum ever heard me sing, and I’m like thirty now. Singing is not something I’ve been doing naturally throughout the whole thing.โ€

Josh comes across an earnest perfectionist, one who solitarily hones his craft and doesnโ€™t unleash anything until itโ€™s mastered, ergo heโ€™s new on the scene but โ€˜oven-readyโ€™ to give an impressive show. If now is that time to break the local scene, thereโ€™s a valid reason. Given the all-clear from being diagnosed with testicular cancer last year, at twenty-nine years old, Josh expressed, โ€œessentially that’s what ended up pushing me to want to pursue music. I was like, โ€˜I’ve kind of been given a second chance,โ€™ you know? That was the main drive.โ€

At the party Josh pulled some finely penned originals out of his bag as well as adapted covers of crowd-pleasing pop, such as Tainted Love; the set was instantly prodigious. On writing he expressed songs were, โ€œflowing out. They’re just coming. I was being asked last night, what’s this song about? I don’t really have a clue what they’re about. They’re just literally being put down on paper and then, there’s a meaning in there somewhere, you know? It’s more like transposing them. There was a song I wrote on Monday, and I played it on Tuesday on the radio, because it just kind of happened. But then, when I was trying to look at what it was about it, well, I mean, I was watching Clarkson’s Farm the day before. So, there was some stuff about a farm in there, so maybe it’s linked to that in some way!โ€

Capturing a moment no matter how inconsequential at the time, naturally crafting art sourced from it when inspiration strikes, and being as impossible to summarise how and why as it is to transmit a dream, is key to creative genius. That question put him under the spotlight, but he came up trumps!

Our conversation diverted to breaking the local circuits, the balance of adapting to certain venues and niches, as while many want cover bands, few prefer original acts locally, and I affirmed Joshโ€™s self-penned vintage style would suit the matured blues aficionados of Devizes. Though we covered the upcoming more youthful indie-punk scene and talked of Kieran at the Pump. โ€œThat’s more what I remember,โ€ Josh stressed after hearing me on the blues penchant of town. โ€œBack in the day, the whole Sheer Music thing in Devizes. When that disappeared, I thought music in Devizes had disappeared. I thought it was all just, you know, pubs getting cover bands. But getting into it, there’s quite a big scene. It’s just finding it.โ€

Thatโ€™s why we, and people like Peggy-Sue are here! Josh is sourcing all the right channels and appears on Fantasy Radio on the 10th of October.

We continued onto the one-man band thing, and that authentic suitcase drum. โ€œIt’s from America,โ€ Josh explained, โ€œit’s a suitcase with the basic drum built in. There’s a Pan American drum company, only two companies in the world that do it.โ€ I imagined axemen of yore stopping at the crossroads and selling their soul to the devil with it! โ€œWell, yeah, that’s the thing,โ€ he replied, โ€œI want to play instruments where I can take them anywhere. So I got the kazoo as well. I can take that anywhere. I can play acoustic guitar anywhere. I can sing anywhere. When I think blues, thereโ€™s electric, but then there’s the kind of, sitting on the front porch, playing kind; playing just cause you want play,โ€ which led us onto old-archaic bluesmen, of which there could be no doubt Josh has done his homework, alluding to RL Burnside and others. โ€œNo one knew about him until he was like sixty something. He was a sharecrop farmer, and he just lived out there. He had like sixteen children or something, you know? But he didn’t care. And that’s really for me where that kind of foundation comes from,โ€ he said, explaining the story of a blues song he played at the party.

โ€œThat old style of blues, I’m trying to lean towards, to be honest, has a lot in common with punk,โ€ he said and triggered a tangent on pigeonholing when roots intertwine, which developed onto open mic nights.

โ€œEveryone I’ve met has been through the open mics, and I like playing them,โ€ Josh reacted. โ€œThere’s this kind of community around it. Yeah, it can be a bit musician convention, and again, you mentioned Vince Bell, you know that’s where I met Vince. Me and him are looking to play a couple of shows together hopefully later this year.โ€

Playing with the ethos of taking music back to its roots makes Josh flexible, his music fits into folk and blues, so itโ€™s apt to work with acoustic folk singers like Vince, and Josh mentioned working with Jamie Tyler of The Worried Men too, electric blues, a different kettle of fish, but still fits like a glove. โ€œThe live reaction to stuff seems to be great,โ€ he added. โ€œIt’s that people like the music, to be honest, more than anything else that always surprises me. It’s like we were getting messages in while I was on the radio yesterday and people saying that they were really loving it and stuff and that’s surprising.โ€

If Josh Oldfield is modest and wears his heart on his sleeve, itโ€™s a common sign of a creative prodigy. He admitted, โ€œI’m very reserved, introverted. In fact, part of the reason I like playing music is because I don’t have to be in the crowd. I don’t like being in crowds. So if I’m playing the music, I’m not in the crowd!โ€ Thereโ€™s logic there, but in the brief time I saw Josh play, Iโ€™m convinced of what I said at the beginning, I believe weโ€™ll be hearing a lot more of him.

Book Josh Oldfield with Marland Music HERE.

Follow him on social media, links are here Facebook. Instagram

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Some Days with Paul Lappin

Paul’s self-made cover to his latest single, Some Days depicts a fellow sitting under a tree pondering life, while an autumn zephyr blows leaves around him, and perfectly sums up the mood of the singleโ€ฆ.

It’s breezy, everyday contemplation, and as smooth as Fonzie in a health spa, as is Paul’s distinctive, euphoric style! A style which he cites Britpop as an influence, a genre I’m not so knowledgeable about, ergo can’t think of a suitable comparison within it, hence the reason I dub Paul’s prolific outpourings as unique, and also suggest it’s artists like Paul who’ve redirected my attention to its worth.

Maybe you could think of a Britpop group similarly so leniently exquisite, but I always hear an edgy wailing guitar in even the most saccharine. I feel the pink moon rising, this is akin to my most favourite of Paul’s flavoursome releases, the intimateย Live at Pink Moon Studios EP recorded during lockdown.

Paul Lappin

There’s a sunny side of the street narrative, in the face of challenges to wreck your optimism, apt for the mood of the sound. In a way, like Elbow’s One Day Like This. Paul levels it up a notch, though, throws his curtains wide but puts his boots on and actually goes out for a sunny ramble! I get the impression that’s when his inspiration strikes, as it feels so honest and homey! And this is the result, try it for size, and check his backlog discography too, for everyone is like this, a winner.

Paul was from Swindon, his Bandcamp bio still suggests this, but he now lives in the South of France. His output reflects the finer quality of life there, such that updating his Bandcamp bio is easy forgotten against wine, good food and music! But to note we’re supposed to review local artists, there’s a tenacious Swindon link to justify mentioning him, and when you hear his beautiful songs you’ll understand why I’m reminding you!

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FullTone Festival 2026: A New Home

It’s been a wonderful summer’s weekend, in which I endeavoured to at least poke my nose into the fabulous FullTone Festival, despite being invitedโ€ฆ

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Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army; Hollow Children of Men

New single out today from Swindon-based gothic-folk duo, Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army, and itโ€™s three yeses from meโ€ฆCan one person give three yeses? Iโ€™m way past caringโ€ฆ.

If youโ€™ve loved the previous single Wild, like me, or caught them gigging, usually in Swindon (but they did grace us with their presence at the Southgate in the spring,) Hollow Children of Men is a seven-minute chronicle from Anish Harrison & Neil Mercer, chock full of enchanting wisps and ethereal acoustic moods. It rises and falls, itโ€™s epic, and if itโ€™s not a magnum opus, I want to be there when they release such a song.

Itโ€™s the kind of song which takes you on a journey, through darkened woods, in mist, and leaves you spellbound, unable to leave the forest it drifted you intoโ€ฆ. And if that all sounds like whimsical wordplay for the sake of flattery, take a listen for yourself why don’t you?!

Sing Another Love Song with Rosie Jay

Second impressive single from young Salisbury singer-songwriter Rosie Jay is released today. Sing Another Love Song; a sound of the summerโ€ฆ..

Her debut breakup track I Don’t Give a Damn, had an interesting hook, this has too, but is far more optimistic, and eternally beguiling. It is, technically, the better of the two, revealing a potential for eminence in its confident and outstanding delivery.ย 

If it hints of connotations the infatuation of the theme is one-sided on the part of the author, itโ€™s open-ended for interpretation; maybe the love interest simply doesnโ€™t share their passion for a good love song?! Thatโ€™s their issue! 

For thatโ€™s what this is, breezy and cool, acoustic and pop-folky, with the perfect flowery scent of Kirsty MacColl in both theme, musically and vocally. Such is the magic of local producer Jolyon Dixon, to filter the inner superlative of an upcoming artist and nurture it to the forefront. And in such youโ€™ll hear a similarity with Rosie to his duo Illingworth with John Smith, should youโ€™ve caught them on our live music circuit. Then again, the whole gypsy-esque vibe, there’s hints of Irish, and I’m awarding the Corrs as another comparison; as with MacColl, these are high accolades indeed!

Here this now, itโ€™ll brighten up your day. Yet, gorgeous as this song is, with the blossoming potential it displays, I believe itโ€™ll be rudimentary in a short period of time, and the best of Rosie Jay is yet to come. You need to be here to hear it when it does. 

what else is occurring?!

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Rosie Jayโ€™s Debut Single Doesnโ€™t Give a Damn!

With a rolling hook in the chorus, piano riff over acoustic guitar and a heartfelt narrative, hereโ€™s a promising debut single from Salisburyโ€™s young singer-songwriter Rosie Jay out today. Iโ€™m getting Kirsty MacColl vibes here, and if you think thatโ€™s a pretty high accolade, youโ€™ll just have to have a listen and decide for yourself!

โ€œWho are you trying to convinceโ€ folktronica break-up song, ironic Against All Odds in theme, earnestly expressed. Rosie has the confident and steadfast vocal range, with accompanying angelic backing to make this work, and it does with cherries on. It was recorded at Jolyon Dixonโ€™s home studio, if you know Jolyon you know I need say no more.

โ€ฆ.but I will, because I have a tendency to waffle, but for all the right reasons, this is a beautiful song. I believe weโ€™re on the verge of discovering another talented local musician here, and I think thereโ€™s something greater to come too; we look forward to hearing more, Rosie, this is a winner from me!ย 

Link Tree

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IDLES’ at Block Party

With their only UK shows of the year quickly approaching, the 1st and 2nd August will see IDLESโ€™ and music festival Block Party take overโ€ฆ

Keep reading

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Dirt Roads, A Plastic Army, and a Ruby; Saturday Evenings in Devizes Still Rock!

A joint effort of Darren Worrow and Andy Fawthrop

Buses, huh? Last time I strolled to the dual carriageway to catch one it was four minutes early and didnโ€™t hang around for listless fogies with an appetite for entertainment. I glumly watched it blur past from fifty yards down the lane. This time I hotfooted it, my ageing heart pushed to its limits, and the delayed bus left me standing there for fifteen minutes! Once in Devizes, although far from Broadway, options for quality music and drink still overpowers those of neighbouring market towns; something we should be proud ofโ€ฆ.ย ย 

Post vegan market and a craft fair at the Corn Exchange, as evening sets in The Pelican prepares for its beloved karaoke, a couple of hobos strum a ditty by the fountain, and the amazingly talented Adam Woodhouse arrives at The Three Crowns. Yet I must bypass such significant options, itโ€™s over to Long Street Blues Club, because when Ruby Darbyshire is in town, thereโ€™s no compromise from me.

I give a nod to Joe Hicks, likely the best support act Iโ€™ve witnessed at Long Street to date, yet at seventeen-years old, Ruby Darbyshire, I believe mayโ€™ve topped it. Her first time at the legendary club, she practised two blues songs to play them, one by Beth Orton, another more classic, although by subject her own composition Insomnia could be perceived as blues, and her overwhelming vocals blessed the club with these and a sprinkling of popular covers.

Thereโ€™s a double-whammy of congratulations to organisers of Long Street, councillor Ian Hopkins who this week became Mayor, and his now wife, Liz, for their marriage in the same week. We wish them many happy years together. But dilemma dawns for me; though keen to hear a group composed of legends Horace Panter, Steve Walwyn and Ted Duggan, by name alone itโ€™s fair to suggest accolades as standard, whereas itโ€™s the first time Swindonโ€™s gypsy-folk Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army are in town. Theyโ€™re down our trusty Southgate, and since hearing a handful of their most impressive singles, and our ethos of supporting local acts, I must depart the club with haste.

Much as I would love to pretend this was all part of careful planning, it wasnโ€™t! Believing our fantastic regular reviewer and part of the furniture at Long Street, Andy Fawthrop was still on his holibobs, I endeavoured to stay as long as possible in order to give fair praise to The Dirt Road Band, when all the time he was hiding behind me! So, it gives us an opportunity to merge our words and be comprehensive about a typically great Saturday night in Devizes.

After Ruby did her thing, which never fails to leave me suspended in awe, I stayed for two songs from The Dirt Road Band. Ruby rinsed beautiful versions of Joni Mitchellโ€™s Big Yellow Taxi, and Princeโ€™s Nothing Compares 2U, as regulars in her set, yet again, itโ€™s in jazz renditions such as Erroll Garnerโ€™s Misty and Nina Simoneโ€™s Feeling Good, where her sublime vocal range is let loose, is something to behold, and the very reason Iโ€™m here at the club. Crowds flock this shy prodigy during the interval with congratulations, clearly itโ€™s not just me who thinks this.ย 

The Dirt Road Band came on all guns blazing, in an impressive electric blues-rock fashion. I favour my blues rootsy, though tip my hat for their aptness to the Clubโ€™s favoured mode. Here below, is Andyโ€™s take on them; I salute plus thank him for his expert thoughts, as ever.ย 

A recently-formed modern (super-)group, consisting of gig stalwarts Horace Panter (The Specials) on guitar and vocals, Steve Walwyn (DR. Feelgood) on bass, and Ted Duggan (Badfinger) on drums, these guys had all been around the block a few times. They knew how to play, how to drive a set-list and how to work the audience. 

They took a couple of numbers to really get going, but once they hit their groove there was nothing stopping them. Playing a single ninety-minute set they ripped through both original material and a few great covers. It was rock, it was blues, it was boogie-woogie, and they shifted these styles around with seemingly no effort.

Keeping the audience to a chit-chat to a minimum, they frequently segued from one number to another. There were some great riffs on the new songs, and there was a definite Feelgood vibe going on at times. It was no-nonsense, professional stuff, highly enjoyable. A cheering, standing ovation was rewarded with Get Your Kicks on Route 66.  By comparison to Beaux Gris Grisโ€™ near three-hour performance the other week, ninety minutes felt very short, but it was quality not quantity that was on offer here. Good gig, good value. Definitely a band worth checking out.

Eyes back on me, then; thanks Andy! Without cloning technology I missed this, hot footing it again, this time to the Southgate. Dirt Road Band originally asked to play here, landlady Deborah thought theyโ€™d be better suited to Long Street, and so we are blessed with the presence of Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army, I understand itโ€™s their inaugural visit tour trusty answer to a Devizesโ€™ O2, though the guitarist plays also with welcomed regulars Sโ€™GO.

Based upon both the Army part of their name, and the strength of a few singles Iโ€™ve heard from them, such as the incredible Wild, I was first surprised to see they were but a duo! Nevertheless, through Anish Harrisonโ€™s intense and consuming vocals and the intricate guitarwork of Neil Mercer, they build layers through loop pedals and sheer expertise, to produce the euphoric gothic folk one would expect a full band to have produced.

There were a few technical hiccups with the PA, yet through warts and all, the duo gifted us with an inspiring, beautifully accomplished and unique sound. Whimsically gliding like fairies in mist, ringing out choral from just one voice, or bittersweet, they were reciting influences in subject from folklore and mythical prehistory in breathtaking splendour. I changed my mind, they are indeed an army, armed with allegory and an elated passion to deliver it.   

Itโ€™s Anglo-Saxon, or Celtic Pagan, reverberations of times of yore, wrapped punk and pirate-like. At times I likened them to Strange Folk, at others The Horses of the Gods, but mostly it was individual expression, and thatโ€™s the icing on their cake worthy of our perusal.

And thatโ€™s a wrap with dirty roads, a plastic army, and a gemstone. Through unforgettable acoustic goodness to an exclusive gothic folk duo, via a legendary supergroup of blues, you have to award Devizes, weโ€™re still punching above our weight when it comes to valid options for a great night of live music, and, sadly, I didnโ€™t even get the opportunity to head over to The Three Crowns for Adam; cloning technology, see? Get to it scientists, now!

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Poppy Rose, Ready Nowโ€ฆ.

Not being able to hold a note myself, I tip my hat to any musician in a band. Yet thereโ€™s something so much more valiant, rudimentary, and intrinsically honest about the solo singer-songwriter, the personal touch of an acoustic performer; as the title of her debut album suggests, Poppy Rose has thisโ€ฆ..

The key to a good singer-songwriter lies in the proximity of thoughts between the artist and their audience, and how they relate. If done well, the listener feels they know a little something about the singer. Iโ€™ve never met Poppy. I came across her music via a Facebook chat. But Iโ€™ve come away after one sitting of her new album, Iโ€™m Ready Now, thinking that I know her, and thatโ€™s the goal rather than the benchmark of an amazing acoustic singer-songwriterโ€ฆ.. 

The album opens with No In Between, elucidating Poppy doesnโ€™t do moderation, she is an all-or-nothing girl, and weโ€™re off, getting to know the innermost thoughts of this twenty-five-year-old creative soul from Bath.ย 

Itโ€™s thoughtfully played out prose, with intelligent metaphors which build throughout the ten tracks, but more importantly, itโ€™s dreamily unique and divinely expressed. The metaphors of the intimacy in the second tune are rinsed in personal observations, the third tune, more dejected in romantic theme; Fool is her first single released from the album. If these are characters in her narrative they appear to bear her own crosses and devotions equally, either this or Poppy can write classic fiction akin to Jane Austen!

Similar to what Chippenhamโ€™s Meg is putting out in both content and delivery, itโ€™s first-hand folk, idiosyncratic reflection, and we love what Meg is putting out, itโ€™s impossible not too, in my honest opinion. The confusion, trickery and learning of it within the game of love never wanes with age, but thereโ€™s something coming of age in Poppyโ€™s subjects, perhaps none more so than The Wrong One, which even states her naivety in the words. If youโ€™re not young (like me!) you still relate, because you lived it, and survived to tell the tale, though, Poppy tells it expressively in haunting songs, and itโ€™s something to behold.

Poppy poses in Resolution Records in Bath, looking deservedly chuffed! You can find limited edition gold glitter cassettes of “I’m Ready Now” in there!

Five tunes in and weโ€™ve swapped guitar for piano, complimenting her heart-clenching and soulful vocals better may be debatable, either instrument works, but piano always rewards it a more europic ambience, as the songs tend to sit in the more dejected moods of Poppy. Seven songs in now, Fragile suggests this honesty, the title track following this lifts the pessimism.โ€ฆslightly, but whatever the mood, Poppy sets it sublimely and evocatively.

If โ€˜body shamingโ€™ is a Gen Z construct, it is so only by modern terminology. If you think mocking people for their body shape or size is a new thing youโ€™ll be sadly mistaken. But it is something highlighted as harassment far less abstract and taboo nowadays, and dealing with such bullying inspires Poppyโ€™s penultimate song on Iโ€™m Ready Now. I Love my Body is a poignant reflection of wellbeing, a calling to anyone suffering misgivings about themselves physically. Whilst still a solitary deliberation, this track is perhaps the standout as it contains a universal message.

What surprises me most is Spotify has this tune, I Love my Body, listed as a previous single, dated 2019. I know Iโ€™m not so good at maths, but if this places Poppy aged twenty when she wrote this, she is truly a prodigy. As I said at the beginning, I donโ€™t know Poppy, but to express such a sentiment and deliver it so profoundly as a message to others at any young age, is nothing short of magical.

So to not leave us downhearted, Poppyโ€™s final tune, Joy, is brimful of romantic optimism, including a geographical reference akin to Springsteenโ€™s The River. This album is homemade lemonade, moreish, yet in recording oneโ€™s thoughts so young I believe, and hope weโ€™re only skimming the surface of what is to come from this skilled wordsmith and performer. Have a listen, see what you think, because I’m blown away!

Find Poppy’s Music on Facebook or Instagram

LinkTree HERE

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Timeslips; New Single from Sienna Wileman

With an album review in the pipeline for Dad which includes vocals from Sienna, our Swindon princess of melancholic poignancy has a new single, Timeslipsโ€ฆ..

Capturing with certain ease dejected youthful pensiveness, rejecting a birthday cake through fears of ageing, this enchanting song hits its haunting intention and echoes the notion Sienna shouldnโ€™t concern herself overly, as through time each song she puts out illuminates both her songwriting talent and power to deliver it with emotion.

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Clock Radio Turf Out The Maniacs

The first full album by Wiltshireโ€™s finest purveyors of psychedelic indie shenanigans, Clock Radio, was knocked out to an unsuspecting world last week. Itโ€™s calledโ€ฆ

Thieves Debut EP

Adam Woodhouse, Rory Coleman-Smith, Jo Deacon and Matt Hughes, aka Thieves, the wonderful local folk vocal harmony quartet of uplifting bluegrass into country-blues has aโ€ฆ

Ruby Plays Glasgowโ€™s Barrowlands with The Charlatans

How did you celebrate your seventeenth birthday? Did you pop up to Glasgow to accompany The Charlatans, on bagpipes, at the historic Barrowlands ballroom, and then have your latest single spun by Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6?!

Being honest, the memory of my seventeenth birthday is vague at best, but Iโ€™m pretty certain it wasnโ€™t even in the same ballpark! A huge happy birthday, then, to our upcoming superstar Ruby Darbyshire, and an even huger โ€œwowzers;โ€ although this is amazing news, itโ€™s fully deserved in my humble opinion. In what she dubbed her โ€œbiggest gig yet,โ€ on social media, last weekend was a huge success, playing with The Charlatans at Barrowlands.

Ruby now lives on a narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bath with proud dad, Brian, who happened to call me with this astounding news last week. Exploding in exhilaration, he then told me I would have to wait to publish it. I think he just wanted to relay the story to someone, to best contain his understandable excitement!

Previously from Dumfries, Ruby used to busk in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, on many Saturdays, playing guitar and singing, where she raised thousands of pounds for Save the Children. Taken under the wing of the wonderful Pipe Major Jim McConnechie in Dumfries at the age of eight, while Ruby loves playing traditional music, for Remembrance Day, Burns suppers and other fitting occasions, sheโ€™s also known for using the pipes for rock music.

Homeschooled, Ruby now studies music at Bath College, and has become an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and Highland bagpiper. You may well have seen her busking in the Brittox of Devizes, and various other local locations. Particularly memorable in town, was her impromptu appearance with Wayne Cherry on his one-hundred hours of Remembrance fundraiser. You may have been lucky enough to see her play live locally, after listening to and reviewing her debut EP, Donโ€™t Give Up Now, Weโ€™re Nearly There, I made it top priority to attend her next gig, supporting Amelia Coburn, with Meg, at Trowbridgeโ€™s Pump.

On the couple of occasions Iโ€™ve had the honour to meet Ruby she remains modest about the attention, but if she doesnโ€™t like to blow her own, erm, bagpipes, journalist for the Times, Nick Fraser reviewed the Charlatansโ€™ gig, stating her guest appearance as the โ€œmost startling momentโ€ of the event. 

Her forthcoming single “Caller Unknown” was made possible by the support of Tim Burgess of The Charlatans who spotted Ruby at Kendal Calling Festival, and through his new charitable initiative, Help Us Help Bands, Ruby won a recording session at the Cheese & Grainโ€™s Bert Jansch Studio in Frome. I, for one, canโ€™t wait to hear the latest song, once Iโ€™ve gotten over how simply fantastic this is for our locally-based artist; Iโ€™ve gone all goosebumpily! Well done Ruby, we are rooting for you.

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You; Lucas Hardy Teams With Rosie Jay

One of Salisburyโ€™s most celebrated acoustic folk-rock singer-songwriters Lucas Hardy teams up with the Wiltshire cityโ€™s upcoming talent who’s name is on everyoneโ€™s lips, Rosieโ€ฆ

REVIEW โ€“ James Hollingsworth @ The Southgate, Devizes โ€“ Friday 17th November 2023

Andy Fawthrop

Wish You Were Here ย 

Apparently Iโ€™ve not reviewed a gig at The Southgate for a while, despite attending plenty of themย over the last few months, including the wonderful Courting Ghosts last Saturday night…..

And, apparently, Debbie broke through the 400-gig barrier in early October, a major milestone which we allowed to pass without sufficient fanfare.  And (apparently) there are plenty of gigs already booked for 2024.  We donโ€™t know how lucky we are in this town!

And, finally, apparently March 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the release of Pink Floydโ€™s seminal album โ€œDark Side Of The Moonโ€.  No โ€“ I didnโ€™t know that either, but there you go.

Letโ€™s try and put some of those omissions to rights.  

So hereโ€™s the obvious warning โ€“ younger readers should probably look away now. We might mention stuff from 50 years ago.  Donโ€™t be frightened โ€“ some of the music was actually quite good!-

Iโ€™ve known Frome-based singer/ song-writer James and his work for a few years now, and Iโ€™m well aware of the two different sides to his musical repertoire โ€“ thereโ€™s the acoustic folky/ blues/ prog/ whimsical stuff, and then thereโ€™s barely-concealed Pink Floyd set.  We were treated to the former earlier this year at the Gate, but now it was time to wheel out the big guns of prog rock.  James, a huge Floyd fan, wasnโ€™t about to let this anniversary pass without a major dusting-down of the whole album, and heโ€™s been presenting this set throughout the year.  Tonight was special though โ€“ this was the Gate, this was Friday night. The controls were set for the heart of the sun, and the interstellar overdrive was fully engaged.

The pub was absolutely rammed, which is a great compliment to the quality of the music on offer onย a wet Friday night. ย And soon there were strange looping sounds coming from the stage as James setย off on his journey. ย The first half contained lots of non-DSOTM numbers โ€“ Shine on You Crazyย Diamond, Wish You Were Here, and Comfortably Numb, the latter evoking just the first singalong ofย the night. ย Playing with few breaks, James clocked up 70 minutes of material in his opening salvo.

Then, almost before you could get another pint in, we were off on the main adventure โ€“ the whole of Dark Side Of The Moon *** (see below for the factual stuff).  Got all of that?  And here was James โ€“ just one bloke in a crowded Devizes pub.  And thatโ€™s where the pedals and loops came in.  Appearing to play only acoustic guitar and harmonica, James built up the songs through many layers, adding the vocals as the songs swept past.  Each song was greeted with a cheer, and there were a good few singalongs.  Iโ€™m not going to claim that Messers Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright โ€œcould have been in the roomโ€, but he made a bloody good fist of it, simulating drums, keyboards, synthesisers, bells, clocks, and even making a passable attempt at Clare Torryโ€™s amazing vocal sequence on โ€œThe Great Gig In The Skyโ€.  

It was a tour de force, a stunning effort of both musical versatility, but also of concentration.  How he had the time to smile and raise himself for some inter-song chat was amazing.  He must have been exhausted, but he looked nothing but happy.  Itโ€™s the music he loves, and it really showed.

As the final track died away, James was rewarded with a well-deserved cheer and huge round of applause.  And he still had enough gas in the tank to give us an encore.  What a performer.  He did Devizes proud, and I think Devizes responded with full enthusiasm.

Great night, great gig.

*** A bit of background info. ย โ€œThe Dark Side of the Moonโ€ was Floydโ€™s eighth studio album and wasย developed during live performances before recording began. It was conceived as a โ€œconcept albumโ€

that would focus on the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and also dealย with the mental health problems of former band member Syd Barrett, who departed the group inย 1968. The record builds on ideas explored in Pink Floyd’s earlier recordings and performances, whileย omitting the extended instrumentals that characterised the band’s earlier work. The groupย employed multitrack recording, tape loops, and analogue synthesisers. Engineer Alan Parsons wasย responsible for many of the sonic aspects of the recording, and for the recruitment of session singerย Clare Torry, who appears on “The Great Gig in the Sky”.

The album centres on the idea of madness,ย exploring themes such as conflict, greed, time, death, and mental illness. ย Snippets from interviewsย with the band’s road crew and others are featured alongside philosophical quotations. Itโ€™s amongย the most critically acclaimed albums of all time and brought the group international fame, wealthย and plaudits. ย As THE blockbuster release of the vinyl album era, it also propelled record salesย throughout the music industry. Itโ€™s certified 14 times platinum in the UK, and topped the USย Billboard for 984 consecutive weeks. Itโ€™s claimed to have sold over 45 million copies worldwide,ย making it the band’s best-selling release, the best-selling album of the 1970s, and the fourth-best-selling album in history.

Future gigs at The Southgate:

Saturday 18th November Junkyard Dogs

Saturday 25th November Worried Men

Sunday 26th November  James Oliver

Saturday 2nd December  Lunabarge

Sunday 3rd December  Jon Amor Trio + special guest Dale Hambridge

Friday 8th December   Strange Folk

Saturday 9th December ย  Black Nasty

Clapping Out of Time at The Pump, with Amelia Coburn, Ruby Darbyshire and M3G in support!

Escaping the Vizes for a second week on the trot, I found myself back down Trowbridgeโ€™s lovable Pump, but if last week it was all comedy hip hop, kazumpet and washtub bass, tonight was going to be a smidgen more seriousโ€ฆ.

Understandably concerned Iโ€™m going to be part of the furniture at Wiltshireโ€™s finest alternative music venue, they welcomed this silly old chap anyway, a silly chap with a local event calendar who still managed to get their dates mixed up! Thankfully it was Ruby, the girl who today would set proceedings off by making a grand entrance with bagpipes, who corrected my senior moment and told me last week that this gig was next week, being this week, when I thought it was next week this week, and now Iโ€™m confused again; pass me my meds!

Whatever date it fell on I had enthusiastically bookmarked this gig, on the strength of the support acts alone. Anything else would be a bonus ball, and indeed was, a boulder-sized bonus ball the like to make Indiana Jones peg it. But to start at the beginning, upon meeting Ruby Darbyshire and dad, Brian, at Soup Chick, I fondly reviewed her EP, making it impossible not to want to hear her perform live. Though, yes, she came in all bagpipes blazing, something you may have recently caught her playing in Devizes Brittox supporting Wayne Cherry on his 100 Hours of Remembrance, she swapped to guitar on the stage, promising something completely different, and proving sheโ€™s no one trick pony.ย 

And it was a fantastic all-female acoustic showdown. To have a blasting six-piece cover band behind you is one thing, but stripped back to you alone, offloading your woes and ponderings, on a stage with just a string instrument, takes paramount talent and a whole sack of courage. In this, young Ruby seemed understandably nervy, apologised for a cold, then pulled out the most expressive and wonderful set of originals, the like of which could warm up emperor penguins during their incubation chore!ย 

Starting off with her own song, a personification of the Pandoraโ€™s Box idiom, which I summarised thus in the ep review, โ€œnails the process of a labyrinthine of issues once pursued generates greater problems, and itโ€™s conveyed sublimely,โ€ Ruby talked passionately about her thought process and journey, including her winning recording time at the Cheese & Grain via the Kendal Calling festival and paid homage to Justin Hayward. A few more fabulous originals followed, with a spell-binding tribute to Sinรฉad O’Connor, a Hozier cover and encore of The Cranberriesโ€™ Zombie. If you consider the latter to be a cliche choice, reconsider upon me explaining, Ruby played it on Scottish smallpipes while her dad   accompanied her on guitar.    

With every right to repeat myself, when I said last week, โ€œwhere the common venue prioritises profit and aims to attract and appease with a renowned name, The Pump will be the one introducing you to the next name, supporting the local circuit, ensuring your entertainment is affordable, and to pay it a visit is to be a human participant to the experience, rather than herded cattle,โ€ is not only an age thing, but perhaps a statement more apt this week than last. For if Ruby is an upcoming must-see local musician, M3G followed her and again the same rule applies.

My daughter proved the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when she interviewed Meg, and I caught her once before performing at The Neeld. Though Chippenham based, she appeared more at home at the Pump; Kieran and his team ensure the supportive ethos to rising stars, as do the crowd. It is perfect for this kind of occasion, a trio of wonderful acoustic folk performers. Meg delivered with passion, in her unique way, her set of original songs, and it is ever something engaging. She introduced her newest song, Reader, and you couldโ€™ve heard a pin drop during breaks as she held the audience in awe. Her songs are often dejected in prose, the contemplation of coming of age, dealing with autism or relationships, yet her commanding, confident vocals are idiosyncratically beautiful, solitary and distinctive.

If both Ruby and Meg were a pleasure to listen to and the reasons I was here at The Pump, knowing this was enough for me, the headline, Amelia Coburn, I had deliberately refrained from researching. I used to do this at record fairs, randomly buy an album, and go in blind. Kieranโ€™s recommendation is plentiful, and has never failed me yet. Pleasantly unsurpised, solo with just an arrangement of ukuleles, Amelia was knockout entertainment.

A prolific Middlesbrough artist, Amelia had visited The Pump before and understandably gained a returning audience, some of whom wished to drop the bombshell to me, confirming how wonderful she was. But through songs of exceptionally crafted and imaginative sunny-side-of-the-street narrative, her ability for stage banter and audience participation was second to none. For example, upon requesting secrecy for her unreleased song, Seesaw, that no one filmed it, over the stage lights she spotted a phone waving and called them up on it mid-song, only to realise it was her own manager!ย ย 

But perhaps the funniest moment was her recollection of her last performance at the Pump, when she encouraged the audience to clap along, and had to kindly ask one out of time and distracting chap to stop! You cannot write a coincidental punchline like the notion the same chap was sitting in front this time too, and despite her light-hearted warning, again clapped out of time, to again futilely attempt to continue without giggling. But herein was the delight of this performance, her carefree and optimistic mannerisms within her improv stage presence and nature of her songs are a blessing, comparable to a stereotypically folk singerโ€™s sombre tenet. Encouraging the audience to sing along to a song about her being nacho cheese should the doctor tell her you are what you eat, is one of many zany examples!

But Amelia is creatively inventive when serious too, wonderful originals, Nodding Dog, Perfect Storm on a stick dulcimer, and a whimsical tribute to Harry Nilsson, was polished off with an outstanding encore of Bowieโ€™s Life on Mars. With dashes of Americana, bluegrass, and particularly Irish folk, it’s predominantly lovable English folk, spiced with Midland banter, but it’s confidently delivered and highly entertaining.

Another satisfying experience at The Pump, Trowbridge has never had it so good.

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Bands At The Bridge

Organised by Kingston Media – to raise money for Dorothy House and Wiltshire Air Ambulance – the 3rd of May saw Bands At The Bridgeโ€ฆ

Phil Cooper is Playing Solitaire

Trowbridge singer-songwriter and one third of The Lost Trades, Phil Cooper has actually been doing more than playing solitaire, heโ€™s released a new solo albumโ€ฆ

No Alarms No Devizes, Aptly in Devizes!

If I’ve been galavanting recently, gorging on other local townโ€™s live music scenes, what better way to return to Devizes than a visit to theโ€ฆ

A Typical Saturday of Live Music in Devizes is a Beautiful Thing!

If Devizes was a woman, my patient and understanding wife would be livid because I’m smitten, and I’m about to explain my reasoning. Please humour me best you canโ€ฆ..

Starter for ten, ignore the sensationalising of a few roadworks by the local press, it’s having no negative effect on congestion, and ignore political sway, for the corruption is nationwide. I’m about entertainment in our humble market town, of which comparatively we’re punching well above our weight, on any atypical evening such as this.

Such causes me the dilemma of what pub to pick and what live music to enjoy. A problem I sought to solve by attempting to trundle between all three, though with questionable repercussions; I don’t get to witness and report on an entire set for any of them. A personal niggly I’m willing to shoulder, for the average punter either choice saw a great night of talented musicians doing their thing. Devizes is open for business, and is highly flammable!

Yes, I’d have loved to have dropped into the Pump in Trowvegas, Wiltshire Music Centre, and the Crown in Bishops Cannings, where they hosted a free all-dayer with Talk in Code and Purple Fish, but this takes driving, and occasionally, I want a cider, or four! There’s a thing, doing this is a hobby, you wouldn’t deprive me of sticking around the Vizes and enjoying a jar, would you?!

There is no grand public event in town tonight, as often there is, just three honest and wonderful pubs putting on free live music. My starter was the Southgate, where, after guesting at a particularly memorable Jon Amor Trio residency, Philadelphia-born axeman LeBurn Maddox made a welcome return. Justified as my top choice, because while I’ve witnessed the other two more local acts in The Lamb and Three Crowns before, the chance to catch this bluesman doing his thing is far rarer. And boy, can he play the electric blues with passion and plentiful saucy banter; a sublime performance in our lively juke joint, a longstanding blessing to Devizes.  

Another outstanding night at the trusty Southgate, which despite having the most varied and regular music programme in town by a country mile, predominantlyย remains favourable to the Mel Bush effect of Devizes being a blues town, appreciated by the regulars and reverberating this afternoon when Jon Amor makes his regular residency.

But though I coulda-shoulda stayed for the duration, I gotta dust my broom and make haste for The Lamb. Once the go-to pub in town, the birthplace of Sheer Music in the Fold, and historically simply a functioning and aesthetic tavern, it’s recently waned in popularity, but while it’s certainly true tonight, they’ve attempted to bounce back and have the breathtaking gothic-folk-rock four-piece Strange Folk to assist. Hailing from Hampshire, this proficient band we’ve seen playing these backwaters at the Gate, and on the Vinyl Realm stage at a DOCA street festival of yore, still, they’re not widely known here, ergo attracting wider appeal to a pub rarely providing music was never going to be a simple task.

Strange Folk are tight in performance, unified in sound. With the hauntingly impassioned vocals of Annie, a kind of PJ Harvey or Kate Bush, they polish covers with uniqueness, such as the apt Stones’ Gimmie Shelter, and have a repertoire of epic, mind blowingly emotive original pieces. Think Fairport Convention doing a Siouxsie and the Banshees tribute in the vein of Pink Floyd with Evanescence, if your imagination stretches that far!

Bottom line, Strange Folk deserved a bigger audience. Getting a foot on the first runner of live music in a small town with two other venues renowned and currently trending for it is no easy task. I suggest The Lamb books acts popular locally to attract a returning crowd before an outside chance such as Strange Folk, wonderful as they are.

Leaving the Lamb with reservations, if we don’t use this iconic tavern do we risk losing it to another antique shop?! I’m not willing to let it happen, not the Lamb, it’s legendary.

With the night coming to its cumulation, I hotfooted it across the carpark to the rear of the Three Crowns, echoes of Illingworth covering Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here growing as I approached, upset this is usually the outro to their set, but too steadfast to check the time! 

It unfortunately was, my consolation being I’ve seen the Illingworth duo play a number of times, and you can guarantee the creme de la creme of acoustic era-spanning covers, the kind of setlist to appease the broad demographic of the Three Crowns. Here’s a town pub currently winning the race, deservedly. Food served late, efficient cashless bar, its spacious, comfortable, covered, and heated yard has an epoch of supporting wider-appealing local live music acts. The benchmark for booked bands is literal here; blast nostalgic Britpop covers to attain tabletop dancing!

It was as rammed as expected there, my only reservation being I only caught the finale of Jon and Joylen, a duo you cannot fault. Still, I downed a Thatchers haze, got a cuddle and good chat with them both, and blagged a haven for eating the best chicken sandwich in town, from the most excellent Kebab House, in Jon’s van, which he gratefully dropped me home in; what an utter legend!

In conclusion, even if there’s no grand ticketed event at the Corn Exchange, Devizes is happening, and is the perfect town for a great night out, thanks to wonderful pubs like the Southgate, the Three Crowns, encompassing other lively options such as karaoke in the Pelican,ย  and I sincerely hope and pray, The Lamb rejoins the list too, we simply have to support it. Please keep an eye on our event calendar and weekly roundup articles .The next music night there will be advertised, and I hope to catch you there then.

Song of the Week: Meg

Chippenhamโ€™s folk singer-songwriter Meg gets our early song of the week this week, and The Cycle is only her debut single….

Iโ€™ve spoken twice to Meg, and she expressed her excitement at going to the studio, both times! This builds in layers and composition, again as in her live performances, thereโ€™s some empyrean prose, delivered with a certain unique charm. It’s great Meg, we love it here.

To find out more about Meg, check out our interview with her, and a later live review at the Neeld.

Link to streaming sites HERE

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Wiltshire Music Awards Website Goes Live

Last month we were pleased to announce our involvement with the new Wiltshire Music Awards in conjunction with Wiltshire Events UK, details of which areโ€ฆ

Soupchick in the Park

And there was me thinking nothing good comes out of a Monday! Today local bistro Soupchick, popular in the Devizesโ€™ Shambles opened their second branch,โ€ฆ

Family Easter Holiday Events

Devizine isn’t only about music and gigs for grownups, y’know? It’s about events for everyone. This Easter we’ve lots of things to do over theโ€ฆ

Donโ€™t Give Up Now, Ruby Darbyshire

As discoveries of young local talent never seem to wane here at Devizine, hereโ€™s one with a difference, weโ€™ve not featured yet; you may have seen Ruby Darbyshire busking a showstopper with bagpipes, but itโ€™s far from the limits of this girlโ€™s mind-blowing talentโ€ฆ.

Her live studio recording is a four track EP, acoustic folk originals, titled Donโ€™t Give Up Now, Weโ€™re Nearly There, and itโ€™s something you simply MUST listen to, I order you to! My benchmark for a great writer is imagining myself at the same age merely attempting to scribe something on par, the conclusion being the profoundness and emotive expression of Ruby here crosses the winning line while Iโ€™m not even off the starting block, and me, with bagpipes, donโ€™t even contemplate it!

Using a comfort blanket as a metaphor, a pensive ditty called Insomnia opens, the title explaining the lucid theme, first person prose reflection on growing up and fatigue. The EP ends with the struggle for self-control customarily portrayed as the devil on one shoulder, angel on the other, but perhaps questioning her impulsive behaviour moreso. Devil Doesnโ€™t Want This leaves you aching for more, itโ€™s edgy and darker than the two relationship subjects between them.

Pandora is perhaps the deepest dimensionally, a personification of the Pandoraโ€™s Box idiom, Ruby nails the process of a labyrinthine of issues once pursued generates greater problems, and itโ€™s conveyed sublimely. Donโ€™t Want to Hear You Cry is less abstract, but equal in emotive, matured outpouring. In summary of the whole EP, itโ€™s a beautiful thing, sublime.ย 

Echoes of Opportunity Knocks winner and Paul McCartneyโ€™s first venture into production, Mary Hopkins in her delivery, Ruby bears all the hallmarks of a classic female folk singer, ofย Holly Near, vocally, of Joni Mitchell in calibre and of Dar Williams in emotive outpouring, akin locally to the rapturous Daisy Chapman.

Often seen busking or at open mics with her dad, Brian, itโ€™s clear Rubyโ€™s music evolved from a musical family at a tender age, a prodigy flourished, to hear the results is blissful. Gig dates can be found on her website, here. Sheโ€™s at the George in Lacock on Wednesday evening (6th Sept.)

Ruby supports Amelia Coburn at the Pump on Saturday 14th October, with Meg, she writes to tell me she โ€œjust heard yesterday that I’m on stage at the Bradford Roots Festival in January,โ€ and goes onto explain Tim Burgess from the Charlatans, organiser of the Kendal Calling festival asked to return next year, donating her a day’s recording at the Cheese and Grain, with musicians and Freddie Cowan from the Vaccines as producer. Full-gone conclusion, in my opinion, Rubyโ€™s music will grow into a phenomenon, and you need to hear it blossoming.

Trending now…

Situationships With Chloe Hepburn

A second single from Swindon Diva Chloe Hepburn, Situationships was released this week. With a deep rolling bassline, finger-click rhythm and silky soulful vocals, thisโ€ฆ

Devizes to Host New County-Wide Music Awards

I’m delighted to announce Devizine will be actively assisting to organise a new county-wide music awards administration, in conjunction with Wiltshire Music Events UK. Theโ€ฆ

Ruby, Sunday at the Gate

It’s a rarity that I should drag myself off the sofa on a Sunday these days, one usually reserved for the monthly Jon Amor Trioโ€ฆ

Dylan Smith: Cruel to be Kind

Yeah, the title of Dylanโ€™s debut album, Cruel to be Kind could be an insight into how we conduct our reviews, but being as I missed him yet again when he came to the Southgate, I should really be kind to be kind, asides, thereโ€™s nothing in this album to be cruel aboutโ€ฆ.

My excuse was festival season, I was invited to The Devizes Scooter Rally the weekend his name was chalked upon the Gateโ€™s blackboard. Looking for a skinhead friend of mine there proved impossible amidst a sea of skinheads! Without this turning pythonesque, dwelling on Dylanโ€™s fantastic beard, the likes of which Iโ€™d have spotted him straight away with, should he have been there, allow me this brief Arthur Twosheds Jackson moment, and weโ€™ll digress onto his music!

While listening Iโ€™m contemplating his very name suggests he comes from a musical family, or fans of the Magic Roundabout at the very least. It could be duly noted Dylan these days may well be a name given by parents with no clue to the legendary folk singer, a Dylan the age of Dylan Smith would suggest otherwise. This I havenโ€™t asked him about, Iโ€™m making an assumption here, because this album is so eclectic, yet from whichever angle a track off it comes at you, itโ€™s proficiently delivered with the seemingly ease to justify the notion Dylan Smith was born for this.

The title track opens this fifteen track musical marathon. Itโ€™s the nice, smooth and breezy folk-rock I was expecting, itโ€™s Tom Petty, vocally, and with a similar hook. However the one time I did meet Dylan, which was when he was backing Becky Lawrence on guitar at the Female of the Species annual fundraiser in Seend, and I asked him to summarise his sound, he was rather generalised and heterogeneous about pigeonholing it. The intro of the second tune, Play the Game, was unexpected, until I recalled that conversation. I mean, through to its conclusion it holds a strong wailing guitar riff, but it kicks in as if Iโ€™m about to listen to Orbital, or some other nineties downtempo slice of electronica. It is at this conjunction you accept Cruel to be Kind is going to be a ride through musical influences.

Dylan with Becky Lawrence at the Female of the Species Halloween Party in Seend!

Then, weโ€™re back into rock citing Nashville country by the third tune, with a drifting sound and a reminiscing theme. If you were a nipper in 1983, as is its title, youโ€™ll nod, and perhaps think the witty cultural references are wicked (in the eighties ironic slang usage of the term!) younger listeners may need Google, but Iโ€™d predict the effect remains the same; this tune celebrates the diversity Of Dylanโ€™s work, and his ability to apply ruminative narrative.

By now youโ€™re immersed in Dylanโ€™s world, and willing to accept whatever he deems appropriate to throw at you. Check You Out, is quirky and the tad saucy of ZZ Top in content, followed by a beautiful ballad, or two, but weโ€™re only halfway through and anything could happen. Memory Lane again focuses on retrospective reminiscences, with a bouncy acoustic number, Iโ€™m awash thinking of classic influences, yeah, Dylan and Cash, but the experimental side of the Beatles and Beach Boys too, and this one finishes on a whistle akin to Otis sitting on the dock of the bay. 

In conclusion to citing influences, a Nils Lofgren of Trowbridge, and as a guitar teacher too I guess Dylan needs to be diverse, perhaps, but thereโ€™s so much going on here, stop the press; nine tunes in and Living Fantasy is funky electronica pop! Then whoa, bluegrass supersedes, and weโ€™re back in Dylanโ€™s comfort zone, this Tom Petty folk-rock rings throughout, but thereโ€™s no accounting where heโ€™ll go next. A man after my own heart, I feel, as I couldnโ€™t do desert island discs, couldnโ€™t bear to reduce myself to a few genres, let alone a few albums!

But thereโ€™s thoughtful prose, genius writing, and adroit guitar work throughout this musical melting pot, even if Dylan canโ€™t decide on moderating to a subgenre; his style is unique and detectable from whatever pigeonhole you care to plonk a particular tune into. The album drifts along in similar fashion to the close, it’s beguiling, yet as thereโ€™s a lot of it, you begin to take Dylanโ€™s talent for granted, until itโ€™s over. There is a pocket of variation when Lucie Reyonds vocals on a song called Something to Share. Now, if this one doesnโ€™t standalone to prove the wealth of Dylanโ€™s virtuosity in composure and writing, nothing will.

Itโ€™s wonderfully enchanting, as is the album, an interestingly diverse treasure youโ€™ll return to and discover more to, like gags in an Airplane movie! Now whoโ€™s taking us back to 1983, and if we could, Dylan, just return to your fantastic beard for a moment?!

For more info on Dylan Smith and to buy the album, see Dylan’s Website HERE

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Review by Pip Aldridge Last week, I had the privilege of seeing the Fulltone Orchestra perform at the beautiful Tewkesbury Abbey beneath the Peace Dovesโ€ฆ

Hells Bells! AC/DC tribute in Devizes

With our roads being the state theyโ€™re in, is it any wonder on the 5th April Hells Bells, rated as the UKโ€™s top AC/DC tribute,โ€ฆ

Cracked Machine at The Southgate

If many space-rock acts have more band member changes than most other musicians change their socks, Hawkwind are the exemplar of the tendency. There mightโ€ฆ

Who Knows, RAE?

With my boat sailing unchartered territory on this voyage of discovery for local talented youth, the rabbit hole continues deeper the further we network and rare findings simply keep coming, and today is no exception; singer-songwriter RAE is something rather specialโ€ฆ.

At seventeen, Corsham-based RAE most recently played Chippenham Pride, where she duetted with Jarret Brown of Melkshamโ€™s upcoming-now-household name The Sunnies. The tune is called PJโ€™s, and it features on her own self-penned debut four-track EP, Who Knows, which was launched early last month.

Thereโ€™s subtle innocence in Raeโ€™s acoustic opener, Do You Want Me Too? Simplicity is the key, capturing this truckload of potential in Raeโ€™s delivery, and the ghostly musing of youthful romantic doubt. Thereโ€™s even a studio moment of discussion left in, to create that personal touch. This is followed by the aforementioned duet with Jarret, PJโ€™s. Here is where Raeโ€™s ability to compose the perfect acoustic ballad shines, clearly thereโ€™s a lot of thought and emotion wrapped in the beguiling chorus, and those verses are sublimely crafted.

Title track comes next, again dealing with mixed young romance emotions, a steady tempo enchants you, RAE knows precisely how to pluck the heartstrings. Yet the finale, I Hope U Donโ€™t Miss Me is moderately uptempo by comparison, the moreish peach of the EP, the catch of which will have you chanting along, guaranteed, and as it fades you are left hanging cold, wanting more.    

It left me more than pleasantly surprised; thereโ€™s a sparkle here, like tasting iced sparkling spring water, with a slice of lemon, when you thought you were about to drink tap water! On Raeโ€™s Soundcloud thereโ€™s also a cover of Niall Horanโ€™s Heaven, which she puts her own stamp on; though this captures the skill of her delivery, through her own intelligently drafted lyrics, this EP goes the extra mile. Something about the clarity in a voice and guitar combo which is the raw essence of talent, and Rae has this natural bewitching ability to make you stop and listen.

As we continue sailing, to discover more locally-based talent, Rae is one you may have overlooked, but I urge you to anchor up and take a concentrated listen, as I tingle with anticipation at what she will produce next, for Who Knows is a wonderful and highly accomplished starting block. Do please have a listen, and tell me it’s not just me!!

LinkTree to RAE Music 

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Geckoโ€™s Big Picture

In 1998 a pair of pigs escaped while being unloaded off a lorry at an abattoir in Malmesbury and were on the run forโ€ฆ

Park Farm; New Music Festival in Devizes

A new music festival is coming to Devizes this July. Organisers of the long-running Marlborough based festival MantonFest are shifting west across the downsโ€ฆ

Results of Salisbury Music Awards

All images: ยฉ๏ธ JS Terry Photography An awards ceremony to celebrate the outstanding musical talent within the city, aptly titled The 2024 Salisbury Musicโ€ฆ

Song of the Week: Lewis McKale

Song of the week this week comes from Brighton’s singer-songwriter Lewis McKale, a Billy Bragg-ish harmonica and guitar combo breakup song from his forthcoming album, Self Help Tape.…

Retrospectively shouty, Thanks For Nothing is as anti-Against All Odds, as Dylan’s Positively 4th Street, but if that’s not selling it to you, it’s a moreish grower with a unique composition, ideal for a damp spring evening as you watch rain drizzle down the window with lukewarm tea in a chipped mugโ€ฆ.which is what I’m currently engaged in, because it’s better than BBC1.

Got to rain, though, hasn’t it?! Likewise, musicians must express themselves, and this is heartfelt simplicity at its best.

Delicate, Like A Psychedelicat

What is a psychedelicat, a tin of magic mushroom flavoured Felix?! His picture on the tin certainly displays some suspiciously dilated pupils, but this exaggeration maybe just artistic licence for commercial purposes. In any case, theyโ€™re not as dilated as the kitty on the cover of a new album by Marvin B Naylor and Rebsie Fairholm, a Gloucestershire-Hants duo who operate under the pseudonym Psychedelicat; justice sufficient to take a listenโ€ฆ…bring out the lava lampโ€ฆ…

Because, a kindly Manchester chap who was always sending me seriously outrageous noises he dubbed โ€œpsychedelicโ€ has finally got the message. I donโ€™t mean to be unfair, but music, whether it be as described, a mess of every known subgenre since rock n roll, or not, it must have harmony and melody, or it is borderline industrial noise. Seriously, listen to it under the influence of a single aspirin will likely find you gripping onto the sofa suffering a psychotic episode!

I felt he lacked the concept of psychedelia, for it is surely supposed to be benign, calming and mellowed, inducing a positive karma, rather than a full-blown Cheech and Chong fashioned freak out. On the other hand, when Marvin sent us the opening track of this album, Like a Delicate Psychedelicat, called Ark, as a submission for our Juliaโ€™s House compilation, while I was impressed, I wouldn’t have branded it psychedelic; mellowed and beautiful, but nothing particularly Sgt Pepper about it.

So, in the dark wee hours in a village on my milk round, I wedged the air-pods in with the illusion it wouldnโ€™t be half as psychedelic as it said on the tin, especially with this Anthony Burgess approved cat on the cover, the pet of Alex or his droogs. But the glorious Mike Oldfield chimes and reeling soft vocals of Marvin and Rebsie of Ark are merely characteristics of the anticipation of an LSD trip, and before long I was beginning to suspect another milkman had dropped some liberty caps into my travel-mug of tea!

By track two, Steer by the Stars, you begin to obtain the illusion that you might not be in total control of your own mind, as you would if indulging in hallucinogens, without actually having to. Thatโ€™s the exquisiteness of this, itโ€™s a beautiful journey, to Itchycoo Park. Unlike the excruciating juxtaposition of random noises of our Manchester friend, this just flows gorgeously, like the perfect mellowed trip. If I go AWOL now, theyโ€™ll likely find me swaying cross-legged on the village green with flowers in my hair like it was some 1969 San Francisco love-in! โ€œOi, whereโ€™s my pint of semi-skimmed?โ€

โ€œLike, hey, man, just, like swirling among the milky way, tee-hee; come, sit, can you see it?!โ€

A pipes and acoustic guitar instrumental flows for the next couple of minutes, then the soothing vocals of Rebsie returns for Green Adieu, to make The Byrds sound like death metal! โ€œDonโ€™t be deceived by the opening track-Ark,โ€ Marvin messaged me far too late, Iโ€™m horizontal now, โ€œthere are several different styles!โ€

With a delicate beating drum, Icy Window is trippy, as we move positively from beatnik to hippy, to the sounds of the renaissance. Itโ€™s the little chimes and swirly effects amidst the tunes which exhales this impression of underground counter culture of yore, yet still there’s more going on. Sixteenth century triple-time dance shanty unexpectedly comes into play, with a version of John Dowlandโ€™s Captain Digorie Piper His Galliard, which Marvin describes as โ€œcomplete with a psychedelic freak-out, and lots of harmony singing throughout,โ€ akin to what The Horses of the Gods are putting out.

This is an accomplished eleven track strong album in which Marvin and Rebsie are clear on their approach, and if itโ€™s lost in time against everything since the rise of punk, I suspect that is precisely the aim. As Like a Delicate Psychedelicat settles to a conclusion, you are immersed in its gorgeous portrayals of pliable soundscapes, lost in its forest of musical delights. Of harpsichords, twanging guitar on Promenading to the ambient finale, Bright Hucclecote, the only issue with this superb album for the counterculture bohemian of yore, is what to listen to afterwards.

Drained of inspiration, thereโ€™s a comedown on the horizon; abruptly you cannot connect the dots of your modest explanation for the meaning of life involving a dreamcatcher and some leftover twigs, and hey, who dumped that milk-float in the middle of Stonehenge?!

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Static Moves at The Three Crowns Devizes

Bussing into Devizes Saturday evening, a gaggle (I believe is the appropriate collective noun) of twenty-something girls from Bath already on-board, disembark at The Marketโ€ฆ

The Emporium in Devizes to Close

If Devizes boasts an abundance of independent gift shops of unique and exquisite or often novelty items in the face of a national pandemic ofโ€ฆ

Mental Rot; New I See Orange Single

Hold on tight, the new single from I See Orange, Mental Rot embodies everything I love about this Swindon grunge trio, and takes no prisonersโ€ฆ..โ€ฆ

Illingworth Celebrate Their 100th Gig!

Salisbury-based acoustic rock duo John Illingworth Smith and Jolyon Dixon play The High Post Golf Club, between Amesbury and Salisbury this Friday 2nd December, and celebrate that it’s their 100 gig.

Although the duo had been collaborating musically for over three decades, gigs dried out proir to 2019, and they stopped, as Jolyon vaguely explained, “for one reason or another!”

He told of how around the Christmas peroid of that year, “John and I were chatting about how we missed doing gigs, wondering if we should maybe get a set together and have go at performing again as a duo.”

“We wasn’t certain if anyone would want to listen,” Jolyon continued, “if we could actually get any gigs at all, or even how to get the songs working with just the two of us playing.” Today it’s still a wonder to us how they manage such a gorgeous sound as a duo, but they do! At Bishop’s Cannings’ CrownFest this summer they stole the stage following two heavy rocks bands, and to see Illingworth stamp their mark on a cover as technical as Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, or The Beatles’ Hey Jude, is something really special.

To maintain a pub circuit, Illingworth have mastered the cover scene with a plethora of memorable and sing-along rock classics, but neither are they strangers to creating originals, knocking out two breathtaking albums to date. This is where their relationship with Salisbury’s Tunnel Rat studio producer, Eddie Prestidge, comes in handy.

“Our good friend Eddie encouraged us to give it a try,” Jolyon said, “offered to become our manager and handle the bookings. So, we gladly accepted and sure enough we got our first booking in February 2020, with several more following soon after. Of course, early in March the lockdowns started and we couldn’t go out and play. We were gutted, but, undeterred we used the time to make a new album of original songs and we did gigs whenever the restrictions allowed.”

“Well, this weekend will be our 100th gig, So we would just like to say thank you so so much to all the excellent venues that have booked us, the weddings, parties, festivals, celebrations and absolutely everyone who has come to see us along the way! It’s been an absolute blast getting to this point. We still love doing what we do, and hope to make it to our 200th gig!”

With the trajectory these guys are flying on, I estimate that’ll be around spring! What more of an apt venue name, then, for their 100th gig than the High Post?! But seriously, these guys could bring joy to punters and provide a cracking night to any pub. I’d wager they could even raise the morale of the Queen Vic in Eastenders given half a chance!

Congratulations to John, Jolyon and Eddie, and hope to catch you again soon, guys.

The Best He Could Do at The Time, Joe Hicksโ€™ Debut Album

A little late for the party, as ever, Iโ€™ve been procrastinating, and my computer is equally as listless; failing to save my original words on this. Meanwhile Newbury good guy, but welcomed regular on our circuit, Joe Hicks has been busy with a debut album launched yesterday, worthy of a rewriteโ€ฆโ€ฆ

Titled The Best I Could Do at The Time, Joe is seriously playing it down, like the nerd at college who tells you they โ€œhavenโ€™t done muchโ€ for their assignment, so you follow suit only to find them offering a feasible cure for all known diseases in a presentation with U2 providing the soundtrack, while the best you can offer is a scribbling of your pet cat, which you did on the bus journey there.

The opening tune, Sail Away, for example, is far punchier than David Grayโ€™s appellation of the same name, and we wonโ€™t contemplate sailing down the Rod Stewart route. Though itโ€™s best pigeonholed like Grayโ€™s, as folktronica, thereโ€™s a whole lot more going on here from this stalwart who could just as easily fit comfortably into a blues dance as he could a folk festival, and does.        

The blurb suggests The Best I Could Do at the Time is โ€œa journey through many of the emotional peaks and troughs we go through as humans,โ€ Joe explained, โ€œand more specifically me as a musician in such uncertain times. Itโ€™s about acknowledging them, living in those feelings for a while and ultimately finding the hope we all have within us to take control and rise above the worst of them. Itโ€™s about doing the best we can with the tools that we have.โ€

The first thing to hit you is the sheer production quality, a euphoric yet upbeat anthemic joy from the off, Sail Away, sustains the timeless pop formula, making him balance on the edge between aforementioned folk and blues, and allowing this album to flow tidy, but traverse any given pop subgenre at will, while retaining originality and stylised inimitability.

If One More Step, the timeless pop second track is a prime example, it builds on layers like a contemporary hit of say a George Ezra-Bruno Marrs hybrid, Maybe When Itโ€™s Over follows, and this stretches back further, reeking of unruffled seventies soul, like Curtis Mayfield.

Four tracks in and youโ€™re safe in knowledge to accept anything, Pieces is sublime acoustic fluff, and there was a line in the subtle skank of Lost in Love, โ€œoh, such a reckless emotion,โ€ where I paused for thought on a comparison which I couldnโ€™t quite put my finger on, until it came to me; the velvety vocals of Paul Young, especially when he sang Come Back and Stay.

Mirror Mirror reflects an indie side-order, while Out of My Mind surprisingly nods of township jive, designating a hint of Paul Simonโ€™s Graceland. Hand in Hand settles the pace once again to this euphoria, so that even if the narrative traverses the downhearted at times, itโ€™s always a musical ride with the glass half full. And herein is my point; this is ageless pop goodness, borrowing from what went before, but fresh and contemporary throughout, which is the even balance of magnitude.

The final trio of tracks on this eleven-strong album returns to the early eighties pop formula with, Alive, folktronica goodness with the inspiring Make It Home, and Weightless polishes it off with the pop roll of The Corrs, or something along those lines, though the whole shebang holds itself in its own pocket.

Itโ€™s a wonderful album, deservedly to be considered a remarkable achievement; The Best I Could Do at The Time huh? Well, the time is nigh. Having made a name for himself as a session guitarist, Joe Hicks was ‘BBC Introducing Artist of the Weekโ€™, directly from his first solo single in 2017. Since heโ€™s built up a sizable online following, touring the UK and Europe, appearing at CarFest, The Big Feastival, Are You Listening? Festival, Pub in the Park, over thirty Sofar Sounds shows and slots supporting Sam Fender, James Walsh and Starsailor.

Here in Devizes, heโ€™s regularly appeared at Long Street Blues Club and Saddleback, and is always a delight to chat with; just a genuine modest talent, of which this album truly blows the lid off his cover. I got your number, Hicks; bloomin’ amazing album, my son!

Link-Tree to Buy

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RowdeFest 2025!

Okay, I canโ€™t keep the secret any longer or Iโ€™ll pop! While all the hard work is being organised by a lovely committee, because theyโ€ฆ

Events This Weekend; January Into February!

If weโ€™re nearly out of the prolonged gloom of January, note itโ€™s still winter but weโ€™ve climatised and are ready to party. February this yearโ€ฆ

Recreational Trespass with N/SH

Arriving just in time to catch Swindon schoolteacher Garri Nash by weekday, ambient acoustic musician N/SH by gig-nights, at one of the early mini-festivals of The Crown at Bishop’s Cannings this summer, I’d missed local covers band Paradox play before him. It perhaps wasn’t the most appropriate follow, Paradox roused the audience with lively renowned covers, and N/SH is at best a niche market of downtempo original compositions.

Though it’s in the recording studio, or at a music venue geared towards original and acoustic artists where we see him shine. Recreational Trespass is out today, up on Bandcamp with pressings forthcoming from Genepool Records in Plymouth. It’s an album amidst a prolific discography, though Garri himself states he’s โ€œstill the โ€˜new boy on the blockโ€™ out there as far as music is concerned.โ€

And what he does is new, not least unique, if the track Afterstorm on this release gives you goosebumps about the intro to U2’s The Streets Have no Name, yes, it sounds similar, but stays with that introโ€™s mood, symbolically N/SH’s style, it doesn’t bang into the heavy rock riff, it rarely โ€œgoes off.โ€ Neither is dub a component, with its wildly adjusting tenors and erratic tempo changes. This just softens, simple as electronica outfits such as Tangerine Dream, but with rockโ€™s ingredients to boot.

They all glide mellowly, fragments of abstract thought, and also, unlike the ambient house of The Orb, or KLF, I find myself scrambling for comparisons with, neither do they linger too long. There’s no soundscape of winds blowing, or a dog barking in the distance for twenty minutes prior to a beat kicking in, they’re comparatively shorter, clips, often hazy and artistically composed; when one chain of thought expires, the song does too, occasionally abruptly, and it’s onto the next, like a rough book of juxtaposed ideas.

If I’m to make comparisons, you’d have to imagine Cat Stevens with modern tech. N/SH’s innermost mind must be a perpetual swirl of ideas, if he wrote comedy, it’d a sketch show rather than a sitcom. But comedy doesn’t come into play here, dunno why I mentioned it really! Solemn and dejected the themes wallow, often hinging on limb, lo-fi and distant, as if you’re only a passer-by in this reverie.

I tried to address where this inimitable style came from. Passing off my ambient house acquaintance, of student days of yore, Garri explained โ€œfor me, the ambient is more influenced by Sigur Ros, Fink, etc, which is more chilled. I know Ambient House has its own genre but Iโ€™m told mine is indie, alternative. BBC use this for my genre, and now some electronic.โ€

โ€œFolktronic,โ€ I said was a term penned by David Gray, and I like this tag, but N/SH felt it sounded too Americana to suit. โ€œIโ€™m definitely not that,โ€ he expressed, โ€œor folk, which Iโ€™ve been labelled with before but hey, itโ€™s what people hear.โ€ Though a lengthy conversation pursued around precise genre-labelling, we found common ground on the ethos of nah, mate, against pigeonholes, they’re for pigeons only; Iโ€™m just trying to pin it down for descriptive purposes here.

Yet I find myself troubled in pinning it, it’s acoustic with soundscape backing tracks, it’s artistic expression equally as much as music, and I’m a sucker for the alternative rulebreakers. For others, I guess it’s Marmite; that said, I blow their advertising slogan out of the window, because I can take it or leave it!

Engulfed in this album though, it takes a few listens, adjustments from the norm, and there’s a lot going on subject matter-wise, poetically dishevelled and sporadically misplaced, it makes for an interesting listen. Alone on a showery eve, it’ll make your cup of tea go cold, as you stare at raindrops descending down the window, consenting it to draw you into its melting portrayals.

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Flowers in the Snow; Paul Lappinโ€™s New EP

For want of content during lockdown I broke borders and publicised about music worldwide, gradually crawling Devizine back to its original ethos of focussing on local happenings. Pardon me if I donโ€™t get all Royston Vasey on this EP, recorded in the South of France, for the reasoning is twofold; Paul Lappin originates from Swindon only partially significant, mostly itโ€™s because for music this good Iโ€™m willing to break any rules about content I mightโ€™ve once made!

Through the album The Boy Who Wanted to Fly, if in October 2020 I raved about the Britpop goodness of Paul and his band, the Keylines, a following live unplugged and largely acoustic release Christmas last year, Live at Pink Moon Studios simply knocked it out of the park for me. Stripped back and set within an intimate lockdown performance, Live at Pink Moon Studios not only reinforced the absolute brilliance of Lappin, it earmarked its place in my all-time favourites, outside the confines of what we review here.

No pressure then, Paul, if I donโ€™t compare this new release to other items currently in review, rather provide assurance to our readers, this again dreamy, mostly acoustic new EP Flowers in the Snow, is immediately enchanting, best paralleled with John Martyn, Jeff Buckley, or Nick Drake, the latter of whom Iโ€™d imagine Paul to cite, being the studio name refers to a Drake album.

Though, I feel at times, aforementioned comparisons are somewhat lost in their own era, Paul reflects this too, his work never retrospective, it sounds fresh for the now, as Britpop comes of age, this is matured indie, favourably over a beechwood fireplace in a cabin recollecting times past, with a customary glass of wine.

Three average-length tunes make up this EP, though as suspected, thatโ€™s all which is average here. A tale of better times on their way begins the proceedings, a best served acoustically title track. It smooths the soul, quite literally. Moodier soundscape introduction of subtle guitar riff following for track two, Blue and Gold, brings out the best in Johannes Saalโ€™s drums and bass, and Thomas Monnierโ€™s subtle congas.

โ€œThe rest of my band were busy with other projects,โ€ Paul explains of springtime, โ€œI spent a week at Pink Moon residential studios in the south of France working on some new ideas with producer and recording artist Saal.โ€ The result is this EP; three songs loosely linked by the theme of the seasons and mixed on a beautiful 1980’s GDR era broadcast desk. โ€œThe download includes a 14-minute bonus track of all three songs linked together, as was originally intended.โ€

Okay, so Iโ€™m guessing spring on Flowers in the Snow, dead reckoning Blue and Gold is summer, but the last tune confirms, itโ€™s winter; Not Hiding Just Sliding is perhaps the most experimental, such a beguilingly unassuming melody, holding you out to dry in want for more. This is an exceptional set of flowing songs, no two-ways about it, if the seasons really came and went as smoothly as this, Iโ€™d still be wearing a t-shirt and khaki shorts through the bleak midwinter!

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Discovering Swindon Story Shed

With Dad’s taxi on call in Swindon and a few hours to kill whilst her majesty is at the flicks, it was fortunate local authorโ€ฆ

The Rise of Winter Festivals

Once upon a time it seemed to me, that folk would grin and bear the winter weather for the sake of a Christmas lights switchingโ€ฆ

In Retrospect With Gary Martian

So yeah, not only has Cracked Machine and Clock Radio drummer Gary Martin added a letter A to his name to make it sound moreโ€ฆ

Cobalt Fireโ€™s Butterfly

In the words of the great Suggs, โ€œbut I like to stay in, and watch TV, on my own, every now and then,โ€ after three gigs on the previous weekend, I opted a weekend off, albeit I was with the family, and succumbed to Britainโ€™s Got Talent for my entertainment, one little part of me wishing Iโ€™d headed down the Southgate.….

To rub salt in the wound, Swindon-(I think)-based Cobalt Fire, who were providing the sounds at Devizes most dependable pub for original music last Saturday, also released a debut album called Butterfly, so naturally I wanted to hear what I missed.

Self-defined as a fusion of โ€œthe retro sound of 90โ€™s grunge and post-punk with a modern take on folk,โ€ I can see where theyโ€™re coming from, and itโ€™s no new thing for them, formerly known as Ells and the Southern Wild, the band developed their fresh sound from acoustic roots, and yes, thereโ€™s tinges of this still in them. Though their bio suggests they formed in 2103, I gather thereโ€™s either a typo or a gothic timelord in there! But in their switch to electric they strive to retain the core features of the songs, โ€œcreating a more muscular beast in the process,โ€ they put it.

And theyโ€™ve certainly achieved this, Butterfly, usually more bug than beast, is a boom of emotional overdrive, as grunge commands, with echoes more of Evanescence than Nirvana, what with Ells Chaddโ€™s haunting vocal range. It packs punches from beginning to end, the finale of which, Another Round, particularly poignant to this nod to acoustic roots, middle tracks like His Words Lie Heavy breath an air of eighties post-punk, ah, goth tinge, Siouxsie Sioux style, while it begins strictly grunge, with those rising and falling echoes of emotive authority.

The magnum opus, though, is three tracks in, Crimson Red summarises everything great about this potent four-piece, itโ€™s dynamitic, driving.

It’s basically ten professionally executed, blindingly touching three-minute heroes, in a fashion not usually my cuppa. But if I sing praises for a genre more me, thatโ€™s easy work, for music to make me consider oh yeah, I like this though pigeonholing obligation says I shouldnโ€™t, the result is even more impressive, and with Butterfly Iโ€™m near to breaking out some multi-belt buckle platform boots, growing my hair and dying it black!

This is a powerful and emotive creation, indulgent of all rock subgenres, yet beguiling grunge, and it never strays from its unique sound. See now, Iโ€™m sorry I missed you guys, another time and Iโ€™m beeline; embarrassingly for BGT too, though Iโ€™ve given my best cat ate my homework excuse, and though I doubt youโ€™ll turn Simon Cowellโ€™s frown upside-down, going on this album, youโ€™d have got my golden buzzer.

Ah, it’s all lies, anyway; not sure my hair will grow back!

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Christmas Greetings From Devizine!

Here’s our Christmas video Greeting, ho-ho-ho! Filmed on location at DOCA Winter Festival, Devizes, 2024 by Jess Worrow. Merry Christmas everyone!

A Gecko in Trowbridge Town Hall

It’s always a warm greeting as you enter Trowbridge Town Hall, even if, like me on this occasion, you’re running late…..

Prior to my arrival I digested the fact I’d likely forgone the supposed support act, Gavin Osborn, but was dammed if I’d miss Gecko, as since reviewing his sublime second album Climbing Frame back in October 2020, I’ve been aching with the understandable desire to see him pull it off live.

Mellowed piano song oozed from the humble hall ahead, oh no, I figured, Gecko has already begun. Such it is that Gavin recently resigned event coordination at the hall to the capable hands of then sound engineer, Kieran Moore, I assumed he was billed as a kind of farewell to his previous position, unmindful I’d emerge from the Hall a Gavin Osborn fan too. Even by the evening’s culmination I was also dubious of suggestions the two were collaborative, or if it was just banter between them.

But it seems a tag-touring-team is a reality, and given I’d mistaken Gavin for Gecko in the vestibule, who could be more apt to work with for the reptilian-named poet-esque singer? For luckily, Gavin was still on the subtle stage, virtually stripped bare of instrumentation save a banjo, microphone, music stand and randomly placed hardback chair.

Yet a guy looking remarkably like photos I’d used of Gecko accompanied him on a piano, tucked away by a side door. After the song I’d made my stealth entrance to was over, the pianist sat behind me. Uncertain glances behind affirmed, if there was a gecko in the room it was undeniably him, giggling at Gavin’s witty prose. I suppose this, coupled with their styles so similar I mistook the pair, should’ve been damming evidence this was more than a headliner and support act thrown in for sentiment, but what can I defend myself with, naivety caused by surviving on powernaps?!

In this, is the delight of the communal venue too. If there’s a stage green room it’s unused every time I visit; awaiting performers merge into the audience. This is no venue for egotistical celebs, and with barely raised stage and modest lighting, it’s a non-gimmick venue which bases solely on performance rather than dazzling affects. Professionalism and proficiency given, if you can hold an audience spellbound with such minimal affects and props.

Both did with bells on, and while I suspected the case with Gecko, Gavin was the surprise element. Akin to Gecko, Gavin is more storyteller than singer, though splices of prominent points were executed through great folky vocals, and highly amusing prose. Unlike Gecko, Gavin’s baseplate is folk, who through exceptionally crafted verse reminded me of the sentimentality of our own folk hero, Jamie R Hawkins.

Perhaps more akin to Beans on Toast, lacking Ozzie tinge, through observational narratives he weaved through subjects with spellbinding accuracy, hinging on familiarisation; I identified with many, particularly the amusing banjo led ditty of an aged fellow sneaking out to gigs while his wife seemed blissfully unaware in her slumber! But with heart-melting twists, Gavin wraps them up amusingly, either echoing retrospective contemplation or hinting at his political stance.

Time for Gecko’s opening song; could be anything less than the hilarious start of his album, Can’t Know all the Songs, which counteracts those who shout requests. Virtually unplugged he executed highlights of the album acoustically, and gave us unheard of tunes too, passing off his lack of backing as witty repartee. Such as pausing the song to switch from singing to kazoo during an amusing and uplifting tale of the Tamworth Two pigs, Butch and Sundance, who escaped their fate at a Malmsbury abattoir in 1998.

On this note it’s appropriate to highlight the major reason Gecko is so utterly entertaining, for not through particular quality of musician, though he is a natural, rather his choice of content and subject is so original, and his method of metaphorically weaving it into a more general point. Who writes a song from the POV of escaping pigs, or a dog sent into space? But better still, who can bend such narrative into a point you identify with? It’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, in song.

It’s a classic formula attributed to authors rather than songwriters, and Gecko reigns as either, acting with pseudo-confidence, encouraging audience participation to save him hiring a gospel choir, planning out a clichรฉ encore by hiding behind the piano, even submitting profit margin differences between buying his CD here and streaming his music.

I think I put too much emphasis on hip hop in my album review, as his rap-fashion tendency contradicts his indie-pop overall, making it his unique style, part nerdy, part too cool for skool, but through stripped back live performance it is clear his devotion is with the latter, indie-pop acoustic goodness. A fashion with ageless attraction. But whatever pigeonhole you opt for, it’s undeniably entertaining.

If I’ve an only criticism the show was too short, the comeback is both Gavin and Gecko can suck you into their stories so time passes unnoticed, coupled with my late arrival of which I’ve only myself to blame!

Another wonderful evening at Trowbridge Town Hall, building a reputation for introducing a variety of interesting and upcoming acts, affordably; you need to be putting future dates in your diary.

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Chapters, New Single From Kirsty Clinch

Okay, so, Iโ€™m aย  little behind, recently opting to perfect my couch potato posture and consider hibernation, meaning Iโ€™ve not yet mentioned Kirsty Clinchโ€™s newโ€ฆ

Paul Lappin & The Keylines Live at Pink Moon Studios

If you need a breather from the perpetual cycle of cliche Christmas song mush, do yourself a favour; Paul Lappin & The Keylines released a live EP last week, itโ€™s as โ€œname your priceโ€ on Bandcamp, and Iโ€™ll wager my Christmas stocking and all of its contents, youโ€™ll eternally thank me for the advice.….

On the 12th November 2021 Paul Lappin & The Keylines invited a few close friends and family to Pink Music Studios in France for a chilled evening of wine, food and live music. This EP is a recording of five of the songs performed during that session. For a tenacious link to our ambiguous local rule, note while now residing in France, Paul is originally from Swindon.

Back in October 2020 we fondly reviewed his studio album The Boy Who Wants to Fly, celebrating its vibrant Britpop rock, immersed in some astute and genius song writing prose. And in turn, we were allowed to use the outstanding single Broken Record for our Juliaโ€™s House charity compilation. For which, you might suggest, Iโ€™m duty bound to sing the praises of everyone who contributed, to which Iโ€™d reply, yeah, only partly but unnecessary, just shut up and listen to this; Live at Pink Moon Studios is utterly gorgeous.

If Broken Record packs a punch, and The Boy Who Wants to Fly meanders between forthright rock and tenderer acoustics, this little piece of wonderful revels in the latter. So much so, it smooths out of the restrictions of a label like Britpop, though subtle shards of it remain, and is comparable to acoustic folk rock from way beyond the subgenre, say, as steady and emotive as Nick Drake.

In the past Iโ€™ve made comparison to our own song-writing local legend Jamie R Hawkins, in their shared ability to twist a narrative so deeply into sentiment, tears will well; this EP comes closer to my point than Iโ€™ve ever heard from Paul. Itโ€™s so wonderfully placed subjects, wistfully glides your mind away, on the journey with Paul, like all good acoustic should.

The first two tunes, After the Rain, and Lying Awake in the Dark both come unplugged versions from The Boy Who Wants to Fly, Slow and Steady featured on his 2018 album, Move On, and Iโ€™m uncertain of the last two, Seeds of Doubt and Set in Stone, perhaps theyโ€™re new, or exclusive to this EP. Iโ€™m far from all out intending to research their origin, as itโ€™s just to easy to be set adrift on the songs, relishing in the moment.

Morish simplicity, man and guitar composition youโ€™ll crave it never ends, and I can honestly say, I donโ€™t think Iโ€™ve hit the replay button with such haste before! Paul is at his dreamiest, fluffiest and virtually subterranean in his deliverance of these masterpieces.

Subjects not so unusual but handled with the proficiency to wow, of lost or found love, picking up with a bongo drumbeat and wailing electric backing guitar at track three, Slow and Steady, with a chorus dripping of anthemic Britpop, of Oasis or Verve in their prime, yet maintaining that spellbinding acoustic goodness.

And for the last two tunes of mysterious origins, are perhaps my favourites, Seeds of Doubt, is a self-analysis theme, mind-bogglingly passionate, and the parable soulful finale, Set in Stone, as is with a live album, thereโ€™s a wholesome rawness about it, echoing honesty and scrupulousness throughout, you feel like youโ€™re a guest into a secret meeting, you feel a part of it, and that, is simply, beautiful.

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Devizes Writers Group Win Silver Award

Congratulations to Rosalind Ambler and Paul Snook from Devizes Writers Group… At the National Community Radio Awards held in Cardiff on 16th Novemberโ€ฆ

Hansel & Gretel: Panto at the Wharf!

Images: Chris Watkins Media It was lovely to spend Sunday afternoon at Devizesโ€™ Wharf Theatre, to see how this yearโ€™s pantomime Hansel &โ€ฆ

No Worries; Worried Men at The Pump

Long overdue a visit to the Pump in Trowbridge, Jamie Thyer, frontman of the Worried Men twisted my arm Friday night and thereโ€ฆ

Ian Siegal at Long Street Blues Club

Devizes is often spoiled for choice when it comes to live music. Swindon folk ensemble SGO at the Gate would’ve been an excellentโ€ฆ

Wiltshire Music Centre Announces New Joint Leadership

Wiltshire Music Centre is delighted to announce the new appointments ofย Danielย Clark as Artistic Director, andย Sarahย Robertson as Executive Director.ย Danielย andย Sarahย join Wiltshire Music Centre in aโ€ฆ

The Evolution of Kirsty Clinch

“The only thing disappointing about Kirsty Clinchโ€™s Evolution is, it ends.”

Itโ€™s a generation X thing, Iโ€™m suggesting, which levels me to downloading an album as the last port of call to actually โ€œowningโ€ something anywhere near physical, against this era of streaming music, sourly missing the fondness of holding a piece of vinyl for all its crackles and jumps. Because owning an album was like a piece of treasure, the cherished keepsake sense you donโ€™t get with streaming, and in review today is exactly the sort of album to be such a cherished keepsake.

Nevertheless, Wiltshireโ€™s adorable country-pop virtuoso, Kirsty Clinch has mastered the art of marketing, and with a drive to succeed, knows precisely through social media, how to gain and keep engaged a modern audience, equally to her exceptional gift as a musician and singer-songwriter. Yes, you couldโ€™ve guessed it, her new album Evolution is a masterpiece. The finale of which being aptly a tune called Social Media, which expertly reflects on the image one projects online against the hidden imperfections of reality.

But the ingenuity of marketing is a miniscule element as to why Kirsty manages to reach the fourth position in the iTunes charts in under a few short weeks of releasing her debut album, against the much larger reason that this is the sort of music which doesnโ€™t require pigeonholing, because whatever the angle of your personal taste, youโ€™ll emerge from it thinking; you know what, I like country-pop now.

So, I bite the bullet, stream it on Spotify, like a fledgling, mottled boss, ignoring the invasion of adverts for the sake of hearing an album Iโ€™ve held in high anticipation, since she mentioned it to me quite a while ago. If itโ€™s taken time, itโ€™s primarily Kirsty being a perfectionist, and it shows. Nothing here will disappoint or make me doubt the faultlessness of the composition of this album, and in turn, Kirstyโ€™s talent, her picture-perfect balance, in such a way, itโ€™s impossible not to love.

Around and Aroundโ€™s modest drum makes this song an irresistible introduction, if the astute song writing, complimented by Kirstyโ€™s rich and warming voice, doesnโ€™t, oh but it does. Waterโ€™s Running Low continues the quality, confirming youโ€™re in for a beautiful journey, ten tracks strong.

Fit The Shoe, the single weโ€™ve fondly mentioned prior, is hauntingly divine, like William Orbitโ€™s production of Madonnaโ€™s Frozen, with a theme of who the cap fits, which is followed by the title track, again, wonderful. Uplifting is the keyword throughout, maintain the balance of sombre yet jubilance. I am Winning, a song of faith in your accomplishments, being a grand example, it drifts over you, as if itโ€™s always been in your life.

Previously thereโ€™s always been an obviously and well played out taste of countryโ€™s female giants clearly influenced in Kirstyโ€™s songs, of Tammy or Dolly, but here, now, this is wholly Kirsty, it sounds freshly awakened to the junction whereby one day, not far away, reviewers will cite her influence on newer folk artists; that much I’m certain. 

Perhaps the memorable, yet not as quirky as the title suggests, No Cornflakes makes me sigh, are we past the halfway mark already? The only thing disappointing about Kirsty Clinchโ€™s Evolution is, it ends.

But not before I Am Me, a rejected romance theme, breaths the most heart-warming narrative of all, with a trialling drumbeat imposing you to realise her style is contemporary, rather than the genreโ€™s archetypal nostalgia. And three more tunes which never faulters the experience, the catchiest of them being Down, and it ends with the aforementioned Social Media.

In this finale you get the confirmation behind the stunning, echoing voice lies honesty in the song writing, from the heart and soul. And thatโ€™s itโ€™s worth, in a nutshell, you feel as if youโ€™re getting a little piece of this performer, who is the whole deal, plus one. Self-managed, produced, save the odd tip and mastering from Pete Lamb, marketed, Kirsty even drew the cover illustration. She puts the young students of her newly opened music school before that of promoting this album, she surely shines, and if you heard her previous songs, seen her perform live, youโ€™ll remain convinced this album, is Kirsty indeed evolving into a shooting star you cannot ignore.

Trending….

What’s Happening During November in Devizes?

Remember, remember, weโ€™re moving into November; leaves, loads of โ€˜em! Being as we are no longer doing weekly roundups, hereโ€™s some highlights of events inโ€ฆ

Daisyโ€™s Good Luck Songs

If I learned to take heed of Sheer Music chief promoter Kieran J Moore, when he Facebook posts about a new local discovery on a previous occasion, when I had the unexpected realisation outstanding Americana artist, Joe Edwards was virtually a neighbour, itโ€™s paid off again.

The sounds of Daisy Chapman the subject this time, and itโ€™s exquisite.

โ€œHow have we only just discovered each other?โ€ Daisy responded. She may reside in Trowbridge but rarely gigs locally, concentrating on touring the continent. I listened fondly to the song he prompted, time for me to cut in on this dance.

Starter for ten, Daisy has an angelic voice of vast range. It could conjure enough emotion to make you tearful over a Chas n Dave cover, if she were to attempt it, which she probably wouldnโ€™t, purely hypothetical!

Orchestral, at times, but dark, folk in another, if unconventional, thereโ€™s a thin line between heavenly and infernal here, as a sense of generation X sneaks in too, through conceivably progressive writing. Coupled with poignant narrative in these nine original good luck songs, a waiver away from archetype instruments and riffs of country and folk, and bold genre experimentations and crossovers, makes her third studio album, 2020โ€™s Good Luck Songs something of a masterpiece.

It opens lone on piano, this divine voice, almost liturgical, but layers are building, a trusty cello will become a trademark throughout the album. The title track preps you for something unique, something obviously wonderful.

Into the second tune, Home Fires, and the tender euphoria continues through piano and cello combination, whisking you on its journey, of nostalgic recollections annotating seasonal change, the wordplay is sublime. Neatly layered into the existing recipe, a gothic folk element slips neatly into play by the third tune. Daisyโ€™s voice willingly commands you, captivating you, like a child mesmerised with a campfire fable.

Then thereโ€™s Generation Next, a strictly country feel with a delicate fiddle, and brass, accompanying a tongue-in-cheek division, a tale which, despite the Americana sound, nods to gigging on a local circuit, from well-versed experts to the concept their advice is to be ignored by the younger upcoming performers. It is, quite simply, fascinatingly ingenious.

I used to own an Empire is another compellingly written emotional piece; on bonding to face a greater cause, articulated by a crusader boldness against aggrandizement. Through historic references it compares devastating impacts of political cuts, The Beeching Report, Minerโ€™s Strike and even Custer and the Gettysburg Address to the ignorance of Icarus, as the wax of his wings melted from flying too close to the sun. An archetypal subject of leftism maybe, but youโ€™ve never heard such expressed with such academic prose and orientation.

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do! The subjects of Good Luck Songs are concentrated, factual and tangible, emotionally expressed and divinely produced to an exceptionally high standard. But diversity makes it tricky to pin down, thereโ€™s a moment, in the haunting ambient opening of The Decalogue, which sounds so soulful, held steady with military style drum riff, yet the following song Thereโ€™s a Storm Coming has a drum loop and high-hat, akin to a contemporary RnB song, or the country-pop of Shania Twain. Feels like succumbing to commercialisation, but in this, thereโ€™s a point; Daisyโ€™s voice is so lithe, it could flex into any given genre or style, and finish on top.

Said versatility was first noticed by UK prog-rock band Crippled Black Phoenix, and since 2009, on and off Daisy has travelled as pianist/BV with the band on tours covering every corner of Europe as well as a short trip to China. Daisy was also chosen as vocalist on their cover of AC-DCโ€™s โ€œLet Me Put My Love Into You.โ€ With a penchant for prog-rock, Daisy shares lead vocals with ex CBP singer, Daniel Anghede in the group Venus Principle.

And anyway, Good Luck Songs finishes with a sublime cover of Tom Waitsโ€™ Tom Traubert’s Blues, to confirm Daisyโ€™s dedication to acoustic rock, but as expectable, it strips out the croaking vocals of Waits and replaces it with the pure silk that is Daisy Chapman. Believe me, if youโ€™re captivated by strong female vocals, the kind that could bring a church down, but want for intelligent lyrics, this album will hold you spellbound from start to finish.

OUT NOW! Various Artists 4 Julia’s House

As a nipper Iโ€™d spend days, entire school holidays, making mixtapes as if I worked for Now, Thatโ€™s What I Call Music! In the era before hi-fi, Iโ€™d sit holding a microphone to the radioโ€™s speaker, adventurously attempting to anticipate when Tony Blackburn was going to talk over the tune, and just when In the Air Tonight peaked with Philโ€™s crashing drums, my dad would shout up the stairs that my tea was ready; eternally caught on tape, at least until my Walkman screwed up the cassette.

Crude to look back, even when I advanced to tape-to-tape, I discovered if I pressed the pause button very slowly on the recording cassette deck, it would slide into the next song, and with a second of grinding squeal Howard Jones glided into Yazoo!! Always the DJ, just never with the tech! Rest assured; this doesnโ€™t happen on this, our Various Artists compilation album, 4 Juliaโ€™s House. And oh, have I got some news about that?!

Huh? Yes, I have, and here it isโ€ฆ. ย 

We did it! Thanks once again to all our fabulous contributing artists, our third instalment of detailed sleeve notes will follow shortly, but for now, I couldnโ€™t wait another day, therefore, Iโ€™ve released it half a day early, this afternoon!

Buy it here!

Now all that needs to happen is to get promoting it, and you can help by sharing news of this on your social media pages, thank you. Bloggers and media please get in touch, and help me raise some funds for Juliaโ€™s House.

Iโ€™ve embedded a player, in which you should be able to get a full try before you buy, I believe you get three listens before itโ€™ll default and tell you to buy it. I hope you enjoy, it has been a mission and half, but one Iโ€™d gladly do again.

Please note: there are many artists giving it, โ€œoh no, I was going to send you a track!โ€ Fear not, there is still time, as Iโ€™ll causally start collecting tunes for a volume 2, and when the time is ready and we have enough songs, we will do it. It might be for another charity, Iโ€™d personally like to do another raising funds for The Devizes & District Opportunity Centre, but thatโ€™s unconfirmed as of yet.

You know, sometimes I think I could raise more money with less effort by trekking down through the Market Place in a bath of cold baked beans, but I wanted to bring you a treasured item comprising of so many great artists weโ€™ve featured, or will be featuring in the near future on Devizine. Never before has all these artists been on one huge album like this, and look, even if you donโ€™t care for a particular tune, thereโ€™s 46 of them, check my maths as I pride myself on being exceptionally rubbish at it, but I make that 22p a track, and all for such a worthy cause!

Track listing details part 1
Track listing details part2
Click for info on Julia’s House

โ€œWe are so grateful to Devizine and all of the local artists who are taking part in the charity album to raise funds for Juliaโ€™s House. We donโ€™t receive any government funding for the care we give to families in Wiltshire, so the support we receive from our local community is so important.โ€

Claudia Hickin, Community Fundraiser at Juliaโ€™s House

Devizine Proudly Presents Various Artists 4 Juliaโ€™s House; Hereโ€™s the Track Listing!

Sleeve Notes for our Album 4 Juliaโ€™s House

Here it is, the moment youโ€™ve all been waiting for, I hope! The track listing and details of all our wonderful songs presented on our forthcoming album, Various Artists 4 Juliaโ€™s House. Read on in aweโ€ฆ.

Pre-order album on Bandcamp here!

Released: 29th June 2021

1. Pete Lamb & Cliff Hall – Julie

2. King Dukes – Dying Man

3. Erin Bardwell โ€“ (Like the Reflection on) The Liffey view

4. Timid Deer โ€“ The Shallows

5. Duck n Cuvver – Henge of Stone

6. Strange Folk โ€“ Glitter

7. Strange Tales โ€“ Entropy

8. Paul Lappin โ€“ Broken Record

9. Billy Green 3 – I Should be Moved

10. Jon Veale – Flick the Switch

11. Wilding โ€“ Falling Dream

12. Barrelhouse โ€“ Mainline Voodoo

13. Richard Davis & The Dissidents โ€“ Higher Station

14. Tom Harris โ€“ Ebb & Flow

15. Will Lawton โ€“ Evanescence

16. Jamie Williams & The Roots Collective โ€“ Dreams Can Come True

17. Kirsty Clinch – Stay With Us

18. Richard Wileman โ€“ Pilot

19. Nigel G. Lowndes โ€“ Who?

20. Kier Cronin โ€“ Crying

21. Sam Bishop โ€“ Wild Heart (Live Acoustic)

22. Mr Love & Justice โ€“ The Other Side of Here

23. Barmy Park โ€“ Oakfield Road

24. The Truzzy Boys – Summer Time

25. Daydream Runaways โ€“ Light the Spark

26. Talk in Code โ€“ Talk Like That

27. Longcoats โ€“ Pretty in Pink

28. Atari Pilot – When We Were Children

29. Andy J Williams โ€“ Post Nup

30. The Dirty Smooth โ€“ Seed to the Spark

31. SexJazz – Metallic Blue

32. Ruzz Guitar Blues Revue โ€“ Hammer Down

33. The Boot Hill All Stars โ€“ Monkey in the Hold

34. Mr Tea & The Minions โ€“ Mutiny

35. Cosmic Shuffling – Night in Palermo

36. Boom Boom Bang Bang โ€“ Blondie & Ska

37. The Birth of Bonoyster – The Way I Like to Be

38. The Oyster – No Love No Law

39. The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show โ€“ Ghosts

40. Julie Meikle and Mel Reeves โ€“ This Time

41. Cutsmith – Osorio

42. The Tremor Tones โ€“ Donโ€™t Darken my Door

43. Big Ship Alliance โ€“ All in this Thing Together

44. Neonian – Bubblejet

45. First Born Losers โ€“ Ground Loop

Iโ€™ll tell you what though, kids. This has been a lot more work than I originally anticipated! Yeah, I figured, just collect some tunes, let the artists do all the hard work and take the credit! But no, mate, wasnโ€™t like that at all. The most important part for me, is ensuring the artists are properly thanked, so, just like those Now, Thatโ€™s What I Call Music albums, I wanted to write up a full track listing with sleeve notes and links. Please support the artists you like on the album by checking them out, following and liking on social media and buying their music.

But to list all 45 tunes in one article will blow the attention span of the most avid reader, and if, like me, you’ve the attention span of a goldfish, find below the first twenty, and then the next 25 will follow as soon as my writerโ€™s cramp ceases! Just putting them onto the bag was tedious enough, but worth the effort.

To all the artists below, message me if links are incorrect or broken, or if there’s any changes to the details you’d like me to edit, thanks, you blooming superstars.

1- Pete Lamb & Cliff Hall โ€“ Julie

Not so much that Julie is similar to Julia, there could be no song more apt to start the album. Something of a local musical legend is Pete Lamb, owner of The Music Workshop, producing and recording local, national and international artists. His career in music stretches back to the sixties, creating such groups as The Colette Cassin Quintet and Pete Lambโ€™s Heartbeats. Yet it is also his aid to local music which makes him a prominent figure, Kieran J Moore tells how Pete lent him equipment for the first Sheer Music gigs.

Pete Lamb

A wonderful rock n roll ballad with a poignant backstory, Julie was written in remembrance of Peteโ€™s daughter who passed away in 2004 to Non-Hodgkinโ€™s Lymphoma. It was featured on an album for the charity Hope for Tomorrow. The song also features Cliff Hall, keyboardist with the Shadows for many years, playing piano and strings.

Cliff Hall

2 – The King Dukes – Dying Man

Formed in Bristol in April 2019, a merger of a variety of local bands, including Crippled Black Phoenix, Screaminโ€™ Miss Jackson and the John E. Vistic Experience, The King Dukes combine said talent and experience to create a unique, authentic sound, dipped in a heritage reuniting contemporary slices of British RnB with a dollop of Memphis soul.

Dying Man is a prime example, taken from the album Numb Tongues which we fondly reviewed back in the October of 2019. The brilliance of which hasnโ€™t waned for me yet, and isnโ€™t likely to.

The King Dukes

3- Erin Bardwell โ€“ (Like the Reflection on) The Liffey

One cannot chat about reggae in Swindon without Erinโ€™s name popping up. Keyboardist in the former ska-revival band, The Skanxters during the nineties, Erin now operates under various guises; the rock steady outfit Erin Bardwell Collective chiefly, experimental dub project Subject A with Dean Sartain, and The Man on the Bridge with ex-Hotknives Dave Clifton, to name but a few.

(Like the Reflection on) The Liffey is an eloquently emotive tune, staunch to the ethos of reggae, yet profoundly unique to appeal further. It is taken from the album Interval, one of two solo ventures for Erin during lockdown.

Erin Bardwell

4 – Timid Deer โ€“ The Shallows

My new favourite thing, after noting Timid Deer supported the Lost Trades debut gig at Trowbridgeโ€™s Pump. Though self-labelled indie, I was surprised how electronica they are, with a nod to the ninetyโ€™s downtempo scene of bands like Morcheeba and Portishead, hold the trip hop element. This Salisbury five-piece consisting of vocalist Naomi Henstridge, keyboardist Tim Milne, Tom Laws on double bass, guitarist Matt Jackson and drummers Chris and Jason Allen have created such an uplifting euphoric sound, hairs stand tall on the back of your neck.   

Taken from the 2019 album Melodies for the Nocturnal Pt. 1, Iโ€™m so pleased to present this.

Naomi Henstridge

5- Duck n Cuvver – Henge of Stone

Yes, enthralled to have the song frontman Robert Hardie of Duck n Cuvver refers to as โ€œhis baby.โ€ This is Salisbury Celtic roots rock band so aching to film part of their video for Henge of Stone inside Stonehenge, theyโ€™ve campaigned for the funds to do it, ending with Rab breaking into the monument to promote the campaign!

With references to the importance of solstice and the pilgrimage to Stonehenge, what other song could be so locally linked?

Duck & Curver

6 – Strange Folk โ€“ Glitter

A dark west country folk band in the realm of a beatnik time of yore, with a serious slice of gothic too, Strange Folk came to my attention playing the Vinyl Realm stage at the Devizes Street Festival. Hailing from Hertfordshire, band members also now reside in Somerset, Strange Folk is comprised of four songwriters; vocalist Annalise Spurr, guitarist David Setterfield, Ian Prangnell on bass and backing vocals, and drummer Steve Birkett. Glitter features cello by Helen Robertson, and is a name-your-price gift to fans during lockdown, a wonderful teaser which if you like, and I canโ€™t see why you wouldnโ€™t, you should try the 2014 mini-album Hollow, part one.

Strange Folk

7 – Strange Tales โ€“ Entropy

With singer Sally Dobson on the Wiltshire acoustic circuit and the synth/drum programming of Paul Sloots, who resides in West Sussex, catching this duo, Strange Tales live would be a rare opportunity not to be missed. Though their brilliance in melodic, bass and synth-driven goth-punk is captured in the 2018 album Unknown to Science, in which our track Entropy is taken.

Their songs relate baroque cautionary tales drawn from the murkier corners of the human psyche, while retaining a pop sensibility and stripped-down, punk-rock approach. Fans of the darker side of eighties electronica, of Joy Division and Depeche Mode will love this. You can buy this album at Vinyl Realm in Devizes.

Strange Tales; Paul Sloots & Sally Dobson

8- Paul Lappin โ€“ Broken Record

Imagine George Harrison present on the Britpop scene, and youโ€™re somewhere lost in Lappinโ€™s world. Paul hails from Swindon originally, but resides mostly in the Occitanie region of the south of France, where he wrote and recorded the mind-blowingly brilliant album The Boy Who Wants to Fly, released in October 2020. Our chosen track, Broken Record was a single just prior, in August, and features Lee Alder โ€“ bass guitar, electric guitar, Robert Brian โ€“ drums, Jon Buckett โ€“ Hammond organ, electric guitar, Paul Lappin โ€“ vocals, synths, Lee Moulding โ€“ percussion, Harki Popli โ€“ table.

Music & lyrics by Paul Lappin ยฉ2020. Recorded at Earthworm Recording Studio, Swindon. Produced & Mixed by Jon Buckett. Mastered by Pete Maher.

Paul Lappin

9- Billy Green 3 – I Should be Moved

Now Devizes-based, Bill Green was a genuine Geordie Britpop article, co-creating the local band Still during those heady nineties. Today his band on the circuit, Billy Green 3 consists also of Harvey Schorah and Neil Hopkins, whoโ€™s talents can be witnessed in the awesome album this track comes from, also titled Still. Mastered and produced by Martin Spencer and Matt Clements at Potterneโ€™s Badger Set studio in 2020, itโ€™s wonderfully captures the remnants of the eighties scooter scene in reflected in Britpop.

I’m sure you can buy the album at Vinyl Realm, Devizes; I would if I were you.

Billy Green 3

10- Jon Veale – Flick the Switch

Marlborough guitar tutor, singer-songwriter and bassist of local covers band Humdinger, Jon Vealeโ€™s single, Flick the Switch, also illuminated Potterneโ€™s Badger Set studio in August of 2020, and it immediately hits you square in the chops, despite the drums were recorded prior to lockdown, by legend Woody from Bastille, and Jon waited tolerantly for the first lockdown to end before getting Paul Stagg into Martin Spencerโ€™s studio to record the vocals. Glad to have featured it then, even more pleased Jon contributed it to this album.

Jon Veale

11- Wilding โ€“ Falling Dream

What can be said which hasnโ€™t about Aveburyโ€™s exceptionally talented singer-songwriter George Wilding? A true legend in the making. Now residing in Bristol, George has the backing of some superb musicians to create the force to be reckoned with, Wilding. Perry Sangha assists with writing, as well electric guitar, loads more electric guitars, acoustic guitar, organ and weird synth things. Bassist James Barlow also handles backing vocals and cous cous. Daniel Roe is on drums.

The debut EP, Soul Sucker knocked me for six back in November 2018, as did this here latest single recorded at the elusive Dangerous Dave’s Den, mixed and mastered by Dan Roe, during October last year.

Wilding

12 – Barrelhouse โ€“ Mainline Voodoo

One good thing about preparing this album is to hear bands Iโ€™ve seen the names of, kicking around, and added to our event guide many times over, but Iโ€™ve never had the opportunity to see at a gig. Marlborough-based Barrelhouse is one, and after hearing Mainline Voodoo, Iโ€™m intending to make a beeline to a gig. Favourites over at their local festival, MantonFest, headlined Marlboroughโ€™s 2019 Christmas Lights Switch-On, and right up my street!

Formed in early 2014, Barrelhouse offer vintage blues and rock classics, heavily influenced by the golden age of Chicago Blues and the early pioneers of the British blues scene, staying true to the essence that made these tunes great and adding their own style of hard-edge groove. Overjoyed to feature Mainline Voodoo, title track from their 2020 album, which broke into the UKโ€™s national Blues Top 40.

Barrelhouse

13 – Richard Davis & The Dissidents โ€“ Higher Station (R. Davies)

Absolutely bowled over, I am, to have Swindonโ€™s road-driving rock band with a hint of punk, Richard Davis & The Dissidents send is this exclusive outtake from the Human Traffic album, out now on Bucketfull of Brains. We reviewed it back in December. Recorded at Mooncalf Studios. Produced by Richard Davies, Nick Beere and Tim Emery. If the outtake is this amazing, imagine the album!

Richard Davis & The Dissidents

14 – Tom Harris โ€“ Ebb & Flow

Lockdown mayโ€™ve delayed new material from Devizes-based progressive-metal five-piece Kinasis, but frontman Tom Harris has sent us something solo, and entirely different. Ebb & Flow is an exclusive track made for this album, a delicate and beautiful strings journey; enjoy.

Tom Harris

15 – Will Lawton & The Alchemists โ€“ Evanescence

Wiltshire singer-songwriter, pianist and music therapist Will Lawton, here with his group The Alchemists. A weave of many progressive influences from jazz to folk, Will recently surprised me by telling me drum n bass is among them too. The latest album ‘Salt of the Earth, Vol. 1 (Lockdown)’, is a collection of original poems embedded in meditative piano and ambient soundscapes. But weโ€™ve taken this spellbinding tune from the previous release, Abbey House Session.

Will Lawton

16- Jamie Williams & The Roots Collective โ€“ Dreams Can Come True

Hailing from Essex but prevalent on our local live music circuit, with some amazing performances at Devizesโ€™ Southgate, Jamie Williams & The Roots Collective offer us this uplifting country-rock/roots anthem, which, after one listen, will see you singing the chorus, guaranteed. It is the finale to their superb 2020 album, Do What you Love.

Jamie Williams & The Roots Collective rocking the Southgate last year

17 – Kirsty Clinch – Stay With Us

If weโ€™ve been massively impressed with Wiltshireโ€™s country sensation, Kirsty Clinchโ€™s new country-pop singles Fit the Shoe, Around and Around, and most recently, Waters Running Low and anticipating her forthcoming album, itโ€™s when we get the golden opportunity to catch her live which is really heart-warming. This older track, recorded at Pete Lambโ€™s Music Workshop, exemplifies everything amazing about her acoustic live performances, her voice just melts my soul every listen.

Kirsty Clinch

18- Richard Wileman โ€“ Pilot

Incredibly prolific, Swindonโ€™s composer Richard Wileman is known for his pre-symphonic rock band Karda Estra. Idols of the Flesh is his latest offering from a discography of sixteen albums, which we reviewed. Along a similar, blissful ethos Richard Wileman served up Arcana in September this year, where this track is taken from. While maintaining a certain ambiance, his own named productions are more conventional than Karda Estra, more attributed to the standard model of popular music, yet with experimental divine folk and prog-rock, think Mike Oldfield, and youโ€™re part-way there.

19 – Nigel G. Lowndes โ€“ Who?

Bristolโ€™s Nigel G Lowndes is a one-man variety show. Vaudeville at times, tongue-in-cheek loungeroom art-punk meets country folk; think if Talking Heads met Johnny Cash. Who? is the unreleased 11th track from his album Hello Mystery, we reviewed in March, and weโ€™re glad to present it here.

Nigel G Lowndes

20 – Kier Cronin โ€“ Crying

Unsolicited this one was sent, and I love it for its rockabilly reel although a Google search defines this Swindon based singer songwriter as indie/alternative. Obsessed with the music and the joy of writing, Kier told me, โ€œI once had a dream Bruce Springsteen told me to give it upโ€ฆ So, this one’s for you Bruce!โ€ Crying was released as a single in March, also check out his EP of last year called One.

Swindon Sound System Mid Life Krisis Live Streams

If youโ€™re missing a tubthumping club night, you could clear your laminate flooring of breakables, blag your kidโ€™s colour-changing lightbulb, overcharge yourself for a Bacardi Breezer from your own fridge, and belch up kebab behind your sofa.

All these things are optional to simulate the full lockdown nightclub in your own home. But, even creating a cardboard cut-out queue for the downstairs bog, or hiring a doggie tuxedo so your pet can double-up as the bouncer, extreme measures in extreme times will doubtfully replicate the genuine clubbing experience; sad but true.

However, if props donโ€™t make the neon grade, the music can. Swindon-based tri-county sound system, Mid Life Krisis, abbreviated to MiLK, announce an online schedule for live DJ feeds and multi-genre events. โ€œWe will be putting on events post Covid for the people of Swindon and beyond,โ€ they say.

Thereโ€™s an interesting line-up ahead, prompted to me by Pewsey acoustic performer Cutsmith, who is on this Sunday (28th Feb.) Yet most are hard floor, afro/tribal house, trance, techno and drum n bass DJ sessions, freely shared onto a Facebook group, here. Join the group, throw your hands in the air, scream oh yeah, just donโ€™t set your own roof on fire, itโ€™s only going to increase your insurance direct debits, mo-fo.

Your exhaust cannot drop off en-route, girlfriend needs not to spend umpteen hours sorting her hair, and thereโ€™s no over-vocal knob jockey giving you all that in the carpark to distract you. No excuse for unattendance; no dress-code either, get funky in your jimmy-jams, if you like, you know I will. Shit, Iโ€™m like the Arthur Dent of Mixmag!

Now, Iโ€™m also gonna start adding these posters to our event calendar, which despite being about as tech-savvy as Captain Caveman, Iโ€™ve taken the time when nought is really happening to redesign it, to be more user-friendly.

All needs doing is directing buggers to the thing, as weโ€™re listing global online and streamed events, and until a time when Bojo the Clown finally stops mugging us off and announces a release date, itโ€™s not worth adding real live events for me to have to go delete them again.

That said, I find difficulties in keeping up to scratch with whatโ€™s on in the online sense, partly because Iโ€™m fucking lazy, but mostly because they pop up sporadically and unexpectedly.

Else theyโ€™re mainstream acts begging via a price-tagged ticket. I can appreciate this, itโ€™s a rock and hard place, and we all need to get some pocket money, but from a punterโ€™s POV, charging to watch their own laptop screen in hope they get a good speed for their feed, can be asking a bit much and one now favours a PayPal tip jar system.

Such is the nature of the beast, where a performer or DJ could be slumped in front of Netflix one minute and suddenly decide they fancy going live. Thankful then, we should be, to these Facebook groups hosting streams, in order to create some kind of structure.

The positive, for what itโ€™s worth, is boundaries have been ripped down. Without travel issues, online, your performance has the potential to reach a global audience, and hopefully attract newbies to your released material. Who knows, pre-lockdown you played to a handful of buddies at your local watering hole, but afterwards tribes from Timbuctoo might rock up at your show. Okay, Iโ€™ll give you, they might not, but potentially, the world is your oyster. Just a shame its shell is clamped shut.

Trending….

YEA Devizes: DOCA New Youth Project

Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts announced their upcoming project, YEA Devizes today. Made possible by a grant from National Grid Electricity Transmissionโ€™s Community Grant Programme, theโ€ฆ

The Mist; New Single from Meg

Chippenhamโ€™s young folk singer-songwriter Meg, or M3G if you want to get numeric, will release her 6th single The Mist on Friday 18th October, andโ€ฆ

David Grayโ€™s Skellig; Enchantingly Sublime

Music technology bears a burden on the acoustic singer-songwriter, hopefully awaiting a practical gap in the market to sneak into the mainstream. Locked in the adolescent tantrum of the drum machine, pop charts of the late eighties were awash with electronica, hip hop, and the dawn of house, either this, or jean commercials revitalised sixties soul classics. Then, along came a short dreadlocked female singer, clasping her guitar.

Had Tracey Chapman arrived a decade earlier when Joan Armatrading was prevalent, the impact might not have had the same clout. As it was her appearance was exhilarating, a breath of fresh air, but seems sometimes acoustic artists are to pop charts as Christopher Lambert is to Highlander, there can be only one.

In 1998 David Grayโ€™s self-released studio album, White Ladder looked as if it would be no more successful than his previous three. While renowned on the folk scene, Gray didnโ€™t break the mainstream until its ATO re-issue in 2000. Perhaps we could speculate the charts of 98 was held hostage by Britpop, else the reign of rave was at its apex. People looked for something fresh for the millennium, and Grayโ€™s folktronica found that gap.

Folktronica is a strapline, rather than subgenre. A causal grouping for fusing string instruments into electronic music, born at a time of public acceptance in hip hop. It was courageous, but a natural progression, and Gray was atop of the game, appearing in David Kaneโ€™s rom-com This Yearโ€™s Love, which he based a song around its title.

Like an Andy Warhol prediction, the sequel to White Ladder, A New Day at Midnight, failed to obtain the same critical acclaim, despite charting at the top, and whipping Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates’s debut album, which is enough for me! Exhaustion in the spotlight saw David Gray rest, and gradually fall into cult status, returning to the folk circuit.

At the millennium I was neither here nor there about David Gray. Yeah, I liked his charted songs, but entangled in denying rave had perished I sought heavier trip hop, or else a model folk formula; the two were strictly separate entities. It wasnโ€™t until a near decade ago, reviewing a self-published book which suggested White Ladder was a revelation of pious significance, that I gave second thought to David Gray, and just how good the album was. Mind you, the flimsy autobiographical plot continued onto how, under hypnosis, the author turned out to be an incarnation of Cleopatra, so it all had to be taken with a pinch!

This is the culprit, the reason Iโ€™ve been knocked for six by his new album, Skellig, released tomorrow (19th Feb 2021.) Naturally I expected it to be pretty awesome, but hadnโ€™t fathomed how awesome. Astounded, on continuous play and taking me on a journey for the best part of this week, I confirm its ambient, acoustic gorgeousness.

If last yearโ€™s twentieth anniversary of White Ladder saw a deluxe edition launched, but a subsequent tour cancelled due to the pandemic, Skellig counteracts; it is simply perfection for isolation, though written prior. The elements of folktronica are even more subtle than previously, with just a hint they set the scene, welcoming a sparser, shared soundscape with the atmospheric songs focussing around six-part vocals with Gray trading his signature gravel for a softer tone; mega-bliss. Though, a sense of shingle develops vocally as the album reaches a conclusion, not at Dylan level, but adjacent.

Skellig takes its name from a formation of precipitous rocky islands off the coast of Co. Kerry, the most westerly point in Ireland. Ravaged by the Atlantic, the seemingly un-inhabitable location of Skellig Michael became an unlikely site of pilgrimage in 600AD for a group of monks, who believed leading such a merciful existence, they would leave the distraction of the human realm to be ultimately closer to God.

Gray asks for no literal translation of the above, nor prescribes any religious allegiance; the story, told to him by a friend, has haunted his imagination ever since: โ€œThe more I contemplated the idea of a small group of people landing on those rocks and establishing a monastic life there, the more overpowered I became by a dizzying sense of awe. How close to God could you possibly wish to get? Life must have been unbelievably hard for them and trying to fathom the deep spiritual conviction that compelled them to escape the mediaeval world led me to acknowledge my own deepest longings to be free of all the endless human noise that we now so readily accept as being such an inescapable part of our day to day lives. Dreams of revelation, dreams of a cleansing purity, dreams of escape. Ideas that I think almost any 21st century person shouldnโ€™t find it too hard to relate to!โ€

A notion which saw Gray gather his team and venture to the Scottish Highlands to live out the creation of the record. In the significant of this backstory, Skellig paints a picture with sound akin to Goghโ€™s Starry Starry Night. You can sense the sea crashing into the rocks of a barren Irish landmass, hear the haunting echo through the draughty halls of a desolate monastery, through multi-layered vocals, delicate Celtic guitar picks and morose piano solos.    

Written astutely and with maturity in comparison to White Ladder, subjects twist dejection into uplifting awe. Carried by a singular baritone guitar, the opening title track bobs on an ocean like a chantey, familiarising you with how itโ€™s going to go down. From there on it free-flows thirteen tracks of blissful enchantment. While listening I noted the songs seemed short, but in checking most weigh over the four-minute mark, proof how engrossing Skellig is. Lost in its splendour it comes to a masterful finale with the graceful, All That We Asked For And More; which sums up the album perfectly. A ten from me!

Image credit: Derrick Santini

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Autumn-Winter Comedy in Devizes

Comedy in Devizes is a rare thing, unless you count visitors turning right at the Shaneโ€™s Castle junction, reading opinions on the Devizes Issues (butโ€ฆ

Chris TT Live at Trowbridge Town Hall 2017

Catching up with more stuff on a quiet(ish) Sunday, this got pushed towards the bottom, Iโ€™ve no valid excuses. Taking you back to April 2017, Brightonโ€™s misfit leftist comic poet-acoustic performer performed at Trowbridgeโ€™s Town Hall for Sheer Music. It would be a gig on his last ever tour. After twenty years Chris announced he was giving up his music career, and finalised it with an autumn farewell concert in London.

The recording was released on Chrisโ€™ Bandcamp page at the beginning of the month. Itโ€™s a pay-what-you-like and he waivers all fees to the Music Venue Trust.

Since 2014 the registered charity MVT, was setup to protect the UK live music network by focussing its support on grassroots venues, but since lockdown itโ€™s understandably become essential. Grassroots venues play a crucial role, nurturing local talent, providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills. We need them back; we need them open. Hearing this album helps you to understand why, makes you remember what youโ€™re missing.

Itโ€™s easy to hear the influence of upcoming artists like Gecko, as Chris weaves unrelated subjects like an observational stand-up comedian, and also, with the same comical timing. His guitar picking is quality and together it makes for a highly entertaining show. Stabs at the establishment come thick and fast, songs randomly seriatim through motorways, anti-hunt rants, gorilla gardening, his own self-worth and musical talent, even a jab at Trowbridgeโ€™s political demographic in Love me, Iโ€™m Liberal. Thereโ€™s a beautifully played out winter portrayal, Tunguska, and more intelligently drafted thoughts to boot.

This is folk upfront, with woven narrative and amusing rudiments, chronicles the now, and highlights the passion of the simplest gig, man with thoughts and guitar.    

On the night he was supported by Phil Cooper, and Kyle D Evans, the show recorded by Bromhamโ€™s Owlโ€™s soundman Gareth Nicholas. Makes me wish I was bobbing about on the scene at the time, but Devizine was a year behind in the making. Still, albums got a picture of Trowbridge on it, any monies you can give helps a charity, but most of all, this is just the enjoyable and proficient performance weโ€™ve come to expect from Sheer.

Chris Tweedieโ€™s Reflections

With over three decades experience writing music and composing songs, Melksham-based Chris Tweedie acknowledges on his website he can sing, but disparages his ability to limitations, inquiring of other singers for possible collaborations. While timorousness is common when self-assessing the worth of your own output, especially for musicians, thereโ€™s an argument that no one can express your own words better than you. While the many whoโ€™ve taken on songs of Dylan, who letโ€™s face it, isnโ€™t the most accomplished vocalist, may well have manufactured a better sound, but lack the sincerity and emotion of the written word coming from its author. ย ย ย ย ย 

First impressions last, Iโ€™m only a few songs into Reflections, his debut album released yesterday, (6th Nov) and Iโ€™m drifting into its gorgeous portrayals, meditative and knowing his notion is modesty. The vocals are apt for this wandering, sublimely ambient twelve uniformed tunes. And anyway, Tracy Whatleyโ€™s beautifully grafted vocals with a country twinge feature on the one tune, Virtuous Circle, and the title tune is an instrumental finale to make Mike Oldfield blush. The rest are self-penned and executed with vocals, mellowly with acoustic goodness, reminding me of the posthumous Nick Drake.

With poetic thoughtful prose, these are exceptionally well-written songs, performed with passion and produced under the ever-proficient Martin Spencer at the Badger Set Studio. His website and the CD inlay has text of said lyrics, to pick one entirely at random; โ€œYou are the thousand winds that blow, You are the diamond glints on snow, You are sunlight on ripened grain, You are the gentle autumn rain,โ€ taken from You are the Stars, are not the exception, theyโ€™re all this serenely stunning.

Itโ€™s Sunday sunrise music, sitting by a stretch of water, and we all need this once in a while. The album cover of such a scene sums it up in one image.

The relaxed attitude hardly drifts to anything of a negative narrative, perhaps with the exception of Slow Down, which suggests oneโ€™s life is moving too fast. The majority on offer is uplifting, perhaps reaching the apex at the seventh song, aforementioned You are the Stars, which is enriching, period.

โ€œThere are various musical influences that come through in my music,โ€ Chris says, citing rock, pop, country and folk. โ€œThe direction this mix has taken my songs is still fairly mainstream with a leaning towards the West Coast path and an element of Americana in places.โ€ I certainly agree, thereโ€™s hints of the Byrds, of Crosby, Stills and Nash, but majorly its definingly English, think George Harrison, not to hype but to compare the style of. Thereโ€™s experimentation at work here, but the experience shines through, Chris Tweedie could chill out Donald Duck!

Buy Chris Tweedie’s Reflections here

Paul Lappinโ€™s Broken Record

A cracker of a single from Swindonโ€™s Paul Lappin this week, a Britpop echoing of Norwegian Wood, perhaps, but tougher than that which belongs on Rubber Soul. Broken Record is an immediate like, especially the way it opens as crackling vinyl and the finale repeats the final line into a fade, as if it was indeed, a broken record.

Shrewdly written, the venerable subject of a passionate breakup metaphors the title, โ€œignore the voice of reason, leave the key and close the door, do you think youโ€™re ready, to become unsteady, like a broken record, you have heard it all before.โ€ Paul does this frankly, with appetite and it plays out as a darn good, timeless track.

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Itโ€™s head-spinning rock, intelligent indie. Harki Popli on tabla drum and Jon Buckettโ€™s subtle Hammond organ most certainly attributes to my imaginings of a late-Beatles vibe. Yet if this is a tried and tested formula, as I believe Iโ€™ve said before about Paulโ€™s music, he does it with bells on.

For less than a chocolate bar, download this track from Bandcamp, it doesnโ€™t disappoint.

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Three Times Better; The Lost Trades @ The Southgate

From Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads to bipolar bank robber George โ€œBabyfaceโ€ Nelson, thereโ€™s so many Americana mythologies and folklore veracities apropos in the Cohen Brotherโ€™s โ€œOh Brother, Where Art Thou?โ€ I could draft a lengthy essay. One Iโ€™m reminded of last Sunday down our trusty Southgate, was the scene depicting the Carter Family singing โ€œKeep on the Sunny Sideโ€ at a governorโ€™s election rally. Reason; thereโ€™s something simplistically bluegrass about The Lost Trades, matchless vocal harmonies, ensuring the circle is unbroken, even in a distant Wiltshire.

It was only a whistle-stop to wet my whistle, and when I did arrive the trio Iโ€™d came for where on their break. Tamsin was selling handcrafted spoons and lesser original band merchandise such as t-shirts and CDs, Phil was lapping the pub chatting enthusiastically and Jamie was having a pint with his family. None of this really matters, as individuals, weโ€™ve rightfully nothing but praised these marvellous local musicians. When they formed a more official grouping and the Lost Trades were born, we broke the news. Neither did it matter, at the time, that I would be unable to attend their debut gig at the Village Pump. I had my new writer Helen offer to take my place, and what is more, I knew Iโ€™d be catching up with The Lost Trades in due course; couldnโ€™t have predicted the impending lockdown the following week.

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Yet prior to Sunday I had ponder if there was anything else to write about these individuals weโ€™ve not covered in the past, but I was wrong. The angle can only be the difference between them as individuals or periodically helping one another out at a gig, to the trio The Lost Trades. Because, when they did everything was very much adlib, with the Lost Trades three minds are working closer than ever before, and if two brains are better than one, three is not, in this case, a crowd.

It wasnโ€™t long before they resettled, and huddled in the doorway of the skittle room playing to the crowd in the garden, as is the current arrangement for these brief acoustic sessions at the Gate. They joyfully toiled with a cover of Talking Headsโ€™ โ€œRoad to Nowhere.โ€ This was followed by my favourite track from Tamsinโ€™s album Gypsy Blood, aptly, โ€œHome.โ€ Topped off with a sublime version of Cat Stevensโ€™ โ€œMoon Shadow.โ€ But I did say it was a whistle stop.

In consolation I picked up their self-titled debut EP, something I should have done months ago. With this beauty in hand I could take a little of The Lost Trades home with me; itโ€™ll play perpetually through those thoughtful moments. Recorded in session at The Village Pump, โ€œbecause we really like the acoustics in there,โ€ explained Tamsin, here is a recording oozing with a quality which, despite predicting, still blew me for six. As I say, itโ€™s the combination of these three fantastic artists in their own right, as opposed the jamming weโ€™ve previously become accustomed to, which really makes the difference.

Five tunes strong, this EP equally celebrates these three talents and harmonises them on a level weโ€™ve not heard before. The acapella beginning of the opening tune, โ€œHummingbirdโ€ glides into stripped back xylophone and acoustic guitar, and is so incredibly saccharine, it trickles like some beatniks performing on a seventies Childrenโ€™s TV show. Yet, it works. In true Simon & Garfunkel manner, itโ€™s not mawkish, just nice.

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Hummingbird serves as a great introduction, but is by no means the template. As is commonplace, from the Beatles to The Wailers, The Trades, I detect, conjoin the writing effort but the lead singer seems to be the one who plucked the idea. โ€œGood Old Days,โ€ then, screams Jamie at me, who leads. It has his stamp, ingenious narrative centred around thoughtful prose. โ€œWherever You Are,โ€ likewise is a Tamsin classic, wildly romantic and wayfarer.

โ€œRobots,โ€ follows, the quirkiest and perhaps erroneous after an initial listen. Yet through subtle metaphors the satirical slant charms in a manner which nods Phil Cooper, and why should one stick to a formula in subject matter? Because the sound is authentically Americana of yore, Robots superbly deflects the notion itโ€™s lost in a bygone era and cannot use modern concepts, and Robots ruling the world is, however much a metaphor, still fundamentally sci-fi, and that makes for an interesting contrast. With that thought in mind, this could be the track which stands out for originality.

As in this review, weโ€™ve returned to the unbroken circle. In full circle the final song, โ€œWait for my Boat,โ€ is a sublimely cool track, casting a direction the trio are clearly heading. For although Jamie leads, thereโ€™s elements of all three middle tracks combined in this sea shanty sounding song. Itโ€™s metaphorical, romantic, with sentimental narrative. It wraps up the EP perfectly, leaving you hanging for the album theyโ€™re working on.

Yes, the Lost Trades is a live group you need to see in person, but this EP really is way beyond my already high expectations. Itโ€™s combination of talents is honest, bluegrass-inspired acoustic gorgeousness you need in your life.

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Phil Jinder Dewhurst at the White Bear

You know youโ€™re stockpiling years when you decide staying in for your birthday is the choicest option. I did, finally, haul my birthday-cake belly off the sofa on Sunday, driven by lingering desire, or an essence of ritual, which put up a fierce battle against my indolence; Iโ€™m glad it won.

Though the anticipated birthday banter and celebratory sacraments were scarce, as the White Bear was held captive by an extraordinarily acute and enthralling sound. An artist I thought Andy had reviewed for a past Sunday session here at this snug tavern, but searching came up with no reference to it, Phil Dewhurst, known as Jinder was mysterious to me as either. Yet he weaves intricate and personal storytelling as an introduction to each song, so you leave feeling you know a little about the musician.

If itโ€™s a Springsteen-esque clichรฉ, Phil summarises well, each song illustrated with an explanation to his thoughts and inspiration while writing it. No matter if itโ€™s fashioned with poetic riddle, once youโ€™ve a background to it stimulus you comprehend. And his writing is well crafted, eloquent and precise.

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While the songs were melodic and mellowing, few with a melancholic theme, Phil conducts his prose against the cynical, and his songs breath an air of positivity over pessimism. There was a running leitmotif of keeping on the sunny side of the street against all odds, and for such, I compare him again to Springsteen, for his wild romantic style. Never was the subject quixotic, pragmatism showed his true colours as he poured his emotion fluently into his songs, attached to acoustic guitar so you couldnโ€™t see the join, through proficient use of the loop peddle he created a beautiful soundscape, like a one-man Pink Floyd.

And it was when to come back with the following verse which really impressed me, Jinder has professionalism in his timing and a natural flare, making this afternoon a notable and entertaining affair.

See, I observe the loop pedal operation with a certain fascination, particularly under the command of the multi-instrumentalist, previous referencing Chris James Marr from a Sheer gig, or when the Arts Festival introduced Devizes to She Robot last summer, but it never ceases to amaze me when a man like Jinder can weave such intense resonances with just an acoustic guitar. The instrumental sections penetrated the mind and drifted from person to person; he clearly knows what heโ€™s doing there, wincing an electric guitar sound or bashing a beat on the side of it.

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Big โ€œbutโ€ here though, it was the crux when he let off the pedal, the songs of simplicity; man, and guitar, ah, the acoustic really showed his true expertise. Iโ€™d recommend and welcome a Phil Jinder Dewhurst gig to all mature aficionados of rock. And marvellously prolific is he, a West Country based international touring musician, Jinder has released ten critically acclaimed albums for five different labels, including Sony BMG and Universal, had top 40 singles with ‘Overthinkers Anonymous’ and ‘Keep Me In Your Heart’, the latter of which has been successfully covered by many other artists and features in 2019’s international smash hit movie ‘Fishermen’s Friends’.

Through the delicacy of lo-fi folk-noir to the crank but pleasing blues tune he charmed the humble audience with personal anecdotes of woe, or uplifting inspirational moments, he expressed his passion for his art, that of friends in collaboration, and he pitched his landmark album The Silver Age with accounts of its orchestration. Iโ€™d like to hear that, yet as solo he has a force of his own, and was the perfect finale to a weekend.

ยฉ 2017-2020 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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Thank You, Jamie R Hawkins

If all products are carefully marketed towards a specific target audience, none I feel, are as precise as boxes of chocolates. The whole idea of taking an everyday item, the sort you might shout to your driver as he approaches the garage, โ€œand get us a Twix,โ€ when stuck in a box suddenly becomes a rare treat, gifted by an acquaintance for a special occasion. Itโ€™s vital you pick the correct box to suit the message; while a Dairy Box says โ€œhappy birthday, Gran,โ€ Milk Tray says โ€œget your kit off love!โ€

Connotations all in the packaging and advertising, push comes to shove, theyโ€™re the same bloody thing, but last thing you want is to hand your gran some Milk Tray. Often, itโ€™s fallacious, a Flake is the most unsuitable chocolate bar to eat in the tub, no matter what the telly might tell you. Thatโ€™s why you have to hand it to the Cadburyโ€™s Roses ad campaign, for while itโ€™s not the best box of chocolates, it is somewhere in the top five. But itโ€™s the across-the-board implications; anyone can buy a box for anyone, for any reason; itโ€™s choco impartial. Buy Roses if you donโ€™t want the receiver to assume you see them like your grandparent, or you want to snog their face off until sore. โ€œItโ€™s just to say thank you;โ€ yeah, yeah, clever bastards.

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New single out from Jamie R Hawkins then, unless youโ€™d rather me waffle about chocolate? Itโ€™s like Roses though, itโ€™s a universal thank you, for friendship, and while it may not the best Jamie R Hawkins song, it just rocked up somewhere in the top five. Though Jamie has pre-set his bar high, and if his May single, Welcome to the Family was quirkily agreeable, Thank You, Friend harks back to the classic sentiments we love Mr Hawkins for. Diluted, this song is more general and will infectiously touch all who hear it, as concentrate it profoundly assesses what a friend is, and how theyโ€™re capable of helping, in a manner The Beatles only skimmed the surface of.

Another perfect production for Phil Cooper; Jamie is on top form. โ€œI never fail to be amazed,โ€ he sings, โ€œThat what defeats me leaves you totally unfazed, itโ€™s almost like I’m lacking in, the thing that makes you so alive, and it’s so good to know you’re always on my side.โ€ Just one of the beautifully rendered verses of this fantastic song which undoubtedly showcases Jamieโ€™s brilliance of song-writing, and with conviction he chants his own words of a song dedicated to his brother with unequalled passion.

It made me think of a time he was supporting a gig at the Cons Club; I drove out of the carpark to see him perched on the wall. Offered him a lift, he was only heading for the British, but jumped in. A handshake wouldโ€™ve sufficed, but Jamie gave us a man-hug; one of the marvellous reasons why I love writing Devizine, Iโ€™ll locally praise what needs to be praised, slag off what needs to be slagged, but itโ€™s also clear most recipients donโ€™t view me as โ€œthe evil press,โ€ but as a friend. And itโ€™d be virtually impossible, Iโ€™d wager, to deliberately make yourself an enemy of Jamie, unless youโ€™re the jealous sort of song-writer, struggling to compose a song a quarter as good as this one.

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Heโ€™s here, heโ€™s there, heโ€™s at the White Bear this Sunday afternoon, catch him when you can, it never gets tiresome despite the fact Jamie does our circuit regularly, like a J S Lowry painting, the songs he weaves always have something different you may not have picked up on before, and his new ones, well, get better and better. This new track is available today through all the music sites. iTunes is too Thorntonโ€™s for me, spotty-thigh or whatchamacallit is too, well, Haribo; hereโ€™s the Bandcamp link, itโ€™s this old timerโ€™s Dairy Box!

ยฉ 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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A Scandal with Tamsin Quin!

There are two sides to every story. Weโ€™ve heard Dollyโ€™s angle since 1973, imagine if Jolene had her say. Traditionally, like gallant fables, songs seldom back the underdog, the aberrant. Particularly the rounded narrative of folk or country, usually tales culturally able to be retold, optimistically.

If the last local singer-songwriter youโ€™d expect to be exploring darker tenets is Tamsin Quin, think again. Akin to Springsteenโ€™s Nebraska, in so much it summons no such communal feeling, rather Scandal, the new single from our illustrious local songstress is secluded in a room of a distant, shady and enigmatic place.

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Image: Nick Padmore

A song of who the cap fits, of watching your own back. Tamsin advises โ€œthereโ€™s criminals in the shadows, pull your friends a little closer.โ€ But cross examines her own persuasions and faith in the notion, maybe, โ€œweโ€™re all scoundrels deep down inside.โ€

Itโ€™s as if the darker depths of Tamsinโ€™s acute words in previous songs have come to detonation; executed sublimely, and produced with eminence by Phil Cooper. Scandal, out next Friday (30th August) is whole new level of excellence for this already blossoming star. I congratulated her, as vocally it sounds deeper and much more refined than anything before. Is that what she was hoping for?

โ€œYep,โ€ she responds as ardently as the same olโ€™ Tammy, โ€œI was totally going for the dark country vibes. Phil did such a great job producing it; Iโ€™m really pleased with the outcome. I hope its dramatic!โ€

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Tis indeed, like Wynette at her darkest; she builds tension around the breakfast table, the penny drops as to why Billie Joe Macalister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge and the protagonist attempts to hide her secret affair. โ€œSo,โ€ I asked, โ€œthis is for a forthcoming album? Can we expect the others to be similar, or am I divulging too much?!โ€

โ€œIโ€™m aiming for a new album next year. The plan is for another single in October, then a single in February, and the album in April.โ€ Tamsin expands the answer, โ€œnot all of the songs are this dark, although I am working on another haunting one at the moment, but the whole album feels a lot more mature that Gypsy Blood. I feel like I’ve grown into myself, and I’m writing what I want to write, instead of what I think the crowd will love. Writing more for myself I guess, although I really hope others really like it too.โ€

That personal enlightenment brews Tamsinโ€™s poise when performing live, โ€œwriting things for yourself does tend to give you a little more confidence in delivery. Which I guess gives other people faith that its good, if you have faith in yourself and your work.โ€

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Image: Nick Padmore

Iโ€™m certain when reviewing Gypsy Blood, I suggested Tamsin sounded more mature, guessing both are a natural progression, though. โ€œGuess you gotta grow up somewhen!โ€ she laughs. I think you never stop learning and growing artistically, until, perhaps you reach a pinnacle and it doesn’t sound so progressive. Does she fear ever reaching that age where they say, โ€œold Tamsin, just going through the motions?”

After stressing the importance to her of critical feedback, she laughed at the notion. โ€œI guess thatโ€™s where the whole ‘writing for yourself’ thing comes in, because if you like your songs then you wonโ€™t care what people are saying.โ€ I suspect that time is a long way off, Scandal in a nutshell is poignant, emotive and, perhaps an unanticipated gift to our music scene, and based upon it, I hold my breath for the album.

 

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Click for Tamsin’s Facebook page and like for updates and gigs!

ยฉ 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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