Must’ve been a sweaty August night last year at our trusty Southgate, when I turned up on the off chance, and staggered home mightily impressed at the levels of swinging juke joint just one husband and wife boater duo, and their drummer, can belt out.…
Albeit Mike and Helen Carter, and drummer Kevin Dempsey, aka 12 Bars Later did covers, and I believe, if memory serves me right, which isn’t often, I admit, but I believe I said you should be producing some originals and Mike replied something along the lines of “it’s in the bag.” Finally, here is said bag, fresh out of Potterne’s Badger Set studio, five gorgeous blues-rock tracks with Helen’s vocals as smooth as Chrissie Hynde munching Turkish delight. I’ll say no more, take a listen and enjoy!
Uplifting and sentimental, Flowers is the new song by Chippenham singer-songwriter Lou Trigg very worthy of your attention and playlist. A chorale delicacy, it trickles along sublimely, like staring thoughtfully through a rain-drenched window, nice and cosy, perhaps with a hand painted chipped-mug of lukewarm but earthy tea.……
Lou is a new one on us here at Devizine, and a welcomed blessing, explaining the idea for Flowers is “about loving someone in a long-distance relationship. Like my other songs, it’s very honest and close to my heart.” Which is precisely the way it comes across, if only one good reason to give it a listen.
Long distance relationships, though, do they ever work out, I mean, really? Any parallels from my own life I reminisce as infatuations only! But it’s the thought is, here, more than anything; the fervency of passion is expressed exquisitely through Lou’s hauntingly acute vocals. There’s a touch of folk, reminding me of Daisy Chapman, somewhat, but this euphoric orchestral ambience is the kingpin.
There’s a further five angelic and orchestrally ambient ballads up on Spotify ranging from 2019, unsure if they’ve all been bought to life by Martin Spencer of Potterne’s Badger Set, but Flowers has, and it’s a little piece of gorgeous.
Christmas has come early for foxes and normal humans with any slither of compassion remaining, as the government announced the righteous move to ban trail…
Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward “E”) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunes…
Wiltshire Music Centre Unveils Star-Studded New Season with BBC Big Band, Ute Lemper, Sir Willard White and comedians Chris Addison and Alistair McGowan revealing their…
Daphne’s Family & Childhood Connection to Devizes Celebrations of Daphne Oram have been building in London since the beginning of December, for those in the…
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, there’s an argument that no one can express your own words better than you. While the many who’ve taken on songs of Dylan, who let’s face it, isn’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.
First impressions last, I’m only a few songs into Reflections, his debut album released yesterday, (6th Nov) and I’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 Whatley’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; “You 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,” taken from You are the Stars, are not the exception, they’re all this serenely stunning.
It’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 one’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.
“There are various musical influences that come through in my music,” Chris says, citing rock, pop, country and folk. “The 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.” I certainly agree, there’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. There’s experimentation at work here, but the experience shines through, Chris Tweedie could chill out Donald Duck!
How long does it take to take to put together a single, and how much longer during the lockdown?
I dunno; don’t ask me, I just write about this stuff, and don’t make a great job of that! I suppose you’ve got pull in all the elements, y’ know, paste together drums and vocals and stuff like that, and y’ know; okay, I’ve no idea what I’m talking about. But they do down at Potterne’s Badger Set.
Marlborough guitar tutor, singer-songwriter and bassist of local covers band Humdinger, Jon Veale’s single, “Flick the Switch,” is flicked on tonight. As the name suggests 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 lockdown to end before getting Paul Stagg into Martin Spencer’s studio to record the vocals.
Jon Veale
Patience paid off, with a speedy vocal harmony intro, this song packs a steady rock punch, yet none too metal. It appeals wide, as a driving, rolling-stone-themed belter, and Paul’s vocals are stimulating, reminding me of a grinding Jamie R Hawkins. Yet, for what it’s worth, it’s the composition which makes this a winner; a couple of listens is all it takes to be singing the chorus, allowing the drums and guitar combo to wash over you like a warm wave crashing on a tropical beach, or, something like that, (apologies, I need a holiday.)
As well as this supportive team, the distribution through Emu Records, Jon also thanks Christine Hurkett who has produced “an insane” lyric video and cover for the song. “In case you’re wondering what did I do on this song,” he jokes, “I wrote the music, the lyrics and played all the guitars!”
I’m intrigued to hear more now, for if this was a track on an album it’d be a title track, unless Jon has something else up his sleeve, there’s already a previous tune featuring the vocals of our Sam Bishop on the iTunes link, so yeah, I dunno, don’t ask me, I just write this stuff!
devizine.com 