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 Frome’s Cheese & Grain on Saturday 15th…..
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.
When future historians of music draw up a list of the movers and shakers who changed the modern musical landscape, Hugh Cornwell’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 globe’s radio waves, and on stages around the world. Hugh’s presence is unquestionable.
As the leader of The Stranglers, Hugh was the main songwriter of all of the band’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 Cornwell’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 Frome’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, that’s the Courettes!
“Cornwell’s still doing things his way and often with striking results,” said Mojo, “Thunderously tribal garage rock… the ex-Strangler not yet gone soft,” 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 ‘Nosferatu’ in full. The record saw Cornwell teaming up with Captain Beefheart’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. He’ll be joined on the road by retro-inspired punk rock duo The Courettes, helming from Denmark and Brazil.
If I’m considering reviewing worldwide music again, why stop with this planet?! Though I’ve reasoned two tenacious links to mention this madcap Scottish interstellar outfit; one, their tour lands them at Frome’s Cheese and Grain on Saturday April 19th, and two, they’re called Henge, and as Wiltshire houses the most famous one of them, that’ll do!
Why am I so keen to mention them? It’s the challenge of summing up something completely unique. It requires a gaping pigeonhole, comical jazzy post-rave space-rock probably best suits; bonkers, in a word. Someone shared a video of them headlining the Shambala Festival and I was abducted, though while I’ve not listened to their previous three albums, we’ll launch off with their forthcoming album Journey to Voltus B, set for release on January 31st, exactly ten years to the day from when the band gave their first live performance on planet Earth.
This is truly out of this world fantastic, and what should’ve been playing at the Cantina in Star Wars. It’s like Scott Joplin came after Eat Static, or Miles Davis was a member of Hawkwind. If Funki Porcini met Altern 8, or Philip K Dick was a guest on Yo Gabba Gabba, it’s the sum of all these parts yet it’s none of them, because it’s alien, pinching Jeff Wayne’s stash for testing purposes and stranding him on an uninhabited Plutoid!
Over seven certifiably insane but glorious tunes you travel to Voltus B with the half-druid mutant electronic spacerockers, the planet of an advanced civilisation with a looming atomic future, and you get to decide their fate!
Side B of the vinyl version of the album has been innovatively cut in ‘parallel groove’ with two tracks, both called Power of the Atom, pressed concentrically to each other on the same side of the record. While one track tells the bleak fate of Voltus B after its inhabitants use their newfound knowledge of atomic power to make weapons, with the planet annihilated in war and entering a nuclear winter; the other tells the story of the planet’s future after the aliens decide to use their scientific discovery to create limitless clean energy through Nuclear Fusion.
But you are supplied with the mission brief enroute. Ascending is the opening tune and first single, which is out now and available on all platforms. It blasts off without waiting for you to lock into position. Then it’s a Slingshot around Mars to get us on our way, a post-punky robotic vocal track with equal pace, which falls dramatically by the third tune as we enter Hypersleep. As it suggests, this is the dreamy ambience of the Orb, and you await for landing, in audio bliss. Descending next, and we’re off again with the crazy uptempo nut-filled jazzy explosion of synths. You’re welcomed to Voltus B like it was a nineties free party, then comes the concluding narrative, like Edward Packard’s Choose Your Own Adventure book series, on acid!
Of the new single, Henge frontman and crew captain, Zpor, explains, “with this new single Ascending we are setting the scene for our latest adventure into space. As we blast off from Earth, it becomes clear that YOU, the listener, are among our crew for this high-stakes voyage, where the fate of an entire planet is literally in your hands.”
This is, without doubt, mind-blowingly progressive, and highly entertaining, especially for stoners, Trekkies and kids of all ages alike, and I tick all those boxes. It’s child-friendly psychedelic vaudeville, the Jetsons meet the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, in Lego.
This new favourite thing made me think about the end of ET, and why Elliot couldn’t go with him, because if music is like this elsewhere in the universe and I was Elliot, I’d have packed glow sticks into my backpack and not looked back at Earth once!
In support of their latest campaign, HENGE are embarking on an extensive run of UK shows planned for 2025. Join the band at the following locations and venues:
From the 5th to the 14th July 2024, Frome Festival plans to up the game of this wonderful and lively town with a bumper programme for all…..
In over sixty-one venues across Frome and surrounding villages, Frome Festival is gearing up for its biggest ever programme, with 250 events taking place over 10 days. This year’s theme celebrates 60 years of Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’, featuring artwork by illustrator Sholto Walker depicting Willy Wonka striding down the streets of Frome. To celebrate this theme, five Golden Tickets will be hidden at various Festival events with winners receiving a scrumdiddlyumptious spending spree at Frome’s local chocolatier and café, Choc et al.
The community arts festival has been a popular fixture in the town since 2001 and aims to offer something for everyone, young and old, including different types of music, theatre, comedy, spoken word, art, dance, film, workshops, children’s events, and food or drink experiences. Expect a dash of Frome’s signature quirkiness!
Children can enjoy bouldering workshops, comic art masterclasses, science exploration of pondlife, theatre productions, a Willy Wonka Rave, outdoor shows and so much more.
And Frome Festival is teaming up with the popular Frome Independent Market on Sunday 7th July, taking over their entertainment stages with music, street theatre, and dance.
Sir Willard White
Headliners for 2024 include internationally acclaimed bass-baritone, Sir Willard White, Jenny Eclair, Richard Herring, Paul Mason, Old Time Sailors, Swinging at the Cotton Club, Alberta Cross, Raghu Dixit, Peatbog Faeries. Alongside one of Frome’s favourite free events, the Festival Food Feast, returning for a celebration of amazing international street food, live music and entertainment. Sponsored by local Frome company Lilley’s Cider.
Other highlights include hilarious stand-up comic Jenny Eclair at the Merlin Theatre, the first woman to win the coveted Perrier Award at Edinburgh Festival in 1995 and hasn’t stopped banging on about it since. India’s biggest cultural & musical export, Raghu Dixit is returning to the Cheese & Grain for the Frome Festival after his triumphant debut last year.
Jenny Eclair
The spectacular Swinging at the Cotton Club is a visual and musical feast paying homage to legends such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie with breathtaking dance routines. In the atmospheric setting of Holy Trinity Church, renowned organ virtuoso David Bednall will provide an improvised soundtrack to the classic 1922 horror movie, Nosferatu.
There’s raucous Old Time Sailors, former economics editor of Newsnight and Channel 4 and a regular Guardian contributor, Paul Mason presenting this year’s Bob Morris Lecture, a keynote speech that is an annual highlight of the Festival programme. Legendary stand-up comic Richard Herring presents his brand-new tour show where he talks bollocks about his recent experience with testicular cancer, at the Cheese & Grain, and Scottish trailblazers Peatbog Faeries also appear at the big Cheese, with a glorious mixture of traditional sounds and dance-floor grooves creating a hypnotic sound that no-one can resist dancing to.
BROCHURES detailing all events are available to pick up from the Cheese & Grain, local libraries, information points and many other locations across Frome and the surrounding area. An online version of the brochure is available here.
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Debuting in 1990, The Brand New Heavies may not be so new any longer, but they’re still heavy, funky acid jazz pioneers and they’re on tour in November to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of their groundbreaking 1994 album Brother Sister, including The Cheese & Grain in Frome on Saturday November 30th….
Propelled by the classic singles “Dream On Dreamer,” Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight At The Oasis” and “Back To Love,” the record achieved huge success (a #4 chart position, over a million sales and a BRIT nomination) as they cemented their position as the pioneers of Acid Jazz.
Still sounding as fresh and timeless as it did back then, The Brand New Heavies celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary with the announcement of the ‘Brother Sister 30’ tour.
Featuring original members Andrew Levy and Simon Bartholomew with the phenomenal vocalist Angela Ricci, the tour will see The Brand New Heavies perform ‘Brother Sister’ in full alongside other hits and fan favourites from their storied history with a complete live band.
The band said, “We can’t believe that Brother Sister is going to be 30 years young! What better way to celebrate than coming to see us play the album in its entirety as well as all our hits.”
Tickets for the shows go on sale HERE from 10am this Friday, May 3rd. They play the Cheese and Grain in Frome on Saturday, November 30th. This saves me finding another vague local reason to mention it along the lines of Midnight At The Oasis was about a swimming pool in Swindon, which is obviously untrue, the leisure centre was always closed by midnight!
With Ranking Junior now taking centre stage, Two-Tone ska icons The Beat will be coming to Frome’s Cheese & Grain on 24th February as they look to energise audiences with some of the most famous ska and reggae tracksever written….
One of the key bands in the UK ska revival of the late ‘70s and ‘80s, The Beat still bring the near-perfect balance of pop melodies and taut rhythms that made them stars and won them worldwide acclaim.
Based in Birmingham, The Beat released their debut single “Tears of a Clown” through The Specials’ 2-Tone label in 1979. The single went Top Ten in the UK and they soon struck a deal with Arista to distribute on their own Go Feet label.
Their debut studio album ‘Just Can’t Stop’ went Gold in England, and included the now-cult single “Mirror In The Bathroom”. The band’s ferocious live performances and clever blend of personal and political lyrics continue to make them stars to this day, and they’ll be diving into their back catalogue at these new shows.
Renowned professor and historian, David Olusoga will be heading to Frome’s Cheese & Grain on 12 January 2024 to speak on ‘the state of the British Union and why black history matters’….
History is now front-page news, and is contested as never before. Statues have fallen and the reputations of great men have been called into question. In the upcoming talk David Olusoga will examine why history matters, delve into the causes of the ‘history wars’ and question where they might lead us.
David Olusoga is an historian, writer and broadcaster. He is the author of ‘Black and British: A Forgotten History’, which was long-listed for the Orwell Prize, shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize and won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. As Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester, he is an expert at examining what history reveals about contemporary society and has regularly contributed to the Observer, The Voice, and BBC History Magazine. A BAFTA-winning filmmaker, he is also a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Black British History. In 2019 was awarded an OBE for services to history and community integration.
He is known for presenting the BBC show ‘A House Through Time’ and has recently launched a new BBC series ‘Union’ which explores national identity, social class and inequality. Shining a light on our fractured modern society through the lens of the past, the series exposes the fault lines that still divide the UK.
Fans can catch David speaking at Frome’s Cheese and Grain this January, and he will also be signing books at the event. Full details below and tickets available now HERE.
Ah, I reckon we’ve had Ruzz and the Revue up here for song of the week more than once before, but here’s a decidedly syncopated five-accent hambone rhythm of Bo Diddley beat the like you’ve never heard him play before….at least I’ve not! Must be their recent US tour rubbing off, all that playing in the desert malarkey!
Hailing from LA, The Mike Eldred trio consists of Mike on guitar and vocals, Chris Smith on bass and drummer Brian Fahey. Casting a spell alright!
Find Ruzz doing his birthday show at the Cheese & Grain, Frome on 10th February, but if you can’t wait that long, how’s about The Southgate, Devizes, where the Ruzz Guitar Trio will be there to entertain you on the big bank holibobs, Saturday 26th August….yes, that is a fortnight away!
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To be able to capture the attention of an age group from little children and grumpy teens to parents and even grandparents is not something that everyone can do. But Michael Rosen is not just everyone.….
He was completely charismatic and had the audience in stitches for his whole show. He grew up surrounded by education, learning, and books, as his parents were primary and secondary school teachers. As he told the audience, when he was younger, he had ‘three parents.’ His mum, dad, and then his older brother, Brian. Brian is older than him by four years, and liked to tell him about his day at school, but also teach him everything he had learnt. Rosen shared the memory of sitting in their shared room whilst his brother would imitate their father at the breakfast table. Within seconds, the whole room was lit up with laughter.
No one was sat without a smile on their face. His impression was animated and came to life as soon as his mouth opened. Everyone was transported into a world of childhood memories.
Michael was born in London and came from a family that was filled with love. He was always interested in writing. He wrote poems for his mother to help her when he came back home from university, and these poems were collected to make his first book. His father was always a bit of a performer, but Michael only found out that he was a performer after writing his first book: ‘Mind Your Own Business.’ He was put in front of around 300 children and completely changed his way of thinking while these 300 kids sang his poem in rhythms and sounds; it was a new way of writing poems.
It was clear to see that as soon as Michael stepped out onto the stage, he wanted to get to know his audience and fans. He instantly pointed out people eating ‘Haribo’s’ in the front row and got to know ‘Henry,’ a young fan eagerly watching for his next joke. Rosen then introduced himself as Michael Raisin and asked the audience questions about their opinions on raisins. Everyone, once again, was laughing as soon as he made a joke.
Michael talked about how he named his books and told stories about people asking him what it was called and having to reply, ‘Mind Your Own Business.’ This caused an eruption in the hall, but he continued to when people asked him about his second book. This time, he would say ‘Wouldn’t You Like To Know,’ and getting the response: ‘Yes, I would like to know.’ Not only did he interact by talking to the audience, but he also made the audience speak and act out his poems with simple movements. Even ‘the dads.’
His captivating poems had everyone doing exactly as he said. As I said earlier, capturing everyone’s attention is a very hard thing to do, but it seems to me that Michael did it with ease. Had Michael not gone into writing, stand-up comedy would have suited him perfectly. If anyone has the chance to spend an hour with this enthralling author, don’t hesitate to go. You will not regret it.
The first day of the school summer holidays will be marked with a very special performance at The Cheese & Grain in Frome, with one of the world’s best-selling children’s authors and poet, Michael Rosen, on Monday 24th July……
With over 140 books published to his name, including the classics “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” and “A Great Big Cuddle”, plus 55 million views on his YouTube Channel ‘Kids Poems and Stories with Michael Rosen’; the Number 1 selling children’s author is all set to come to the Cheese and Grain.
Recently seen on BBC Breakfast and The Repair Shop, the visit also follows Rosen receiving the prestigious PEN Pinter Prize just last week, an award honoured to those whose work is committed to a fearless exposition of truth about contemporary life.
Michael Rosen is one of Britain’s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. His first degree was from Wadham College, Oxford and he went on to study for an MA and a PhD. He is currently Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London where he co-devised and teaches an MA in Children’s Literature.
Michael is also a popular broadcaster and has presented BBC Radio 4’s acclaimed programme about language, “Word of Mouth” since 1998, as well as regularly presenting documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3, including the Sony Gold Award-winning “On Saying Goodbye”.
Michael has published in the region of 200 books for children and adults, including “The Sad Book” with Quentin Blake (Walker Books) – a meditation on bereavement written after the loss of his son, Eddie; “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” with Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books) – made into an animated film for Channel 4 broadcast Christmas Day 2016 – and “A Great Big Cuddle” with Chris Riddell (Walker Books) . His poetry for adults includes “Don’t Mention the Children” (Smokestack) and “Selected Poems” (Penguin). Non-fiction work for adults includes “Good Ideas: How to Be Your Child’s (and Your Own) Best Teacher” (John Murray), “The Disappearance of Emile Zola, Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case” (Faber), and his memoir “So They Call You Pisher!” (Verso).
He has written a book for children and teachers on writing poetry ‘What is Poetry?’ (Walker Books) and has done three booklets for teachers on writing and reading. These are available through his website http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk. He writes up a monthly news page on the website and a blog for teachers giving ideas for writing.
Michael writes a monthly open “letter” to the Secretary of State for Education in The Guardian where he critiques Government policy on schools from the standpoint of a parent. He visits schools, teachers’ conferences and university teacher training departments where he is in demand to give performances, workshops and keynote addresses. He also appears regularly at literary festivals all over the UK and Ireland.
Michael has received several honorary awards, including degrees from the Open University, the University of Exeter, the University of London Institute of Education and the University of East London/Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. For outstanding contribution to children’s literature he received the Eleanor Farjeon Award and was Children’s Laureate 2007-2009. In recognition of his contribution to the profile of French culture in the UK, he was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
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Dreadzone, the Phoenix rising from the ashes of Big Audio Dynamite’s success, when drummer Greg Roberts and keyboardist Dan Donovan teamed with Julian Cope’s sound engineer Tim Bran, were the prolific electronic dance triumph of post-rave….
Owing their accomplishment to the fine blend of reggae into the contemporary melting pot of dance culture, harking back to Two-Tone yet too encompassed the burgeoning breakbeat house scene which in turn would fuel drum and bass. But Dreadzone never went there, the final piece of the jigsaw was bringing in vocalist Earl 16, and they stuck to their guns producing memorable anthems of techno-reggae dub bliss, particularly unforgettable being Little Britain sampling Carl Orff’s Auf Dem Anger.
But if you, like me, were bouncing around a muddy field like Zebedee on a day out from the magic garden to a 1937 classical symphony you might not appreciate me reminding you, Dreadzone celebrate their thirtieth anniversary this year; but it might cushion the blow by letting you know you can join the party at Frome’s Cheese & Grain on Friday 21st April.
Still in the forefront of the festival scene, in 2022, Dreadzone refocussed their show after MC Spee was forced to step back from touring and they explored different aspects of their history and catalogue ahead of their 30th anniversary this year. With a reconfigured line-up for 2023, the band’s live shows will feature core members Greg Dread and original bassmaster Leo Williams, plus legendary reggae vocalist Earl 16, as well as Bazil on technology and Blake Robert (Greg’s son) on guitar.
They have been releasing albums and progressively bettering, refining, and perfecting their own unique and inimitable take on dub since their inception in 1993. Dreadzone opened the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 1994, though if memories of that are hazy at best, I fondly recall a night at Shepard’s Bush Empire in 1995 when I was still dancing to an imaginary dubplate in the cloakroom queue!
With plans for their 30th Anniversary firmly underway, standby for a new studio album later in the year too.
“They can get no time to press, Because of all the distress that the society leads. What I’m a longing for is some happiness,”
Black Uhuru “Happiness.”
Frome’s Cheese & Grain today annouced the booking of The Counterfeit Beatles in November, which is all fine and dandy, but yesterday it sadly had to notify ticket holders for next month’s appearance of legendary reggae band Black Uhuru that the show had been cancelled.
In fact, after numerous postponements, the entite UK leg of the tour has been axed, due to a backlog in visas. The Cheese & Grain expressed their sorrow, explaining they’ve “been assured that the band and their representatives have tried everything in their power to make this work, but unfortunately there is now no option but to cancel this show.”
Kinda reminded me of my favourite upcoming ska band, Girls Go Ska, from Mexico, proudly posting their European tour dates on Facebook, without a single date on England’s green and pleasent land. I commented, “I wish you could come to England.” And though the South America ska scene developed separately from the retrospective niche of Two-Tone here, the girls are fully aware of our nation’s importance within the roots of international ska, and replied with sad emoji, “so do we.”
Now the tour is reality, all I get is fantastic looking video clips from Germany, of crowds enjoying the pinnacle of contemporary South American ska, when I’ve no hope in hell of ever seeing them live.
Not to moan too much about the divided issue, and as much as I enjoy a Beatles tribute, I have to ponder, is this what Brexit Britain has become? Barricaded in from outside influence, regurgitating archived moments of British achievements in the form of tribute acts, much less, extremely unlikely for upcoming UK artists to export their wares in the same method the flagwaving-idolised achievers of yore once did?
Ironic in considering if we had Brexit in the sixties, we wouldn’t have had The Beatles. Derry and the Seniors were doing well in Hamburg for booking agent, Allan Williams, whilst the young skiffle band on his books, who had recently rebranded from The Quarrymen were paltry amateurs, lost amidst the flooded market of the Merseybeat circuit. So Williams sent the young hopefuls on a similar path, to Hamburg, and what came out the other end was the greatest band ever; every gammon wave your union jack now.
Everything about the Beatles was honed and shaped in Germany, from their performance skills, their association with Brian Epstein, and even the famed hair-do. The ability for UK musicians to tour other countries, particularly in Europe was paramount in shaping pop music, and equally, from Buddy Holly to Kraftwerk, the influence of international acts touring the UK.
I have to tip my hat to Frome’s Cheese and Grain, how such an average sized Somerset town can attract the standard of act usually reserved for cities. On Beatles, the venue has built the kind of reputation whereby Paul McCartney will pitstop for an intimate gig on his way to Glastonbury. But for want of an influx of international artists seems reserved for megastars on the Springsteen level, of which you need a stadium-sized venue, and you’d need to morgage your home for a ticket.
Longleat hosted a Diana Ross concert, and a number of other household names this summer, in the kind of conservative thinktank arrangement which took an average three hundred notes off each punter then told them they couldn’t bring in a folding chair. As if anyone who had amassed that kind of wealth to wantingly throw three hundred quid at one gig, and who would be eager to see a heronie of 55 years past would be of a suitable age to stand like a teenager for four hours; you can bet your bottom dollar a few deckchair hire conpanies rubbed their hands together that night. The young get tetchy when being herded like cattle, I can only imagine the disappointment from their elders.
Live music is big business, I get that, the hospitality industry was bought to it’s knees through lockdown, I get that too, but relaying the deficit onto the punter will not bring a stream of genuine fans, it will only bring an inequality culture of those who can afford to will, those who can’t have to suck it up.
But it’s not just about way to go to whack up the price of a Womad ticket, but more about the missed opportunities for amateur and semi-professional artists to export their talent further afield. What’s the point of extending a reputation internationally online, if you cannot follow it up by appearing live without an unaffordable bill, a financial advisor and a year’s worth of paperwork to fill in just to take a tambourine on a continental flight?
And what do we get in return for this supposed will of the people? An oil rig dragged into Weston-super-Mud and decorated with taxpayer’s much needed banknotes to resemble a pathetic play on words, “See Monster.” Yes, I do see a monster, as I swig from my crown embossed pint margo, pointlessly waving my blue pissport; it’s stranded us on this island with a bunch of self-serving, ignorant bastards.
Best we can do right now, is support the little man, to show our love and support to the burgeoning DIY ethos promoting local live music. This is where fervour remains, in the enthusiasm of imending talent, and pray for a better day when the red tape of welcoming international acts will be cut.
Without certified limitations on Devizine, I freestyle the boundaries of listing events upon the ethos if it’s conceivable and practical to drive to from our Devizes base, then what the hell, I’ll list it. While it’s laborious, and often impossible to include every Wiltshire pub with a man with a guitar yodelling Wonderwall in, I try my upmost, but the wider we journey the vaguer it obviously gets; I’m not flipping omnipresent.
I’m partial to listing events in Frome, though, despite it bordering my ruling, for two reasons; 1: The Cheese & Grain; the non-profit, community led, all-purpose venue, punches well above its weight, booking the quality of acts you’d expect to trek to a city for.
And 2: I get this overall perception of Frome being this little Somerset haven of alternative arts and culture; like a West Country Brighton, without a pier. But in all honesty, it’s hearsay; it could have a pier for all I know, for other than dropping in on my previous employment as a delivery driver, and to navigate its bypass on my way further west, I confess, I’ve never actually explored the centre of Frome; what-cha gonna do? I don’t do urban rambling, and deplore the mechanical façade of orthodox window-shopping.
In a weekend where I decided to bunk gigging, as previous weekends I’ve golloped three apiece, realise I’m addicted to writing and have to knock some-waffling-thing up for the sake of my sanity, even if it comes across school holiday assignment. Up until Sunday options were slim, Britain’s Got Talent the epicentre of entertainment ingested, followed by a surprisingly tricky quiz show hosted by the Not Going Out comedian, in which questions might’ve been easier if BGT hadn’t previously fried my cranium.
So, with Dad’s taxi booked to Longleat Forest with an approximate three-hour interval, I start contemplating how to kill said three hours. With strict satirical nonstarters like “keep driving,” “catch the first bus out of there,” and “end it all now!” being the responses to a Facebook post requesting ideas of how to kill three hours on a drizzly spring Sunday morning in Warminster, I made a note to reconnoitre why it’s considered so dismal and cultureless, other than its discouraging namesake relating to war, which is never much fun, coupled by my discovering a Warminster community hub website which, when you click their event guide comes up “page not found,” and perhaps sought to rectify this if possible, another time.
It was a no-brainer, head to Frome, Sunday mid-mornings aren’t the liveliest of times anywhere, so if I could find some hippy-chick knocking up a bowl of humus barefoot on the street, at least it’d be something. Noted I’d crossed state line as drystone walls envelope fields, hills get that bit steeper and road systems are purposely designed to ward off, or merely confuse the shit out of grockles.
To save diverting in circles, I implored myself to dump the car at the next available carpark and pray it was walking distance to the town centre. Cliché mainstream shop Marks & Sparks Food Hall and the Frome Job Centre provided clues, unimpressively. I mean yeah, they’ve got the archetypical charade of chain stores, though the borderline acceptable Subway being the only fast-food joint, if Greggs is endurable, and yay, they robbed me two quid to park on a Sunday to ascend vertical cobblestoned streets like Dale Winterton mountaineering, only to browse closed shops wondering why I didn’t slouch in the car playing WordLots on my Samsung.
What upped my spirits, other than a bakery sign saying Cornish pasties for £2.50 (I mean, who does that? Have I slipped through a wormhole to the nineteen-nineties, or is this the Isle of Wight?) was a window display of an arty emporium sardonically mocking Brexit and the travesty of the Conservatism regime through decorated mugs and other handmade merchandise. I smiled at the audacity of a shop which would be petrol-bombed by our knuckle-dragging majority of Daily Fail readers back in Devizes before it opened; I’d fit in here.
For want of getting lost, I wobbled back down the hill, locating The Sun Inn, one watering-hole with a Tardis for a door I’d noted for holding the odd live music event; perhaps that was my route back in time but without a rainbow scarf I couldn’t gain access, ramming the door only woke the dog and I assessed I was too early. Though by the time I’d detoured once more, governed by a broken compass, found another closed boozer I’ve listed as a music venue, uninventively named 23 Bath Street, I went on a hunch the side road by The George would be the way to my mecca.
Sure enough, over a bridge in a carpark a visage appeared, the golden wooded entertainment cathedral of The Cheese & Grain. With a café, The Grain Bar, on the side it was lively already, as a regular children’s clothes market, Little Pickles was just closing, allowing me to sneaky peak at the impressive venue. I could just imagine some great acts playing, who have in the past graced this stage. It was no Albert Hall, it was functional, yet in by modernism standard it was chic, alluring nonetheless.
I considered my tummy, at the café, but wandered off as on the way over to it, I’d seen another attraction beckoning me. Black Swan Arts is another point of interest, and I sheepishly entered, as a stranger does in a gallery shop. With some lovely art, you usually browse the circuit, make your excuses and go the way you came in, cos as much as I adore art, my wallet doesn’t.
Yet this was such a charming gallery, hosting plenty of workshops, it just fizzled into the Frome life already blossoming from its slumber outside. But I didn’t go out through the out-door, I sauntered to the rear of the shop to appear next in queue for the café, The River House, conveniently.
Handsomely expedient and adorably unpretentious, they kookily handed me a mini-figure of Batman’s Robin, rather than a spoon with a number on (which I secretly wanted to keep,) and proceeded to knock me up a hunky-dory mug of tea and perfectly toasted sausage ciabatta for a mere seven quid.
That’s when I got the bat-signal, sadly, my time was up and Dad’s taxi was back on call; just as I was getting into sharing my table with middle-aged beatniks far cooler than me. I pondered upon my return to the carpark, as a fellow sat on a bench practising his flute, Frome is a wonderfully original, outlandish place, deffo. If I was a younger, unattached lad, I could be persuaded to settle there, become part of the furniture at the Cheese & Grain.
But as it is, aging rapidly, rooted here with a settled family, and I must say, content with Devizes, I could only wish that our town council, our event organisers, and the great doers in town could take a leaf out of Frome’s books, shake off the partial frumpiness of Devizes, the discreditable tory grasp, and think outside the box. For all the great amenities we have in Devizes match Frome, yet our ability to utilise them as effectively, to accommodate everyone and their ways no matter how eccentric they might appear to others, sometimes, and I stress, only sometimes, falls beneath our potential; in, ha, you know, my honest opinion.
Though, I’ve returned home, added listings for The Cheese & Grain to our event calendar, as usual, but I mean, look, it falls within the ruling, really; they’ve got The Beat, The Feeling, Zion Train, Stiff Little Fingers coming up, they’ve even got Public Image Ltd, and thems worth driving the distances for, worth crossing border control into the land of somersetting for, if we can’t have Johnny Lydon here, punking up the Corn Exchange!
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To celebrate the release of his new single “the Gathering,” featuring Jason Isbell and Muse’s Dom Howard, multi-award-winning Frank Turner, one of the UK’s most successful solo artists of the past decade, selling over one million records worldwide and playing to over two million people from small venues to a sold-out show at London’s famous Wembley Arena, announces a UK tour. The good news for Turner fans is, Sheer Music nabbed the man himself for two dates at the Cheese & Grain.
Out via Xtra Mile Recordings of Polydor Records, The Gathering is his first new solo music in nearly two years. That said, we did review his Buddies sequel album with Jon Snodgrass not so long ago.
Launching today, The Gathering is available to stream now across all platforms, alongside are the exciting details for a series of nine live show ‘Gatherings’, headed by Frank and Xtra Mile Recordings and running over summer 2021. Tickets for all shows on sale from 10am BST on Friday May 7th.
It’s said Frank Turner didn’t want to write a lockdown song. Over the past year he’s written and rewritten songs, trying to steer himself away from the subject that will no doubt dominate the charts for years to come. But for a man whose life and career are so intrinsically linked to live music, not referencing the dearth of festivals and gigs started to prove impossible. Not least since Turner himself has spent much of lockdown playing virtual shows from his living room, raising over £250,000 to support endangered grassroots venues up and down the UK, many of which might not have otherwise survived the pandemic.
So, it’s fitting that Frank’s new single ‘The Gathering’ is an upbeat, Glam-esque stomp. It puts a positive spin on things, anticipating a return to normality. “It’s about that moment when you come together in a room full of people, and you lean on a stranger and sing along with the chorus and get the words wrong,” explained Frank.
Produced by Rich Costey (Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters), who Frank worked with on 2013’s Tape Deck Heart, ‘The Gathering’ features pile driving drums courtesy of Muse’s Dom Howard and a triumphant guitar solo from Jason Isbell, who recorded remotely from Los Angeles and Nashville. The new track follows a number of huge life changes for the star, who left his beloved London for the Essex coast, also getting married after the release of 2019’s No Man’s Land. “The biggest thing for me about the lockdown experience was about identity,” he says. “I am the guy who tours, this is who I’ve been since I was sixteen. This is the longest period of time I’ve slept in the same bed continuously since I was seven.”
Set to change this summer, when, in celebration of the ethos behind ‘The Gathering’ Frank and label Xtra Mile Recordings will present a run of outdoor shows, helping to kick start the return of live music. It’s been a catastrophic year for the Industry as a whole, with the Covid pandemic dealing blow after blow for everyone in the sector. In true punk rock style, Xtra Mile and Turner want to take matters into their own hands with a set of versatile events that can either be socially distanced or full capacity depending on the maximum safety of the audience, performers and crews and in accordance with any national restrictions in place at the time of the event. Frank says; “At a time when the pandemic has wreaked havoc all across the live music industry, I feel like it’s important to get back to the basics – playing live music to entertain a crowd. This summer, with Xtra Mile and friends, I’m taking the punk approach – do it yourself, find a way. I can’t wait.”
2021 UK ‘Gathering’ Live Shows include Bideford in June, and Frome’s Cheese & Grain on both Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June. The tour continues through July with dates in Liverpool and Gloucester, August at Manchester and Hull will need to wait until September.
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