The mighty mighty Minety Music Festival announced The Bluetones as their Sunday headliner at their Eames Laurie Main Stage, and The Dub Pistols on the Saturday…..
It’s not unspoken, weLOVE Minety Music Festival here at Devizine and don’t care who knows! It never fails to attract with some superb renowned names, and then throws in a plethora of local acts either established or upcoming, and in doing so creates a marvellous atmosphere where local music is supported via the followings of international headliners.
Formed in London in 1996 by Barry Ashworth, the Dub Pistols are a renowned British collective fusing dub, reggae, ska, hip-hop, and electronic music, and the party rockers will be headlining the Saturday.
“We’re super excited and have wanted to bring The Dub Pistols to Minety for around three years,” chief organiser Rich Swatton tells us, “and this time, the stars have finally aligned. If you know, you know, and if you don’t know… speak to someone who knows. You’re going to love this!”
The Bluetones first came to prominence in 1995, when their debut release ‘Are You Blue Or Are You Blind?’ broke into the top 40. The single proved to be the launching pad for a run that saw 14 hit singles and 6 albums follow on from it. They headline Sunday.
The Bluetones, formed in Hounslow, are made up of brothers Mark & Scott Morriss, alongside Adam Devlin and Eds Chesters, enjoyed considerable UK and Ireland successes, extending out across into Europe and Japan, before taking a hiatus in 2011 that lasted for 4 years. Since then they have re-established themselves as one of the UK’s most consistently entertaining live acts, regularly touring their extensive catalogue to their army of devoted fans.
2024 saw the release of the first new Bluetones material in 14 years; a renaissance that saw the four original band members take in the summer festivals, before a full UK tour in the autumn/winter of 2024.
The release of ‘London Weekend Television’ in 2025 saw them reaffirm themselves as indie-pop royalty, and 2026 sees the band celebrate the 30th anniversary of Platinum selling album ‘Expecting To Fly’, famed for hit singles, such as ‘Bluetonic’, ‘Slight Return’ and Cut Some Rug’.
“We can’t wait to welcome them to Minety Music Festival, for the very first time,” Rich said, “you’re in for a real treat!”
Minety is near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, and is happening from 2nd-5th July 2026. Tickets only available from: www.minetyfestival.co.uk/buy-tickets
When I put together the 4 Julia’s House compilation albums a few years ago I decided I shouldn’t pick favourites out of the eighty-one songs donated, but if I had to, it would’ve indisputably been Atlantic O by Will Lawton and Ludwig Mack. With the ambience of the gods, this track is such a soothing sentimental earworm it makes you go all tingly as it drifts like a lost ship on the sea. Now the duo have released a debut album, matching the sublimity of Atlantic O. The story behind it is of an absorbing coincidence, and its unique marketing is equally as genius as the music…..
At the time I was aware of the virtuosity and diversity of Malmsbury musical magician, Will Lawton, from solo performances and fronting The Alchemists. At the time he sent the tune for the project he briefly explained Ludwig was an Argentinian musician he had been working with, but their connection is far more complex and is explained in the book to the album, which is in turn, currently the only way to hear it.
A story of serendipity expressed earnestly through a 36-page hardback, which continues to detail the thought processes of the album, each individual song, and the musicians which accompany them along the titled journey Five Years in the Cotswolds. Then, on the back cover there’s a QR code to scan, leading you to streaming options; I suggest you do, your ears will love you forevermore.
Enticed by the lure of English music, and his European travelling plans cut short by the pandemic, Argentinian musician Ludwig Mack arrived in the UK from Spain a day prior to lockdown. He had already connected with Will via Instagram, not realising when he settled in Hullavington he was coincidently only a few miles away from Will’s home. They jammed together, the song Atlantic O, and within a year produced the EP Heroes.
Ludwig explored the UK, and found work whether he could, whilst Will continued with family life, his band the Alchemists and his employment as a music psychotherapist. But Ludwig often dropped in to see Will, and it was inevitable this project would blossom like the opening tune, aptly Blossom, a tender springtime daydream contrasting aging with memories. It’s as majestic as the morning chorus, and includes a naturally sourced one too.
The fabric of this album continues on this theme, indeed Songbird follows suit into the most gentle flow of concentrated bliss. It’s the first single released this Friday (10/10) of the goodness of nature rather than society’s machine, unhinged and timeless piano-based folk, and celebratory of the glory wildlife in all its splendour, wrapped in the warmest serenity. By its very composure it defines the sum of all this goodness and shapes a heart in your mind; if an album was a wander through a springtime meadow, this is a stroll to remember.
It comes as no surprise Will is a music psychotherapist, if the vocation is to improve wellbeing, increase happiness and overcome issues. One listen to Five Years in the Cotswolds is the best remedy. Ten solid tunes, all the like to make the little hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention. There’s few artists able to accomplish this, I could cite many, from Bill Withers to John Denver and you will contemplate your favourites when this caresses your senses.
The album lifts with euphoric pace at God’s Plan, and I’m left thinking of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On as its aperture opens the album to a similar width of beauty. From the guitar chimes of November to the quirkiness of the bluegrass-esque Walk Each Other Home, and from the amorous ambience of Clouds to Freya Everest’s haunting vocal range on I Noticed, this album continues flowing on the theme as a paragon, never meandering off course.
Its production is as crisp as autumn leaves, the arrangements are like sunlight. The composition is a Vivaldi, its versification is W. H. Davies’ Leisure, the musical expression of a Monet, a pilgrimage to a Constable masterpiece, or all of these wonders capturing the beauty of nature equally combined and consumed, it really is this breathtaking. Devizine
Its production is as crisp as autumn leaves, the arrangements are like sunlight. The composition is a Vivaldi, its versification is W. H. Davies’ Leisure, the musical expression of a Monet, a pilgrimage to a Constable masterpiece, or all of these wonders capturing the beauty of nature equally combined and consumed, it really is this breathtaking.
Bath’s producer and musician, Rob McLeod, aka Mac Lloyd, Spanish multi-instrumentalist Guillem Mitchel, London based jazz singer-songwriter and producer Freya Everest and drummer Tony Partridge who met Will at Schtumm in Box, are the other collaborators behind this enchanting project, alongside composer and arranger Benjamin Lawton, Will’s son.
Streaming platforms are held off until next year on this, the book to Five Years in the Cotswolds is the album’s only current access point, and is available on their website, and at upcoming gigs, The Castle, Swindon on 16th October, and Pound Arts in Corsham on 6th November, details of which are also on their website.
Images: Jess Worrow Ah, for the connotations of US drive-in movie theaters, now in decline over the pond, but embedded as characteristic romantic americana; the…
Broke my Minety Music Festival cherry, and it was gurt lush! When it comes to live music and festivals, I initially set a high bar. My first concert was Springsteen in ‘87, and aside from traveller’s free parties, my first festival was Glastonbury. These days hedonism is reduced to finding smaller local festivals to savour, enjoy a pint or four; I’m done with tired feet trudging acres of tents, and what’s more, paying a king’s ransom for a multitude of elements I’m unlikely to witness because it’s all going off simultaneously; my eyes were kaleidoscopic anyway.
Though I miss those heady days, finding middle ground is tricky. The disambiguation of “festival” today is such a pub putting a man with a guitar under a gazebo and flogging undercooked hotdogs off a barbecue constitutes a festival, apparently. No, I need at least a taste of the heyday; monumental fun yet diverse, hassle-free adequate attractions without the notion I’m being taken for a mug. If my want was an ice cream, sure I’ve found some single scoop cones of vanilla, some even plop a flake into it, but this weekend I found the ultimate brownie, millionaire rocky road sundae; everything I want and expect from a festival, topped in caramel and sprinkled with Space Dust, close by, and easy to access in a tall glass. It’s called Minety Music Festival, near Malmesbury, and they’re so amicable they even supply those long-handled spoons to dip right into the chocolate sauce at the bottom; meaning, it was good to the end.
The intention was only a taster, pop down on the Sunday, check it out, report my findings, but I got a scrumptious bellyful from this alone. Minety is undoubtedly the best all-rounder local festival I’ve seen, period. It’s unfortunate the previous years I’ve advertised this on our event calendar and thought, now there’s a thing, but I hadn’t plunged in. It all now seems so foolish to have passed it off. Nearly all the bands we love and promote on Devizine have graced a stage here. Of them those lovely indie popsters Talk In Code bunged me on their guestlist, and it’s hardly Timbuktu, rather a twenty-five minute drive away; arm twisted, it’s now for me to justify my reasons for telling you how bloody fantastic Minety is, but it is.
Starter for ten, everything is bound around the edges of one gigantic field, you cannot get lost in a maze of tents. Between three stages everything you could possibly want from a festival is there. Kids are spoiled, something often overlooked at others; climbing wall, circus workshop, arts/crafts tents, storytelling, inflatables, face painting, arty kidz, and a cosy tent called the Tree House with an abundance of instruments to try; I swear bands were formed in there. Youths tended to dance or chill at a wonderfully decorated DJ venue, hosted by an eclectic online radio station, the Incapable Staircase, me too; Peter Pan, me, y’know!
I chose to dine there, takeaway Thai curry from a stall with a restaurant in Purton, on cushions thrown outside, next to a bathtub once filled with free waffles, now just furry pillows. Which brings me to my next reasoning; value for money. Food options were incalculable, any street food you fancy, but Minety also supplied a café flogging beans on toast for a pound fifty, or burgers for three quid, and pints at the bar were £4.50, cheaper than some pubs. There was never the archetypal downer you were open to being ripped off, leaving enough in your pocket to consider browsing the great festival stalls of gifts, cakes, or clothes.
Everything has its place at Minety, it’s their seventh year, subtracting those we don’t mention. They know what they’re doing, and the attention to detail was immaculate, equating to a tremendous vibe of positivity. The mammoth task of organising something on this scale was putty in their hands, and I salute them for this and the given concept of booking a handful of averagely known names for headliners and leaving the rest to supporting local acts; this is my third and final reasoning to why Minety is fantastic, and that should be plentiful to tempt you.
Ergo, our loveable poptastic indie darlings Talk in Code, who absolutely and definitely knocked it out of the farm, by the way, preceded a gorgeous set from reunited nineties giants Sleeper, who I favoured over the grand finale of Irish rock band Ash, but others might argue this and quite rightly so, as both rocked. And this was just Sunday, other nights The Feeling headlined, with Elles Bailey and The Chase.
But Minety is also smooth around the edges, as you wander tent to tent. There were a few must-sees for me, Swindon’s grunge newcomers I See Orange were awesome as predicted, in a tent hosted by Chippenham’s Kandu Arts, and The Sarah C Ryan Band were equal, euphorically cool at the Minety stage. Then there’s the discovery element, whereby a number of bands have now come to my attention, none more so than Arkansaw Jukebox, who play singalong pop classics from Spice Girls to Queen, albeit in a bluegrass fashion, and when it’s time to cover a country classic, Country Roads takes on a ska offbeat to make Toots blush! This tenet of jollification brought the tent down.
Others noteworthy were Hooch, blasting some danceable covers, reimagining the Faithless classic, a youthful semi-gothic four-piece called Pavilion, and nineties Seattle grunge-inspired The Rain City Project, with astute Pearl Jam and Nirvana covers. With the range on offer as vast as acts booked, and hurtling between them as fast as my ageing legs will take me, it’d need an essay length review to cover all, and you’ll be bored shitless before I reach my epic conclusion; festivals are a “you had to be there” thing, apologies to those I may’ve missed mentioning.
But if that popular shirtless tattooed entertainer Jimmy Moore covering the theme to Spongebob, Spice Girls on banjos, stripy stilt walk jugglers with bowler hats, or more upcoming young bands than you’d catch at a college talent show won’t satisfy you, or just this idea of wandering few steps to get from drum n bass at the aforementioned Staircase, to some middle-agers, Chippenham’s Free Spirits, in the Kadu Arts tent enjoy an enjoyable recital of Dire Straits doing the walk of life, and a conglomerate of kindly North Wilts and South Gloucestershire freakshow punters out to revel isn’t enough to rock your boat, you need to downsize your vessel, skipper, because Minety’s boot fits me; a blindingly stupendous do. I’m tempted, if not feel it compulsory to dust off my dome tent and do the whole shebang next year, even if it finishes me off for good!
Busy on the festival circuit Talk in Code are regulars here. Though they expressed a history of unpreventable technical mishaps, this year they were third from top billing, full of zest and gave the sublime show we love them for. The crowd were pumping along with their engaging and original poptastic stage show, “Talkers” or not, a presence improving with every appearance, and proving them far more than musical fluffers for the following headliners. But as the story goes, I didn’t witness a single band at Minety which would make me look the other way.
In conclusion, if before Minety I held a dilemma of what’s best between coughing up dollar for multiple elements you’re unlikely to catch because they’re spread over multiple arenas miles apart, or a cheaper single stage plan whereby you get to see everything, if you wanted to or not, Minety is the middle ground. Centred in a single field, and averagely sized, it’s no trouble to saunter stage to stage, and being scheduled at different quarter of an hour timings, convenient should you have a change of heart. This, tripled with a buzzing aura, plentiful attractions, and a program delivered with clear intention of entertaining, and motivated by a desire to include local or upcoming acts, is cherries on the sundae, and for it Minety Music Festival is well worthy of your attention. If you only do one festival annually, Minety would make the perfect choice.
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Nearly September, time to sew those name tags onto school uniforms. Still, loads to entertain you throughout the month. I’ve exhausted our ever-updating event calendar, do please check it out. I promise you, you’ll have never seen so much information on things to do within a reasonable drive from Devizes, all collated and into one…
Independent optician, Haine & Smith, are backing a national campaign this summer to raise awareness of the link between screen time and short-sightedness in children.……
Myopia is a growing, global, epidemic linked to the amount of time spent looking at tablets, phones and TV screens. If left un-diagnosed, this can cause serious eye problems in later life.
Anna Lewin, Clinical Lead at Haine & Smith, advised: “Along with cutting back on screen time, we’re also encouraging parents and guardians to get their children’s eyes examined regularly. This will allow your optician to see the health of the eyes and whether they have deteriorated at all since the last exam. Our opticians can provide helpful tips on ways to keep your children’s eyes healthy which is extremely important while they are still growing and developing.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that up to half of all people will have myopia by 2050. This is a startling figure which is why we have to educate people now to hopefully bring this figure down.”
Anna has also given some signs to look out for which could indicate your child is short-sighted. “They could be struggling to see the board at school, squint when they try to see something in the distance, hold their screen close to their face or sit close to the TV and maybe even complain of headaches. Although sometimes there are no signs or symptoms, which is why regular eye tests are so important.”
Anna Lewin Clinical Lead at Haine & Smith
The aim of the national campaign by Myopia Focus is for myopia to be recognised as an ocular disease by the NHS and for there to be free myopia management for all children in the UK. Haine & Smith has signed the petition and is giving its full support to get this agreed upon.
Children under the age of 16 are entitled to a free NHS eye test and, if needed, free glasses. To make an appointment with Haine & Smith either visit your local practice, call them to book a test, or fill out the contact form on the website www.haineandsmith.co.uk
Myopia Facts
1 in 3 people in the UK are affected by myopia
2.6 billion people worldwide have myopia or short-sightedness
In the last 50 years, the number of children in the UK with myopia has doubled.
By 2050 half of the world’s population will be myopic
**Information and figures from World Health Organisation and Myopia Focus (www.myopiafocus.org/)**
What the Myopia Focus petition aims to achieve:
Myopia recognised as an ocular disease by the NHS
To provide a myopia screening service across UK schools from the age of 4-5 to include all children and all areas
To provide a new GOS (general ophthalmic services) provision for children to pay a higher eye examination fee to take account of myopia screening and management, including a three-month recall for those with progressive myopia and undergoing treatment
To provide a new tier of spectacle/contact lens vouchers for myopia management – to ensure that all children receive free access to myopia management solutions to a minimum standard
To provide free eye examinations to those with high myopia of any age
To provide free eye examinations to all myopes up to the age of 25
To provide greater provision for vouchers for myopia management optical appliances for those over 25 on limited means
The Government to set up a task force to listen to the optical/ophthalmic bodies and align with the WCO stance
Secondary care NHS to include myopia management in eye departments
The government to invest in a large scale public health campaign to reduce the potential risk to our children’s and grandchildren’s long term sight health
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As an Eastender who spent most of his adult life in Essex, my dad had exceptional directional sense, once recalling roads in Germany he travelled on a school trip decades later, but put him in Kent and, for some reason, he was lost. Since I’m an Essex boy living in Wiltshire all my adult life, seems I’ve replaced Kent for Gloucestershire. You only need to get me near the border, north of Chippenham, west of Wotton Bassett, and I’ve completely lost my bearings; I’m fuzzy on the Fossway, air-brained by the Air Balloon Roundabout.
I wonder if it’s this, or simply our county’s market town live music circuits appear insular at times, that, other than agricultural hip hopper Corky, and Minety Music Festival, a venerable annual event honouring local music, about exhausts my knowledge on the subject; but one thing I do know about music in that area is, The Dirty Smooth rock, absolutely.
This slick, groove-pop-rock four-piece blew my mind with the single Seed to the Spark, a few years ago. A power-pop punch with rhythmic grooves and robust vocal hooks, the type, with its subtle balance of male to female vocals, makes one think someone slapped Deacon Blue in the chops and threatened, “now give us something that really rocks!”
Tomorrow, March 11th, sees them release a new single, Black Jack City, of which I was expecting something along similar lines, which would be no bad thing. But it has a rockier edge, retrospective of soft metal moments, aching of Guns & Roses, yet sounding as fresh and exciting as the previous tune.
A three-minute explosion of drums and guitar driving blues-rock, with added harmonica, apt for impending spring, windows wound down and hitting the road. If this pounder is Paradise City reborn, it comes up for air just once, for a “Whoa!” break, and then just keeps giving.
It’s Road House in tune, air-kickingly optimistic and titillating. Immediately anthemic, this teaser track from an upcoming album, Running From the Radar, is a tune which drip-dries you to crave more, one reason why The Dirty Smooth are no strangers to the festival circuit, helping set up aforementioned Minety festival, which was shortlisted at the UK Festival Awards for Best New Festival category.
Their debut EP Rise awarded them with sell-out local shows and radio interviews, this truly expands their horizons, and coupled with upcoming North Wiltshire acts, such as Swindon-based Talk in Code, and SexJazz, there’s a real feel-good factored revitalisation for punchy pop-rock, something we must invite further south of the county, judging on the merit of Black Jack City alone.
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Here’s a fun and free game to play for all the family over the school holidays, where you can find out which one of you will be the new Wiltshire Police Crime Commissioner!
Well, actually, it’s a bit rubbish. But face it, once our council tax hits the roof to pay the £1.4 million for another PCC election, after the Tories made what is technically known as a cock-up, you won’t have the spare cash to buy another board game, so you might just as well print out this game board and make do.
You need five people to play the game, each player decides to take the role of a candidate respectively, no arguing now, not everyone can be Mike.
You will need to find a dice, who do I look like? Rich Uncle Pennybags? This isn’t Waddington’s you know. Oh, and some counters too, one for each of the following colour codes:
Blue: Conservative
Red: Labour
Yellow: Lib Dem
Orange: Independent
Murky Grey: Reform
Put your counters at the start and the first to roll a six, starts. Move around the board and the winner is the one who reaches the end first, democratic huh? But beware, if you land on a square corresponding to the colour of your candidate, you must obey the command written on it without question, as real police would. No Dirty Harrys here please; play fair, just like all the real candidates.
Best of luck, and have fun. Just think this could be the first Wiltshire election where the Tories don’t win hands down, but I doubt it, they paid me a backhander to rig the game! If you do win remember to whoop whoop, because that IS da sound of da police.
That moment after a message from a local band, when you click on their Facebook page to find eleven friends already “like” them, and not one of them told you! Yeah, I’m talking, but I ain’t saying anything new; does everyone know Malmsbury’s The Dirty Smooth, except me?!
If not, you should. Since their debut single five years ago, The Dirty Smooth are no strangers to the festival circuit, gaining a reputation for playing original, anthemic pop songs. On top of numerous live appearances, they helped organise the Minety Music Festival in 2017. Shortlisted at the UK Festival Awards it has become a well-established festival, hosting acts like Toploader, Republica and Chesney Hawkes. Over the past two years, but setback by lockdown, they’ve been working towards a forthcoming album, Running From The Radar, due to be released in February. They’ve a very worthy teaser from it, a single you should check out, Seed To The Spark; it’s certainly convinced me.
With a sonic booming bass intro, it’s as it suggests on the tin; dirty. Yet it’s got that perfect pop blend in melody, which draws in many influences. Central vocal hooks of eighties rock, punky attitude, but beguiling backing female vocals and funky rhythmic grooves of soul-related pop, ah, the smooth part. I’m left thinking if Simple Minds met Deacon Blue, or Roxette. Though I’m contemplating they met today, for nothing is left completely to retrospection with The Dirty Smooth, there’s vibrant freshness to the sound too. Thing is, it’s aching with confidence and undoubtedly brewing with potential. The ingredients are all there and being unified by some musical Michelin star chefs, who clearly love their cuisine.
Few local bands aim for the stadium sound, knowing a pub circuit is more workable. Here, as with Swindon’s Talk in Code, is something which needs some big stage festival airing, it has that range, it has that wide appeal. As with the apt band name, Dirty and Smooth righty word their single, you get the sensation this is far from their opus-magnum, for if it is just a seed to a spark you’ll want to be there when that bomb drops.
While Andy has fondly mentioned the Malmesbury combo of frontman and pianist Will Lawton and drummer Weasel Howlett a few times in the past here, I’m still yet to witness them live. Such is the restrictions of today, could be a while.
Still, both are the backbone of Will Lawton and the Alchemists, formed in 2015 when Will and Weasel started to jam, record and perform their celebrated debut album, Fossils of the Mind three years later. The sound, the band, and their following, is constantly growing and evolving. Now a four-piece with Buddy Fonzarelli on upright bass, Ami Kaelyn on guitar and vocals, and Harki Popli with tabla, they have a live stream next Sunday 11th October to launch their second album, Abbey House Session, which is available now.
This is a six-track part-studio, part-live recording which was all captured in the library at Abbey House in Malmesbury. They describe their music as “beautiful, musical daydreams, with forays into jazz with drum and bass beats.”
The show promises interviews with the band members, and kicks off at 8pm, filmed live from Pound Arts. Tickets are £5 with ALL money going to Changing Tunes, a Bristol based charity who work in prisons using music and mentoring to help people lead meaningful lives, free from crime.
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