Tag: reviews

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 more than worth a quick mentionโ€ฆ..

Gus White is a respected folk musician, record producer, festival organiser, and community maker with a deep love for the rooted and the heartfelt. His production credits are the string that ties together an emerging scene that refers to itself as Third Wave Folk, involving a collective of artists which record with Gus at his Wiltshire studio. This includes microtonal and genre-fluid rising-star Maddie Ashman, folk singer Minna, and UK folk-charting artist Ann Liu Cannon. The latter is our connection, fondly reviewing Ann Liuโ€™s album Clever Rabbits back in July.ย 

Though, in the short wintery month this album has been simmering itโ€™s made number twenty-six on the Official Folk Album Charts, making Gus rightfully charting too. An initial listen from yours truly and I can understand why. I do declare it as instant as Douwe Egbertsโ€™ Pure Gold, only in rapture rather than coffee! Itโ€™s chock full of cool vibes, that breezy feelgood Sunday morning acoustic which is too darn soothing itโ€™s impossible to criticise. As for Gusโ€™s barista skills, Iโ€™ve no confirmation, but going on his music, I could take a wild guess heโ€™s a tea fellow. 

Eleven songs strong, put the kettle on yourself, and allow Gus to get on doing his sublime thing! Thereโ€™s no rise and fall, the melodies flow like the Iguazu Falls. If I pick out individual elements into Gusโ€™s melting pot, like the doo-wop-ish structure of middle-track Terrible Things, the bluesy guitar picking in the following song, Head Held High, or jazz drum percolate in Please, Forgive Me, theyโ€™re all so subtly placed. If Gus defines it Third Wave Folk, thatโ€™s what it is; a composition borrowing from Americana and English folk, but neither whole; a gorgeous cherrypick from both. It has the universal folk-rock feel of Goerge Harrison and Cat Stevens, and is equally as uplifting.

Though some themes are negative, the overall ambience is pessimistic; if youโ€™ve a bad day, so what? Watch the rain trickle down the window outside with that lukewarm brew in a slightly stained chipped mug, listen to this and contemplate, life goes on, youโ€™re rising above it.

If the penultimate song on For Now, Anyway, After So Long is rinsed in a dejected romantic memory, Gus carries it as skilled as Tom Petty, and the final song Still Learning lifts the spirit one final time like a contemporary Dr Hook, with that beguiling cheerful chorus. It departs your ears leaving you aching for more; a beautifully and skilled production from someone who comes across as a modest genius tea-drinker. Gus produced, mixed and mastered For Now, Anyway, a defining statement as a songwriter and a prime example of his meticulous production work. 

Image: Jeremey Prout

Authentic too; recorded in 2021, with a live band of friends and local musicians, Gus White approached this stunning album like any other project, stating he was โ€œtrying to capture the magic, and the essence, of the song in a single live performance, in the way real instruments and human voices blend when left to their own devices.โ€

Gus, also a member of folk band Dead Pages, is co-organiser of Late Spring Folk Festival, which celebrated its third iteration this summer at Dummer Down Brewery near Micheldever, since forming at a Wiltshire pub venue. This yearโ€™s is Saturday 23rd May. If he showcases this album there itโ€™s worth the reasonable ticket stub alone.

For Now, Anyway is out now on Man Made Tigers. Available to buy on CD & vinyl exclusively from Sound Knowledge in Marlborough and is available across streaming platforms. Donโ€™t procrastinate like me, as Iโ€™m sorry I did now Iโ€™ve heard it.

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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 cheesyโ€ฆ

by Darren Worrow

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Gus White Burbage’s Smithy Art Forgery with Ann Liu Cannon and Esmรฉ White

Words by Ollie MacKenzie.

Featured Image by Barbora Mrazkova.ย 

The creative process can be a winding, long, and often confusing journey. Seeing a project come to fruition from scrappy origin to a packaged, marketable, and well-rounded piece of work can feel daunting – or even impossible. It took Gus White six years of honing his production skills, amassing an arsenal of musical machinery, and developing a community of talented musicians to bring his album โ€˜For Now, Anywayโ€™ into existence….

At its core, itโ€™s a breakup album, which could feel strange to complete and release so far after the original โ€˜breakโ€™, but speaking to Gus it appears the space has allowed him to finish the album at a much more present and content time in his life. Heโ€™s settled into a different existence โ€“ heโ€™s in a new relationship, heโ€™s a dog owner, and has played a large role in building a thriving music scene across the venues, pubs, and houses of Wiltshire.

This brings us to the Smithy Art Forgery in Burbage, a kooky yet loveable cultural venue operating out of a 375-year-old house that currently operates as a jeweller. Located on the side of a quiet village road, itโ€™s adorned with nondescript street parking, burgers served off a BBQ, and vegetable curry to order made in the ownerโ€™s kitchen.ย 

Itโ€™s these types of places that are few and far between according to Gus โ€“ a true grassroots venue for musicians, a haven from playing dusty forgotten corners of pubs where the landlord and patrons donโ€™t even really want you there anyway. It was why it was there on the 14th of September that Gus hosted his album release party.

Taking place in the back garden of the venue, attendees were seated under a marquee packed with various sofas, stools, and garden furniture that faced onto an embankment where the stage was set. Copious instruments lay there waiting, tucked underneath an array of tarpaulin and teepees to shield them and the musicians from the bipolar weather conditions of the changing season.

The atmosphere was intimate โ€“ maybe fewer than 100 in attendance โ€“ but one that felt lively and far from empty. Friends of friends of friends made happy introductions and chats to one another, waiting for the music to start. Two support acts opened the day. First, a solo and entrancing guitar performance from Grace Elizabeth Harvey, followed by a sort of double act from Ann Liu Cannon and Esmรฉ White, the two swapping between lead vocal spots all the while backed by a mandolin player โ€“ the first of many off-kilter instruments to litter the performances.ย 

Then it was Gusโ€™s turn to play. The performance brought about the live, interactive feel of the album, with a high range of instruments on display โ€” trombones, sublime guitar passages, the double bass, a kazoo solo, and even a set of pots and pans, just to name a few. The music felt sonically based in the past, a careful homage to folk and rock formats from americana, country and indie, exhibiting a range of influence from the 50s all the way to the 70s. Despite its seemingly traditional backdrop, the performance was unmistakably modern, with the lyrics carrying the music firmly into the present. Packed with new-age irony and technological references, Gusโ€™s dry, irreverent humour was centre stage throughout the performance, both in the songs and in his preambles โ€” though this didnโ€™t disguise the sincerity of the music or the performer. Balanced amongst the tongue-in-cheek lyrics were very straight to the point personal accounts of his former relationship, that through their intense and biographical nature revealed a relatability that would be shrouded behind overt poeticism. Though typically robust and amusing, Gusโ€™s songwriting shows a capability of reaching into the elegiac also. The solo encore of โ€˜Josephineโ€™ makes the case for Gusโ€™s well-roundedness as a song smith; a poetry laden tribute to his partner that drew much of its effect from its earnestness and folk-style imagery.

Gus closed the concert with a rendition of โ€˜Please Forgive Meโ€™, a rousing finish that allowed each band member their moment to show off, before the crowd sung the concert to a finish. It felt an appropriate end, where Gus, the producer, allowed others to have their moment through his handiwork, sitting back and revelling in the fun of it all. For a set of songs about breaking up, Gus seemed married to the moment, an artist revealing himself at a perfect time to a welcoming group of friends and strangers alike.

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The Lost Trades & Half of One at The Hop, Swindon

One part of Swindon was in perfect harmony last night, and I donโ€™t mean the traffic circumnavigating the Magic Roundabout. Rather The Lost Trades were at the Hop in Old Town, honouring a postponed gig from Septemberโ€ฆ..

SoP Live, who run a regular Thursday night music club at The Castle, plenty of other gigs, and coordinate the Swindon Shuffle and Swinterfest, arranged this eveningโ€™s entertainment at The Hop, the largest of pubs on the Devizes Road area of Old Town with the perfect upstairs function room to turn into a temporary folk club.

A slight music appreciation collective gathered, seated and respectfully keen to value live music of this calibre. On previous occasions when the Lost Trades played here, organiser Ed Dyer explained, โ€œwere packed out,โ€ and factors of the lesser crowd were discussed; it couldโ€™ve been because it was rescheduled. While free pub gigs thrive equally to overpriced pop star concerts, add even the smallest price to less mainstream acts, as this gig did, sadly seems can reduce its attraction. What we all need to be mindful of is the safety net; dedicated and erudite promoters like SoP guarantee tried and tested acts, ergo paying a small ticket stub is worthwhile for a better class of live music than a pub throwing any old band in for peanuts. Ah, you get what you pay for, but to disregard this notion is to lose venues and promoters. The saddest thing is, that is happeningโ€ฆ.now. Support them, or become a skint Swifty, your choice.

Whilst Jamie R Hawkins and Phil Cooper of The Lost Trades are no strangers to playing a pub gig solo, the key to the Lost Trades works best at folk festivals and clubs, and arts centres. It is fantastic to think this local export is nationwide now, and judging on their performance last night, something Iโ€™ve not caught for what seems like an age, itโ€™s thoroughly deserved. Thereโ€™s a sense of elevation in their delivery of these soothing vocal harmonies, a consistent strive of improvement, which if it isnโ€™t at its peak now, the summit would be on an angelic level.

Such a while it has been, Tamsin Quin left the trio and has been replaced by Jess Vincent, and I was yet to see that working live, despite fondly mentioning their latest single, Float Me On Your River. As well as performing some other new songs, they opened with this, and notwithstanding Tamsin has a distinguishable voice, Jess makes the quintessential substitution, an exemplar to the ethos of The Lost Trades. Her wonderful vocal range and proficient percussion complement Phil and Jamieโ€™s expressions on equal terms as Tamsinโ€™s, and so The Lost Trades are once again at the top of their game.

And a sublime performance it was, but not before a support act new to me played a divine set of fiddle, guitar and occasional loop pedal folk covers. Half of One is a Swindon duo, fiddler Geoff Roberts and guitarist Neil Mercer, and theyโ€™ve played together in folk band SGO who recently disbanded, and who Iโ€™m well aware of, and dance band Cowshed Ceilidh Collective. We were treated to some gorgeous English folk pieces, others from the likes of Sam Sweeny, Show of Handsโ€™ Steve Knightly, and a wonderfully delivered Great War song for Remembrance I missed the name of and cannot find online! It was a spellbinding support, which couldโ€™ve been the headline for any folk club.

As folk, The Lost Trades have always stated itโ€™s โ€œmodern folk,โ€ and with electric guitars and some subject matter I see this, but thereโ€™s something uniquely captivating about them which makes it timeless and conjures images of The Carter Family. I may not have been lucky enough to have seen The Everley Brothers or Simon & Garfunkel, but The Lost Trades are vocal harmony perfection to me!

Available at Devizes Books, or message Devizine for a copy!

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Love is for Life (Not Only for Christmas Time) Says Hannah Collins

And so it begins, the build-up, the tension; come all ye faithful round yon virgins and three kings of orient are, spreading joy to the world while shepherds wash their socks and Batman smells. In which, in order to spread warm emotions of peace and unity for the one day, itโ€™s obligatory to rush around like headless chickens for two months, verbally abuse drivers in traffic jams, inevitably cause accidents because weโ€™re too consumed by what little Johnny wants this year to concentrate on our driving!

Or, how weโ€™re still hungover from the work-do where we accidentally got off with the agency temp in sales who puked down her blouse before half four, and Gary fancied her, and now heโ€™s going to be pissed with you. And ram B&M on black Friday, fight  to the death anyone who might grab the last Labubu doll, and Grannyโ€™s ditched us for some โ€œgentleman friend,โ€ whoโ€™s whisked her off to The Maldives, and well, if mum undercooks the pigs in blankets again Iโ€™m off down the pub, where did they put the batteries, and who lost the end to the bloody sellotape?!

A pastiche of the RSPCA slogan about puppies as pressies, Bristol-based vocalist, musician and producer, Hannah Collins has nailed it in her new Christmas song with a spin, Love is for Life (Not Only for Christmas Time.) The simple premise; if we can be nice to each other on Christmas Day, why canโ€™t we for the rest of the year? How smug, bar humbug, great song, though!!

For if it sounds like the basis of a bitter anti-Christmas punk song, itโ€™s subtle, ironically uplifting, and contains a simple piano riff with seasonal jingly bells.ย Released on the 28th of November, Hannah says, โ€œin a materialistic world, love is the greatest gift we can give.โ€

Produced and mixed by Tim Oliver (Sinead Oโ€™Connor/Robert Plant) at Peter Gabrielโ€™s Realworld Studios in Box, Wiltshire, featuring John Baggot (Massive Attack/Portishead/Robert Plant) on keys, and Eric Okafo on bass, it has a Motown lite sound and is reminiscent of a Mariah Carey singalongโ€ฆ..argh, Iโ€™m caught by the catchy hook, and Iโ€™m putting my decorations up now!!

It will be available to stream on all platforms from 28th November 2025. There will also be an original music video released on YouTube on 21st November, created by Olivia Kennedy from OK! Animations. 

Hannah is new to us, but tis said her, โ€œinquisitive mind, creative spirit and interest in philosophy are overarching themes in her work; a golden thread flowing through her art, which is particularly resonant with the message of peace and goodwill at Christmas.โ€ The press release asks, โ€œcan we keep the peace, love and charity going all year long, and not just at Christmas time?!โ€ Have they not heard of dry January, winters of discontent, and seasonal affective disorder, damn your spritely song, Hannah?!!

โ€œI will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach,โ€ Dickens wrote, โ€œfeel the magic in the atmosphere, I wonder why itโ€™s only this time of year,โ€ Hannah wrote similarly, and maybe her song has a lesson too, a seasonal catchy pop lesson I happen to love!

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Chatting With Burn The Midnight Oil

Itโ€™s nice to hear when our features attract attention. Salisburyโ€™s Radio Odstock ย picked up on our interview with Devizes band Burn the Midnight Oil and they gained air time, but the interview was published short of year ago now, and the band have had significant changes to the lineup and their style. So, I the time is nigh to poke my bulbous nose in and interrupt their rehearsal againโ€ฆ..

Formerly a trio, bassist Chris Lane remains with Chrissy Chapman up front,ย  but guitarist Andy Jacobs sadly passed away this year. โ€œAndy was an amazing musician and really helped carve out our initial sonic signature,โ€ Chrissy told me. โ€œWeโ€™ve always wanted to acknowledge his creative contributions, given that music ran through him like the letters in a stick of rock. However, for reasons I canโ€™t discuss out of respect for everyone involved, the band collectively decided that it was no longer suitable for Andy to remain involved. Weโ€™ve made every attempt to show him grace since that decision but there was a negative backlash. Regardless, we were all very sad to hear he passed away shortly after, and our sympathies remain with his family and loved ones. Weโ€™re committed to remembering him in the best light.โ€

โ€œThere was definitely concern about doing the songs justice after we parted ways with Andy,โ€ Chrissy continued. โ€œEventually, though, we made a conscious effort to develop a new sound that honoured the music while allowing John the creative freedom. The core of our sound now focuses on doing the  songs justice rather than trying to replicate what Andy originally brought to the table and embracing the natural evolution of our sound that draws from all of our influences.โ€

The Original Trio of Chrissy, Chris and Andy

John Lane joined as guitarist, but was making me a cuppa while I was chatting with  Ron Riordan, the new drummer. Theyโ€™ve both been instrumental in forging a new direction for the band, literally! John said of Andyโ€™s passing, โ€œas part of getting through that phase the band has grown,โ€ and Ron added it had โ€œevolved.โ€

Turning to Chrissy I jested that when we did the original interview, she had suggested they didn’t need a drummer! โ€œWell,โ€ she explained, โ€œwe always needed a drummer, but we were able to perform at the time without a drummer because we were percussive enough. And it went down really well. A couple of venues, we did three gigs before we got Ron, a brilliant drummer!โ€

Ron stepped in immediately at a crossover period between Andy and John, a proficient drummer who told me he had played in a few ska bands in Swindon, โ€œI started playing drums when I was about nine, in orchestras and learnt to read music, that type of thing.โ€ I smiled; he looks like he can blast a Two-Tone riff. โ€œThat’s the thing though,โ€ Chrissy said, โ€œbecause straight away we had DOCAโ€™s Winter of Festive Ales booked. So it was like, everybody had to jump on really, really quickly. And we wanted to use that as an opportunity to do the originals.โ€

It was on the strength of the demo I asked them to play RowdeFest, I hadnโ€™t seen them performing before. But the committee was encouraging me to find a covers band. โ€œWe followed your advice about doing the covers,โ€ Chrissy said, though it wasnโ€™t really advise, rather a  way to get them booked! Iโ€™m so glad they did, they were dynamite and feedback was overwhelming. The kind of band youโ€™d think had been on the circuit for years. โ€œI felt that we were at the party at the end of the day!โ€ John remarked, and they certainly was.

โ€œWhat was nice about that is it the focus was about โ€˜let’s give people a showโ€™ rather than it just being about  โ€˜let’s get our songs outโ€™,โ€ Chrissy explained. โ€œYour influence was about getting a show to give to people, keeping people up on their feet, so and not allowing those breathers.โ€  I did encourage them to ensure they blasted some originals out too, though, which they did!

โ€œWe tried to dress it on different levels of the visual,โ€ John stressed, โ€œwearing the outfits, the recognition of known songs, and the come on, party time!โ€

โ€œYeah, it worked, didn’t it?โ€ I replied, a template to liven up a pub gig, and Burn the Midnight Oil are certainly getting them. The Queenโ€™s Tap in Swindon and Kings Arms in Amesbury their recent outings, but how do they feel about how far theyโ€™ve come?

โ€œGiven that the new face of us being coming up a four piece with Andy’s departure in January, to get that in the space of a year, well, less than a year,โ€ Chrissy said, โ€œas a new lineup, I think it’s quite incredible.โ€

Itโ€™s the added drums which changes it, I supposed, surely essential for a harder rock feel.

โ€œIt changes the scale of the presentation,โ€ John added. โ€œIt’s now got drive and rhythm rather than being listening for the lyric. It’s actually motivated, it hooks into people’s natural sense of rhythm, and you can’t help it. First thing people take in is rhythm, then melody, last of all, lyrics. So if you hook the first bit, you don’t get the second one, then they come back for the lyrics. So we’re attacking it from the best angle.โ€

Here was were I felt a healthy division between John and Chrissyโ€™s perspective, as she began to speak on where she drew inspiration from in the writing and a change in direction from  intrapersonal to interpersonal. She drew from personal relationships and her faith, implying her writing was key, but the difference was never confrontational and a good blend of opinion is surely necessary to compose the elements of a song professionally.  

โ€œI had a tsunami of a creative spell, and wrote twenty songs in as many days. So we’re now, everybody’s having to play catch up, trying to get them polished!โ€ Chrissy explained. She labelled her past songs as an โ€œangsty teenage phase,โ€ and felt her songwriting about โ€œgood guy/scumbagsโ€ had evolved and matured into โ€œsomething more universal. It’s not so much like a diary, it’s definitely becoming more cryptic. It’s pulling in a different kind of imagery and symbolism. And then, because I’m faith-based as well, I’ve given a lot of inspiration taking verses from the Bible that have really helped me through difficult times. I’m weaving them, not to be preachy, but just to be like, this is my story.โ€

โ€œWeโ€™d like the two songs we did at the award ceremony, to polish it up more, get a scratch track done, and then we’re going to go back to Matt Millerโ€™s Dusty Shed, who did the original three.โ€

โ€œWe can’t really use the original EP anymore. And also, it’s fair to say with John’s influences, and the way that we’re allowing space for his creative flow to come into it, it just sounds different.โ€

John pointed out his mixer was adequate when I pondered if they needed a producer. Chrissy replied while it would be โ€œfantastic,โ€  she crunched numbers and said they, โ€œreally want to get onto the festival circuit, and that means having tracks done ASAP.โ€

Captivating to listen to Chrissy delving deeper into the inspiration behind her songwriting and the maturity she felt it levelling to, in which she exclaimed with much delight, โ€œit’s definitely been refreshing having John’s influence, him sharing how he sees it as a viewer. Because you write what you know, and unfortunately, I’ve been exposed to quite a lot of things that I don’t think many people would ever want to be exposed to. And being able to find hope and joy in some of the songs and being able to write happier songs. For the first time ever, I’ve written two love songs! I’ve never written love songs before! So, there definitely seems to be more universal themes.โ€

Yet as fascinating as it is, hearing Chrissyโ€™s writing motivations, John revealing the technical side to their development, Ron adding splices of drummer-fashioned wit, and together them trying to summarise their change in direction whether it be a more rock-blues or dark-country, only to finally decide it unnecessary to pigeonhole it anyway, it makes for a laborious read, so I thought I’d inject a light-hearted, more physical observation with Chris, who otherwise, I suspect, wouldโ€™ve remained silent, save occasionally strumming his bass!

It was that I heard Jimi Hendrix had extremely long fingers, I noted so too did Chris, and wondered if he considered it an asset to playing guitar! John jested, โ€œit’s like watching a spider running up and down a hot plate!โ€ Ron pointed out his stumpy fingers, โ€œI’m a drummer; I’ve just tried to learn the bass guitar and I can’t get my hands anywhere round the neck of the guitar like Chris can!โ€

Chris exampled pianistsโ€™ tendency to have stumpy fingers. โ€œYou look at Elton Joh or Les Dawson, theyโ€™ve all short fingers, but they can play like crazy! I can get away with some stuff, but some of it’s more, arguably, bad habit than good! But I can get away with having long fingers rather than good habits!โ€

 A fellow of far fewer words than the front girl, evidently, but when he does its witty self-mocking is worth itโ€™s weight in gold and sparked a humorous angle to the interview in which, while Chrissy justified his dexterity and nimbleness, Ron favoured to joke about Chrisโ€™s dancing on stage, โ€œwhich is brilliant. I love it!โ€

John praised the firmness of Chrisโ€™ bass, โ€œyou’re methodical, you’re listening. I’m done wondering if he’s bored to death as I explain something to him, as heโ€™s sitting there taking it in. It’s not till you go and think he’s got it.โ€

They all seemed content with each other, and John effectively โ€œkeeping them in line,โ€ and this brought up the subject that they abstained from drinking while performing. โ€œOne rule I was pretty adamant about,โ€ John explained while Chrissy and Ron laughed about being โ€œhyper,โ€  โ€œis drink and music don’t mix. If you’re going to load it up, don’t expect to be any good at the music. Because we’re there to make the party for everybody else.โ€

โ€œYeah,โ€ Chrissy joshed, โ€œso I’m not allowed to have a pre-shot of tequila, which is really good because I definitely noticed a habit where I needed the Dutch courage in order to get up and I started realising, this is a bad habit that I don’t want to become dependent on. So itโ€™s two-wayed. You were definitely enforcing it. And I tried to be more mindful of it and just get up despite feeling nervous. And I get nervous every single time still.โ€

Aside the notion everyone gets butterflies, we moved between passionate subjects like the local circuits and venues and getting further afield, and we ventured back into songwriting inspirations, but I wanted them to nail it into a summary.  โ€œIn a nutshell,โ€ Chrissy said, โ€œweโ€™re focusing on rhythm and melody so that the lyrics can shine through. And we’re drawing inspiration from real life. Trying to make them more universal and a punchy sound. Rocky, bluesy, layers musically and lyrically; say that, Darren!โ€

Okay, I will! And if you want to hear this band progressing, follow their socials for gig updates. Theyโ€™ll be in Devizes on Sunday 14th December, at that tropical holiday resort in the Brittox, The Muck & Dunder, with a fundraiser for Ugandan orphanage His Grace Children Centre Bugiri, which theyโ€™ve organised themselves.

In true Christian spirit Chrissy annually organises a fundraiser around the yuletide, which she did as a soloist ironically titled One Trick Pony. Ironic because, she lent her vocals to drum n bass tracks, returned to town to learn guitar and perform acoustically, ย and now thereโ€™s Burn the Midnight Oil; a proficient four-piece who, merging experiences in varied genres, refuse to ย pigeonhole their developing style, and has an angelic vocalist with a penchant undaunted to delve deep into her psyche and faith for inspiration, and oh yeah, a bassist with long fingers!

Now available at Devizes Books!

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The Lost Trades Float on New Single

Iโ€™ve got some gorgeous vocal harmonies currently floating into my ears, as The Lost Trades release their first single since the replacement of Tamsin Quinโ€ฆ

Barrelhouse are Open for Business with New Album

Rolling out a Barrelhouse of fun, you can have blues on the run, tomorrow (7th November) when Marlborough’s finest groovy vintage blues virtuosos Barrelhouse releaseโ€ฆ

Ruzz Guitar Swings With The Dirty Boogie

Bristolโ€™s regular Johnny B Goode, Ruzz Guitar Blues Revue goes full on swing with a new single, a take on The Brian Setzer Orchestraโ€™s 1998โ€ฆ

Klass Komedia Kurmudgeon, Bath, November 2nd 2025 โ€“ Mark Harrison

by Ian Diddams
images by Ben Swann and Ian Diddams


Self-appointed โ€œMoroseโ€ Mark Harrison was once again on totally top form at Komedia last Sunday entertaining us with his style of stunning blues music, engaging history lessons and highly amusing cynical views on society. Lest I appear to be painting Mark in a poor light you may rest assured his easy delivery is gentle on the ears, but delivered with killer punch lines. A thoroughly winning combination. Albeit lacking hotpants which was the sole difference between Mark and Elton John back in the day it seems …

Amongst the recipients of his wit and repartee, and his sublime ex Eric Bibb 1934 National Trojan resonator delivered music, were Ralph McTell, I.T. Analysts (I hid at that juncture!), Eric Clapton, prodigal sons and daughters, a heckler, the services’ economy ( a bunch of flats in London…), schmaltzy songs and twatsโ€™ anthems, โ€œMy Wayโ€, and his cousin Colin. We were regaled with the history of the two artists formerly known as โ€œSonny Boy Williamsonโ€ โ€“ the original aka John Lee Curtis Williamson whose successes in the 30s and 40s were piggy backed by Rice Miller who appropriated the same performance name to hoodwink audiences and record labels. And of Howling Wolf who was years before his time in offering his band members what we would now regard as standard employment benefits such as health insurance.

But in case this sounds like Mark is just a Jack Dee wannabe, it should be emphasised we were here for his music and he was there to deliver it โ€“ with style and panache and not without a bitโ€ฆ well a lotโ€ฆ of dry humour. A cover or two, but predominantly โ€“ naturally โ€“ his own stuffโ€ฆ haunting, engaging, even breath-taking.


The afternoon rushed past โ€“ two hours with a twenty minute break; just one Midlander and a 1934 National Trojan resonator, in a bar in Bath. And thankfully no hotpants.

Perfection.

Mark Harrison’s gig list is here, and his merch is available here.



The Wurzels To Play At FullTone 2026!

If Devizesโ€™ celebrated FullTone Festival is to relocate to Whistley Roadโ€™s Park Farm for next summerโ€™s extravaganza, what better way to give it the rustic feel than The Wurzels, who have just been announced on the line-up?!

If Somersetโ€™s Scrumpy and Western genre has fermented longer than a cider press from folk roots, itโ€™s surely The Wurzels who brought mass attention to it with their number one parody of Melanieโ€™s Brand New Key, The Combine Harvester. The staggering thing about this is, it was in 1976, but whatโ€™s more staggering, is people are still singing it today, and likely will be at FullTone Festival on 11th & 12th July 2026!

Organiser of FullTone, Jemma Brown said of the booking, โ€œthere’s not much more we can say to that!โ€ But you know me, Iโ€™ve always got something to say, and Iโ€™m saying that is a fantastic surprise which only remains to add to the already brilliant show the orchestra and guest acts will deliver.

What else we do know at this early stage, is the huge fifty-piece orchestra will play through sets of  Holstโ€™s The Planets & Star Wars, a Symphonic Queen with Ricardo Afonso, The Best of Motown, an eighties spectacular and Devizes-own BBC radio DJ James Threlfall will be on the dance anthems.

If I wonder what songs the Wurzels will play, top choice has to be Iโ€™ll Never Get a Scrumpy Here, which contains the line, โ€œ’Cos you never get surprises livin’ in Devizes,โ€ and spurred my rant column of the same name, you might remember it. I did write to them to ask permission, they were too busy drinking cider to be in any way concerned. I asked if it was sly stab at our brewery, or that Devizes was as far eastward they favour to venture, but they explained it was used because it rhymed! Well, they’re venturing here in July, and if they give us the key, we can all have a brand new combine harvester.

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.

Trending…….

Joyrobber Didn’t Want Your Stupid Job Anyway

A second track from local anonymous songwriter Joyrobber has mysteriously appeared online, and heโ€™s bitter about not getting his dream jobโ€ฆ.. If this mysterious dudeโ€™sโ€ฆ

Devizes Chamber Choir Christmas Concert

Itโ€™s not Christmas until the choir sings, and Devizes Chamber Choir intend to do precisely this by announcing their Christmas Concert, as they have doneโ€ฆ

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

The Wurzels To Play At FullTone 2026!

If Devizesโ€™ celebrated FullTone Festival is to relocate to Whistley Roadโ€™s Park Farm for next summerโ€™s extravaganza, what better way to give it the rusticโ€ฆ

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Stone Circle Music Events Wiltshire Music Awards 2025: Programme

Less than a week to go until the first ever Stone Circle Music Events’ Wiltshire Music Awards at the Corn Exchange, Devizes. We’re not printing a programme of events, so here’s everything you need to know about the ceremony this coming weekend….exciting, isn’t it?!

Firstly, all tickets have now sold out, sorry! But if you’re coming or not, there will be a free warm up party on Friday 24th October at the Three Crowns Devizes, where we will be entertained by the incredible George Wilding. Everyone is welcome!

And now onto Awards Ceremony on Saturday 25th October 2025.

The doors open at 17:30pm. The bar will be open, and we have scrumptious tucker available from Soupchick. Chilli beef or vegan alternative with rice, with nachos, cheese, sour cream and guacamole toppings; ยฃ7:50 for a bowl, I’m in!

Please arrive as soon as possible so we can get everyone seated. There will be music in the hall. I’ve come over all Jive Bunny, and created a mega-mix of local music! I’ve tried to display the diversity and quality of the Wiltshire Music Scene and cram as many songs as I can into one hour; it’s been no easy task.

Being I accept you’ll all be chatting rather than listening, I’m kinda proud of my virtual DJ skills, so for prosperity I’ve leave the mix here so you can listen at your own risk!

Tracks are listed here; apologies if your song isn’t there, I tried to include as many as possible.

Jamie R Hawkins – Not Going Anywhere, Gaz Brookfield – Tale of Gunner Haines, Tamsin Quin – Home, Griffiths & Hollingsworth – Ocean, Andrew Hurst – Tower of Fallen Heroes, Timid Deer – Shallows, Kirsty Clinch – Stay With Us, Deadlight Dance – Samurai Sunset, Will Lawton & Ludwig Mack – Atlantic โ€˜O, M3G – Waiting, Phil Cooper – Bijou, Concrete Prairie – I Wish You Well, JP Oldfield – Magpie, Jol Rose – Make Some Hay, Thieves – Iโ€™m Coming Back, Sโ€™Go – King of The Fairies, Sarah C Ryan Band – Woman in White The Worried Men – Manacle Alley, Junkyard Dogs – Suzie Q, Deadlight Dance – Love Will Tear Us Apart, The First Book of English Magic – Richard Wileman, Barrelhouse – Mainline Voodoo, Aural Candy & Sienna Wileman – Mirrorball, Jon Amor – Peppercorn, Daisy Chapman – Waterloo Sunset, Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army – Hollow Children of Men, George Wilding – Dirty Dream Balloon, Ruby Darbyshire – Donโ€™t Give Up Now, 41 Fords – Emily, Liddington Hill – Maid of Mayhem, Ursa Way – Chasing the Sun, Boot Hill All Stars – Night Bus, I See Orange – Doll Guts, The Belladonna Treatment – Bits of Elation, NervEndings – Democracy Manifest, Nothing Rhymes with Orange – Monday,  Talk in Code – All In, Cephid – Terminus, Subject A – Paradise.

Now, the Awards Ceremony begins at 18:30…. on the dot!

Please make sure you are seated by 18:20. If this sounds all a bit like orders barked at you from your cub scout leader, there’s good reason: We’ve got a lot to squeeze in, and secondly, you don’t want to miss the opening of the show, believe me!!

Weโ€™re not revealing our very special guest opening the show, so don’t even try bribing me with booze! Then you’ll meet the hosts, DJ Mark Anthony and myself.

Stone Circle Wiltshire Music Awards Event Schedule

18:30: Opening Act (Nope Still not Telling!)

1. Best Music Venue

2. Best DJ

3. Best Covers Band

Live Performance: Britpop Boys

Thereโ€™s a champagne supernova trip back to the nineties with The Britpop Boys, renowned for blasting those sing-a-long anthems across the county and beyond. 

1. Best Drummer

2. Best Bassist

3. Best Guitarist

4. Best Duo

Live Performance – Match Box Mutiny

Ben Borrill and Pat Ward, aka Matchbox Mutiny, will be there, the lively Devizes-based duo who never fail to charm.

1. Best Original Band

2. Best Tribute Artist

Live Performance – Burn the Midnight Oil

Devizes own Burn The Midnight Oil will be playing. Theyโ€™ve come so far in such a short space of time with their own brand of breezy blues-rock, and they’ve a new song to play us; weโ€™re excited to see them perform.

1. Best Solo Female Artist

2. Best Solo Male Artist

Live Performance – George Wilding

Our lovable legend George Wilding is a name most of you should know, and heโ€™s coming to play a few songs, of course he is!

1. Best Original Song

2. Rising Star Newcomer

3. Best Instrumental

4. Best Vocalist

Live Performance – Jolyon Dixon and Rachel Sinnetta

Then thereโ€™s Salisbury-basedย Joylon Dixon andย Rachel Sinnettaย โ€“ a duo who raised the roof off the Three Crowns recently, but I knew it was coming as Rachelโ€™s supreme vocal range and Joylonโ€™s professional accompanying will enthral all.

1. Outstanding Contribution to the Wiltshire Music Scene

2. Outstanding Contribution to Music in the Community

3. Special Awards (1)

Live Performance – Lucas Hardy

Award winningย Lucas Hardyย is coming too. Loved on the Salisbury circuit, Lucas will delight you, for what will be, I believe, his first time playing in Devizes; I could be wrong!

1. Special awards (2)

2. Lifetime Achievement Award

Live Performance: Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Devizes homegrown indie-rock phenomenon Nothing Rhymes With Orange will polish off the evening. They created a storm locally a few years ago as a teen sensation, the likes of which I claimed to be the โ€œBeatlemania of Devizes!โ€ Now studying together at Bristol Uni, their popularity has spread nationwide. Back home they have inspired a new generation to form bands, and we welcome them back delighted.

Image: Gail Foster

Evening closes around 11:30pm, when you have my permission to drag me down to the Exchange nightclub below and buy me a Bacardi Breezer!

I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday, and I hope you all enjoy the evening.

I would like to thank our sponsors: Stone Circle Music Events. Trowbridge Motor Supplies. DJ Mark Anthony. VB Art Studios. The Three Crowns Devizes. Don’t Stop The Music Radio Show. Our guest announcers, Ian and the staff at the Corn Exchange, Devizes Books, and Fantasy Radio.

JP Oldfield & Deadlight Dance Down The Cellar

I mean, Devizes own contemporary blues throwback, JP is getting bookings, and rightly so. He’s off to Trowbridgeโ€™s Lamb next Saturday for a double-bill with Joe Burke. Likewise our favourite Goth duo Deadlight Dance too, Tim showing me some fetching snaps from Friday night’s gig at Frome’s Tree House. But sometimes it’s nice to play an intimate home gig you DIY, so we’re down The Bear Hotel’s Cellar Bar, reviving a once beloved venue with alternative options to Devizesโ€™ status quoโ€ฆ..

And it was; Nick Fletcher and Tim Emery were on the cobblestones first, attired marvellously macabre with whitewash faces; All Hallows’ Eve comes early for goths, and they don’t require Haribo! Equally terror-fically tenebrous was their set, sublimely shadowy synths, then their gloomy guitar rhythm fragments darkened by Nick’s howling vocals. When they came for air you could hear a pin drop.

Deadlight Dance found my inner-goth and devoured it some years ago, still their show improves like a fine Dracula’s blood-wine ….with age and nightly kills! They worked precisely through several tunes from their three albums, concentrating particularly on Chapter & Verse, last year’s gothic literary inspired outpouring. They sprinkled the set with covers, a synth-driven Cureโ€™s Just Like Heaven, for example, quite different from the acoustic version on their breathtaking homage album, The Wiltshire Gothic.

They finished on their ghostly reverberating post-punk makeover of Heartbreak Hotel, because if you’re a goth duo planning to cover an Elvis Presley song, one about a lonely man jumping from a hotel window is apt. Then they stripped it back for an acoustic wandering through the crowd encore.

Herein lies the connection which made a double-bill of post-punk goth and rootsy blues work; JP Oldfield duties the plaintive projection of original southern blues, often termed gothic. Therein the expression of rural, economically disadvantaged African-American communities, and through his gorgeous bass vocal range, the metallicity of his resonator and pounding suitcase drum, it’s about as authentic as you’re going to get on our local circuit.

Yet if JPโ€™s writing is foreboding and disquietude, in line with its influences, some of the darkest corners of his debut Bouffon wasnโ€™t inclusive at this live show, and replaced by some outstanding, intricate and rightfully resonate guitar-work; plus thereโ€™s always the kazoo and his natural banter to brighten things up.

His latest single polished off an amazing set, No Rest, indeed. It embodies everything progressive about this rising starโ€™s skill and bittersweet panache; a fellow who can hold an audience spellbound despite being, perhaps, an acquired taste. But I challenge anyone critical to stay whilst JP thrusts out House of the Rising Sun, making it his own, as itโ€™s so befitting to his encapsulating style. Yet the broadest evaluation of JP Oldfield is simply that, through his dedication and blossoming experience he continuously improves. It is this then which encourages me to call this gig in, slight in attendees which it unfortunately was as the chills of autumn blast through, the best and most passionate Iโ€™ve seen JP play.

Mind you, I groaned about the weather shift to Nick of Deadlight Dance, who replied with positivity. Apparently, he likes Autumn, I joked, โ€œthatโ€™s because youโ€™re a goth and Iโ€™m a milkman!โ€

I do hope we can find more gigs down the Cellar Bar, and bring it back to its former glory, a sentiment I believe will be reflected by the live music hunters of Devizes.

Trending…..

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

by Darren Worrow

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

by Darren Worrow

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Bonnie Weather: New Single From Swindon’s RnB Star, Weather

You might think it’s a laryngologist’s dream come true, this Lewis Capaldi-led decade’s penchant for the blue-eyed soul singersโ€™ melismatic strain to cause Mick Hucknall to issue a health and safety warning, but to Swindon’s Brandon Clarke, aka Weather, it appears to be a natural and phenomenal giftโ€ฆ..

This short and to the point new single from Weather, Bonnie, Be Mine, remains a prime example. Awash in contemporaneous RnB silkiness, Brandon’s vocal range is impressively evocative and weaponises a defence against any criticism of contemporary pop. If Alex Warren is the millennial solitary Bieber from across the pond, Weather is more the Solomon Burke of Swindon, which I believe is a deserved higher rewarding accolade by a country mile!

Yet, despite the sombre emotional outpouring of a hopeful romance, there’s a subtle carefree attitude in Weather’s tenet which awards his sound with a nonchalant sunny side of the street feel, and it’s positively contagious.

This was displayed with panache at Swindon Shuffle, where he blasted the Tuppenny with his prerecorded tracks and toasted merrily over them, enticing the crowd. If it might sound overtly conceited and is something I’d usually turn away from, to a generation where hip hop is an ancestral baseplate it’s acceptable, but with Weather’s delivery it was so confident and indulgently cheerful it affixes a compulsory smile and an irresistible urge to stay to watch.

Even the cover to Bonnie, Be Mine displays an irony of Weather, if his sound is refreshingly modern nu-soul slash indie, with AI it conveys the retrospection of a Donald McGill postcard. So, if you’re reaching that far back before I make a comparison, Brandon, rather than eighties blue-eyed soul boys like George Michael, or even Motown/Stax artists like Wilson Pickett, with this humorous element could we go as far as someone he’d probably have to Google, like Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five?!ย  You might think it’s audacious of me, but considering the whimsical merriment of rap trios like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul are forty years old, why not?!

Whatever the weather, it’s a great single and being Weather is prolifically pushing out professionally clasped greatness, we look forward to hearing more.

Trending……

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 tick ontoโ€ฆ

Keep reading

Jon Amor & Friends; Juggernaut at Long Street Blues Club

Oh yeah, invite me to a place with a bar, throw some of the best blues this side of New Orleans at me and then hope Iโ€™ll articulate some words about it next morning, why don’t you?! It’s okay readers, it’s become standard protocol for me, I’ve got thisโ€ฆwith help from Ben and Vicky!

…Here goes my bit; it was the opening of the new season at Long Street Blues Club in Devizes last night. Homegrown blues legend Jon Amor paid it a visit, bringing along his proficient drum and bass section, Tom Gilkes and Jerry Soffe, respectively, a handful of special guests wise in the ways of instrumenting sublime blues, and an intention and motivation to pull an extravaganza from the anticipation in the ether. Irresistible prospect, had to witness, savour, and shake my tail feather to, like it was going out of fashion. Olโ€™ Frankie Valli couldn’t describe it better, oh what a night.ย 

Four to the floor electric blues was the order they marched out to, each one a showstopper yet the show didn’t hang around for the audience to contemplate. Musicians aplenty popping out of the stage door, grabbing instruments and jamming on a rotation akin to an ice hockey game. Johnny Henderson seated at the Hammond organ, Tom Jones guitarist Scott McKeon strumming with Will Edmunds, Craig Crofton blowing that sax, and precision sound engineering all enhanced the usual trioโ€™s show, elevating it to a phenomenal stance.

There were times Jon smoothed it with rarely played ballads, such a superbly protracted Happiest All-Time Low, from his 2018 album Colour in the Sky, but for the most part the Juggernaut and his overload appeased the crowd with expeditious renditions of his belovedย sprightly favourites, and newer The Turnaround album tunes he recorded last year with Jerry & Tom, easiest to pick out being the swinging Rideau Street and the hard stomping riffs of the explicit Miss James. I donโ€™t know who Miss James is, but the passion Jon puts into this, and every song, leaves you wondering what her phone number is!

If this Indian summer is subtle outside it was a furnace inside. Ex-Hoax guitarist Jon, a testament to Devizesโ€™ Mel Bush effect, an immutable adoration of blues, is a stalwart on stage, delivering blues in a style only he could. The aforementioned gubbings only added to the trioโ€™s splendour, and a truly fantastic opening evening for The Long Street Blues Clubโ€™s new season.

But donโ€™t take my word for it, hereโ€™s what Ben Romain and Vicky thought about it, as we got our wires crossed and both wrote about it, but it was such a gig it deserves two reviews anyway!

Stand up and shout! Blues is what it is all about, laid back and loving Blues in D-town!

In my many years as a fan of Jonโ€™s music Iโ€™ve seen him play many venues in Devizes and nearby. We are blessed of course with a monthly residence at The Southgate Inn, where the majority of this ensemble has at some point graced the stage. This evening was a change of a little more space to get some friends together, at our very own Blues Club.

A fine opening set from Leonardo Guilliani, a rapidly rising star, hailing from Southampton. No stranger to the club, having opened for Watermelon Slim previously.

Some great original songs from his album, and new songs from an upcoming release recorded at Abbey Road Studios! I particularly liked the new song โ€˜Angelโ€™, a soulful reflective song, with a gentle tone, blues of a sort but melodic and soothing in a contemporary Blues vein. A few well-chosen covers too, with some resounding classic electric blues. Overall, a perfect opener for this gig! I look forward to seeing him again along the road.

As Jon introduces the extended band to the stage, I am reminded of countless gigs in Devizes and beyond, where I have enjoyed all these musicians. This ensemble has between them played an unbelievable range of genre defining big names, and it showsโ€ฆโ€ฆwith the confident ease they poured into this session.

There are the Jon Amor Trio set regulars like โ€˜Miss Jamesโ€™, โ€˜Juggernautโ€™ and โ€˜Birds Nest on the Groundโ€™, some less regular but great additions such as Jonโ€™s โ€˜Red Telephoneโ€™ and โ€˜Happiest All time Lowโ€™. This entire two hour plus set revelled in and resounding with the connectivity of the scene.

When Will Edmunds and Jon share โ€˜Lovinโ€™ Cupโ€™ a rousing dance friendly classic we get to enjoy the best of this sense, a classic in the sets of Jon and Will in their regular haunts, sharing as they do, many gigs the might of Gilkes and Soffe.

Weโ€™ve enjoyed Jonny Henderson guest slots here in Devizes and with another Devizes and authorโ€™s favourite Elles Bailey amongst others, weโ€™ve seen the wonderful Scott McKeon guest with Jon, and for a bonus Devizes point with Jonโ€™s former bandmate Robin and Beaux Gris Gris and The Apocalypse and most commonly known for playing with Tom Jones.

I could ramble enthusiastically all day about the good vibes of this gig but thereโ€™s a wider point to acknowledge before I run out of type spaceโ€ฆ.that of the community and connectivity both with musicians and audiences.

We have an unusually high level of gigs, especially blues leaning gigs in our town. We have some pretty heavy hitters in the UK blues past and present around here which doubtless helps, but we are also blessed with venues born of passion, people who support those opportunities as much as they can, so we are known in Devizes for putting up a good audience.

Our little world faces challenges like all venues and scenes across the UK, yet on the whole we are bucking the trend and attracting fine music from the brave upstart to the big established names and something to be rightly proud of.

Thereโ€™s weekly amazing music at the Southgate and these incredible seasons of blues at Long Street, pub gigs, even occasionally music in bars and coffee lounges!

Key to the future of all of it, is people getting involved. I could name around a third of the crowd last night, and know most of the band from past gigs, with all of the craziness of the world, when many conscious or not are affected by loss of community, unity and shared positive experienceโ€ฆ.we have all that right here at home, every week.

I am now twelve years or so into my passionate support of local live music, it offers so much more than huge mega money gigs, and it supports through shared venues other aspects of our towns offer.

So, if you missed this incredible gig look at listings here, Facebook or wherever, message venues, talk to friends, thereโ€™s always a solid welcome, and you may find your new favourite band or next best friend in the crowd!

Thanks Ben, that is exactly what itโ€™s all about! And now a “further reading” related rant to finish on!

When I published a preview of Long Street’s new season I highlighted this gig in particular, because Jon is loved by the residents of Devizes as this native hero. It was inevitable, and something I had discussed with both Ian, organiser of Long Street, and Dave at the Southgate, that someone would comment on the social media shares of it, questioning why they would pay to see Jon at Long Street when his monthly residences at the Southgate are free. Being I suspect thereโ€™s others that share this understandable view, and that money is a benefactor to deciding what to and what not to attend in these trying times, I thought Iโ€™d answer it with my opinion, for better or worse.

Starter for ten, we love the Southgate, we love the fact they host these regular sessions with the Jon Amor Trio and usually a special guest, and weโ€™ve covered them many times. In fact, The Southgate has probably had more reviews from us than anywhere else. Dave and Ian are friends, they attend each other’s gigs and liaison to avoid clashes of similar gigs. The Southgate will pay what they can for an artist from money they make at the bar, most pubs operate this way, it is up to the artist to accept this or decline to play. The Southgate, like others, will hand around a tip hat, to top up the performersโ€™ earnings. That is the way we get free gigs, but it is not how it works with event organisers who must pay for acts from the revenue of ticket sales. No matter how great this residency is at the Southgate, they are on Sunday afternoon when gravy is tipped onto your roast! Personally, due to work commitments Iโ€™m unable to let my hair down over more than a pint, like I can do on a Saturday night; thatโ€™s the time they let me out! Iโ€™m sure others find themselves in a similar situation.

Aside this, with the capacity of the club greater than the pub allowing folk room to move, the enhancement of the show via additional guests forming an eight piece band at times, the perfection of the sound engineering, and the uninterrupted presentation, are all benefits you are unlikely to get in any pub environment. Saturday night proved this, for it was a cut above what any performer would be capable of in any pub. It was a fantastic night, if you were there you would know it was and accept it was total and utter class. If you weren’t, well, you only have my and Ben’s words it was so.

And with that notion we can put the final slither of their comment to bed, that Long Street has โ€œzeroโ€ atmosphere. Yes, I understand there are a few longstanding devotees who favour to remain seated and silent, the root to my little regular jest labelling them โ€œthe Devizes blues appreciation society!โ€ But the atmosphere is what YOU make it! We danced the night away, I loved it, Ben and Vicky clearly loved it, people around us loved it. No one bothered us in doing so and no dancer bothered those who opted not to. When compromise is necessary, no less punters at Long Street adhere than might in a pub.

Thereโ€™s no hard feelings, the comment remains as we donโ€™t delete fair opinions. Iโ€™m no Nostradamus, but I suspected someone might suggest this, just a little irked to understand the reasoning for posting it. If it was to encourage others to side with them I genuinely think thatโ€™s a shame, as it risks the continuation of this wonderful club. No one is forcing anyone to go anymore than anyone is forcing anyone else to write such a comment.

Hey, I might see them at the Gate sometime, but they should note some regulars there attended this one, and others who might not frequent the Southgate, they did too; why deny their chances to see an act they claimed to love themselves, like most of us in Devizes? Because, and hereโ€™s the killer line, when Jon and his extended team blasted out the customary Juggernaut finale, feet were stomping, sweat rinsed shirts, and expressions of sheer joy blessed the faces of those in attendance. It was blissfully brilliant, the best night in Devizes Iโ€™ve had for a long time; long live Long Street Blues Club, but yeah, other options, such as The Southgate are available and come highly recommended too. What a petty fiasco!ย ย 

Shearwater: New Single From Nothing Rhymes With Orange

Thereโ€™s a new single from Bristol-based Nothing Rhymes With Orange out tomorrow (Saturday 20th September) which takes the band to a whole new level, and it has got me thinking back to their Devizes rootsโ€ฆ..ย 

You know, I really cannot remember how this thing started, if they contacted me or if I found them. It was three years ago, at a time when local media seemed rampant with scare stories sensationalising teenage hooliganism. Folk jumped the bandwagon, naming and shaming wayward youth on Facebook like it was modern gallows, and making fearmongering sweeping generalisations, classing every child as a psychotic delinquent.

I figured this wasn’t the same picture I was seeing. That thereโ€™s always been a handful off the rails, but in comparison to previous generations, most Gen Z were passive, thoughtful, and creative. So I set out to prove this wonky narrative wrong, and in doing so found many aspiring teenage bands to use as examples, but none so accomplished and motivated as Nothing Rhymes with Orange.

There was always something staunchly between the members of this Devizes School band, frontman Elijah Easton, Sam Briggs, Fin Anderson-Farquhar, and drummer Lui Venables, an unequalled camaraderie which combined their honing skills harmoniously. Their calculated sagacity writing painted a blithe picture of Gen Z, equal to how punk bands like The Newtown Neurotics summarised life for generation X, and it spawned a zeitgeist.

Image: Gail Foster

Moments after reviewing their debut single, Chow for Now, they launched an equivalently impressive EP called Midsummer. I figured it was overdue to check them out live, as they organised their own gig at West Lavington Village Hall. Divided between parents and youth I witnessed the birth of a local phenomenon. I dubbed it โ€œBeatlemania in Devizes.โ€ Teenage fans chanted the chorus of Manipulation back at them, as Elijah jumped from the stage relishing in the moment.

I encouraged teenage budding writers and photographers to record this blossoming movement for us, as alongside bands like Melkshamโ€™s The Sunnies, they were inspiring a new generation of musicians too. And for the adults, I wanted them to quit whinging about youth, by showcasing NRWO in an environment free from age division, where they could see for themselves this emergent youth fandom and the local band which created it. I urged our carnival committee that their annual โ€œInternationalโ€ Street Festival in Devizes should showcase such a local act, and pride overcame me as I introduced them to the masses gathered in the Market Place, because alongside their excellent self-promotion, Devizine expressed with honesty that townsfolk should support this spectacular homemade band, and they did.

The lads released several new songs, all of which were tiny progressive steps to a maturity in their sound. At a gig at The Three Crowns in May 2024 Devizes-own BBC DJ and presenter, James Threlfall gave me constructive criticism regarding their production levels, suggesting it wasnโ€™t quite to the level necessary and in comparison to upcoming bands across the southwest. I also worried at this time, moving along that adolescent rocky road generally was the make or break of a young band, usually the latter.

Delighted that they planned to study together in Bristol Uni, I finished off our local angled reporting of them with a parting interview, safe in the knowledge both the uni and bustling life in Bristol would open new doors for them and hopeful it would perfect their skills to the level James so honestly pointed out. A huge festival touring summer at Dot 2 Dot, Golden Touch, 110 Above and Camper Calling, returning to Studio 91 for the session which produced their new ear-invasive single, Shearwater, out at 6pm on 20th September across all streaming platforms, surely proves they have.

Image: Gail Foster

Shearwater signifies a hotly-anticipated next chapter, one of huge guitar sounds, jacked up drums and Elijahโ€™s desperate vocals, evoking stories of fiery lust and explosive aftermaths. This is the single which will do for an international audience what Nothing Rhymes With Orange did locally three years ago. The spritely frenzy is replaced by the concentrated rhythmic flow and evocative ambience of the kind of timeless indie-pop anthem a multitude of audiences will shine their phone torches too. The layers are divine, the composition professionally crafted.

Iโ€™ve never needed to exaggerate my appraisal nor flatter NRWO for encouragement. I saw this potential, as did their local fanbase. And tomorrow you can hear the fruits of their labour in full bloom, a categorical advancement of Devizes export to the world, and it makes me feel proud to have backed them to this point, what the future holds is answered in this track, and it looks orange!

But donโ€™t just take my word for it; chatting to James Threlfall just yesterday, I pointed out this single felt like the entry level we were talking about last May, and he agreed, telling me they’ve landed a featured artist spot on BBC Introducing South and West, which is live at 8pm tonight (Thursday 8pm.) The single will be debuting live at their upcoming headline show, 26th September, at The Old England, Bristol. Thereโ€™s also an exciting word on the grapevine: an album is the pipeline. Oh, and donโ€™t forget they’re playing our Wiltshire Music Awards on 23rd October here in Devizes, and will be at Devizes Arts Festival next summer like Bruce Springsteen returning to New Jersey!

For me, Iโ€™ll always have those early moments, like blagging a Sharpie from the sound engineer at street festival, so teenage girls could have their T-shirts signed (not by me, you understand?!!)

No Rest For JP Oldfield, New Single Out Today

It’s been six months since Devizes-based young blues crooner JP Oldfield released his poignant kazoo-blowing debut EP Bouffon. He’s made numerous appearances across the circuit since and created an impressive following. Today sees him on the next leg of his musical journey, a brand new single aptly titled No Restโ€ฆ..

If the kazoo created a unique identity for Josh, quirking up otherwise darker themes than the novelty songs you’d except the instrument to be found in, this idiosyncratic move may have caused some criticism from traditionalists who simply didn’t get it. Not me, inherent in the belief rules are made to be broken, I’m of the reckoning JP Oldfield is a contemporary rarity, a misunderstood genius finding his feet. A dedicated axemen with an axe to grind, and a singer-songwriter unafraid to explore and expose every detail of the melancholic mind maze in the encapsulating way blues legends did before him.

With this in tow, I’d argue the jukejoint authentic sound created with his haunting grizzly vocal tones, that steel guitar and beaten up suitcase pedal-drum is Marmite. Love it or hate it, JP forged an imitable style, ranging from Cash to Tom Waits and Nick Cave in comparison. I’d draw any critic’s attention to a track like Last Orders, a heart-wrenchingly honest tune which takes on the drunkard’s misery of a relationship break-up in true mellowed delta blues fashion, without kazoo. But hey, now we’ve got No Rest, a level up certainly in production and indicative of all the greatness he’s already achieved; it rocks.

There’s the sombre spiritual blues theme we’ve come to expect, but it’s a foot-stomping pace with a killer rolling riff, kazoo-less yet a perfect balance of everything else JP throws at his music. It’s deliberately raw, perfectly hard-hitting and undoubtedly JP on the best form we’ve ever seen.

In our interview a month short of a year ago, Josh gave me the impression he was something of a perfectionist. A lot of work has gone into this full bodied five minute marvel, and it shows, in its crisp sound, this composition of elements making said perfect balance, and also a enlightening video accompanying it, by Jamie R Hawkinsโ€™ Side Owl Productions. This cones out around 6pm tonight, I’ll add the link to it here, so return after your potato waffles.

The video has a different narrative from the song, rather โ€˜the story of the song;โ€™ a fascinating showcase of JP’s session at Mooncalf Studios, where Nick Beere engineers the kind of tune which we might suggest JP’s feet have been found. We look forward to hearing the other songs from this session in good time, but for now this is plenty to indicate this Devizes bluesman is heading in the right direction. But Nick brought out the best in musicians while I was still doodling boobs on my school rough book!

He’s JP Oldfield, I’m just old, but I know what I like. I could dance barefoot in a barn grasping a bottle of bourbon to this, and when it gets to that irresistible bridge I’ll procrastinate my repent, letting my sins roam free for a day; though I havenโ€™t drawn a boob on a school book for quite some considerable time! 

Joyrobber: an anonymous songwriter releasing debut track

When I first heard about Joyrobber, a one man, faceless and nameless musical project itโ€™s fair to say my interested was piqued, and itโ€™s fair to say that the press release Iโ€™ve seen is only creating more questions…

The project got underway in the summer of this year when the artist (whoever they might be) rediscovered some long-lost demos of a few previous unreleased tracks, and although Joyrobber doesnโ€™t have a name for himself, he does have some big names behind the single, with vocals being engineered by the Wiltshire legend Jolyon Dixon and the song itself having been produced by Sugarpill Productions.

The song is called Jeremy Kyle, itโ€™s a comedic, catchy take on the career of (you guessed it) Jeremy Kyle. At this point it probably is sounding like some sort of naff joke song thatโ€™s not really worth a listen, but surprisingly itโ€™s sort of the opposite.

โ€˜Jeremy Kyleโ€™ has a light indie rock sort of feel โ€“ which I think we can all agree weโ€™ve seen work very well locally, with bands like Nothing Rhymes with Orange and Burn the Midnight Oil taking the world by storm. Itโ€™s full of melodic guitar riffs, smooth vocals and punchy drum fills, and you can hear the value of both Sugarpill Productions and Jolyon Dixon throughout the track.

Iโ€™ve heard on the grapevine that luckily thereโ€™s more to come in the not-so-distant future as a few other lost demos have been found alongside this one. It really is worth a listen, I have to say when I first heard about the project I thought it would probably just be a sort of joke single, that Iโ€™d listen to once or twice to write this piece and then just forget, but it feels like it has a bigger potential and I would genuinely recommend it.

You can give it a listen here

Frome based band, Bellwether, to release new single

Formerly known as Judas Goat and the Bellwether, the now renamed band have announced the release of their latest single, โ€œDrill Baby Drillโ€ (coming out on the 27th November). I was given the pleasure of listening to it and you really couldnโ€™t ask for anything betterโ€ฆ

The band themselves have gained a loyal fanbase with their psychedelic blues-rock style, drawing inspiration from The Doors, Cream and Jefferson Airplane amongst others. After having most of this year packed with gigs all over Frome and the surrounding areas this new single is taking things up a notch for the band.

โ€œDrill Baby Drillโ€ starts with a heavy acoustic guitar riff, before leading into the smooth vocals of Sara Vian, the lead singer. By the chorus youโ€™ve got pitch perfect harmonies layered with a mellow electric guitar line creating pure harmony. This continues throughout the song after being met with a steady drumbeat flowing with the song. All in all, itโ€™s a delight.

And itโ€™s nice to see that a clear message still shines through, over the song as a whole. It was originally inspired by the so-called โ€˜diablos musicaโ€™ (devilโ€™s tritone). In simple terms a tritone in music is an interval, two notes that are a certain distance apart being played simultaneously and back in the day this was seen as unsettling and spooky โ€“ due to its dissonant sound. This was pretty much forgotten about until Black Sabbath came along and released โ€˜Black Sabbathโ€™.

Sara Vian herself described it as โ€œlong branded as forbidden and dissonant, yet I discovered an article which claimed that medieval high clergymen imagined it to be the sound of the Holy Trinity; a paradox which became the perfect foundation to explore whatโ€™s going on in America right now!โ€

โ€œDrill Baby Drillโ€ really is worth a listen โ€“ it only takes one to have you hooked and playing it on repeat (I know I have). ย Luckily for you readers, its being soft launched today (5th September) on Bandcamp

There’s also an official launch soiree on the 19th September at the Meet at Eight bar in Yeovil, where local heroes Long Sun will also be appearing (here)

And don’t forget to check out the Bellwethers themselves on whatever social medias you use: @bellwetherbanduk

Yesterdayโ€™s Tomorrow; Debut Album From Ursa Way and its Launch at the Tuppenny

If the eonian motivation of youths picking up guitars and forming bands has hit Gen Z enough that they’re two to a penny, I’m in the right place to discover one new to us, The Tuppennyโ€ฆ.ย 

An adept drummer pinched from Bristol, with the remaining homegrown members formed aย  youthful and hopeful Swindon indie-rock four-piece called Ursa Way, and they’ve ploughed two years into their debut album Yesterdayโ€™s Tomorrow, launched on the night in question. Now was the time to show it off, and they did in an exceptionally accomplished and entertaining way.

If an early start to a Friday evening one weekend before the celebrated Swindon Shuffle was risky, especially being Thursdays are usually the favoured live music nights for The Tuppenny, seems the band are risk-takers, as diving straight in with a twelve track album is ambitious.

Generous to a loyal fanbase when the archetypal EP usually appears first, for the same fiver pricetag, but equally generous are the young punks and an assortment of others who’ve gathered to see them, as they applauded their efforts as if a new wave of hysteria was imminent, which it could well be. Though, this is Old Town, the epicentre of Swindon’s nightlife, where they’ve ingeniously adopted road closure blockades to create Swindon-fashioned alfresco dining areas!

Ursa Way played out their album, but unlike the shameless enterprise of a legend, I predict it was the bulk of their repertoire, and that’s acceptable for an upcoming band. More importantly they did it with bells on; the composition tight, the delivery confident. They seemed most comfortable with a melodic pace rather than thrashing it out, but at perkier tunes they still held it harmoniously.

In a roundabout way they confessed many of their songs were sporadic and spontaneous muses rather than poignantly planned thought processes, which was both amusing and honest, perhaps ironic too I figured after listening to the album. But not as amusing as complimenting Swindon, only to then ironically knock it in a song called Shit Town of Swindon!

While not the poetry of Keats, many of their co-written songs rise above the mocking of their hometown, which if only a standout track for its satirical title, others convey more concentrated narratives. Thereโ€™s a sense of irony throughout though, if Yesterdayโ€™s Tomorrow is surely today, the title track is the penultimate one, and depicts a hungover hope of new horizons of a romantic interlude, in a Britpop style.

The album kicks off with Southbound, an evenly-paced contemporary punk-pop attitude sourced from millennial indie bands like Busted and McFly. Though this album flows brilliantly, itโ€™s onto something decidedly more traditional punk two tracks in, then the aforementioned Shit Town of Swindon continues the style, Britpop influences gradually building. This one has to be anthemic in good time, particularly for their Swindonite fanbase.

Chasing the Sun four tunes in really picks up the pace, again with a comment on their hometown, but with optimism riding the narrative; thereโ€™s a clever and simple hook equal to the previous one here, proving these boys know how to construct a pop song with energy and enthusiasm.

A ballad, Just a Game follows, balancing the pace, and again proving something, that Ursa Way are no one trick pony. Noahโ€™s Nosey Neighbour takes an almost prog-rock style to Britpop, creativity abound here too, this rocks with surprising substance, and weโ€™re only halfway through this twelve-tracks-strong brilliant debut album.

With adroit contrasts in riffs, mainstream rock influences, perfectly placed hooks and intelligent lyrics, thereโ€™s promise in this album that Ursa Way are destined to create something much more memorable, but right now the potential signs are all encompassed in Yesterdayโ€™s Tomorrow. It ends with Another, a monstrously clever drifting Britpop tune seemingly about jealousy, dripping with edge and emotion.

They played this album out at The Tuppenny on Friday, reflecting the feeling weโ€™ll be hearing more of this young band in the future, and the gig felt like a groundbreaking moment for them, in respect of that notion.ย 

LinkTree to Ursa Way

I love the Tuppenny, a hospitable tavern with universal appeal. Thursdays are the live music nights usually, but as I said, itโ€™s Swindon Shuffle next weekend, see my recommendations here, Iโ€™m certain some were at the Tuppenny!

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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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I See Orangeโ€ฆ.And Doll Guts!

There was a time not so long ago when I See Orange was the most exciting new band in Swindon. Their latest offering released at the end of August, a single entitled Doll Guts, truly positions them way above that pedestal and I predict and hope, onto the international marketโ€ฆ.

Though thereโ€™s a nod to the bandโ€™s roots in the accompanying picturesque video, in the way of stage show clips from Swindonโ€™s premier venue The Victoria, itโ€™s consolidated with professional storyboard shots of their playfully cute mien, contrasting their macabre component, commonly associated with grunge. Itโ€™s an original design identity theyโ€™ve manufactured to great success, but never has it been so symbolically recognisable as in this song, and video. The title alone reflects the winsome-dark contrast and their penchant for dolls, and horror, yet thatโ€™s only one element which causes me to hail it their greatest song to date, and the next level up.

Doll Guts is perhaps more melodiously memorable than anything I See Orange has put out in the past, the moreish affiliation of pop, without watering down those gorgeous roaring guitar riffs and thumping drums; greater than the chord simplicity of The Cardigansโ€™ Losing My Favourite Game, but equally punchy. Imagine Hole writing the theme of Twin Peaks; this is evocatively fantasised themed, with a singalong chorus, rising and falling like the paragon of classic grunge, yet their own divine spin.

I loved the drive of Mental Rot, the spookiness of Witch, but Doll Guts is the delineation, incorporating all the elements and symbolism of I See Orangeโ€™s design and launching them back out there in true colours. You have to love this, everyone in the human race, surely?! You donโ€™t have to be the number one Nirvana fanboy. In fact, while mawkish soft metal turned me away from rock in the late eighties, causing me to miss out on grunge, it has been through local bands like I See Orange, Life in Mono, The Belladonna Treatment and Liddington Hill, which has opened my eyes to its power and worth, so, thanks for that!

I See Orange match with a chemistry every band must envy. Formed in 2022 when frontgirl Giselle, originally a folk-pop singer-songwriter moved here from Mexico, and an impromptu rehearsal session with Cameron and Charlie established potential magic. Inspired by nineties and millennial alt-rock, they add their own unique post-grunge flavour. I have believed it works for sometime now, an accolade burgeoning with pace, seeing them gig in London and beyond, and this song confirms the praise theyโ€™re gaining is fully deserved.ย 

JPU Records Link

Find Digital Streams and Downloads HERE

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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

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

Swindon Branch of Your Party is Growing

Following the excitement and success of the first meeting of โ€˜Your Partyโ€™ in Swindon, a second meeting has been arranged for 18th September 7.30 -โ€ฆ

No Rest For JP Oldfield, New Single Out Today

It’s been six months since Devizes-based young blues crooner JP Oldfield released his poignant kazoo-blowing debut EP Bouffon. He’s made numerous appearances across the circuitโ€ฆ

DOCA’s Early Lantern Workshops

Is it too early for the C word?! Of course not, Grinch! With DOCA’S Winter Festival confirmed for Friday 28th November this year, there willโ€ฆ

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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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

Keep reading

Wither; Debut Single From Butane Skies

Whilst dispersing highly flammable hydrocarbon gases into the atmosphere is not advisory,  Butane Skies is a name increasingly exploding on local circuits. The young and aspiring Frome โ€œa little bit emo, a little bit notโ€ four-piece released a debut single Wither last month (while I was on my jollies.) So, even though this mention of it might be belated, itโ€™s worthy of your attention, as I predict Butane Skies is a name youโ€™ll be hearing a lot more ofโ€ฆ..

If the name suggests an all-out fireball of frenzied rock you should note itโ€™s taken from a line in the My Chemical Romance song Skylines & Turnstiles, and akin to their emo influence thereโ€™s delicate rising and falling sections of emotive outpouring in Wither. With a dystopian themed desperation, perhaps metaphoric, this is intense yet melodic, as exquisitely composed as Evanescence, and as genius as Frank Turner.

Thereโ€™s an intricate piano, blessing it with a sense of optimism above the emo melancholy of the subtly placed fuzzbox riff and the powerful vox harmonies of a double-Alanis Morissette. Iโ€™m thinking Iโ€™ve not heard local emo quite as good as this since Life in Mono, but not to typecast within the emo pigeonhole, thereโ€™s something more universally indie about them too, Muse-fashion.

Such high accolades deserved, Wither firmly places them on the first runner of the local recording artist ladder, and while an impressive kick start, itโ€™s moreish and patent theyโ€™ve more tricks up their sleeves. Butane Skies established themselves in 2022 after school duo Amaya and Ash collaborated at just 14 years old, and bassist Mia and drummer Alex joined. Theyโ€™ve notched numerous gigs and festivals since Future Sound of Trowbridge at the Pump, and winning Riverbankโ€™s Take The Stage in 2024 with the prize to perform at Minety Music Festival.ย 

Other appearances at Festival on the Farm, Figglefest, Bradford Roots, Corrfest, Chippenham Pride and Sounds at the Ground, and at venues such as The Boathouse, The Neeld, Fromeโ€™s Tree House and a number of local stages at Glastonbury sees them Bristol-bound for The Louisiana and Komedia Bathโ€™s Electric Bar soon. They are nominated for our Wiltshire Music Awards, and now top of never-ending must-see list!

Hereโ€™s a band with a track you must listen to, but the ambience feels something wonderful is blossoming; Butane Skies are yet to hit their magnum-opus, be there when they do.  

LinkTree

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! 

Website Facebook Instagram YouTube

Trending……

Talk in Code Announces New Single; More Than Friends

Atmospherically anthemic and reinforced with that infectious rhythmic groove weโ€™ve come to love Talk in Code for, More Than Friends is chockfull of it, and itโ€™s their latest single, to be released on Friday 22nd August 2025 via Regent Street Recordsโ€ฆ.

Even if youโ€™re accounted for now, happily married and matured like a fine wine, the recollections of a blossoming relationship and the eagerness versus apprehension it provokes will never be pushed down a dark alley of your memory lane; successful or epic fail, they live inside the mind forever, Iโ€™m afraid! Frontman, Chris Stevens said of the single, โ€œweโ€™ve all been there, in a situation waiting for the other to make the first move, to validate our feelings, or save face!โ€

I could tell you a few stories, but will save you the agony! Especially as the earliest would be set in the eighties, about getting hot under the collar over girls in rah-rah skirts, leg warmers and dippy-boppers! But thatโ€™s the beauty of this songโ€™s simple premise; if youโ€™re older the irresistible eighties feel to the sound assists you in extracting the emotions needed to savour a memory or two, and youโ€™ll stare back up at your Morten Harket or Kim Wilde poster, should the blu-tac not have dried out, praying theyโ€™ll bless you with a cure to your longing!! Billy Joel, you charlatan, it isnโ€™t that easy to tell her about it!

Whereas if youโ€™re younger and, as gen z generally are, far more practical to be praying to Smash Hits pullout posters, you might relate the songโ€™s narrative to a newfound emotion, sharable on TikTok. But the eighties vibe still functions as a mechanism, because, letโ€™s face it, musical innovators of the eighties are the catalysts to contemporary pop. I was careful here not to suggest eighties music was better, though with my rose-tinted specs on, the thought was! 

And thatโ€™s what makes Talk in Code so universally engaging; it bridges a needed gap between eighties new wave electronica and nineties indie pop. In goes the synths, guitars riffs, the immortal choruses and rousing hooks, and what it exhausts is fresh and pumping, modern yet as timeless as Chris’s Adidas jackets, like someone slipped a rocket between the bum cheeks of Tony Hadley, and whip, zoom heโ€™s top of the download chart faster than you could cry Oasis.

For the reflective mood to the bandโ€™s artistry, which this track seems to strengthen, More Than Friends might be considered typical for the bandโ€™s direction, but as ever, they are growers, and after a listen or three youโ€™ll find the quintessential is challenged with each new release, because this band are tight, theyโ€™re professional, and bounded by great PR, management, and a truly loyal fanbase. A base which will be singing this back to them, in blue sunglasses, at their numerous live performances within the next month!

The single’s launch party is at the Vic, Swindon, on Friday 22nd August. Tickets HERE

Another cracker, Talk in Code. For everyone else, pre-save it HERE!

Trending….

Static Moves Crawling Back With Debut Single

In a way itโ€™s more intriguing when a cover band sends an original song than one already producing originals. For if original bands can sometimes be critical of the desire of pub venues to value cover bands over them, yeah, your average cover band is heeding the call for their bread and butter, but are often equally passionate about music, and turn to recording some of their own wares. And when they do itโ€™s natural to pay homage to the particular style they play in, as guaranteed, thatโ€™s their calling and influenceโ€ฆ..

Certainly true of Marlborough-based Static Moves, who released a debut single today, full of the retrospective energy theyโ€™re celebrated for at live shows. They turned a cold February night at the Three Crowns in Devizes into a volcano, as they regularly warm crowds at a plethora of local venues with a repertoire of welcomed new wave to Britpop covers.

The concern is that the raw energy doesnโ€™t transfer to the recording, but you have no worries here; it’s the dog’s bollocks. Crawl Back, as theyโ€™ve called it, belts out an accomplished potential anthem of precisely what theyโ€™re loved for on the circuit. A matured and modern indie-rock spliced โ€œTurning Japaneseโ€ by the Vapors, with a carefree attitude of the Merton Parkas. Itโ€™s got the new wave mod-punk crossover of the early eighties splashed across it like two-tone trousers and Fred Perry T-shirts never went out of fashion. And it didnโ€™t, because you can hear its influence crying out for attention in contemporary indie-rock bands, ergo, the appeal of Crawl Back reaches beyond nostalgic middle-aged to youths today.

With a theme of the tail between your legs sympathy vote, forgiveness is key when you still fancy the wrongdoer, forget the three minute hero, this weighs in at four and a half, and it waits for no man to catch up with it. In a way the length of this whopper is more indicative of modern punk bands, but you cannot help but imagine youโ€™re at a musky gig in 1981, it costs two quid to get in, youโ€™ve only got one and half a packet of fruit Polos to trade with the glue-sniffers hanging outside drinking tins of Tennents!

Static Moves promises more of their, indeed, moreish raw energy captured, and if thereโ€™s more in the pipeline, an EP would be welcomed, an album worth would be knockout, because they could, and should, slip this into their covers set and no one would be any the wiser it wasnโ€™t an album track from Modern English or a nineties influenced crew like The Coral or Supergrass; itโ€™s on that level of excellence too, and that’s why they’re all over our local circuit like Dr Martens were in 1981.

“The Motherโ€ at The Mission Theatre, Bath, July 16th-19th 2025.

by Ian Diddams
images by Ian Diddams, Next Stage Theatre Company and Mike Stevens

Florian Zeller is a contemporary French playwright and screenwriter, who received critical acclaim for his films, โ€œThe Fatherโ€ and โ€œThe Sonโ€ in the early 2020s. The films were both adapted from his stage plays of the same name, and it will not therefore be a surprise that he preceded both of these original plays with a third โ€œThe Motherโ€. Next Stage Theatre Company bring this first Zeller play to The Mission Theatre, Bath this week, with its time slipping, reality questioning story of a post-menopausal empty-nester whose raison dโ€™etre has gone.

Anne โ€“ the titular character role โ€“ played by Hayley Fitton-Cook, lives a lonely, insular and empty existence in a home dominated by her favourite colour, red. Her children have grown up and left home, and are somewhat estranged to her; her husband she suspects of having an affair. Her life is meaningless and she dulls the tedium with increasingly larger doses of pills, and booze. The play is her experienced life, the other characters being puppets to enact her perceived reality, though we very quickly start to question which is real, which is fever dream, and which is just unreliable memories. Hayley plays the character honestly – as written, straight, she explained, playing The Mother in each scene as if that is the time and place in the real world. Her uncompromising, incessant performance really strengthens the delivery as we wonder which of the almost repeated scenes with minor changes and nuances is the actual real one โ€“ they are all real to Anne as they happen.

The Father, Pierre, is played by Mayur Bhatt, as the slightly lost businessman trying to keep a connection to his wife, and failing dismally. He is kind and gentle in his own way but his work life is either overtaking his own existence, or is providing a cover for extra-martial nefarious activities. Mayur delivers his confused, hurt, but also self-centred character sublimely, delivering a perfectly crafted Willy Loman style businessman, looking forward to the next exciting convention on microcredits, while achieving not much at all โ€“ except an opportunity to avoid Anne.

Nicholas, The Son, is played by Oliver Manners. The Son represents Anneโ€™s confidence crisis โ€“ he is mid twenties and has left home to live with his girlfriend, and hardly communicates with The Mother now, finding her too stifling of his life. His own relationship crisis brings him back to the family home and the inner tensions and loss of mutual support are exposed all too obviously. The Mother tries to mother him, which he is rejecting; his relationship with his father is at best strained, and Nicholas knows โ€œthingsโ€ about Pierre that Anne doesnโ€™t. Its a tightrope of a plot line to follow for an actor โ€“ neither too close to his parents but equally not totally dismissive of them either; their remains some inklings to family ties but they are stretched. Oliver’s perfection of this fledged offspring counterposed by his critical encapsulation of Nicholas’ insecutorites belies the fact that this is his first role with Next Stage.

Finally the fourth character of The Girl is played by Perrine Maillot; the girl is a melange of various female characters within the story. The is certainly Nicholasโ€™ girlfriend, Elodieโ€ฆ but she is โ€“ in Anneโ€™s confused mind โ€“ also her husbandโ€™s lover, and a mental health nurse arranging treatment for Anne. And there may be a thought amongst the audience that maybe Elodie/lover is actually Nicholasโ€™ sister who is continually referenced but never seen, and has no contact ever with her family. Perrine is strong in her characterisation of Elodie, the girlfriend that doesnโ€™t like the Mother, who in turn doesnโ€™t like Elodie โ€“ though they both like red dressesโ€ฆ.

The mastery of the play is its continual time slip/alternative reality of scenes, often repeating themselves in a ground-hog day scenario, leaving the audience to work out their own understanding of what is going on. There are no right or wrong plot lines here โ€“ Zeller has deliberately set up the play with multiple answers and endings, leaving us to decide which narrative fits our own understandings. Is Anne mad? Is this all a repeating nightmare? Is some of it actually reality surrounded by alternatively recollected situations and outcomes in Anneโ€™s addled mind. Is Anne depressed? Menopausal? Has she dementia? Are some of the characters Anne interacts with actually dead? Are they all dead? Do some of the characters actually ever exist and are just figments of her imagination in her Walter Mitty world?

The set is simplistically perfect โ€“ Anneโ€™s favourite colour red abounds in the bedroom/diner open plan set. Even the scene changes are done to a lowered red wash of light. Created by Director Tiana James it is the perfect reflection of Anneโ€™s mind. Lighting and Sound is provided between Rowan Bendle and Kris Nuttal with Nicky Wilkins as fight choreographer.

Its a challenging play โ€“ it will likely raise emotions, query oneโ€™s own visions of what is real and what is pretend, and some aspects may well be triggering. But art should challenge us โ€“ and Zellerโ€™s play so well delivered by Tiana James on her directorial debut ably assisted by cast and creatives certainly provides the chance to be challenged in all the best ways.

โ€œThe Motherโ€ is showing at The Mission Theatre from July 16th-19th 2025, at 7.30pm. Tickets from https://www.missiontheatre.co.uk/tickets/the-mother


Pitstop at Air Ambulance Fundraising Mini-festival at The Three Crowns Devizesย 

Rude to walk into an event sporting another event wristband but the welcome was friendly as ever at the Three Crowns in Devizes. It’s mid-afternoon, Park Farm Festival‘s shuttle bus took me into town, cheekily I used it to poke my nose into the Air Ambulance fundraiser here, their first real multi-act day, I believe, save perhaps my 50th birthday, which if you remember any details of, you could always fill me in!

It was a necessity, if only to see Ruby Darbyshire, as it’s been a while, not a long while, but long enough for me. First time playing the venue and she went down a storm, unsurprisingly. Such a rich, natural talent, vocals made from silk, expressive and  forever a joy to listen to; be they either covers, a Portishead one being a particularly breathtaking one, or her intelligently constructed originals, of which she dropped a couple of new ones I’m eager to review here in good time.

There were hugs all round upon my entrance; Ben Borrill and Pat Ward finished a set as Matchbox Mutiny, a shame to miss, because those gorgeously talented guys pull a crowd and hold them. At the moment I did arrive I was delighted to catch Rachel Sinnetta & Jolyon Dixon doing their thing with Andy Fellows accompanying on guitar, as itโ€™s always impressive and highly entertaining. It was a stellar lineup with cupcakes, lollipops, childrenโ€™s face-painting, and tried and tested acts at the Three Crowns, save Ruby, who Iโ€™m assured would be welcomed back.

Rumour was Devizes Male Choir was intending to do a flash mob bit between Ruby and the grand finale, the ever lively Funked-Up. Unsure if this happened, as unfortunately, I was duty bound to return to Park Festival, but you can rest assured Funked-Up got the crowds dancing the night away. I wish I could’ve stayed.

The spirit of The Three Crowns remains toppermost in town; the go-to pub in Devizes for a good night, an unpretentious, friendly atmosphere with the widest age demographic which never clashes. Itโ€™s trouble-free fun, itโ€™s live music program set to enthral, and not forgetting gourmet burgers; itโ€™s an all-round winner on any night, but more of this all-day stuff, please kind sir!  

Wendy James Tour Coming to Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain

Photo credit: David Leigh Dodd

Pioneers of the indie-rock sound which would lead us into the nineties, Transvision Vamp lead singer Wendy James has announced a UK tour in October in support of her recently released tenth solo album The Shape of History, which includes Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grainโ€ฆ..

Wendy will be accompanied on tour by a full band, featuring Transvision Vamp’s bass player Dave Parsons, Jim Sclavunos from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on drums and Alex Ward (Thurston Moore Group) on guitar. They will be playing songs from across all of her albums, from TVV Pop, to New Wave Punk to Lo-Fi Racine No.1, through to the big productions of Queen High Straight and The Shape Of History, picking off favourite songs from each.ย 

For full tour dates see here, but closest to us is Tuesday 14th October at the Cheese and Grain, and The Fleece, Bristol on Tuesday 28th October.

Wendy James

While The Shape of History doesnโ€™t begin with a sound akin to Transvision Vamp, thereโ€™s underlying echoes of it as the album builds. Layers of electronica envelope the familiar vocals, so while itโ€™s not what you were expecting, the effect is as The Independent described, โ€œlike a patchwork of memories โ€“ victories, heartaches, the feeling of racing down a California highway, no destination in mind.โ€ And Classic Rock expressed that 

โ€œThe Wendy James of 2024 is an older, wiser and far more intriguing prospect. The Shape of History, never dull, and certainly never predictable.โ€ 

 โ€œMy songwriting has always been a wide mix of sounds, which naturally reflect the different music and references I have and love,โ€ Wendy explained, โ€œThe Shape Of History was recorded on Scrubs Lane, West London with Alex Ward, Harry Bohay and James Sclavunos. I then went off to NYC and Brooklyn to record the pianos and organs with Dave โ€˜The Mooseโ€™ Sherman. Overdubbing continued with Al Lawson at the engineering helm in his Shepherdโ€™s Bush studio and then I went back to Berkeley, CA to mix with Jesse Nichols before mastering with Fred Kevorkian in Brooklyn NY. I have spent so much time with this music, I know it note-for-note and love it and am so happy for you to make it your own now”.

 โ€œThe Shape Of History has a lot about love in it, a lot about appreciation of oneself, oneโ€™s life and importantly, of others. It is lifeโ€™s arc of starting out, blooming into something and in some ways maturing. I donโ€™t think my music has got older, I know Iโ€™ve not gone mellow! My attitude can be more ferocious and fearless than ever, but there is an acquired wisdom, which naturally comes after having been alive for a few decades! โ€˜The Shape Of Historyโ€™ is a love letter and a Thank you note to life so far. The culmination of my tenth album is the result of co-musicians and engineers who Iโ€™ve worked with previously and with whom I share a language. We know each other, we choose to work together. We enjoy each otherโ€™s talents and personalities. There is a happiness, a belonging, when we meet up, and an open and determined desire to achieve what we know we have to.โ€

โ€œFrom meeting Nick Christian Sayer and forming Transvision Vamp, the two of us walking into EMI Records, and demanding to see the head of Artists and Repertoire, Dave Ambrose. Getting signed and making our hits of the late 80โ€™s and 90โ€™s. From collaborating with Elvis Costello and mixing that album at Sunset Sound in Hollywood where The Stones mixed โ€˜Exile On Main Stโ€™, then moving to NYC to start writing and recording as a solo artist, all the gigs Iโ€™ve played and the friends Iโ€™ve made around the world, the astounding, incredible, wonderful people whose lives Iโ€™ve crossed paths withโ€ฆ I am so grateful for it all.โ€

Buy Shape of History HERE

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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 invited toโ€ฆ

News & Chat About Wiltshire Music Awards on Donโ€™t Stop the Music Radio Show

Despite being a tad under the weather last week, I was delighted to join Eddie Prestidge of Wiltshire Music Events on Swindon 105.5 radio to discuss the next stages of our Wiltshire Music Awardsโ€ฆ..

For those not in the know, though I suspect many are, presenter Peggy-Sue Ford produces a weekly show on the long-established station called Donโ€™t Stop the Music, dedicated to showcasing signed and unsigned acts, particularly locally-sourced. What better place to explain our plans for the awards? I cannot think of any, because thereโ€™s few radio shows locally as thoroughly dedicated as Peggyโ€™s, who brings acts into the studio to perform live and has become such a popular catalyst for upcoming local musicians.

This week Peggy-Sue was talking to Rich Swatton of a gem on our event calendar, Minety Music Festival, so it was the second week absent of live music; I did offer to sing for our turn on the show, which was swifty and understandably avoided and the topic diverted! Other than this, I think it went rather well and Ed and I made a bit of a duo, in the vein of Laurel & Hardy!!

Peggy-Sue uploads the shows on Spotify, so you can catch up with the shows if you miss them; hereโ€™s ours, should you wish to listen. Despite no live music, thereโ€™s local tunes from many already on our radar, Talk in Code, Deadlight Dance and JP Oldfield, and others new to us, Swindon crossover rapper Brandon Clarke, who goes under the pseudonym Weather, and Kate X, an upcoming RnB singer; both worth looking up.

With the voting process now closed, Ed and I explained what happens next. The votes will be counted and the top three of each category will be put before a panel of judges, all with professional experience and loyalty to promoting the local music scene. The reason for this, so we can find a balance across the entire county and represent countywide fairly, ensuring the results are not centralised in one area. Whereby some results appear to be close to call, judges will decide the winner, but in all cases, especially those results where one has walked the category, this accomplishment must be considered by the judges as priority.

The judges were announced as being, subject to their own availability: Claire Grist of the Facebook page Bird is the Word, Ed Dyer of Swindon Shuffle, Roger of Sound Knowledge in Marlborough, Ronnie Laurie of Marland Music, Salisbury music producer Joylon Dixon, Nick Beere of Mooncalf Studios, and Peggy-Sue Ford herself. We have advised, now the judges are announced, bribing them with sweeties, kisses, or anything of the kind will be frowned upon!

This is the first Wiltshire Music Awards, and weโ€™re learning and planning as we go, but we are dedicated to presenting the results in October with a grand ceremony at Devizes Corn Exchange. In order to do this effectively we require sponsorship for each category, for which is affordable and details of which can be found HERE. Tickets for the ceremony can also be found there, starting at just ten pounds, and thereโ€™s some FAQs.

We strive towards that date crossing the Ts and dotting the Is, and look forward to presenting the awards with lots of live music acts on the night, perhaps a celebrity presenter alongside me in a tux, the latter of which is worth the ticket price alone!

Iโ€™d like to thank Peggy-Sue and Swindon 105.5 on behalf of myself and Eddie, for allowing us to visit the studio last week, to chat about the awards, and test the swing chairs for squeakiness, which I report was minimal. What a great show! 

REVIEW โ€“ The Lost Trades @ The Piggy Bank, Calne โ€“ Tuesday 18th June 2025

Five Have An Out-of-town Experience

You canโ€™t always get that live music experience you crave by simply staying within the walls of D-Town.ย  Sometimes, and especially when thereโ€™s aย  band playing that you simply have to see, you just need to get the gang together and pile into a motor to visit the wilder Wiltshire provinces.ย  And so it was last night that we ventured over the hill to Calne.ย  We found the border post un-guarded, and so we slipped into the town and found our way to The Piggy Bank micro-pub to see The Lost Trades……

The Piggy Bank has been a surprisingly good little venue over the past year or two, featuring some great nights with, among others, The Rob Lear Band, The Black Feathers, Jess Vincent, and Jinder, as well as pop-up dining nights, quiz nights and (a big favourite of mine) Crazy Bird comedy club nights.

Just in case you donโ€™t know them, The Lost Trades are a trio who play folk/ Americana with a cool Laurel Canyon vibe. With a sound that is reminiscent of the California folk scene of the late 60s/early 70s, (weโ€™re thinking here of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), their three part harmonies have been previously described as “flawless”, “spine tingling” and “magical”.

Formed in late 2019, the global Covid hoo-hah cut short their first tour after just a single sold out gig.ย  The band shrugged their shoulders, and retreated to their respective song-writing rooms to work on what was to become their debut album, “The Bird, The Book & The Barrel”, released in June 2021. The follow up album, “Petrichor” was released in March 2023. Both are highly recommended โ€“ trust me!

Then, just last year, one of their founding members, Tamsin Quinn, decided to leave the trio to pursue other interests.  Bit of a shock.  Was this the end for The Lost Trades, we all wondered?  Not a bit of it!  Tamsin has now been replaced (if replaced is really the right word) by the very talented Jess Vincent, who had recently returned to the UK after a few years away in Bulgaria.  

The result of all that is that The Lost Trades now consist of:

ยท Phil Cooper (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric bass), a performer not unknown in the local area for many years, both as a solo performer, as well in various bands, and a guy who knows his way around a recording studio and the producerโ€™s job;

ยท Jamie R Hawkins (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric bass, ukulele), also massively well-known locally, especially in venues around D-Town, for his wonderful solo performances and some great songs. Indeed a bunch of us had slipped over to The Pulpit (ex The Little Hop) in Old Town, Swindon only last week to witness a really excellent solo performance at that new musical venue;

ยท Jess Vincent (vocals, guitar, percussion, shruti box).  Jess first came to notice singing with Penny Red, before branching out into a solo career that produced several albums (Time Frame, Seesaw Dreams, Shine, and last yearโ€™s Lions Den)  

Between us five weโ€™d seen The Lost Trades in their old formation many times before, but this was to be the first time with new band-member Jess.  How would this all work out?  Would the sound and the dynamic have changed?  And if so, for better or worse?  Well, in sum, we need not have worried.  Despite a massive learning curve for Jess to pick up the bandโ€™s performing repertoire in just a few short months, to say nothing of having to re-blend all of their trade-mark close harmonies, the end result was spectacularly good.  It was neither better, nor worse, just slightly different and more developed and mature.  Right from the first number we knew that the magic had remained intact.

All the old stuff was still there โ€“ the constant and easy interchanging of instruments (including guitar, ukulele, bass and percussion), the close three-part harmonies, the well-worked song material, and the light-hearted intimacy, with the group engaging in comfortable repartee with each other and the audience like a group of old friends. And there were a lot of old friends in the audience to help them along.  And, of course, the many familiar songs.

But there was some great new stuff too โ€“ new songs, a different female vocal line, new instruments, and (obviously) a new personal dynamic between the three performers.  All of them had played The Piggy Bank before, and all to packed houses, so there were no nerves about any of that.  And last night, in front of yet another packed house, they managed to produce a truly spell-binding performance once again.

My only (very slight) reservations about the evening were that I needed slightly less chat (some of the introductions were as long as the songs!) and I would have liked slightly more of Jess (the two boys tended to dominate proceedings at times).  But, hey, these are very simple things to be fixed and developed, and didnโ€™t in any way detract from all the superb quality of the music they delivered in their three sets (or โ€œspasmsโ€ as Phil nicely put it).

There were no lashings of ginger beer, but the music flowed, the craft beer certainly flowed, and a jolly good time was had by all.  Then, under cover of darkness, we fled through the night back to the safety of D-Town, our out-of-town mission successfully accomplished.

Hopefully thereโ€™ll be more music dates to come at The Piggy Bank in the autumn.  But, meanwhile, if you want to see The Lost Trades live in concert (and I strongly recommend that you do!), theyโ€™ll be appearing locally as below:

Future dates for The Lost Trades:

Wednesday 23rd July 2025 @ The White Bear, Devizes

Friday 25th July 2025 @ Trowbridge Festivalย ย 

Friday 26th September 2025 @ The Pump, Trowbridge

Saturday 27th September @ The Hop, Old Town, Swindonย ย 

For more information go to thelosttrades.com/ย 

REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festivalโ€“ Mark Watson โ€“ Corn Exchange – Friday 13th June 2025

Welsh Favourite Comes to Devizes

Andy Fawthrop

The Devizes Arts Festival came up with another of its heavy hitters last night with a packed house at The Corn Exchange, all ready to welcome comedian Mark Watson to the town.

Mark Watson is an English comedian, novelist and producer.ย  Born in Bristol of a Welsh mother and English father, he has adopted a somewhat Welsh lilt in his delivery.ย  Heโ€™s won a number of comedy awards and is well known from his frequent appearances on TV, as well as being a Radio 4 regular.

Introducing himself, Mark climbed on stage to do an introductory 10-15 minutes before bringing on his support act for the night โ€“ Vicky Slater.  Projecting a slightly larger-than-life persona, Vicky delivered her material well, but Iโ€™m not sure that quite all of it landed.  Her tales of coming out as gay were delightful and amusing, rather than particularly hilarious.  She at least avoided the current lazy habit some up-and-coming comedians have of trying to pick on audience members in order to prompt some witty improv, and instead stuck to her own original material.  Respect for that. She was slightly rambling and incoherent in places, but she gradually won the audience over.

After a slightly short first half and an early interval, the main man was back to deliver his set.  Mark kicked off with comparing how difficult it was being a stand-up comedian versus, say, being a brain surgeon or, prompted by an audience member, a menopause therapist.  His key criteria for the comparisons were, aside from the training and basic aptitude, the amount of sheer stress and anxiety that such an activity could induce.

This was all by way of introduction to his first main theme โ€“ stressful situations in ordinary life.  But this was no feeble Michael Macintyre โ€œobservational comedyโ€, laughing at โ€œisnโ€™t it funny whenโ€ฆ?โ€ type comments.  This was full of little anecdotes of his own personal experience that everyone could easily relate to โ€“ flying with a small airline, getting into a car thinking it was an Uber (when it wasnโ€™t), asking for help in Tesco (from someone who wasnโ€™t even an employee), dealing with a homeless man (who began to take advantage), interacting with chat-bots online (who seemed very concerned for his continued welfare after once buying some towels a few years previously), and coping with his son whose only apparent language capability seemed to be through frequent WhatsApp messages.  The situations were carefully crafted and set up before the always droll and almost exasperated punchlines.

His second โ€œthemeโ€ (if I can call it that) was around the โ€œcorporateโ€ gigs heโ€™s sometimes had to do, particularly the waste-processing and meat-processing industries.  The latterโ€™s โ€œMeat Management Awardsโ€ provided a rich vein that he mined repeatedly for jokes about sausages and how heโ€™d become โ€œan advocate for natural casingsโ€.

Against his own better judgement, heโ€™d been persuaded to use ChatGPT to create a self-description, and it had come up with โ€œa breathless delivery by a neurotic personalityโ€, and even he had to admit that it wasnโ€™t too far from the truth.  And Iโ€™d agree.  Watson came across as genuinely curious about the world, bemused by modern technology, amazed by other people, and surprised by how much of modern life created stressful situations for him.  And out of this melting pot there came a genuinely funny man.  He was self-deprecating, very natural and โ€“ no doubt about it โ€“ absolutely hilarious.

Absolute top marks to Mr Watson and to the Devizes Arts Festival for booking him.ย  Top notch. Findย  out more at www.markwatsonthecomedian.com/ย ย 

The Devizes Arts Festival continues until the night of Sunday 15th June at various venues around the town.  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at  www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk  

REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festivalโ€“ Anna Ling โ€“ St Andrewโ€™s Church – Thursday 5th June 2025

Another Little Sweetie In The Jar

Andy Fawthrop

Well the Devizes Arts Festival is in full swing now, with several events already under its belt.ย  Thereโ€™s stuff cropping up every day, so I took the chance to pop in to a much-underused venue in the town St Andrewโ€™s Church on Long Street.….

After several big-ticket shows in the programme, it was a pleasure to settle down to something a little more modest, a more bread-and-butter item if you like.ย  Mid-week lunchtime isnโ€™t going to be a time to attract a particularly large audience, even on market day, but a good few hardy souls turned up to at least create a good audience atmosphere.

Anna Ling, a performer Iโ€™d not personally come across before, is a guitarist and singer/songwriter.  Her creative work and sense of purpose are deeply rooted in her love of bringing people together through song. This passion shapes her life, guiding her from leading community choirs to performing at venues, care homes, and world-class festivals.

In a concert co-promoted with the charity, Live Music Now, Anna delivered a professional and engaging 50-minute set which featured both her own material along with a few covers.  She worked hard to engage the audience right from the kick-off, inviting us into her world.  The performance was light and humorous, heartfelt and intimate.  And she was determined that we were not just going to sit back and listen to her, but to join in as well.  She had a lovely clear, strong voice, and used it to particular effect when she came down from the stage and abandoned her guitar in favour of an unaccompanied song right from the middle of the audience.

Her lyrics were simple, her guitar chords straight-forward.  This was not a set filled with new arrangements or presenting anything particularly challenging, but an opportunity to listen to a set of songs simply delivered and largely unadorned.  She filled the gaps between the songs with little stories and anecdotes, never lifting her voice very much, and thus drawing you in.

Plain, simple, and thoroughly enjoyable.  Just another little sweetie in the jar from Devizes Arts Festival.  And thereโ€™s plenty more to see and hear yet, so do make sure that you get along to experience something soon. Itโ€™ll all be over before you know it!

Devizes Arts Festival continues until Sunday 15th June at various venues around the town.ย  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online HERE

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REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festivalโ€“ Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri โ€“ Corn Exchange – Friday 30th May 2025

Still Got The Music In Her

By Andy Fawthrop

Itโ€™s been a while coming a-round but at long last Devizesโ€™ very own Arts Festival finally kicked off last night for its two-week run.ย  And we started off, as is usual now, with a real belter of a concert in the Corn Exchange, this time featuring veteran performers Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri…..

If you were after star quality, Kiki Dee has it in spades.ย  Recently celebrating her 60th year in the music industry, she has now released a whopping 40 singles, three EPs and 22 albums. She is one of the UKโ€™s finest and most revered vocalists, and sheโ€™s sung with and for just about anybody who is anybody in this industry.

Pauline Matthews (as was) was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1947.  At the age of 10 she won a local talent contest, and at 16 she had her first paid job as Kiki Dee in show business. She worked briefly as an apprentice hairdresser (she did my motherโ€™s hair once โ€“ my feeble claim to fame!) and at Boots in Bradford during the day, while in the evenings she sang songs with a dance band in Leeds.  Initially with Fontana Records, known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown’s Tamla Records. Sheโ€™s best known for the hit singles “Amoureuse” (1973), “I’ve Got the Music in Me” (1974) and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, her 1976 duet with old Reg Dwight (Elton John), which reached Number One on the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.  Her 1981 single “Star” became the theme song for the talent show Opportunity Knocks when it was revived by the BBC in 1987.  

During her career sheโ€™s sung backing vocals for Dusty Springfield, was one of the backing vocalists on Love Affair’s 1968 UK number one single Everlasting Love, sang backing vocals on various Elton John recordings, such as “All the Girls Love Alice” from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and various tracks on Rock of the Westies, played as support act to Queen at their Hyde Park concert in front of a crowd of 150,000 people, and performed at Live Aid in 1985, reprising “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with John, and performing backing vocals on the other songs in his set. On top of that sheโ€™s won awards for her Musical Theatre roles in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, in which she took on the role originally played by Barbara Dickson for the 1988 production and recording, and received an Olivier Award nomination in 1989 in the Best Actress in a Musical category.  

But all of that is history!  Nowadays, or at least for the last twenty years or so, sheโ€™s continued to move forward with the music that she creates with Carmelo Luggeri. Kiki says Carmelo is her favourite guitarist and he co-writes and produces all their songs.  

Dee released the live album Almost Naked, a joint effort with Carmelo in 1995, followed by the studio albums Where Rivers Meet (1998) and The Walk Of Faith (2005). In September 2013, Dee and Luggeri released their third studio album, A Place Where I Can Go, on Spellbound Records. They have been touring together ever since and have played alongside such musical luminaries as Roger Taylor, Jack Bruce, Fish, Paul Young, Tom Robinson, Graham Gouldman and Madeline Bell.  

Carmelo Luggeriโ€™s abilities as a guitarist, composer and producer have taken him on a rich and interesting musical path over his career. Born in England of Italian parents, Carmelo was mainly self-taught with some classical training.  Working with comedian and television personality Billy Connolly he created the โ€œWatzinโ€™ Matildaโ€ re-work used for the hugely successful 1995 โ€œWorld Tour Of Australiaโ€ TV series. In 1998 Carmelo produced the track โ€œStealinโ€ for the film โ€œStill Crazyโ€ starring Jimmy Nail.  Carmelo has also worked with US singer Andy Williams, Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company), Ray Cooper (Elton John band), Gus Dudgeon, Stuart Epps, Romy Haag and singer songwriter Ralph McTell.

Carmelo and Kikiโ€™s paths first crossed when he produced a collection of bonus tracks for โ€œThe Very Best of Kiki Deeโ€ album, and, under the guidance of their manager Steve Brown they took on a new musical direction together, playing acoustic concerts, starting with an appearance at The Royal

Albert Hall for World AIDS Day in 1994. It was quite a departure for Carmelo at this point as he was essentially an electric player but this marked the beginning of their now 25 year collaboration where acoustic guitar is at the foundation of their sound.

Sorry for the long introductory pre-amble, but just wanted to reprise the careers of these two wonderful musicians.  And I guess youโ€™d have to say that represents as good a musical pedigree as youโ€™re ever going to get, so the expectations for the large crowd were, to say the least, pretty high.

And we werenโ€™t to be disappointed one bit. Kicking off with โ€œGet What You Wish Forโ€ and the first of several musical career anecdotes, we were suddenly there at โ€œDonโ€™t Go Breaking My Heartโ€!  Like most people I thought this would be the wrap-up song or the encore, but Kiki clearly wanted to get the song on the table early.  Using, not unexpectedly, a completely different acoustic arrangement, with a rather slower tempo, her rendition allowed the lyrics to really shine through, and to deliver some really pathos.

Cracking on with anecdotes about meeting David Hockney in Malibu, and working with Dusty Springfield, we had the self-penned โ€œSmall Merciesโ€. She then mined a rich vein of beautifully-arranged covers โ€“ Kate Bushโ€™s โ€œRunning Up That Hillโ€, Robert Palmerโ€™s โ€œEvery Kinda Peopleโ€, and Neil Youngโ€™s โ€œHarvest Moonโ€.

Following โ€œa nice glass of redโ€ and a costume change, the second half continued in much the same vein, with Kiki interspersing the songs with more anecdotes.  Early up we had her big hit โ€œAmoureuseโ€, partly sung in the original French, a jazzy cover of Leonard Cohenโ€™s โ€œDance Me To The End Of Loveโ€ (featuring a touching cameo when she danced with a member of the audience whilst Carmelo commanded the stage with some fabulous guitar work).  We then had a run of the pairโ€™s own compositions โ€“ โ€œAmen and Goodbyeโ€, โ€œSheโ€™s Smiling Nowโ€, โ€œYou Canโ€™t Fix The Maybeโ€ and โ€œUntil We Meet Againโ€ โ€“ before finishing with an upbeat and rousing version of โ€œIโ€™ve Got The Music In Meโ€.  Getting an encore was a mere formality by this stage, but their choice was a strange one โ€“ a very quiet number entitled โ€œIf You Ever Need Someoneโ€, and a harmonised version of The Beatlesโ€™ โ€œBlackbirdโ€.  Cue lots of cheering and a great ovation.

Kiki showed us that, at 78, sheโ€™s definitely still got it.  Her voice is, expectedly, not as strong and pure as in her youth, but itโ€™s still bloody good, hitting all the notes perfectly, and still delivering plenty of soulfulness and meaning.  Carmelo demonstrated throughout to be no mere prop or accompaniment to the big star on his left, but a real guitar craftsman in his own right.  His subtle and effective use of loops and pedals to add depth and colour to every number, coupled with several changes of guitars and tunings, proved a real revelation.  His introductions and solos were beautifully crafted, drawing much applause, and plenty of genuine praise from Kiki.

As a duo they harmonised well, and were very clearly extremely comfortable in each otherโ€™s company on stage.  Their rapport with each other, and with the audience, added considerably to the quality and the professionalism of the show.

This was the third or fourth time Iโ€™d seen these guys, and Iโ€™d have to say that they only get better and better.  A really solid two and a half hour show, filled with great songs, hilarious anecdotes and superb guitar work โ€“ what more could you possibly want?  I absolutely loved and, it seemed, so did the packed audience.  

A cracker of a concert to kick off this yearโ€™s Devizes Arts Festival!

Learn more at www.kikiandcarmelo.com/carmelo-luggeri/ย ย 

The Devizes Arts Festival continues until Sunday 15th June at various venues around the town.ย  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online atย  www.devizesartsfestival.org.ukย ย 

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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 called Turfinโ€™ Out The Maniacs, which perhaps should be fact-checked as it sounds to me like theyโ€™re letting them all in, as they arrive on yellow submarines and check into Frank Zappaโ€™s 200 five-rhombus rated motelsโ€ฆ..

Self-described as โ€œeasily triggered, dishonest, cryptic yet flirty deluded jangle rockers,โ€ Clock Radio have produced a string of catchy slacker pop wonders here, as they continuously reach inside the box, like theyโ€™re four elfish Rowan Atkinsons all cast as Paul Atreides. But one thing is for certain, Chris Genner, Oliver Daltrey, Gary Martin and Fraser Wilson will entertain you.

Turfinโ€™ Out The Maniacs sound like the results of the Coral offering The Divine Comedy a hashpipe in a moulded teenage boyโ€™s bedroom; thatโ€™s a compliment by the way.

The opening tune Blood on Chrome certainly reeks of that breezy retrospection of Merseyside garage bands or sixties surf-rock, with an added preliminary Quo guitar riffs. Stoned at the Dojo, which follows emphasises the mock lounge style of The Divine Comedy. Itโ€™s vaudeville throughout, all Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Bandโ€™s twirling circus, and an accordion welcomes in the next song, yet the tempo is upbeat indie rock. Handsome Weeping Man might leave you questioning if itโ€™s necessary to connote the narrative, but it will leave you amused.

Clock Radio knows precisely what buttons to press to evoke a mood, and press them with free will. To say itโ€™s a tad bonkers, itโ€™s only a tad, and Mountains Beyond the Sun kindles a gentle side, drifting surf-rock, sunny side of the street vibe.

Thereโ€™s ten three minute heroes on this impressive debut album, recorded, mixed and mastered by Dominic Bailey-Clay at Nine Volt Leap Studios, with Fender Rhodes piano, percussion by Dominic and a triangle by Shoshi B. If weโ€™re content with getting halfway through and assuming theyโ€™ve calmed slightly, No Death takes us back onto the weird and wonderfully expressed if questionable muses of the opening.

Turfinโ€™ Out The Maniacs is a comfy yet nippy prank, like being stung in the bottom but launching away from it to splash into a chocolate lake. Not so unlike Noรซl Coward playing a Bond villain, with Bowie as Bond; something you couldnโ€™t imagine happening, but being Marie-Georges Mรฉliรจs directed it and itโ€™s on FilmFour at 3am, you might as well grab a bag of cheesy puffs and thirty grams of Amber Leaf, stay up watch it in your pants. โ€œCactus is cooler, Iโ€™m no Ferris Bueller, I do as Iโ€™m told,โ€ is just one line Iโ€™m cherry picking to illustrate my point, youโ€™ll be amused and rocked in plentiful equal measure.

It has an acoustic ending called Complex 5 which will leave you incarcerated in the meandering yet meticulous peculiarly pulp portrayals of Clock Radio, as if you melted into a bubble sofa. It is available now on the streaming platforms, or buy the digital album from Bandcamp.

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 a four track debut EP; who knew?!

I only found out through talking with Adam about a merch table at our forthcoming RowdeFest, where you can, incidentally, find Thieves playing, but at any gig youโ€™re lucky enough to catch them at, I suggest you pick up a copy of this little showcase disc; theyโ€™re our very own resident Carter Familyโ€ฆ.

Opening with Calneโ€™s Jo Deacon on lead vocals, who also sings solo and with soul function band the Midnight Hour, Coming Back For Me is beguiling and uptempo, refreshing bluegrass fashion. Yet Working Man, which follows, slides the divine ambience into mellowed country-rock. With Adam on lead vocals, Iโ€™m thinking Neil Young, the Byrds, and all those irresistible Americana classics, which imagines youโ€™re heading west through Oklahoma on a Harley with Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda.

Probably the highlight of this EP is the penultimate, Now You’re Around. Five minutes of total bliss, with Jo back on vocals and some seriously intricate melodies, combining the talents of Roryโ€™s resonator, Adamโ€™s mandolin, and Mattโ€™s upright bass, you can sense Joโ€™s soul experience, as it rings out as authentically Americana as Janis Joplin playing Woodstock with Crosby, Stills & Nash. And still I hear something decidedly UK folk here too, of Fairport Convention, perhaps. Iโ€™m no connoisseur, just know what my ears like; itโ€™s all a melting pot,ย and Thieves stir it with delicate precision.

And in that, Iโ€™m unsure about the name Thieves. Certainly the genuine sound of America is pinched if not more agreeably heavily influenced by, but it might suggest thereโ€™s something edgy going on, when this is dinkum, universally appealing sunny side of the street melodies; the kind of folk the eldest in the crowd will tap their toes to while children will merrily twirl barefoot on the grass.

It was a series of coincidences when I first saw them at Bradford Roots Festival a few years ago. From a distance I thought โ€˜that guy looks just like Adam Woodhouse,โ€™ (and maybe a smidgen like MacGyver too!) but upon hearing them perform I thought of The Lost Trades, turned to tell the person standing next to me, who just happened to be Phil Cooper of the Lost Trades, who nodded his trilby in approval; a fine accolade indeed. โ€œIt is Adam,โ€ Phil replied! Oh, yeah, so it is; I didnโ€™t need to go to Specsavers, because their wonderful sound pulled me closer.

We finish the EP with a ballad called Lately, which Adam and Jo duet, and itโ€™s so beautiful and moreish, leaving you suspended on whatโ€™s to come from Thieves, but rest assured, hereโ€™s a wonderful quartet which can hold a crowd spellbound.

Find where Thieves are playing on our local circuits by following socials Facebook Insta for gigs, and hopefully catch them at Rowdefest on Saturday 31st May? Itโ€™s free, bring me a haslett and cucumber sandwich, Iโ€™ve arranged the acts, I wonโ€™t let you down.

iTunes Link

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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

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Between Two Worlds with Ruzz Guitar

He might be between two worlds but he can also be in your home, in your very own ears, and that’s the best place for Ruzz Guitar to be. With a striking Funk-O-Pop styled cartoon cover, Ruzz Guitar has a new album out and yeah, just yeah!

Shadowing the Shadows with a belter of an opening track, Ruzz slips into Bo Diddley like a glove, then it’s off to those foot-tapping honkytonk ballads for a few tracks; oh yes, Ruzz is back and it’s a Gretsch-grappling beautiful monster.

There’s not a great deal I can say about this which I’ve not said about our Ruzz before; if it’s not brokenโ€ฆ.

Ruzz Guitar is a tour de force, a sublime blues rocker meshing blues into a unique and prolonged ecstatic ride into the rock n roll formula of yore, it just jumps, jives, and doesn’t come up for air. And if he does, five tunes in with Forever Yours, it’s like standing in a burning sugarcane field; the sweetest air you’ll ever breathe.

Ruzz brings in stellar backing, with some mind-blowingly soulful vocals from Shannon Scott and Julhi Conlinn. Drummer Brian Fahey, both Chris and Steve PelletierSmith on bass, pianist Paul Quinn and special guest appearances from Tyrone Vaughan, Paul Pigat and Mike Eldred.ย 

Recently he’s been two and fro across the Atlantic more times than Concorde, hence the title of this ten track whopper, but I never find myself wondering how he goes down on the other side, you know, delivering something they invented back to them. It worked for The Beatles, you simply know they’ll love him as deep down as Texas, because it’s impossible not to.

Right here though, we’re in Devizes and via the โ€œMel Bush effect,โ€ the Hoax and now the Long Street Blues Club we’ve equally been conditioned with high expectations when we receive a blues dosage, but no one does it quite proper job like our Bristolian Johnny-be-Goode, Ruzz Guitar. He’s so good they named the guitar after him.

This is class in a tall glass, I was expecting it, it never disappoints. Thereโ€™s a number of tracks weโ€™ve tasted before, revised and polished for the ultimate road trip soundtrack; itโ€™s got a new version of Sweet as Honey on it, which for some reason always makes me go bananas!

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All the way from the land down under, Australian Folk singer Ernest Aines is coming to Wiltshireโ€ฆ.

On his fourth tour of the UK throughout May and June, Ernestโ€™s tour coincides with the release of his new single, โ€œJust Onceโ€, coming out on 23rd May. I had the opportunity to give it a listen before the big release, and it is nothing short of fantastic.

The song opens with some plucked guitar strings and then leads into flawless vocals and harmonies. As a whole, it tells the story of an unseen love and all the emotions that go along with it. The minimalist instruments give it a down to earth, human feel and all in all itโ€™s a truly enjoyable listen. I truly would recommend it!

Aines is becoming quite a big name in the Folk world, particularly in his home turf of Melbourne where he has been twice nominated for Australian Artist of The Year, at the Folk Alliance Awards.

Heโ€™s not as big over here in England, so if you do want to check out some of his stuff, I would strongly recommend his 2023 album โ€œSpiral Boundโ€ as a great place to start โ€“ or his new single when it comes out would also be a good starting point.

His tour is taking him all over the place โ€“ from Cardiff concert hall, to live at the BBC studio, but luckily if you do want to see him thereโ€™s no need to travel too far, Ernest is playing at The Deanery Theatre in Swindon on the 24th of May.

With only a guitar and a stomp box heโ€™s known as a master of the stage. As an amateur musician myself, I can understand how difficult it is to fill a stage with just yourself and an instrument, but he has it down to a tee.  

I really do advise getting tickets while you can, or at the very least giving his new song a listen, Iโ€™ve got a feeling weโ€™re going to start to hear a lot more about Aines, and wouldnโ€™t it be cool when heโ€™s worldwide famous to be able to say you heard him first?

Aines will be playing at the Deanery Theatre in Swindon on the 24th May, tickets are available here and โ€œJust Onceโ€, out on the 23rd can be pre-saved here.

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Jake Martin: Heโ€™s a king, and it was in the Castle, with SOP Swindon

By Ben Niamor

Itโ€™s been way too long since I saw the irrepressible Jake Martin, and he did not disappoint, classic songs as ever, open, maybe even anarchic delivery.. he found himself in front of mostly familiar ears….

On tour with some friends on a multi head bill, having fun whilst often singing and talking of lifeโ€™s serious side, all of them; relationships, drinking games and mental health, all up for dissection and deliberation through song.ย 

Mexican Dave opened, a wisecracking confident man with a definite penchant for singing fast, and getting us to sing whilst other key figures in this scene, Gaz Brookfield and Ben B-Sydes become improvised captains for each side of the room in a chorus battle.. as you do! My friend and I sat either side of a table at the front wearing our respective captains tee shirts by coincidence amused us and Dave..!ย 

Blake Cateris, was the middle man in the line up, a little more settled and profound.. an Aussie in our midst. Perhaps more reflective, though, are some great songs, and having a look at his poetry book this morning, he is a great writer. About to set off for a 22 date tour in Germany before returning to Sydney, wish him well and hope to see him againโ€ฆย 

The headline, the main man, Jake Martin. Heโ€™s famously self deprecating and among the most appropriately described musicians in the folk punk remit. Your mother may not appreciate every turn of phrase, but his crowds always will!

I consider him an anthemic hero, all on the bill actively involving us, but none with such fervour, perhaps through widespread familiarity of his rousing songs. I am one to try for instance, of loving, failing and trying in equal measure.

Songs about relationships, poor decisions, mental health, and all with an openness that rarely is found in larger yet less enveloping venues and in many artists. Foot stomping common ground, for many present will have had these problems, for my part my antidote to the modern condition is music, so thatโ€™s how perhaps I should wrap up my ramblings, Jake and all the wonderful musicians that grace our venues are the antidote. All you need to do is go find some that work for you. 

I am pretty sure Ed (Dyer) will forgive me for likening last night as it nostalgically did for me, to the venue which opened this world for me, the fold in Devizes. It literally changed my life. Sadly gone yet seeing old friends and musicians alike roll eyes, and wax lyrical of shared nights such as this many years past, aware how important it is to seize the moment. 

There are great venues around and tirelessly passionate people, many among my friends, itโ€™s as simple as doing a little research, and getting out to support them.

Thankfully I wonโ€™t wait too long as aside from town gigs this weekend , I shall be back to Old Town for the incredible Wilswood Buoys at next week’s Thursday night club at the Castle.

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 Bridge come to the Bridge Inn, Horton …

With the sun peeking out and the rain clouds temporarily parting I had the opportunity to head on down to Bands on The Bridge, a mini festival-style event at the Bridge Inn on the outskirts of Devizes. Organised by Kingston Media โ€“ in a step away from their usual publicity/catering work โ€“ the event saw eight bands and solo performers stretched across the afternoon and evening of the Bank Holiday Saturday, all in aid of Dorothy House and Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

From the moment of entering, you could feel a strong sense of excitement, and although the crowd wasnโ€™t big, they definitely had the enthusiasm side nailed as each of the performers was met with cheers and dancing.  

The first band I had the opportunity to see that evening was Burn the Midnight Oil. They started with a cover of Dreams and soon had everyone singing along, before launching into a set of original songs, which saw dancing, cowboy hats and even people howling like wolves for a short time (there was more context to it than that, I promise!).

Although all songs they played โ€“ other than one โ€“ were originals, they played them which such skill that without knowing their setlist beforehand you wouldnโ€™t have known that they werenโ€™t just covers of songs that you just didnโ€™t know, which can take a lot of skill to do right. All their songs were great, but Iโ€™d like to give a mention specifically to Scapegoat and Werewolf, which were my two favourites of the evening. It was clear their focus was on well played and polished originals, which they were fantastic at and which the audience clearly appreciated. 

Dreamcatcher came quickly next, a band that originally started as a Fleetwood Mac tribute, but their tastes broadened to encompass a load more songs of the same sort of style – although rest assured, they still had a healthy dose of Fleetwood throughout. Their 45 minutes setlist saw a variety of different songs, broken strings and even the sun (for a short appearance, which had everyone cheering) with a main focus on stuff from the 60s and 70s, the sort of songs that everyone would know and have a little dance to.

The Dreamcatchers played well, and despite the small crowds, it was clear the audience enjoyed their material and it fit in well for that kind of event. 

By far the most appreciated band of the evening were The 789s, a Bristol based events band. Itโ€™s fair to say they were some of the most skilled players of the evening, with their four-person line up seeing drums, bass, guitar and vocals. Once again, their setlist focused on well-known and easily danceable songs, seeing performances of Come On Eileen, Donโ€™t Look Back In Anger and many more that had everyone excited.

I had a quick chat with their lead singer Ally who said a lot of the songs she enjoys performing are 70s funk and disco style numbers and that that was what she grew up with around the house. Their high energy songs soon had everyone up dancing and singing along and it seemed that 45 minutes wasnโ€™t enough for the audience, after two back-to-back encores at the end of their set leading to a few extra songs, which were just as impressive as โ€“ if not better โ€“ than the rest of their set.

With their skilled instrumentalists, incredible talented singers and a well-polished setlist I thought it was perfect for this kind of event and clearly the rest of the audience agreed. Ally went on to say that the energy people gave her made it a really fun gig to be playing at.  

The last performance of the evening saw headliner Almost Elton take to the stage. By this point the audience were invested in whatever performance would come next, so he was met with a great reception after setting up a keyboard and mic followed by a quick outfit change into a feathered coat and a not entirely convincing wig.

He had a longer set than others, and being an Elton John tribute act ran through all the favourite songs of Mr John โ€“ even bringing some random audience members on stage to โ€˜helpโ€™ with the vocals on Donโ€™t Go Breaking My Heart. It was a good way to round off an event like this, everyone knew the songs, everyone sang along and everyone danced. 

All in all, Kingston Media pulled off an enjoyable event with some fantastic performers throughout the evening. As well as the four Iโ€™ve babbled about above Iโ€™ve heard great things of both Jane Bennetโ€™s and The Sitting Ducksโ€™ sets (and actually all of the rest of the performers) and was sad to miss them.

Although the crowds were a little small, that is completely normal and to be expected for the first year of this sort of event (and in fact, their first ever event of this type). They had the traditional festival atmosphere nailed and a great venue to go along with it. So, hereโ€™s hoping for it to be done again next year, maybe with a bit more sun though?! 

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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

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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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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

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Theatre Review: Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamie by Devizes Music Academy

An effervescent musical, full of promising young talent

Written by: Melissa Loveday

Images by: Gail Foster

After the success of SIX last year, Devizes Music Academy is beginning to make a name for itself with its second musical production, Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamie, which featured two electrifying performances on 19th April at Devizes Schoolโ€ฆ.

And wow! What an incredible show it was! Bringing this musical sensation to life โ€“ including Northern accents, multiple set and costume changes and complex dance numbers โ€“ was ambitious. Yet after only a week of rehearsals, 23 talented young performers, aged just 13 to 18, poured their hearts and souls into a performance that was dynamic, professional and full of impressive talent. It had heart, humour and heels so high I wouldnโ€™t be able to walk in them, let alone dance!

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

From the opening scene, it was packed with raucous energy and perfectly delivered sass that immediately transported us to a gritty Sheffield comprehensive, where Year 11s contend with the wonderful and frightening possibilities that lie ahead of each of them. Jamie New, an openly gay 16-year-old who dreams of becoming a drag queen, was instantly likeable as he and the rest of the cast swept us into his pop-fantastic daydream โ€˜And You Donโ€™t Even Know Itโ€™.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Inspired by the BBC Three documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamie was written by Tom MaCrae with music by Dan Gillespie Sells, from an idea by Jonathan Butterell. First produced by Sheffield Theatres, the show took Londonโ€™s West End by storm in late 2017 and has brought infectious joy to audiences ever since.  

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

But this is a story about more than a boy wanting to wear a dress. Itโ€™s a multi-layered tale of family and friendship, and having the courage to step into the person you were always meant to be. Set in a working-class area of South Yorkshire, England, the story is grounded in a world thatโ€™s relatable, keeping it from becoming overly sentimental. Instead, it feels edgy and vibrant, whilst not shying away from the struggles individual characters face.  

What made this amateur โ€˜Teen Editionโ€™ so special was the thrill of watching real teenagers bring these teen characters to life. Under Jemma Brownโ€™s expert direction, with vocal coaching by Teresa Isaacson and choreography by Sarah Davies, the cast delivered a level of talent that could easily hold its own on a West End stage.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

The whole ensemble was brilliantly cast, with every member delivering a believable storyline through genuine and multi-dimensional acting, powerful vocals and sharp choreography.

Jacob Leggett was made to play Jamie. At just 15, he brought the perfect mix of camp charisma and youthful innocence to the role, whilst also capturing Jamieโ€™s wit, cheekiness and vulnerability. His rendition of โ€˜Wall In My Headโ€™ was captivating, building beautifully into an emotional crescendo that gave me chills!  

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Meanwhile, Ruby Phipps gave Pritti, Jamieโ€™s loyal, studious best friend, a quietly headstrong presence. Her solo โ€˜Beautifulโ€™ was sung with elegant control, allowing each phrase the space and diction needed to feel both precise and spontaneous. Although she and other cast members werenโ€™t Muslim, the production honoured the spirit of diversity by respectfully representing the Muslim community, complete with hijabs.

As a parent, I was moved by Lisa Grimeโ€™s portrayal of Jamieโ€™s mum, Margaret, especially her song โ€˜Heโ€™s My Boyโ€™. It was heartfelt and mature, with excellent vocal range, and had me reflecting on the bittersweet truth that while we strive to shield our children from pain, life will inevitably hurt them, and yet we thrive on seeing them live authentically. Our children, in all their brilliance and vulnerability, are our greatest accomplishments.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Another standout came from Cory White, who doubled as the school bully and Jamieโ€™s dad, whoโ€™s harsh lines stung, but showed subtle remorse that added depth to his characterisation.

Ted Maughan was commanding as Hugo and playful as Loco Chanelle, offering a refreshing contrast with his confident spoken-word delivery style and lively American accent.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

The set design was simple but effective, with props such as a balloon arch for the prom scene creating a party feel. Transitions between classroom, kitchen, bus stop and prom seemed to happen as if by magic, enhanced by effective lighting and seamless costume changes, from school uniforms to dazzling prom gowns. The spotlight reveal of Jamieโ€™s red dress was especially powerful, leaving the audience wanting more.

Dynamic choreography and colourful harmonies elevated the production, from coordinated group numbers to breakout moments allowing individual characters to shine. Particularly memorable was the schoolgirls’ clapping routine in โ€˜Spotlightโ€™, reminding us of the charactersโ€™ young age, while a dance duet between Cory White and Chloe Whitcombe during Margaretโ€™s โ€˜If I Met Myself Againโ€™ added a poignant, dreamlike quality to the song. But I especially loved the title number โ€˜Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamieโ€™, which kicked off Act II, with its excited, gossipy feel, as multiple characters bounced their individual lines off each other before erupting into an energetic and synchronised dance sequence that had the whole room buzzing!

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Itโ€™s genuinely hard to believe this was amateur musical theatre. The level of professionalism, emotional authenticity and pure talent displayed by every single cast member absolutely blew me away. These young performers truly brought a little bit of glitter to the grey.

With so much promising young talent on our doorstep, it begs the question: whatโ€™s next Devizes Music Academy? Whatever it is, I canโ€™t wait!

You can catch an abridged version of Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamie at the Fulltone Festival, The Green, Devizes, on Friday 25 July. For tickets, visit www.fto.org.uk

Beauty & the Beast; Devizes Musical Theatre at its Best

It was a fantastically successful opening night for Devizes Musical Theatre at Dauntseyโ€™s School for their latest show, Disneyโ€™s Beauty and the Beast, and I returned home still singing Be My Guest and Gaston; they’re still stuck in my head now truth be told, and I’m not usually one for musicals!

Remaining faithful to Disneyโ€™s 1991 adaption of the French fairy tale by Barbot de Villeneuve, widely regarded as one of the greatest animated films of all time, new director Georgia Watson and the entire team at Devizes Musical Theatre pulled out all the stops last night; amateur dramatics has never been this good, surely?!

Already clued up on the plot, as my daughter had a โ€œthingโ€ for the film when little, didn’t prevent me thoroughly enjoying this show, rather itโ€™s likely it aided it; familiarity transformed from film to stage is kingpin to a universally welcomed musical, which this is. Aside from the stellar performances, it was arduously and thoughtfully produced with attention to detail, especially the costume design; they were brilliant. Easy for a cartoonist, but how do you recreate inanimate objects such as a clock and teapot as characters on stage, I wondered beforehand, but not now!

And in this, commendations in particular go to Tia Shafee and Oli Beech, also Sarah Williams, Natalie Angus and Claire Abraham, all for adding those comical elements as candlesticks, clocks and teapots. Yet it was up to Georgia Saunders to add the sparkle, as the compassionate bookworm protagonist Belle, and her relationships with Samuel Phillis as the troubled Beast, Gareth Lloyd as the bawdy egomaniac Gaston, and Graham Day portraying her troubled inventor father, all of which were played confidently and rapturously.ย ย 

Interactions between Gareth and his literal sidekick LeFou, played with camp hilarity by Adam Sturges were comedy gold, as was the โ€œsilly girlsโ€ fighting for Gastonโ€™s affections, Georgia Claridge, Mimi Martin, Laura Bartle, and Bronwyn Hall. With special shout to Pip Emm who was last nightโ€™s Chip, a role which takes on a different young actor each performance, everyone on that stage looked to be loving the spotlight and this enthusiasm shone through, reflecting back off the audience in awe.

It never fails to amaze me how much work and effort goes into Devizes Musical Theatreโ€™s shows, and how professional they are. Beauty & The Beast runs until Saturday 5th April, with a matinee performance on the final Saturday. Ticket holders are in for a real treat, anyone looking for a ticket should act fast as the last rose petal is about to drop; last look there were some left for tonight, the rest is already sold out. At ยฃ16 a pop, youโ€™d pay more at the bar in a West End theatre for a glass of fizzy pop, or for parking.

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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

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 might be some scientific theory for this, equally there may not. What is more probable is that it is an occupational hazard for members to get as lost in space as Dr. Zachary Smith. Cracked Machine, here tonight to provide the entertainment at the Devizesโ€™ Southgate, are also prone to getting through some keyboardists and drummers, though if the lead guitarist-frontman and bassist remain steadfast, this propensity is not the only element to them comparable with Hawkwind, and thatโ€™s a good thing in my opinionโ€ฆ..

If youโ€™ve any hazy recollection of a maintaining a horizontal posture in a bedroom for the duration of a scratched long player with a gatefold sleeve, staring at patterns either in the mould on the wall or blu-tacked Mandelbrot set posters covering them up, in a smoky haze proportionate to your memories and stenching of wood burner and red Leb, whether only with a bong for a friend or a few stragglers with no more conversation than the bong, save a few comments like โ€œoh wow, man, can you see it?!โ€ then Cracked Machine is the band to seek such fond memories, and bring them to the forefront of your fragile cerebral cortex, through a preponderance of sublime bassy rock bliss.

For if space-rock is a natural progression from Led Zeppelin, Flyod or Hendrixโ€™s overextended bridges of swirling sonic electric guitar skullduggery and wobbly sound effects, Cracked Machine nailed it some years ago and show no sign of altering their methodology. In fact, the tendency is to get harder. Though Hawkwind allowed vocals, Fromeโ€™s Ozric Tentacles may be a better comparison for space-rock aficionados.

In this, itโ€™s been some years since Iโ€™ve caught up with them live, despite reviewing albums one, two and three. It was left up to Ben Niamor and Andy Fawthrop to review their last two appearances at the Southgate, respectively in November 2022, and October 2018. For me, I will always have the 2019 Devizes Street Festival, when Pete of Vinyl Realm paid and hosted our local stage idea on the corner of St Johnโ€™s and townsfolk slow-roasted on deckchairs while Cracked Machineโ€™s definitive sound caressed their very souls. But while Cracked Machineโ€™s lineup has changed since then, their devotion to the sound and ability to knock it out to the shimmering rafters, isnโ€™t. 

In that, I knew what I was letting myself in for. It was another one of those birthday things for me, which always seems to charge me with ever-increasing speed. There wasnโ€™t actually much else happening in town Saturday night, much I wouldโ€™ve missed this for a wanton jig to Motown or some-other such-like, elsewhere. Suppose I had the option to go down the Bin afterwards, but as it was advised by Vince Bell who I met on the bus, such a recommendation had to be taken with a pinch of salt, and was best at 52 to get a taxi direct to my duvet! For a while there though, it was a party, as it is in The Southgate, with itโ€™s no frills hospitable atmosphere, affordable range of drinks, and general โ€œproper pubโ€ tenet. The affectionately dubbed โ€œGateโ€ doesnโ€™t change like band members of a space-rock band, and itโ€™s a cracking party there more often than not.

Tom Harris kicked off the proceedings with his guitar, belting vocals and the expressions of a hyperalgesic at the dentist. Impossible to fault, Tom delivers the banter as well as his songs, divides covers equally from originals, so if heโ€™s not charming an emotive blues ballad of his own pen, itโ€™s perhaps a scatological one or heโ€™s made amusing entertainment from a slyly chosen cover. Rob Thomasโ€™ Santana summer smoothie reflects the unusually clement climate for March, and Tenacious Dโ€™s hilarious Tribute was surely perfect for Tom, and he handled them with might, until drummer Gary Martin arrived from a support slot at the Pump with Clock Radio, and the main act was completed and ready to rock.

They didnโ€™t come up for air throughout these lengthy compositions of prog rock formulated instrumentals, and as a result of not taking advantage of the customary break, their set ran off too early. Landlord Dave encouraged them to pull something else out of the bag, saving the necessity of the crowdโ€™s cliche call for an encore, which you know wouldโ€™ve happened anyway. To which they considered how to continue, yet what elapsed was another drifting spacey masterpiece of fifteen minutes or more. We loved it.

If the template of Cracked Machineโ€™s sound is arguably narrow, and narrative is vague due to only being expressions of instruments, their nature is stylised, and works wonders, creating a spellbinding ambience. Cracked Machine are always welcomed by the Southgate regulars, for even if the pub strives to diversify, itโ€™s electric blues and prog rock which they favour, and this, with those wobbly keyboard noises and subtly placed samples, is simply a psychedelic progression from it which is decades old, yet Cracked Machine proves itโ€™s worth in the modern world.

Space rock, or acid rock, a direct descendant of Pink Floyd and Zepโ€™s tolkienesque The Battle of Evermore, also acts as the bridge from rock to electronica and ambient house, a bridge the guarding troll usually confounds most rock subgenres with a riddle and renders them unable to cross, thatโ€™s why I love it, and thatโ€™s while I will only have good things to say about Cracked Machine.

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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

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Between the Lines; Melkshamโ€™s Upcoming Teen Band

We remain in awe of the deserved success of indie-pop band The Sunnies, which has continued to flourish since winning Take the Stage at the Neeld two years ago. But is their hometown ready for the next big teen sensation? If so, Iโ€™m predicting it will be Between the Lines, because it should be Between the Linesโ€ฆ..

Last weekend The Sunnies headlined a town councilโ€™s 4Youth โ€œNext Gen Gigโ€ at The Melksham Assembly Hall. Being just a smidgen over the age limit I missed this, but a video of the support act, Between The Lines, shared on social media caught my eye, or at least, my ear!

Formed five months after The Sunnies took the Neeldโ€™s stage, in October 2023, Between The Lines are smooth indie-rock female-fronted four-piece, consisting of bassist Belle upfront, lead guitarist George, and Ethan and Louis, who both switch between drums and guitars, the latter being the rhythm guitarist.

They put out a demo single, Fading Time earlier this year, with an irresistible classic rock riff, some nonchalant and confident vocals, and an enchanting hook. Itโ€™s raw, for sure, but a grower. Its ingredients blend wonderfully, painting a melancholic picture of adolescent romance; the tune is moreish, and blossoming to bursting point with potential.

โ€œFading Time was the only song we recorded in that session,โ€ George explained, as I thought I should catch up with them, sooner rather than later, โ€œbut there are exciting new ones due to be released very soon.โ€ I look forward to hearing them; progression feels imminent with this promising new band; you should keep an eye out for them.

With the band members currently studying music courses at either college or sixth form, I always like asking teenage groups what their music teachers thought of their band, poorly assuming it’ll break the ice! Even if referencing their education is highly unlikely to do that, I tend to stereotype teachers in retrospection of my own, wondering if they retain the doddery notion rock music is the โ€œwork of the devil,โ€ and attempt to throw classical violin at them, or theyโ€™ve modernised, least enough to be hip to be square on a Huey Lewis level!

Louis answered this one, elucidating Georgeโ€™s and his music teacher had, โ€œsupported our band on multiple occasions, with gig opportunities and equipment in the past, and has always been enthusiastic about it. Fortunately, no classical violins!โ€ Ah, got you. Our music teachers used to be funky too, though only in the archaic definition of being unpleasantly smelly!

Ethan expanded on this, and moved onto their first few gigs. โ€œMy drum teacher was always telling me to form a band and after talking with Isobel,โ€ He said, โ€œshe was adamant to get something going. Through music GCSE, we started Between The Lines, playing songs with each other for assignments and eventually starting regular rehearsals. Weโ€™re still new to the gigging scene, and have performed at the Kings Arms in Melksham and The Queenโ€™s Head in Box.โ€ The latter being a fortunate venue to play so early, Ethan also went on to reveal theyโ€™re on the bills for Box Revels in May and CorFest at Corshamโ€™s rugby club on June 21st.

George explained how theyโ€™d heard of The Sunnies before they had formed, upon me cheekily asking them if they thought they were the next big thing to come out of Melksham; youโ€™ve got to big yourself up in the Sham, theyโ€™ve got a golden arches, and Henry Moule inventor of the dry earth toilet, as claims to fame!

โ€œWell, hopefully!โ€ he laughed, but remained modest. โ€œIt really was great to play with people that youโ€™ve looked up to, in a way, and of course they bring such an energetic and fun performance which is something to be fond of. As for us, it’s exciting to see lots of new people enjoy what we do and it brings a lot of motivation for us to keep moving forward and expand as much as we can, it’s only up from here.โ€

Based solely on this single, I strongly hope and suspect it will be, so we moved on to the demo, Fading Time. I suggested the opening riff reminded me of the intro to Sweet Home Alabama combined with a dollop of Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn, even if itโ€™s showing my age, itโ€™s an accolade. I wondered if this smooth feel-good indie-pop rock was the kind of quality they were going for.

โ€œThe song itself came from a simple melody idea that I had for ages never necessarily taking any inspiration from others,โ€ George expressed, โ€œand we bounced back and forth from each otherโ€™s ideas until we recorded it in the short space of time we had.โ€

Ethan expanded on the backstory of Fading Time, in answering that cliche question I fired at them about their working process. โ€œSo far,โ€ he clarified, โ€œour originals have stemmed from one idea. For example, โ€˜Fading Timeโ€™ came from a melody idea from George and our unreleased single developed from a project I created for a college assignment. We then developed the song together to add a little bit of each otherโ€™s personality in our parts. We are fairly new to songwriting as weโ€™re mainly a cover band but we all develop our own little ideas and send them to each other!โ€

Their current repertoire includes covers of The Foo Fighters, Radiohead, and Chris Isaak, among others. โ€œWe try to choose covers that are both crowd-pleasers and that reflect the same vibes as our originals,โ€ Belle expressed.

Between The Linesโ€™ website cites Radiohead and Matt Maltese as influences, Belle expanded on this, โ€œas the main lyricist of the band,โ€ she suggested she took inspiration from โ€œvery poetic artists, like Boygenius, Fiona Apple and Bon Iver. Ethan focuses on instrumentation, inspired by Big Thief and Better Oblivion Community Centre. George is all about the hooks and guitar riffs, heโ€™s influenced by Wallows. Louis works on a strong rhythm, taking from Foo Fighters and Seal.โ€ 

Phew, at least the last two my dilapidating database has heard of! Youโ€™ve got to love Seal, I saw him live once, but he didnโ€™t do Kiss From a Rose nor Crazy, just balanced a beach ball on his nose and clapped his flippers. That was the last time I went to a gig at the Sea Life Centre.

As a finale, I pondered whatโ€™s in the band name, perhaps they met in a history class about WWII, you know, between enemy lines … .perhaps, ah, forget it, Iโ€™ll get my coat! When actually, Belle revealed rather than history, they did meet in GCSE music, โ€œdoing a project for the Christmas concert!โ€ Not too far off the mark then, just the wrong lesson, which goes in line with my own schooling. I was often found in the wrong lesson, and if I was in the right one, I tended to be somewhere else mentally; kind of explains a lot.

โ€œChoosing a name for the band was quite difficult,โ€ Belle said, signalling her vast music knowledge supersedes her age, โ€œeveryone suggested different names every day. Ethan suggested the name In Between The Spaces, which reminded me of two things – Between The Bars by Elliot Smith and especially the album Between The Lines by Janis Ian. After numerous ideas for names we decided on Between the Lines!โ€

Deliberating on a band name is important, it might fatefully fade into obscurity as the competition of a tough market to break takes its toll, or it could be that name in lights for decades to come. I wish Between The Lines all the very best with their ambitious beginnings, and very much hope the result is the latter.

I advise you to support new local talent and follow their socials, TikTok, and website here, as while Iโ€™m no clairvoyant, I know what I like, and predict we will be hearing a lot more good stuff from Between The Lines in the near futureโ€ฆ..

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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

SwinterFest Broke Me Out of Hibernation!

Like a hedgehog poking his nose out of the bracken, just a few hours on the Sunday at Swinterfest was enough to cure me of my hibernation, which seems to lengthen with each year and causes me to worry the attraction of warm, cosy nights in might seclude me forevermore, and Iโ€™ll never see a chap strum a guitar again!

I was only at the Beehive for ten minutes before wishing Iโ€™d got here sooner, three days sooner! Swindon Shuffle organisers decided to create a winter version for last weekend, and speaking with both Ed Dyer and Jamie Hill of Swindon Link and Ink, they were wary if it would be as successful as their annual summer extravaganza. Exhausted by Sunday but still positively beaming with enthusiasm, Iโ€™m glad to report Ed signed the event off as a huge triumph.

Crowds turned out to the respective pub venues on each day; Thursday at the Hop, Friday at the Vic, Saturday at The Castle, and Sunday at the Beehive. A colossal selection of the South Westโ€™s finest musical talent united to raise some wonga for the Prospect Hospice, as they do with The Swindon Shuffle and My Dadโ€™s Bigger Than Your Dad festival. 

The team assembled for the final showdown at the Beehive, which is a crazy-good watering hole aptly on Prospect Hill; I could resist no more. From Courting Ghosts and Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army to Will Lawton, George Wilding to I See Orange I sadly missed many of my favourites, even our wonderful M3G and Devizes-own Nothing Rhymes With Orange; what can I say in my defence? Would central heating, cosy sofa or homemade stew cut the crust?!

Despite it being a whistle-stop, I was so glad to be reunited with Swindonโ€™s premier Americana collective Concrete Prairie. At one point I was close to becoming their groupie, unfortunately our paths havenโ€™t crossed for a while. Seconds into their set why Iโ€™ve claimed theyโ€™re better than sliced bread came flooding back. They were, for want of a technical evaluation, absolutely and steadfastly, one-hundred and fifty percent on fire.

I donโ€™t know if it was the fact the Beehive is one of their favourite venues to play, if time had eroded my expectations of them, or theyโ€™ve polished their already proficient skills, or maybe because they opted for their more high-energy originals, or possibly now those songs have become classics fans chant them back at them, but wow, just wow!

I was introduced to Clarie, their new fiddler, previously informed she fitted like a glove into this astounding band, and they weren’t fibbing. It is in their unification where sparks fly, if individually theyโ€™d reach a level of greatness naturally, together theyโ€™re solid and tight. Concrete Prairie is the whole deal for dark and foreboding themed country-blues-rock which takes you on a mood-changing journey; they could play disco and still rouse the hairs on the back of your neck, dammit! (they donโ€™t though, for the record!)

Prior to their invigorating explosion I was delighted to find a new love. From Newport, Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy were truly a blessing. Described as a chameleonic presence, in so much as he plays solo, or his masterful originals are fleshed out with the three-part vocal harmonies, guitar and keyboard combo of his backing band the Royal Pharmacy. Joe explained the versatility of his band contained missing elements today, of drums and bass, which when added could evoke the harder rock ambience of a five-piece, on occasions, but the harmonious delivery of folk-rock masterpieces was plentiful for me to decide this outfit is something I could perpetually return to.

Perfectly pitched between smooth and rustic, Joeโ€™s authentic raspy call of expressionism is breathtakingly emotive, his canvas is projected outwards but his brush operates inwards. It conveys that timeless fidelity and sense of personal reflection and identification of Guthrie or Dylan, with the gusto of Geldof or Petty. It is, in a word, gorgeous; music for the soul.

Through his self made independent record label, Dirty Carrot Records, thereโ€™s a selection of their recordings to check out, I recommend you do, and theyโ€™re showcasing their local circuit with five other artists on the books. Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy timelessly embrace every classic element of folk-rock, the emotional poignancy, sincere homespun fashion, the evoking sound, and project them outwards nothing short of sublimely, encapsulating an audience you really need to be in!

And that was only two of the thirty three acts booked to perform at the inaugural Swinterfest last weekend; imagine the length of my waffling if Iโ€™d see anymore! Jamie at Swindon Link wore the Swinterfest T-shirt out and gave a more comprehensive evaluation, here. Me? Iโ€™m more of a Catchphrase contestant than a music journalist, I just say what I see, and those bottles wonโ€™t deliver themselves, so, I had to retire from the bustling Beehive, disappearing into the night; milk and honey not mixing well this time. Shame, because I missed Erin Bardwell and the Subject A gang, and SN Dubstation, despite knowing theyโ€™re both up my street and knocking loudly on my door.

The most important part to all this was questioning the big chief organiser of the Shuffle and now Swinterfest, Ed Dyer, if heโ€™d make this an annual thing, and there was absolutely no sign of doubt in his tone that he would. Interestingly he suggested incorporating other arts into the mix, suggesting comedy, poetry and drama. The idea was to separate it from the music dominated Shuffle, so it lives in its own domain and isnโ€™t viewed more simply as a winter version of the Shuffle. But as Jamie expressed, what they know best is music, so they went with that to begin with, and they certainly do!

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Devizes Musical Theatreโ€™s Next Production; Beauty & The Beast

If I had to be magically turned into a candlestick or a teapot, I believe Iโ€™d rather be a teapot than have a wax candle on fire wedged into the top of my head! Fear not, itโ€™s not a worry Iโ€™m losing any sleep over, rather the kind of bizarre fleeting notion which popped into my mind when previewing Devizes Musical Theatreโ€™s next production, Beauty & The Beastโ€ฆ.

The wardrobe is definitely out of the question, anyway I digress! For if thereโ€™s one local amateur theatre collective to make you question the definition of โ€œamateurโ€ itโ€™s Devizes Musical Theatre, in my experience. To pay a kingโ€™s ransom for a West End production is to expect, much less assume, youโ€™re in for a treat, but to see the dedication and hours of labour which goes into an amateur production like those of Devizes Musical Theatre, is the surprise element, that the magic isnโ€™t so far from a professional production.

So, get ready, Gaston, for a tale as old as time, as Devizes Musical Theatreโ€™s curtain is rising once again for Beauty and the Beast. Itโ€™s running from Wednesday 2nd April โ€“ Saturday 5th April 2025, at Dauntsey’s Schoolโ€™s Memorial Hall in West Lavington and tickets are available now at www.devizesmusicaltheatre.co.uk or Devizes Books.

Devizes Musical Theatreโ€™s last sold-out show was Sister Act back in March 2024, of which I reviewed and said โ€œitโ€™s the combination of their motivation and exceptional effort which makes this such a dynamic show, coupled with the elementary notion, Sister Act has universal appeal and is simply fun on a stick!โ€ But no one listens to me, so please note the show was nominated for Best Musical and Best Publicity at the prestigious Rose Bowl Awards.

โ€œTickets are already flying off the shelves,โ€ weโ€™re informed, so donโ€™t miss your chance to experience the magic of live theatre right here in our community. Whether you laughed with the nuns, hissed at Curtis and his baddies in Sister Act, or youโ€™re a newcomer to the DMT productions, this show is guaranteed to leave you spellbound; be their guests, be their guests, be their guests!

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

Trending….

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

๐€ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐œ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐ž๐š๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ : ๐…๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐Ž๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š ๐š๐ญ ๐“๐ž๐ฐ๐ค๐ž๐ฌ๐›๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐€๐›๐›๐ž๐ฒ

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

โ€œJerusalemโ€ at the Mission Theatre, Bath, January 21st-25th.

By Ian Diddams
Images by Gail Foster

What is reality? Is it the cold light of everyday activities? Is it the symbiosis of contemporary time and ancient natural forces beyond our ken? Is it the raddled memories of mind altering drugs? Or is it a mixture of all of those combined, as personal perception sways between LSD flashbacks, inexplicable encounters, and simple bullshit?


Next Stage Theatre Company bring Jez Butterworthโ€™s 2009 play โ€œJerusalemโ€ to The Mission Theatre, Bath, this week. In a thinly disguised setting of Pewsey (Wiltshire), which is named Flintock but where the pubs names are all real pubs, the play centres on the character of Johnny โ€œRoosterโ€ Byronย (Richard Chivers) who along with other characters in the play are based on actual Pewsey-ites, some of which still live in Pewsey today.

The story is a twenty-four hour period of Byronโ€™s life, focussed on fair day on St. Georgeโ€™s day, and his interactions with his loyal friend Ginger (Sam Fynn), various hanger-on young people (โ€œratsโ€ as he calls them) Davey (Bryan Mulry), Pea (Sophia Punt), Lee (Jonathan Taft), Tanya (Miranda Webb), the senile Professor (Dave Dunn), somewhat dodgy publican Wesley (Brian Hudd), ex-girlfriend Dawn (Tania Lyons), local council officials intent on evicting him Mrs Fawcett (Tania Lyons) and Mr. Parsons (Andrew Ellison), Byron’s son Marky (Spike Fynn), and the lost teen Phaedra (Dilys Hughes) and her angry dad Troy (Andrew Ellison).

As the course of the day and night unwind, we experience Byronโ€™s warped vision of his world as he tells ridiculously tall and impossible tales interspersed with somewhat surreal anecdotes and harsh truths. We see he is a very flawed character โ€“ he is in no way a hero, and very much an anti-hero. His criminal and abusive nature is laid bare, where he despises everyone that surrounds him, even his longest lasting and loyal friend Gingerโ€ฆ with the exception of Marky his son, who he shows genuine affection for (while avoiding any paternal commitment), the Professor and seemingly fifteen year old Phaedra โ€“ about whom we are left with a rather disturbing suspicion as to their underlying relationship.


The set is wonderfully portrayed as a clearing in โ€œRoosters Woodโ€, all ramshackle a mess as you could possibly imagine as an illegal encampment of a broken down caravanโ€™s site surrounded by old garden implements, wood burning stove, boxes and crates, woodland detritus and the remains of Byronโ€™s own drug addled vandalism amongst other assorted accoutrements. Ann Ellison directs the show with an exquisite touch over the banality and failure of Byronโ€™s life โ€“ as well as creating the set along with Brian Fisher โ€“ and the performance though lasting over three hours rattles along at such a high pace there is never a dull moment. Neat little touches abound โ€“ as characters get drawn into Byronโ€™s world, they become coated in straw and woodland detritus, while Byron himself stays clean of these. It is telling that as Lee is to leave Flintock for pastures new far away he is clean of all this woodland connection. Even the Professor ends up covered in straw as his own senile alternative reality merges seamlessly in the renegade aura of the campsite.

Tech is provided by Kris Nuttal, Brian Howe, and Andrew Ellison as they set the scenes of bright morning, sun dappled afternoon and dark and threatening evening. No spoilers here but some cleverly worked backlighting towards the end relieves the audience of unpleasantness while leaving nobody with any doubt as to what is happening. Vanessa Bishop leads costume to perfectly place the setting in the modern day.

Which leads us then back to the actors. A lovely mix of ages as befits the story, all sell their characters believably. I was so drawn in at one stage it was a jolt when I realised that I was watching a work of fiction, and this wasnโ€™t โ€œrealโ€ โ€“ so kudos to the company for creating a fully immersive environment here. Richard Chivers is quite simply superb as the thoroughly egocentric but dangerous Byron. Sam Fynn is wonderful as his lifelong and lost, almost desperately childlike, sidekick Ginger. The “teens” of Jonathan Taft, Bryan Murphy, Sophia Punt and Miranda Webb believingly display youthful male exuberance and teenage slapper. Dave Dunn portrays the heart tearingly sad bewildered and confused doddery old man. Brian Hudd is cringingly excellent in his portrayal of the seedy and low-level dodgy publican who is really no different to the teens while in his own way abusing them as much as Byron is.

Spike Fynn gets Marky spot on as a conflicted nine year old โ€ฆ  โ€œDo I love my dad? Do I like my dad even? Do I trust my dad?โ€. He sells his character precisely through his physical acting as much as Butterworthโ€™s lines. Tania Lyons and Andrew Ellison double up their parts seamlessly โ€“ to the extent that especially for Tania I hadnโ€™t even realised she played two parts until I checked the program after the show! And Dilys Hughes as Phaedra is quite sublimeโ€ฆ  ethereal, fairy like, other worldlyโ€ฆ  and even when that dreamy existence comes crashing into real life, she still keeps an entirely child like innocence despite our suspicions that what happened in Byronโ€™s caravan may not be so innocentโ€ฆ

So โ€“ back to reality. Or various versions of it. From fairies and elves, tall tales and taller creatures, natureโ€™s ancient powers. Drugs. Dreams. Cognitive breakdown. Youthful inexperience and ignorance. Bullshit. All of these variations feature prominently in Jez Butterworthโ€™s powerful text, culminating in Byronโ€™s final monologue as his life crumbles around him and he calls upon everything in his warped mind to help him as he subconsciously seeks an answer to the big question, which he has already passed the point of rationalising…

What IS reality?

“Jerusalem” by Jez Butterworth is performed by Next Stage Theatre Company at The Mission Theatre, Bath between January 21st to 24th at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Saturday at 2 pm.

Tickets from https://www.missiontheatre.co.uk/tickets or on the door if any left.

Burn the Midnight Oil; New Devizes-Based Band Youโ€™ll Be Hearing a Lot Aboutโ€ฆ.

Far from burning the midnight oil, itโ€™s a weekday afternoon and Iโ€™m with a cuppa, at a rehearsal for a blossoming Devizes-based trio, Burn the Midnight Oil. If youโ€™ve ever thought nothing great comes from open mics, this might be the thing to change your mindโ€ฆ.

Itโ€™s early days, forming in September, theyโ€™ve created a corporate identity, recorded a three-track demo theyโ€™re planning to launch, are busy writing more songs, and sound as if theyโ€™ve been on the local circuit forever. I wanted to catch up with Burn the Midnight Oil to find out how theyโ€™ve come so far so quickly, dig a little deeper into their backgrounds and generally poke my nose into their business.

First clue, theyโ€™ve varying areas and degrees of experience in music, but have found common ground through their medical issues. Front girl Chrissy, aka Steen, spoke of her PMDD, GAD and ADHD, and coming to faith during Covid at Devizesโ€™ St James. โ€œThere was a day I was like, really, really sobbing my heart out, and praying,โ€ she expressed, claiming she heard the โ€œbiggest, boomiest voice ever say โ€˜sing,โ€™ and two weeks later I was having videocall with a huge hip hop artist who was part of Foreign Beggars, which were massive during the 90s and early noughties.โ€ Landing a deal working for a record label Chrissy liaised with drum and bass producers, who asked her to โ€œjump in on the tracks,โ€ and she supplied vocals on tunes from artists like Beskar.

โ€œIt feels a bit serendipitous,โ€ she said, โ€œbecause I had no experience working as a social media manager, I had no business connecting with somebody who’s quite prestigious and I had no right to just jump on some tracks and with my first EP release going straight onto one of the biggest drum & bass labels in the UK.โ€ To which she compared the unforeseen development to meeting the band members, Andy โ€˜Big Birdโ€™ Jacobs and bassist Chris Lane.

Chrissy explained Chris has Marfan syndrome, โ€œI’ve known Chris for a while, but he’s very introverted,โ€ she elucidated, progressing onto finding a mutual neurodivergent connection and being a support system for each other. Chrissy formed a duo with a bassist called One Trick Pony, performed at a few open mics and organised charity fundraisers at the Southgate over the past two Christmases. When the bassist was unavailable due to other band commitments Chris stepped in, and they spawned the idea to reform the duo under a new name. Though not present at the beginning of our chat, Chris did turn up toward the end, either shy or forgetful as to just how many bands he’s currently engaged in!

Present and vocal throughout, lead guitarist Andy, told of a car accident which affected his nerves, and most of the dexterity in his fingers. Prior to this, Andy spoke of being a โ€œvery successful professional guitarist in London,โ€ a session and theatrical guitar player, citing Shirley Bassey as an artist he had worked with.

โ€œI could still play a bit,โ€ he explained, โ€œbut my career was over, which was a bit of a downer.โ€ Playing his part in an amateur blues band, Andy went into social care management, โ€œbut Covid triggered an illness in me called Barry Syndrome,โ€ he told me, โ€œWhich completely paralysed me from my neck down overnight. I was in hospital for six months. My wife was told I probably wouldnโ€™t last the night. On the two occasions I didn’t see her for six months because there was no access, I was told I’d never walk again.โ€

Andy put his recovery down to the bicycle in the gym, and though he didnโ€™t imagine he would play guitar again, he expressed, โ€œit was all a bit tragic and horrible, but slowly I got a little bit back and I started picking the guitar up again. After about six months, I came out of hospital. I just started playing again, just acoustic, and I that’s when I went up to The Crown [open mic at The Crown, Bishops Cannings] and I played a couple of pieces there.โ€ Within those pieces, he asked Chrissy to sing them.

They trialled a drummer, โ€œbut he wasn’t the right fit and he knew he wasn’t,โ€ Chrissy said. โ€œSo he very graciously said I’m going to walk away from this because I’m not the right drummer for you, which is a really nice thing to say. But I think we’re percussive enough with how we play.โ€ Considering their medical tribulations they joked about getting the legendary one-armed drummer from Def Leppard. โ€œYou know, like one arm, one leg, not as long as they’re opposite sides of one another, one each side, that would be silly!โ€

Now, if music is therapeutic, I wanted to gage if that was their reasoning for the band, but burning the midnight oil isnโ€™t best medically advised over a strong cup of coco and an early night! Chrissy explained the band name derived from her staying awake all night drafting the songwriting, rather than the notion they were rock, rolling, and burning the candle at both ends.

Chrissy passionately talked of being a survivor of domestic abuse. โ€œIf you’re a woman with ADHD, you’re more likely to attract people with narcissistic tendencies,โ€ she explained, justifying her โ€œhorrible cycleโ€ sheโ€™s trying to break, โ€œof quite abusive relationships,โ€ and how this is reflected in her songwriting. โ€œThere’s a lot of resilience and hope that comes from the songs. I’m on a journey of healing. I think we’re all on a journey of healing, and Iโ€™ve always used the music as a form of therapy. If I can get my experiences onto paper, it’s like I’m not affected by it.โ€

Andy agreed, spoke of his consistent neurological pain, โ€œbut when I’m playing it just goes. I don’t think about it. I’m just so intense in the music. I mean, it’s just my passion.โ€ He began reminiscing of his instant attraction to guitar when, on his first day at secondary school, the music teacher putting a guitar in his hand, and that was his calling.  โ€œI wanted to be a professional guitar player, and nothing would stop me.โ€

If this is all beginning to feel like Iโ€™m in a support group here, the proof is the pudding, and the three tracks theyโ€™ve put down so far suggests otherwise. With harmonica and wavering strings opening, Lock Up has a rootsy blues feel, Chrissyโ€™s vocals poignantlyย express the theme of the arrival of mysterious and dubious fellow, expertly, and the whole vibe is nonchalant and smooth.

Scapegoat ushers in a more upbeat bluegrass air, with a deadpan subject, and Werewolf posing similar tenet, yet tips back into blues, and probably contains the most beguiling hook. Throughout though, thereโ€™s an intelligent balance between Americana and UK folk-rock, bags of potential, and the stylised promise of a blossoming band heading for something far greater.

In trying to think of a suitable female-fronted comparison, I changed to consider The Doors in the end, for the composition of three individuals with varying influences combining to create a timeless sound is how Iโ€™d pitch them both. On songwriting Chrissy connoted a song she was working on called Devil You Know, โ€œbecause statistically you’re more likely, as a woman, to be raped by somebody you know,โ€ she said. โ€œIt’s not about being dragged into the bushes, and that’s been my experience I’m really trying to connect with, those darker sides of life experiences, because life’s hard, it’s not any an easy ride for anyone.โ€ Using a metaphor comparing a paper cut to a broken leg, Chrissy conveyed an expression she said she was fond of, that โ€œpain is pain. I really want to connect with people of over-shared experiences like this, in the hopes that music could be healing.โ€

It’s the most common conviction of dedicated singer-songwriters to want your audience to identify with your outpourings, otherwise your voice is just an instrument, and you are just a pop singer. Though within the masses of potential for Burn the Midnight Oil I hear scope for commercial viability, itโ€™s through their personal reflections and devotion to support one another which I feel will strengthen their ability to convey the image they desire. After a successful first gig last weekend at The Kings Arms in Amesbury, arranged by Wiltshire Music Events, Burn the Midnight Oil are looking forward to a fundraiser at the Devizes Southgate on Sunday 22nd December. See the poster below, thereโ€™s raffle prizes et al.

Chrissy has a solo set at the Lamb in Urchfont this afternoon (15th Dec) supporting Vince Bell, the most modest of Devizes acoustic legends, who Chrissy cited as assisting her in developing her songwriting talent. Promising things are afoot here, and youโ€™ll be chuffed with yourself to witness it blossoming, I believe.

โ€œSeeing us as a brand and my understanding of working in the industry,โ€ Chrissy figured, โ€œis like, actually the music isn’t the product, we’re the product and I really want to share that journey, make it personal for everybody.โ€

With folk songs drafted about the origins of tiramisu, odes to Morticia and Gomez Addams, Steen justified her thought processes and random muses, the latter being an โ€œepitome of a really healthy, loving relationship,โ€ in a tenacious yet optimistic manner to direct her developing subjects didnโ€™t all focus on โ€œthe bad things that happened to me.โ€ Though I find itโ€™s the ability to use such as metaphoric examples and include them into a combination which will really make the hairs on the back of our necks stand up, and theyโ€™ve the greatest potential to do this.

ย I’m hoping one day I can write a happy song,โ€ she mused, โ€œbut the style is, well, you know, you donโ€™t choose the songs, the songs choose you.โ€ And so ensued a conversation about the differences between the melancholy of Dylan and wild romantic images Springsteen tended to paint, for thereโ€™s always exceptions to the rule, they both broke their own style at times, but pictures, I think youโ€™ve got this one now; Burn the Midnight Oil is a name we will be hearing a lot of over next year.

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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 Music Awards,โ€ฆ

Keep reading

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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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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 Theโ€ฆ

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โ€œA Streetcar Named Desireโ€ at The Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath, November 27th-30th.

by Ian Diddams
Images by Josie Mae-Ross and Infrogmation

Tennessee Williamsโ€™ quasi autobiographical drama โ€œA Streetcar Named Desireโ€ was first performed in 1947 as the world emerged from years of global conflict. That war had changed things for ever in many ways โ€ฆ  while in others, many things remained the same. Williamsโ€™ own familyโ€™s misfortunes and situations are threaded throughout the play, but while those may have been in reality based in the 30s and 40s the issues he raises โ€“ of misogyny, bigotry, domestic abuse, violence, homophobia, and social snobbery โ€“ are as obvious today as they were almost eighty years ago.

As titles go though, it may well have been simply named โ€œThe Fall and Fallโ€ฆ.  And Fall of Blanche DuBoisโ€

The eponymous streetcar ran on the line of that name in New Orleans until around the time the play was first performed. Its simple plot is that of Blanche DuBois and her fall from status, grace and finally sanity. Surrounding her is her sister Stella, who abandoned their cocooned life years before, Stella’s husband Stanley, a course, uncultured โ€œPolak,โ€ and their abusive relationship is mirrored by their neighbours Steve and Eunice.

A glimmer of light comes Blancheโ€™s way in the guise of Mitch, seemingly gentler and more appreciative โ€ฆ  until he turns, showing his shared heritage with the other men. Blanche descends into madness as her airs and graces so vilified by Stanley slip away to expose her own seedy recent past, and her own bigotries, while exposing the other womenfolkโ€™s tightrope walk through their marriages.

This is not a light play. It would come with plenty of trigger warnings โ€“ domestic violence, homophobia, rape, alcohol abuse, to name but a few of them. That the company present these challenging aspects convincingly without descending into casual titillation or merely seeking to shock is tribute to their acting skills, the direction of Heidi Street, and the set and technical wizardry on display.

There is another aspect to heighten the senses, and bring New Orleans’ Latin Quarter into this pleasant eastern suburb of genteel Bath, UK. The showโ€™s very own jazz band of Tom Turner, Peter Tucker and Yvonne Paulley providing the appropriate Louisiana style soundtrack to complete this exquisite holistic production.

Not content with playing clarinet as above, Yvonne also appears as the Nurse and a rose seller with a fine command of Spanish, and in-between those two demands also produced the show. Accompanying her and is another clearly ridiculously talented man, Tom Turner swapping his saxophone to play the Doctor as the stranger whose kindness Blanche, for a final time, relies on. Toby Skelton is another all-rounder who aside from stage managing all of this also appears as the Young Man, while Riza Domi is obviously far more sensible, with just the one role of Pablo, one of Stanleyโ€™s poker playing buddies.

Neighbourly Steve and Eunice are subtly portrayed by Tim Carter and Sophie Kerr, all lovey-dovey and lustful โ€“ until the pans begin to fly. Tim Hounsome sensitively plays Mitch, Blancheโ€™s almost love interest โ€“ until his urges almost overtake him and finally his own prejudices come through. Stella is sympathetically portrayed by the excellent Lauren Arena-McCann who as an American herself โ€“ albeit from New York State and not Louisiana also doubled up as unofficial voice coach! Her portrayal of an oppressed wife trapped in a caustic, abusive relationship in which she acquiesces easily to her own lustful urges, while protecting her sister from a world Blanche cannot comprehend is painfully perfect. Matt Rushton delivers Stanley cringingly well tooโ€ฆ  his physical presence, large voice and overbearing character is full of unspoken menace the entire play; of course, to Stella but also to his drinking and poker buddies who he controls through fear.

Which simply leaves Blanche DuBois. Lucy Upward is the very essence of Southern belle โ€“ sophisticated, used to the finer things in life, seeking to move in the right social circlesโ€ฆ  but exposing the cracks in that edifice as the story unfolds.  Delicious flirtatiousness, demure repose, increasing intemperance and the slide into insanity as her Walter Mitty world collapses around her. Lucy captures these airs, moods, and madness perfectly โ€“ she IS Blanche DuBois.

The set is a marvel โ€“ a perfect setting to portray a cramped two room apartment in the confines of a community theatre. Muslin roman blinds provide discreet views of more intimate โ€“ and jarring – moments while the rake of the stalls provides the upstairs flat from Stella and Stanleyโ€™s own. Costumes by Chrissie Fry as ever from her, capture the times and characters so well, from Blancheโ€™s diminished trousseau to Stanleyโ€™s slobbish attire replete with hideous bowling shirt.

There is false hope, there is pain, there is self-delusion, there is despair. But overall, at the Rondo this week, with a sold out run, there is a Streetcarโ€ฆ  named Desire.







โ€œA Monster Callsโ€ at The Mission Theatre, Bath, November 26th-30th.

by Ian Diddams
Images by Rowan Bendle and Ann Ellison

When is a Monster not a Monster? When is a good person not good? When is a bad person not bad? When is wisdom not positive? When is being invisible a terrible thing? What is the truth?

Bristol Old Vic took Patrick Nessโ€™ novel โ€œA Monster Callsโ€, based on an idea of Siobhan Dowd, and with the help of Adam Peck created this quasi-fantasy tale of an adolescent coming to terms with teenage angst, awakenings and the complex realities of the adult world. Whilst not harnessing Sondheim (โ€œInto The Woodsโ€), Wilde (โ€œThe Picture of Dorian Grayโ€) and Shakespeare (Macbethโ€™s witches) nonetheless tiny elements share some areas of those threeโ€ฆย  but more of that laterโ€ฆ

โ€œNext Stage Theatre Companyโ€ perform this powerful story of growing up this week at The Mission Theatre, Bath, in the round. A cast of eleven mixed youth and adults form the principal and secondary characters and general ensemble Greek chorus style seamlessly. Directed by Alexa Garner she has carefully crafted this beautiful tale into the powerful vehicle that intensifies its emotions as the play progresses. It is a simplistic play at face value โ€“ young teen faces bullying, adult repression, nightmares, and the worst scenario imaginable at such a youthful age and eventually learns the solution to dealing with life. In this regard the youth orientated novel by Ness is quite clear โ€“ but its more than just teenage angst. This is a play of onion skins, where if desired peeling away each layer reveals more and more philosophical and at times disturbing facts โ€“ possibly about oneself.

The primary character is Conor Oโ€™Malley wonderfully portrayed by Fin Hancorn. Its an emotional role and Fin clearly digs deep into himself to reflect all the emotions demanded of his character โ€“ he was clearly emotionally drained at the final curtain last night, full kudos for a young actor. He is more than ably contrasted by the Monster, superbly portrayed by Nicky Wilkins as the overbearing and at times demonic, Freddy Kruger like, Yew Tree โ€ฆย  that despite the name and the presence reveals his true purpose at the playโ€™s end.

Conorโ€™s main protagonists are played by Jonathan Taft as the arch bully Harry, and his two henchpersons Sully (Poppy Birch-Langley) and the fully convincing as the unconvinced bully Anton (George Chivers). Treading that wary line between teachers that โ€œdonโ€™t get itโ€ while simultaneously caring for their charges are Bob Constantine as Mr. Marl, and particularly Perrine Maillot as Miss Godfrey. Adding insult to injury are two of Connorโ€™s family members, estranged Dad (Mayur Batt) who has lost all realistic connection to his son whilst trying to clumsily help him โ€“ and failing, and Grandma (Kay Franksen) who redeems herself at the end after being impervious to teenage needs or Conorโ€™s own wants. Members of the cast also appear throughout as that Greek chorus style ensemble.

Not everyone is against Conor though โ€“ Lily is Conorโ€™s best friend (Millie Sharma) though Conor drives her away to a position of frustrated friend looking on from afar. That just leaves Conorโ€™s mum, beautifully portrayed by Hayley Fitton-Cook as her health deteriorates, the one character throughout that maintains a caring, loving, and symbiotic relationship with Conor. The stage chemistry between these two is palpable and reaches its peak in the beautifully surreal healing scene that is played out in their minds but enacted with no spoken word, other than a song, and dance and mime and the use of Makaton to communicate through their void. The Monster plays his part also in the scene as the barrier between them whilst being the source of the hope of healing.

Overall the play works through multiple layers โ€ฆย  themes reoccur though not always obviously. The Monster tells a tale of an apothecary โ€“ a practicer of old medicine of plants and herbs โ€“ while then being the last chance cure from his bark. The overarching meme however is how good and bad can be mixed โ€“ a bad pious parson, a good greedy apothecary, the misery of invisibility and the pain of being visible.ย  These are all flipsides to perceptions; the complexities of adulthood that Conor is beginning to enter and where self-delusion is the greatest barrier of all.

Which just leaves the creatives to praise. The set (Alexa Garner, Liz Wilson, Brian Fisher) is a simple one with excellent use of various props in multiple uses – a hatstand becomes a grandfather clock becomes a hospital I.V. pole, stools also represent industrial mechanisation and so on. The piรจce de rรฉsistance is undoubtedly the yew tree plinth on which the monster spends most of the show, and height differentials are subtly crafted where the Mission’s layout provides. Costume is simple and contemporary – clever use of school ties to juxtapose the earthy woodland nature of the yew tree, a simple hospital gown and the ethereal Monster garb. Lighting and sound (Kris Nuttall, Rowan Bendle) were subtle but oh so effective – the soundtrack was sublime. Alexa, director, was full of praise for her hard working stage manager – the ironic sign of a great stage manager being that you never know they are there!) Liz Wilson. Choreography totally spot on (Hayley Fitton-Cook and Dynamic Stage Action)

So what of Sondheim, Wilde, and Shakespeare? Shades of โ€œNo-one is aloneโ€ the worst thing of not being talked about is not being talked aboutโ€ฆ and is the Monster leading โ€“ or controlling Conor? These themes all whirl around this play constantlyโ€ฆย  until finally all is made clear.

โ€œIf you speak the truth โ€“ youโ€™ll be able to face anything.โ€


โ€œA Monster Callsโ€ is performed by โ€œNext Stage Theatre Companyโ€ at The Mission Theatre, Bath nightly at 7.30pm from Tuesday 26th November until Saturday 30th November 2024.

Tickets from https://www.missiontheatre.co.uk/tickets?category=A%20Monster%20Calls

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 & Gretel, is coming along. If my preview is behind me now, or if โ€œoh, no, it isnโ€™t,โ€ Iโ€™m happy to confirm ticket holders are in for a real treat, and those without a ticket I urge you to be as quick as a quick thing being quickโ€ฆ..

Tickets for panto at the Wharf sell out fast every year, rightfully. I believe thereโ€™s only a handful left. It may beg the question why Iโ€™m here to preview it at all, but with our Ian hot on the scene of anything theatrical these days, Iโ€™ve missed being at our communal little theatre. While I may not be so knowledgeable on Shakespeare’s plays, I know what I like, and Iโ€™m smitten for a great panto.

First time panto co-director Karen Ellis, who works with Jessica Bone, told me thereโ€™s a slightly different approach this year. I couldnโ€™t tell, Jack & The Beanstalk was wonderful last year, Hansel & Gretel is going to be as amazing as a gingerbread house decorated with sweeties!

A few sweets need tweaking, Iโ€™m at an early rehearsal, neighbouring seats are occupied with ladders and paint pots. Opening night is Friday 29th November, and with extra dates added the show runs until Saturday 7th December, with matinees on the Saturdays. With professionalism abound from whatโ€™s essentially an amateur production, from my sneaky peek alone, Iโ€™ve no doubt, this show is going to absolutely sparkle and thrill young and old equally.ย 

It was interesting, though, to see the inner workings of a panto developing, the many elements needing synchronisation I wouldnโ€™t have contemplated before now, and the attention to detail to something which might seem somewhat improvised to an outsider. It might be a couple of hours of quality family entertainment to you, but from script, expertly crafted by The Wharf Writersโ€™ Group, to this stage where only a few Iโ€™s need dotting and Tโ€™s crossing, has taken a year of hard work from a thoroughly dedicated group of very talented people.

And the hard work explodes like a supernova. As any panto should, the narrative is slight and loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairy-tale. The show concentrates on slapstick, corny gags, drag, parodies of pop songs, slight tragedy, and a huge dollop of funny banter and audience participation, with a sprinkling of storyline. Brush up on your children’s TV show themes, anything more might be deemed a spoiler, but I can assure you, youโ€™re going to love it; all these elements are in grand abundance, and it thoroughly entertained me.

Starter for ten, neither Hansel, parts shared by two great young actors, Rory Lee and Tamsin Antignani, nor Gretel, similarly played by Emily Edwards and Gigi Underwood, are the protagonists here, rather the main parts depict an investigating police officer, Buttons, and his love interest, comically named Carrie Okie. The latter is played superbly by Georgina Claridge, also responsible for choreography, and the former, Officer Buttons is sublimely brought to life by Darcey Oswin; both masterful and confidently versatile in acting and singing, they work together like the perfect double-act.

Adam Sturgesโ€™ thespianism flare, with a natural ability for improv makes for the quintessential dame; he remained in character and high heels when I chatted to him outside! Is this the first pantomime dame to have a son, I wondered? Shaken, but not stirred and played by Lucas Dowling.

Likewise, Helen Pritchard makes for an excellent witch, and there’s supposed to be a compliment in there! Lesley Scholes is hilarious as a discluded fairy godmother, and the randomly placed comical duo is supplied brilliantly by Oli Beech and Liz Sharman.

Other singing and dancing characters are cast aptly, with Archer Leigh, Jo Benyon-Tucker, Cathy Chappell, Corrin Bishop, Poppy Lamb-Hughes, Emily Webb and Ben Bryan. It wouldnโ€™t be Christmas without a panto, and even a Grinch like me, after watching just a rehearsal for this early in November, could sense sleigh bells jingling and ring-tingle tingling all the way home!

I cannot guarantee your Brussel sprouts will be perfectly timed to coincide with the turkey, but I can assure you without doubt, Hansel & Gretel at The Wharf Theatre will warm your hearts and send you home smiling from elf ear to elf ear!

But hurry and be lucky to pick up the few remaining tickets HERE.

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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

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โ€œThe Real Inspector Houndโ€, at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath, November 8th 2024.


by Ian Diddams
images by Playing Up Theatre Company

When is a mousetrap not a mousetrap? When itโ€™s written by Tom Stoppardโ€ฆ
If you have seen โ€œThe Mousetrapโ€ you may find elements of โ€œThe Real Inspector Houndโ€ quite familiar. Or alternatively, if once having seen โ€œThe Real inspector Houndโ€ you then progress to seeing โ€œThe Mousetrapโ€ you may find elements of that show quite familiarโ€ฆ

โ€œThe Mousetrapโ€ of course being a play by Agatha Christie that is the London West Endโ€™s longest running play, performed ever since 1952 with only a lockdown enforced break in all that time. Famously, audiences are asked not to reveal the solution.ย  Tom Stoppard, allegedly, found this requirement somewhat tedious and so set out to write his own, similar, play.ย  You would ideally want to see both however to fully understand what he created.

โ€œThe Real Inspector Houndโ€ is also famously known for being a play-within-a-play; that is, a play in a theatre where the story is about a play. Stoppard though arguably takes this one step further especially as the surreal activities of the second half of the play unfold, as it becomes a play within a play within a playโ€ฆย  the complexities of what that entails are best learned by seeing Stoppardโ€™s excellently bizarre play!

The Playing Up Theatre Company present this show this week at the Rondo, Theatre, Larkhall, on the eastern extremities of Bath. In it they take Stoppardโ€™s already surreal comedy and add even more layers to itโ€ฆย  not only is their performance of Stoppardโ€™s urine extraction of Agatha Christie, but they have added hilarious homages to โ€œThe Play That Goes Wrong,โ€ โ€œAcorn Antiquesโ€ and even โ€œMonty Python,โ€ especially in the first half – the second half is bonkers enough to not need any additional layers, but the surrealism is excellently portrayed with good pace and no blinking of an eyebrow โ€“ audiences need to stay awake and in tune and to have listened attentively to the opening fifteen minutes to get all the nuances going on!

Stoppard used to be a theatre critic himself, and uses this knowledge as a vehicle to extract the urine to that demographic. The two critics, Moon and Birdboot, played by Andrew Chapman and Simon Shorrock respectively, certainly portray two characters full of self-importance and one upmanship, though from opposite ends of the ethical spectrum and the two actors capture this interaction excellently. James Coy adeptly and gruffly spins his way around the stage in a wheelchair as the physically challenged brother-in-law Major Magnus Muldoon, overly protective of his sister-in-law and threatening dark retribution to any man displaying intentions towards her. But is he what he seems to be ?

The star of the show โ€“ if one may be permitted to pick any one actor out of a superb line out anyway โ€“ for me though was Anne Hipperson as Mrs. Drudge the housekeeper. Her self-confessed homage to Mrs Overall from โ€œAcorn Antiquesโ€ is perfect โ€“ some exquisite comedic timing. The only thing missing from the portrayal was Stoppard failing, sadly, to provide her with a line of โ€œTwo sugarsโ€ during the painfully brilliant coffee scene.

Simon Gascoyne, smooth, suave, and sophisticated wooer of women was played by Jordan Phillpots, oozing self-confidence and smarm from every pore, while Felicity Cunningham, played by Leah Brine, the breathless, suspicious, doubly wooed young lady was suitably, deliciously aghast at the abhorrent menfolk in her life.

Then there was the almost obligatory femme fatale for such country house whodunnits โ€“ Sophie Brooks as Lady Cynthia Muldoon. Outwardly a devoted wife to her missing husband, but privately a hot bed of passion for passing fancies, Sophie mixed Mโ€™Ladyโ€™s brooding, sultry character in the farcical first act, and surreal second half to perfection, another actor with perfect comedic timing.


Which leaves just Inspector Hound himself โ€“ as ever perfectly played by the ever talented Richard Chivers. Or then again โ€“ is he the โ€œReal Inspector Houndโ€?


That leaves just one more character on stage โ€ฆ mentioned several times, but hidden, then revealed โ€“ twice. No names, no pack drill, but the character never puts a foot out of place, and remains faultlessly in character and on stage for the entire show.

The set, by cast and crew, is a simple one as befits a typical country house murder mystery, with the use of the Rondoโ€™s rear โ€œcubby holeโ€ option as the theatre seats used by Moon and Birdboot. Costumes fitted the period setting of 1930s upper class types, and technical design, operation and support was handled with aplomb by Darian Nelson and Emily Smith. This just leaves kudos for wonderful direction by Darian Nelson, abetted by superb stage management โ€“ also stepping into the fold of tech team for technical reasons โ€“ by Diluki Oโ€™Beirne.

I canโ€™t praise this performance enough. From the pure delivery of Stoppardโ€™s farcical surrealism, to the directorial tweaks and homages so well delivered by the cast, to use of Bluetooth technology to really sell on stage audio, everything gelled so well.

So all that remains now is to advise you all โ€“ go and see this play wherever you can and see if you can spot who isโ€ฆย  โ€œThe Real Inspector Hound.โ€





The Soul Sessions from Bristolโ€™s Kaya Street

In 1985 Tenor Saw toasted the lyric, โ€œanother sound is dying,โ€ in Ring the Alarm. It implied his sound was the contemporary champion, yet while it’s true reggae is competitively progressive, this particular tune’s dubplate derived from the Stalag riddim created by Ansel Collins twelve years earlier, as did Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam and numerous others. I appreciate the ethos of dubplates, for a musician to lay down a track and various singers to interpret it, but favour, if you want a true contemporary champion sound, itโ€™s not to regurgitate existing riddims, but to use past influences to create original composition; the more the merrier! I may have opened a Pandora’s box upon receiving The Soul Sessions EP from Bristol’s Kaya Street, but it’s certainly a refreshing and interesting original soundโ€ฆ..

In a promotional shot advertising their latest single Wild Child, getting spun on Daniel Pascoe’s BBC Introducing show, Kaya Street’s main man, Kaya, is shown wearing a Trojan Records logo on his T-shirt, it connotes awareness of their roots. I beg to differ from their accompanying quote, โ€œlike nothing we’ve heard before,โ€ while perhaps not recently, the fusions Kaya Street experimented with here, reggae, soul, and afrobeat, have indeed been tried before, in abundance.

I could cite bands from Misty in Roots to the Clash, and even Bristol’s own Massive Attack. I could point to the logo on the shirt and suggest many discs sought for distribution by Trojan in the sixties experimented in such a manner; take Lord Brynner’s 1966 single Congo War as one of many examples, or even predate this with the notion mento is rooted from African rhythms. Yet, it’s not the ingredients in Kaya Streetโ€™s melting pot which makes it prominently interesting and beguiling, rather the way they stir it, the method in the composition and production. Either that, or I’m an ageing trainspotter beyond the years of all at BBC Introducing!!

The single Wild Child is an enchanting one-drop steppers march, steeped in conscious vocals akin to Marleyโ€™s Get Up Stand Up, denouncing the violent crime epidemic in the UK.

It’s bravely brassy too. In an electric modern world taken for granted, it will wake you up to the roots of reggae, when brass sections ruled the day, something which trends throughout the EP. Iโ€™m more than happy for the EP to flow throughout like this, but, imagine, a pleasant surprise when the second tune, Alfie proves Kaya Street are no one trick pony.

This is positively alive in an uplifting, paced soukous-inspired sound, while the last song Sway sounds more south than east African; funky township jive, reminding me somewhat of Thomas Mapfumo, with such a saxophone solo to rival Hugh Masekelaโ€™s trumpet, least as near as dammit! The penultimate song Be Mine is more commercially western, the offbeat is slight, the theme is romance, the overall vibe is soul, with its silky backing vocals, and again with this consistent concentration of saxophone.

But the best example to highlight my opening point is Low. Low certainly wasnโ€™t my favourite on the EP, to begin with. It starts very lounge jazz, again with the prominent sax and silky vocals, but then subtly and unexpectedly twists into a dubby rockers riddim, so smoothly I had to rewind just to identify when and how this occurred. This alone caused my first impression to alter from, โ€œyeah, this is good,โ€ to โ€œactually, this is a stroke of genius,โ€ and for me to take it back to the beginning and reassess it.

Kaya Streetโ€™s sound, like anything progressive and experimental, is a grower, it creeps up on you. Thereโ€™s narratives to each song Iโ€™ve yet to analyse fully, but the more you listen, the more you detect an element from this vast melting pot of cherry-picked influences, and comprehend the story behind each, and I love it for this!

Being I was digging into the archives to find examples of similar past fusions, a subject I could chew your ears off about, if Brynner’s Congo War is a specimen to skaโ€™s African roots prior to the commercial blossoming of Rasta, as opposed to the more commonly cited jump blues influence, derived from US troops leaving radio masts in Jamaica after the second world war, try The Paragonsโ€™ lesser-known If I Were You for soul train size. Itโ€™s so funky it could be in the Stax catalogue, and is something Be Mine reminded me of; thereโ€™s so much going on here.

Yet as many examples of where and how the melting pot has been stirred, none are apogees; it takes Jamaican born Bronx DJ Kool Herc to reach that climax, when he maintained the procedures of King Tubby and applied it to funk and soul to appease the multiculturalism of New York, and created hip hop. Bristol in the nineties was a kingpin to pioneering a UK hip hop formula, which returned influences full circle and incorporated reggae again. Kaya Street continues this Bristol epoch, reviving it freshly. The Soul Sessions is a revisit, recorded in three sessions in 2012 at Exeterโ€™s Valvetastic Studios, with prolific award-winning producer and musician Jolyon Holroyd.

If I am to find some niggly, itโ€™s a lack of intro; the songs tend to jerk right in, but I guess itโ€™s because I have the single edits here, and Kaya Streetโ€™s impressive lineup is plentiful to convince me they know the formula to extend and polish. It consists of Revelation Roots drummer Dan Salter, bassist Mark Lee from Hot Dub and Kolo, and that gorgeous sax is provided by Ray Beavis of The Clash, Suzy Quatro, and Katrina and the Waves. Kaya himself has previously worked with dub producers The Vibronics and Dubmatix. Herein is an insight to how the influences meld so professionally, so absolutely sublime.

And sublime is a word Iโ€™ll happily use to sum this up, save me waffling further! The initial project was a limited run of CDs for gigs, now for the first time, they are being remastered and released online. Wild Child was released 1st of November, the rest, I believe, will follow, and you need to be there to hear them when they do; Don Letts is raving about this, so hereโ€™s the socials to follow.

LinkTree . Facebook . Insta .

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โ€œThe Little Mermaidโ€ at St. Augustineโ€™s, Trowbridge, October 30thโ€“November 3rd, 2024.

By Mick Brian
photos by Chris Watkins Media

Disney aficionados will need no introduction to โ€œThe Little Mermaid,โ€ Disneyโ€™s 1989 film about mermaids falling in love with humans based very loosely on Hand Christian Andersonโ€™s tale. By 2007 Disney had crated a stage musical version which officially opened on Broadway in 2008, with a later modification in 2012. But what Broadway can do, Trowbridge can do too, and this week Trowbridge Musical Theatre (a.k.a. TMT ) bring โ€œThe Little Mermaidโ€ all the way from New York City and an undersea kingdom to St. Augustineโ€™s Catholic College for our delectation.

This is a challenging production to pull off, with a huge cast, and multiple characters and costume changes, massive choreography numbers and immensely technical requirements, but TMT manage it sublimely in a packed and fast paced show. With a cast so vast its not feasible to list every single person sadly but it is fair to say that everybody involved brought something special to the performance. Added to which a brave decision to play it with American accents as per Broadway worked really well โ€“ kudos to all for not grating, and being thoroughly believable as sons and daughters of Uncle Sam.

Lets begin with the orchestra โ€“ with ten musicians and Kate Courage M.D. you can already appreciate the scale of this production. From the opening marvellous overture to the last note the orchestra were simply great.

The technical team brought the stage craft to life aided and abetted by some wonderful directorial touches by director Matthew Heatonโ€ฆ the piรจce de resistance being the beautifully simple yet effective use of wave sheets to represent the sea, operated excellently by the younger members of the cast and especially effective in the ship wreck scene โ€“ top waving by  Emmi-Mae Cao, Elsie Cunningham, Iris Cunningham and Sam Hodgman. More kudos to the tech team and set designers with excellent projected backdrops and a few simple but effective set pieces.

Of the principals all provided great characterisation. Alex Ball as Flounder was a standout performance, Noah Heard as Eric executed his role as a prince falling in love at first sight to perfection with a voice that was creamy, dreamy and effortless with great diction, voice agility and ability. Tritonโ€™s daughters (all seven of them) proved wonderfully catty in their roles, and collectively strong with a great sound.

The evergreen Tim Hobbs was as brilliantly crabby as he ever is as Sebastian with some wonderful comedic touches, while Sarah Davies divaโ€™d her way fantastically through the show as the wickedly creepy Ursula, with her wonderfully strong voice as ever.

She was superbly accompanied by the dynamic duo of Frankie Walker and Daisy Woodruffe as Flotsam and jetsam, Ursulaโ€™s henchmen eels who worked really well together. Ariel was the archetypal Disney princess portrayed to a tee by Katy Pattinson โ€“ gorgeous and tiny, with such a pretty voice and moved about the stage nicely.ย  Her chemistry with Eric was particularly good, and as a pair the complemented each other well. Her Act two performance in particular as a mute was really well executed with some strong physical acting, communicating superbly with facial expressions. Her scene of learning to walk was choreographed and performed extremely well.

Which brings us to the ensemble. Oh. My. Word. Ensembles make or break a show and here was a show that was made. Extremely strong in everything they did, they deserve a full bow of their own for the multiple costume and character changes required, as they sang, danced, and acted their way through being gulls, maids, sailors, chefs, princesses and the already praised โ€œWaveโ€ team. A specific mention here to Paul West as Scuttle the head gull with a strong comedic lead. But all members of this vast ensemble were worthy of their places I hasten to say!

Choreography by Anna Mazan was a huge feature of the show, and the time and effort put in by her and her protรฉgรฉs was evident. โ€œUnder The Seaโ€ was a triumph – fantastic, energetically colourful, a massive carnival with bubble machines, jellyfish parasols and so much more in a cavalcade of splendour. Youโ€™d need to watch it many times over to catch everything that was happening on stage.

Costumes were simply fantastic. Just wonderful. A little fish told me that they werenโ€™t without some teething problems on their arrival, but the wardrobe team did the cast proud. Chapeau!!   (If you will pardon the pun).

Itโ€™s a huge show. And its running in Trowbridge, at St. Augustineโ€™s Catholic College until Sunday 3rd November, tickets from https://trowbridgemusicaltheatre.co.uk/tickets/





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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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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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 soundโ€ฆ

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!

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Few Remaining Tickets for The Importance of Being Earnest at West Lavington Manor House and Garden

Tickets are limited and selling fast for a staged reading of Oscar Wildeโ€™s most renowned comedy masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, performed in the glorious setting of West Lavington Manor House and garden, on Sunday 8th September 2024โ€ฆ.

Itโ€™s undoubtedly Wildeโ€™s magnum opus, a timeless hilarity of dissimulation getting out of control, which I cite as the influence of many classic comedy series, particularly Fawtly Towers and Rising Damp.ย ย 

Itโ€™s a promenade performance, moving from space to space, which means seating will be limited. The โ€˜stageโ€™ consists of the Hall and garden of West Lavington Manor. The show promises to go on whatever the weather, so be prepared.

The Old Bag Theatre Company have assembled a superb, and unconventional cast to bring Wildeโ€™s play to surprising life in a setting he would have adored.

All profits from the performance will be donated to The Nestling Trust,ย  a UK Charity established in 2013, with the support of people from a small community in Wiltshire, to give protection, and hope of a future, for destitute and abused children of Nepal, also to help provide basic healthcare and health education for people living in remote areas of the country without any medical facility.ย 

Performances take place on Sunday 8th September at 2pm and 6pm. The grounds will be open from Midday for browsing and picnics, camp chairs are allowed but not in the house. There will be a bar available. But remember, if you take muffins, eat them calmly!

Tickets are ยฃ20 (includes a glass of bubbly) available from HERE.

Enquiries to: oldbagtheatrecompany@gmail.com

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The Next Season at the Wharf Theatre

Featured image byย Chris Watkins

Autumn, finish your ice lolly, as we need to to start thinking about it! Our wonderful, one and only, theatre in Devizes is currently โ€œdark,โ€ for maintenance, installation of new equipment and stage enhancement. But thereโ€™s a new season coming soon, and tickets for a variety of performances beyond panto and into 2025 are up for grabsโ€ฆ

The theatrical term โ€œgone darkโ€ indicates the venue is closed to the public. No lights mean no show. Historically, when theatres go dark one is left lit light at the centre of the stage. Itโ€™s known as the โ€œGhost Light,โ€ believed to guide spirits and ghosts around the building.

Wharf Theatre

While it may be a fire safety hazard too far for us today, candles were used in times gone by, and this may explain why many theatre’s often burned down in the Shakespearean era. Iโ€™m not a fountain of knowledge, I pinched it from the Wharf Theatreโ€™s Facebook post! But we canโ€™t have ghosts snapping up all the tickets for themselves, so hereโ€™s the lowdown on performances theyโ€™ve got lined up for us from August.

Sat 10th August: sees Rabbit Rabbit, a tribute to those cockney sparrows, Chas & Dave. Performed by the renowned trio, Triple Cream with their fantastic musicianship & witty banter, this show will have you smiling from ear to ear!

Mon 2nd – Sat 7th September: Abigail Newton directs British playwright Alan Bennettโ€™s Talking Heads. Three dramatic monologues taken from the BBC TV series from 1988.

Thur 12th September: Devizes Film Club screens joyful British comedy Scrapper.

Fri 20th September: Relive Hancock’s Half Hour with award-winning theatre company, Hambledon Productionsโ€™ recreations of three, โ€˜lostโ€™ episodes from the original television series. Missing from the BBC archives, this UK Tour will mark the very first time these hilarious scripts have been brought to life since their original broadcast.

Sat 28th September: Jazz Britannia. Britain’s best New Orleans jazz combo Baby Jools & The Jazzaholics take you on a musical journey through the birth of British Jazz.ย 

Mon 21st – Sat 26th October: Nic Proud adapts and directs Shakespeareโ€™s Pericles, Prince of Tyre. A man on an endless voyage of peril, with romance and killing.

Sat 2nd Nov: Murder: Just What The Dr Ordered. From Isosceles Theatre Company who brought us a sold-out performance of The Man Who Left The Titanic last year. Set in Edinburgh, between 1827 and 1828, science and murder cling together in a dance of death.

7th Nov: Devizes Film Club screens Aki Kaurismรคkiโ€™s Fallen Leaves, a Finnish film about a romance between a supermarket girl and a metalworker against a backdrop of economic disparity and war in Ukraine. Winner of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize.

Thu 28th Nov – Sat 7th Dec: Panto Time! This year the Wharf Theatre presents Hansel & Gretel. Karen Ellis & Jessica Bone take direction roles for the gingerbread house traditional pantomime. Alway popular, book this asap.

Mon 27th Jan – Sat 1st Feb: Veronica’s Room. John Winterton directs the first Wharf production of 2025, a chilling mystery thriller by the author of Rosemaryโ€™s Baby, exploring the thin line between fantasy and reality, madness and murder.

Tickets now on General Release HERE. Please note that Devizes Library is closed until 24 July which includes the Community Hub Box Office. Support our lovely local theatre.

MantonFest Magic, Again

With the danceable penultimate act attracting a packed crowd, I observed a young teenager, who, on spotting a disregarded beer bottle, picked it up and disposed of it properly. I’m at Mantonfest, the gem on Marlborough’s annual event calendar. I’m not surprised, having been a few times now, it has always been this pleasant and respectable; this year I reasoned whyโ€ฆ.

Kids these days, huh? Reacting appropriately, averting a potential trip hazard, I ask you?! Elsewhere, a younger girl is on her dad’s shoulders, pumping her arms in the air while the Queen tribute reenacts classics way beyond her years, and her dad bounces underneath; it’ll be one of countless priceless family memories to savour here today, just like Heidi of Barrelhouse giving out inflatable guitars, mics and more randomly, crocodiles!

For at Mantonfest’s very opening, parents are driven to joyful tears, as thirteen year-old Megan Mills from St John’s School swaps guitar for keys and confidently delivers an outstanding if short set, filled equally with talent and expression.

If, in past years I’ve pondered the wide age demographic at Mantonfest, Mills, the aspiring health and safety officer, the girl piggybacking her dad, the toddler clutching his inflatable croc, are examples as to why. It’s the festival’s fifteenth birthday, families have grown up with this, ergo, Mantonfest is an institution, they return habitually and hold it in such high esteem, even at teenage they respect this congenial ethos. It creates a matchless experience to justify me hailing Mantonfest as the friendliest festival you’re ever likely to attend.

It’s tradition which warrants the return of favoured acts, such as Madness-Bad Manners and overall Two-Tone act, Badness, back by popular demand. They blew the roof off last year, although they mimicked their show, they came up shining, and skanking again.

Similarly, the model set from Barrelhouse will never go grey. They are to Mantonfest what R2D2 is to Star Wars, appearing time over and never failing to delight with their perfectly pumped hoedown of vintage blues. To see Barrelhouse live is cake, to see them at MantonFest is the icing on that cake. Yep, there’s many repeating features at Mantonfests, but if it’s not broken โ€ฆ.

I’m standing with Chippenham’s wonderful folk singer-songwriter Meg, complimenting Mills for a likeness to her own expressive vocal range. Meg’s on next, which shouldn’t really be as the section is supposed to showcase talent from the town’s comprehensive, but as one band cancelled I was called for a suggestion and couldn’t imagine anyone more apt and deserved. At 17 now Meg has developed a name for herself, hard working her idiosyncratic style to play Chippenhamโ€™s Pride, Folk Festival and expanding to Minety and Trowbridgeโ€™s Pump. On her first of three gigs this weekend, she excitedly tells me how it went supporting Jools Holland. Such are local circuit barriers though, Meg’s not so widely known here, so even a short set is good to help her to venture eastwards, and they sure made her welcome.

Sublimely delivering three tunes of her own wares, Meg set the bar high for Rory & Tom, who followed by providing popular covers in a friendly and lively fashion. Elton-like pianist Sammy Till-Vattier polished off the youth section. Saw him last year, he’s the upcoming name to watch on the Marlborough circuit. His poignant crafted originals are emotionally poured out, he literally sweats solo talent, as his final piece verged on Serge Gainsbourg level, and in his language too; je l’ai aimรฉ!

This opening section to Mantonfest debuted last year shouldn’t be viewed as a filler or talent contest, rather a taster of what’s to come for the family event.

Just like other neighbouring towns, Marlborough youths show dedication and talent. It fills one with confidence that music is safe in Gen Z hands, but more importantly is Mantonfest’s drive to showcase them. There’s no bolt-on gazebo miles away from the event’s main brace, they’re on the same stage which Toyah once graced.

There’s a part of me, though, which wishes the hordes who came for the finale crowd-pleasing tribute acts could’ve supported the local talent at the start, but I know, cookie crumbles this way.

Tributes were the order of the evening, but nestled between the St John’s section and them, the tradition of family continues. Josie Mackenzie is no stranger here, she pulled a blinder last year guest singing with The James Oliver Band. Taking front and centre this time with swing-style rockabilly-blues her new band the Radiotones wonderfully reintroduced fifties-early sixties classics in an Etta James fashion. Particularly stand-out was Ray Charlesโ€™, Hallelujah, I Love Her So. 

Then, Olโ€™ Man Witcomb And The Bergamots; wow! In different guises, especially one called Skedaddle, Witcomb family members have regularly played the festival as they live in the village, albeit a slot so early I missed them before. Took this with a pinch of salt, then, assuming this being a village custom, I wasn’t expecting  greatness; my biggest surprise this year. 

The old man referenced in the name is Chris Witcomb, bassist, wife Jane sings, boy, does Jane sing, and three sons back them on lead acoustic and electric guitars, and drums, like a Manton Carter Family!

If this ensemble was โ€œformed for a bit of funโ€ as stated I’m truly in awe; they were as uniformed as any professional classic rock band, and handled some unusual and technically challenging covers, particularly poignant was Genesisโ€™ Land of Confusion. 

Aside from their model set they even carried onstage banter with ease, apologising for performing Making Plans for Nigel for its possible election connotations! It was a gorgeous performance they really should take on the road, sitting somewhere between The Pretenders and Fleetwood Mac.

Between acts Fruci Fit Personal Training of Marlborough and Devizes gave a loud and proud exercise class, then, The Fab Four took the stage. Working through the Beatles discography with lighthearted panache, they’re another back by popular demand, and are a thoroughly entertaining tribute. Barrelhouse followed as evening set in, enough said. Coupled with the perfect weather, it was looking to be a most memorable Mantonfest.

A further three tributes to take us to the cumulation. Firstly, Forever Elton was enjoyable if technically mediocre. Badness did it again, stealing the show with upbeat Two-Tone re-enactments in newspaper suits but idiosyncratically making tributes stand-alone. The northern working-class banter is at invaluable comical proportions, but their musical proficiency too makes it a class homage. It’s a wonder how Queen tribute The Bohemians will top it, but surprisingly, according to my love of ska, and the fact Queen tributes are two to a penny, I think they did.

Tricky to perfect but a common choice to attribute, Queen is a national pride. To do this badly would be an epic fail. I’ve always thought this, ending up surprised with the results of previous Queen tributes I’ve bore witness to, but The Bohemians were undoubtedly the best. It was a show stopping finale, a sublime imitation of probably the finest rock band ever, if not, certainly the most popular. Throughout their performance I was equally held in awe at the precision and attention to detail, and simply enjoying the moment, as those rock classics were delivered with such skill and gusto.

Yet it is not only the excellence of all the acts which makes Mantonfest Mantonfest, rather the lesser ingredients, the beautiful setting, the simplicity of the arrangement and its dedication to hold dear its self-made traditions. But most importantly, and likely the sum of all other parts, it’s this trouble-free tenant akin to a Caribbean holiday (with rum punch,) which has seen a generation grow and be proud and respectable of this wonderful annual occasion.ย 

For me, it’s equally about Mills, Sammy et al, as it is for a tribute act knocking it out of Treacle Brolly, but I feel it is too for the many here who enjoy this gem year after year. Another Mantonfest ticked off, another astounding and memorable year, it never fails to impress me. 

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REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festival โ€“ Duo Tutti @ Assembly Room 13th June 2024

A Lunchtime Amuse-Bouche

by Andy Fawthrop

Devizes Arts Festivalโ€™s programme continued on Thursday afternoon with a lunchtime classical concert in the beautiful surroundings of the Assembly Hall in the Town Hall.  Coming on a market day, it was no surprise that town was busy, and plenty of people used the opportunity to make their way to this splendid venue.

Duo Tutti is made up of Ruth Molins (flutes) and Alex Wilson (piano).  They are inspired by old and new music, creating sound worlds you might not expect to hear from a flute/ piano duo. Ruth plays a standard flute, alto flute, bass flute and the piccolo, accompanied by Alexโ€™s piano.

Their programme was an interesting and eclectic mix of items, much of it from composers Iโ€™d not heard of before, but no the less enjoyable for that.

We started with the Sonata in F from Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723 -87).  This lady I was surprised to discover was the sister of Frederick The Great.  This piece in three movements, although simple in sound and structure, was bright, bouncy and just the thing to get started with.  There followed three very contrasting pieces from contemporary composers: John Rutterโ€™s Suite Antique (in six short movements), Ruthโ€™s own piece (Fuse for Bass Flute & Piano) and Elena Kats-Cherninโ€™s Elizaโ€™s Aria for Piccolo.  Each piece was delivered with freshness and confidence by the duo.

Keeping with the contemporary theme, we moved on to Arthur Butterworthโ€™s Ukko, featuring the alto flute, and a piece that was slightly deeper and fuller, offering a darker, slower and slightly more discordant feeling throughout.  Then on to two โ€œminiaturesโ€ from Constance Warren, the first being slow and thoughtful, and the second very short piece being much livelier.

Finally, slightly back in time to Jules Mouquet (1867 โ€“ 1946) for La Flute De Pan, a work in three short movements.  The first piece was sparkling, with many flourishes.  And, following the slower, quieter middle passage, the final section moved from a gentle fade-out, to another frothy champagne ending.

Throughout the concert the flutes were always to the fore, carrying the main themes, with the piano playing more of a supportive, sympathetic accompanying role.  But the combination worked splendidly, and provided a diverse and entertaining lunchtime concert.  Bravo!

You can find out more about Duo Tutti at www.duotutti.com/   

The Devizes Arts Festival is moving towards its end now, but there are still several events with tickets available, until Sunday 16th June at various venues around the town.  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk

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REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festival โ€“ Lucy Porter + Support @ Corn Exchangeย  6th June 2024

Funny You Should Say That

Andy Fawthrop

And finally it was time to see the girl weโ€™ve all been seeing on the poster for the past few months!ย 

Last night Devizes Arts Festival presented its comedy big-hitter, the radio and TV star Lucy Porter.ย  And D-Town responded with another packed audience.

Lucy Porter is a stand-up comedian, and a regular face and voice on TV and radio panel shows. She loves a good quiz show, appearing on a Pointless Celebrity Special with Ed Byrne and being victorious on Celebrity Mastermind. Sheโ€™s also appeared in QI, Live at the Apollo, Room 101 and heard on BBC Radio 4โ€™s News Quiz.

She handled the start of the first half last night by telling us (perhaps unwisely) that sheโ€™d never been to D-Town before, and therefore felt justified in playing back to us some of the research sheโ€™d managed to dig up.  This was fairly gentle, if predictable, shtick โ€“ poking fun at our โ€œposhโ€ neighbours in Marlborough, relating the Moonrakers story, and throwing in various remarks about the K&A canal, the Caen Hill Flight and something she referred to as the โ€œcanoe marathonโ€.  It was amusing, but not really hitting the target.  Once she put her notes down and started to extemporise a little more, the audience thawed considerably, and the evening began to improve.  Her key task here was to warm the audience up for her chosen support act, and to flag the themes sheโ€™d be covering in the second half.

So it was time to welcome Sharon Wanjohi to the stage.  Sheโ€™s an up and coming stand-up comedian with a varied act ranging from shock to absurd comedy, and has already appeared at a number of festivals and on TV.  Sheโ€™s clearly still learning her craft, but last night she managed to win over an audience that was slightly nervous of someone they werenโ€™t expecting.

Her self-deprecating style, covering themes of personal awakening, both spiritual and sexual, gradually began to hit home.  Asking if there were any black people in the audience, indeed whether being black was even legal in D-Town, began to bring the laughs.  And her interaction with a certain audience member about being lesbian was truly hilarious.  Her set was slightly rambling and disconnected, funny but not hilarious.  But there was no doubting the great reception she received in response to her warm, and sometimes personal, story-telling, and her relaxed easy-going style.  Iโ€™d definitely file her under the โ€œone to watchโ€ category.

And then, finally, after a very long interval, we finally had the star of the show.  Wearing a changed top (โ€œsparkly on top, comfy belowโ€ as she put it), we were treated to a master-class in gentle, apparently rambling associative comedy.  Picking up on the obvious demographic of the audience, she homed in on one audience member who was clearly younger than the rest, and making great show of โ€œexplainingโ€ some of the gags and references (just in case no-one got the point).  She also picked up with Sharon Wanjohiโ€™s interlocutor from the first half, a tactic that worked extremely well.

She hit some obvious targets for a Radio 4 audience โ€“ the menopause, the male mid-life crisis, the desire to retire, increasing health issues.  But she played these well, riffing on her hypochondriac relationship with her GP Margaret (the cancerous spot thast turned out to be Nutella), about doing R2 singalongs with the guys painting her house, and on her thoughts about the โ€œdevelopmentโ€ of Paul Hollywood.  There was a wonderful pastiche of The Sound Of Music and, right at the end, a great punchline about paint involving the chorus of โ€œRelaxโ€.  There were plenty of anecdotes relating to her own general laziness, her long-standing drinking pals, and her tendency to be impulsive.  Her story of just โ€œwinging itโ€ on a mistaken appearance with Melvyn Bragg was superb.

It was, for the most part, very clean and straight-forward stuff.  There was nothing that could be considered โ€œedgyโ€, there was nothing political, and there was (amazingly) no swearing.  As such, it probably kept most of the audience in their comfort zone for most of the time, but it was no less hilarious for all of that.

Overall, it was a good nightโ€™s entertainment, although I expect thereโ€™ll be a LOT of people waking up on Friday morning realising that they now knew what a Gold Star Lesbian is.  Go figure!

Thereโ€™s more information on Lucy at www.lucyporter.co.uk/

Another great night at the Arts Festival, and thanks (yet again) to DAF for bringing such top-notch entertainment to our little town. 

The Devizes Arts Festival continues until Sunday 16th June at various venues around the town.ย 

Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.ukย 

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James and the Cold Gun, Lucky Number Seven, Nobodyโ€™s Dad, The Real Cheesemakers at The Pump, Trowbridge

Brian Yeatesย 

Images: Greg Stoner

This was the first time Iโ€™d heard about the Pump, and realised it did not refer to the popular local festival. I was familiar with James and the Cold Gun from a support run they did with Therapy a few years back. And I was planning to go and see them at the Fleece a few weeks ago when we had a few days away in Bristol, but the gig was sold out….

The Pump, part of the grounds to The Lamb public house, on outward appearances appears to be not much more than an old stable building next to the pub. Being a former member of Melksham covers band El Niรฑo a number of years back, I could recollect playing at the Greyhound just up the road. However, inside is a different story. Two floors, the upstairs has old cinema seating, capacity is seventy. The venue is fitted out for gigs, with sound and lighting facilities, thanks to lottery funding. A nice intimate, quirky venue with musical instruments and stable paraphernalia adorning the walls, as well as โ€œthe pumpโ€. If youโ€™re tall like me there are a few places to exercise caution due to low ceilings! Most of the beams have been painted with blackboard paint so that visiting bands can chalk their name up on there.

I quickly set about trying to engage my friends to join me at this event and I managed to get a group of five of us to make the trip from the Vale of Pewsey over to the big lights of Trowvegas! The fact that for the princely sum of ยฃ11 each, we actually got to watch four bands, sealed the deal.

So first of all we headed to the Lamb to get some drinks as there is no room to have a bar in the Pump.

Unfortunately we missed a lot of the set by the Real Cheesemakers because we were outside but could tell from what we could hear that the audience inside were being treated to some top music. When we finally ventured in and got our wristbands we were taken aback by the witty and clever lyrical content of the Real Cheesemakers songs. As the set finished we were disappointed that we hadnโ€™t caught more.

Next up was the young but very talented Nobodyโ€™s Dad, playing a lively and grungy Pixie-esque set, not to be missed if you get the chance to watch them live. The two lads and two lasses worked really well together and there were great harmonies from the ladies throughout the set.

The hard hitting post punk duo Lucky Number Seven were up next. Just drums, guitar and a big sound from their backing tracks/samples. Weโ€™d seen these before at the Underground in Swindon and they did not disappoint with their charged and effervescent set.

As we hear Kate Bush piped over the PA, my mate looks over and says to me thatโ€™s her song, โ€˜James and the Cold Gun;โ€™ time for the main event. The band walked in exuding rockstar. The experience gained since the last time I saw them drips out of every pore, having extensively toured the U.K., two runs in the US including the SXSW (South by SouthWest) festival as well as a support slot for Guns n Roses at Hyde Park and some interesting studio time in the home of grunge.

A lively set with plenty of audience interaction followed covering all of James and the Cold Guns repertoire. With bangers such as Chewing Glass (a personal favourite,) She Moves, dedicated to bassist Gaby, and the recently released Sting in the Tail as well as a new song. Their hard hitting, pacey alternative heavy rock with hints Queens of the Stone Age amongst many other influences was just what the crowd wanted.

The end of the set saw the front men encourage the crowd to form a mosh pit, which members of the band joined in with as well as hugs and handshakes for the audience members that were wearing their bandโ€™s merch, reciting lyrics word for word or actively involved in the mosh pit.

All in all a thoroughly good night and we would love to do it all over again!

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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

The Clones at the Three Crowns, Devizes

Forget your pedal board setup for a moment, it was as if The Clones knew precisely what buttons to press to rouse the party crowd at The Three Crowns in Devizes last night, and whilst I’d admit it doesn’t take a lot to get them going, this four-piece certainly put an earnest shift inโ€ฆ

It seems irrefutable, the Three Crowns is the go-to pub to party and let your hair down in Devizes right now, particularly for Millennials and those tipsy enough to think theyโ€™re also twentysomething, like, I dunno, me?!! These wheels have been in motion for a few years and show no sign of slowing yet. Itโ€™s busy but hospitable, uses card-only payments to speed up service, inside it serves a respectable plate, and if previous generations favoured DJs in club format, the modern method of live cover bands is the epoch The Three Crowns abides by, and delivers in a spacious heated and covered beer garden, with zest โ€ฆ.but you knew this already, right?!

Whilst thereโ€™s the obvious popularity of regularly returning local bands such as People Like Us, The Roughcut Rebels and Illingworth, itโ€™s a blessing to see a new band to the pub attract the same colossal positive response. The Clones hail from Corsham, I was unaware of them and my curiosity paid off. As we witnessed in Devizes last night, they sure put the cor in Corsham. Akin to when Pewseyโ€™s Humdinger arrived in a blaze of glory, the punters showed them the Devizes appreciation and the atmosphere was electric.

Through a motley genre-mapped setlist they delivered a range of covers all with gusto, sharp class and attention to detail. Two lead singers generally adopted different stances, one taking the funky, soul numbers, with a sublime medley of Superstition and equally funky classics, the other with a penchant for eighties new wave, mod to Britpop; the Jamโ€™s A Town Called Malice being my fav of the set, if I was forced at gunpoint to provide one.

Yet both duetted on a number of miscellaneous pop and rock classics. There were few tunes you might consider clichรฉ, but they handled this well because often the crowd wants this, and mostly though sing-a-longs, they werenโ€™t the archetypal songs to falter a cover band setlist. Daring attempts too, from Bowie to Jackoโ€™s Billie Jean, there were some your average cover band should only try at home! It was nonstop fun, never attempting to sooth with a love ballad, or experiment with a synth, just the rock n roll four-piece format of drums, bass and lead, brought up-to-date with an exemplary setlist to rouse any diverse demographic audience.

It was loud, proud, and teetering with polished enthusiasm and professionalism. Landlords, if you want a band to make your punters thirsty by jumping for joy, this might be the cover band for you.

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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

Darren Worrow's avatar by Darren Worrow

Six:Teen Edition; Devizes Music Academyโ€™s Historic Pop Blast Showcase!ย ย 

Images Used With Permission of Gail Foster

Last night at Devizes Corn Exchange I, and a packed house, witnessed the retelling of the six wives of Henry VIII, in an unique, contemporary and dazzling way. It was as if Andrew Lloyd Webber was directing Little Mix in a musical of Horrible Historiesโ€ฆ.

Without hindsight I admit, I was apprehensive it would be my cuppa. It was mostly the fact young Jess Self starred in it which drew me to it. Truly a natural born star, I’ve witnessed firsthand the range of dramatics she handles with sublime ease, yet I was concerned her talent may upstage the other students appearing in Devizes Music Academy’s inaugural showcase.

I wasn’t wrong about Jess’s talent, playing the part of Jane Seymour, her solo ballad much in the musical style she’s accustomed brought the house down, but I hadn’t predicted how exceptionally close to that pedestal the other cast members would attain. It was a bonded girl band, to all intents and purposes, akin to the non-uniformed Spice Girls, where each girl’s contrasting characteristics and personalities have the freedom to be played out, but the ingenious part was that both the individuality of each performer, and the characters of the wives of Henry VIII intertwined so wonderfully if the concept is difficult to imagine, it simply worked wonders through their dedication.

Image: Gail Foster

I mean, yeah, Devizes most prestigious stage, the quality of light and sound engineering, and the clever design of the dresses to mesh Tudor styles with contemporary fashion, all benefitted, but the magic truly was in the performance, as they boomed onto the stage brewing with both with the joy of performing and confidence of an established pop band on tour. Backed by the precise choreography of the remaining students, the six wives came out in a force of unison, as did they finalise the show with two additional numbers.

With just enough narrative to inform and not prevent it turning into a full blown play, rather a pastiche of a pop party, they jostled each other for the spotlight with amusing Gen Z banter and staged a song-off battle brimming with historic facts. It was uniquely brilliant.

Image: Gail Foster

Each took a solo pitch in the chronological order of the King’s wives. I tried to keep track of this despite mostly staring out of the classroom window during history lessons! Katherine of Aragon first, played enthusiastically and skilfully with the egotistical diva of Miley Cyrus, by Ruby Phipps, and you’d be forgiven to assume her astute and amusing quips and side-eye glances at the others would be a comical showstopper, much too was the confidence in her vocals.

Amelie Smith as Anne Boleyn followed. A contrasting but equally engaging performance, with the Cockney-pseudo-rap-singing fashion of Kate Nash. It was clear each modern pop sub-genre would be inclusive with each solo, and each performer’s personal attributes would be encased within their characters; the casting was defined with excellence.

Image: Gail Foster

Jane Seymour next, her family-orientated persona perfect for Jess Self to light up the stage with the aforementioned breathtaking musical ballad. Truly a star, but the others, I now know, are too.

It then all went all Europop for Anne of Cleves, adapting her Germanic roots in the House of La Marck as a tekno club intro was a stroke of humorous genius. Played with gusto and inimitable panache, the exceptionally talented Kelsey Husband took no prisoners in a neo-soul blast akin to Missy Elliot come attitude of P!nk in a period drama; wowzers, it was as cool as a cucumber!

Image: Gail Foster

Mia Jepson as Catherine Howard implemented a more punky, indie fusion, as if lead in a Republica style band. The result was spellbinding and contrasting, and performed with confidence, as if singing like a rock legend was child’s play to Mia!

Image: Gail Foster

The final wife Kateryn Parr, played with a certain brilliance by Lisa Grime returned the vibe superbly back to a soulful ballad, and through beautiful vocals the harsh realities of their fates begun to reside over the folly and excitement of fame, exactly the downside of Henry VIII’s wives and contemporary pop stars might equally face. And that was where the unique spin resided. I said from concept to production the idea was a stroke of genius, didn’t I?!

Sure, we’ve seen modern makeovers of biblical or historical stories in musicals, from the Romeo and Juliet adaptation West Side Story to Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar, but nothing I know of which reflects a Gen Z pop concert to the letter, in so much as it was more a pop concert than play, and this conveyed the preference of the generation, and breathed zest and joy into a head-chopping historic referenced narrative.

Image: Gail Foster

A mahoosive congratulations to director and mentor Jemma Brown, and all the awesome students of Devizes Music Academy. It was absolutely fantastic, enough to take on tour, or perhaps, if you all became presenters of the History Channel, they’d move it to MTV and actually get viewers!!

While thereโ€™s many great local options for schools of performing arts, judged from the quality of this show alone, Devizes Music Academy shows real potential in creating current programs which would really engage the youth of today. 

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Forestry Operations Due to Start at West Woods

Featured Photo: Forestry England/Crown copyright Planned timber harvesting is set to begin at popular walking destination, West Woods, from the end of September until Marchโ€ฆ

Swindon Gets Shuffling!

Despite the population of Devizes throwing confetti and paint at each other in their most celebrated annual ritual, I believe I picked the right weekendโ€ฆ

The Juggernaut Delivers Back at The Southgate

If there’s been welcomed stand-ins for the monthly Jon Amor Trio residency at the Southgate in Devizes recently, Ruzz Evans and Eddie Martin, Jon โ€œtheโ€ฆ

Deadlight Dance New EP Chapter & Verse

Marlborough gothic duo Deadlight Dance are due to release an EP of new material. Itโ€™s called Chapter & Verse and itโ€™ll be out on Rayโ€ฆ

So Excited…. Devizes Musical Theatreโ€™s Sister Act at Dauntsey’s

An exodus of musical lovers and, I’d assume, a healthy handful of friends and family, trekked southwards through winter’s final ambush last night, to enjoy the opening night of a dazzling performance of Sister Act at Dauntsey’sโ€ฆ..

It was presented by the established local amateur dramatics group, Devizes Musical Theatre. I stress my usage of the word amateur in its foremost dictionary definition; the opposite of professional. The second connotation it was in some way inept couldn’t be further from the truth in this case. A common misconception in creative arts, I find, whereby those in it for the love thrust their hearts, soul, and elbow grease into it, more so than a pro going through the motions for their paycheck. The result usually is perhaps something raw, but highly entertaining and enjoyable, and their production certainly was the latter.

The run ends on Saturday (30th March,) at the last count just fourteen tickets remained, so I advise you to be quick, and lucky, to pick some up. It’s a large hall, selling it out proves the grand reputation Devizes Musical Theatre has built locally, this performance hits their pedestal.

With a debatable focus on the singing rather than acting, the benchmark of a good musical, surely, there’s some show-stopping moments. Georgia Watson makes the perfect diva Deloris, and there’s both astounding vocals and comic timing from Louise Peak as Mother Superior and Barry Gibney, who plays the socially awkward police chief Eddie. Particularly noteworthy is Grace Sheridan who plays Sister Mary Robert, in song and conviction of the influence Deloris holds over the convent.

Yet high accolades go out to all the actors, stage directors and team; Adam Sturges, Oli Beech and Simon Hoy as the mobsters, Gareth Lloyd as mafia boss Curtis, Graham Day as Monsignor Oโ€™Hara and the huge backing of those wonderful singing nuns! It is the combination of their motivation and exceptional effort which makes this such a dynamic show, coupled with the elementary notion, Sister Act has universal appeal and is simply fun on a stick!

In critical reflection, the musical concludes somewhat differently from the movie. Without spoilers, the amusing scene where Deloris prays for Godโ€™s forgiveness unto the mobsters holding a gun to her head, causing them to question their ability to shoot her, wrongly perceiving her as a nun, is replaced by a more slapstick finale akin to a Benny Hill chase scene. Yet on further consideration into my rather geeky complaint, I guess this works better on stage, such is the jollification of a musical, often bordering pantomime. And it wraps it up faster, allowing more time for these astute and timeless Motownesque songs. Devizes Musical Theatre use this to their advantage; you certainly get your money’s worth.

Veils off to first time director Emily Holmes, and musical director Naomi Ibbetson for an apt and fantastic show, which will send you off thoroughly entertained, and with a smile.

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Fulltone Confirmed For 2025 in Devizes

The Fulltone Orchestra has confirmed today that their annual festival will take place on The Green in Devizes from 25th โ€“ 27th July 2025โ€ฆ. โ€œItโ€™sโ€ฆ

โ€œRENTโ€ at The Rondo Theatre, Bath, March 13th-16th 2024

Ian Diddams

Written by Jonathan Larson
Presented by Maple Theatre Company

It’s always hard reviewing a show that one has seen multiple times before, performed by differing companies. Itโ€™s also hard reviewing a show that is one of oneโ€™s favourite shows EVAH. And if that wasnโ€™t hard enoughโ€ฆ  Its far too hard to review a show that one has performed in oneself. Itโ€™s wrong to compare โ€“ its unfair and meaninglessโ€ฆ  differing companies, differing directors, differing theatres.  So, ignoring the seven other productions Iโ€™ve seen including the one I bummed around in (quite literally โ€“ if you know you know) โ€ฆ.  Here goes…..


For those that know the story of โ€œRENTโ€ โ€“ you can skip this paragraph. Otherwise, Jonathan Larsonโ€™s story โ€“ a glorious homage to Pucciniโ€™s โ€œLa Bohemeโ€ – revolves around a group of bohemians in the lower east side of New York City and deals with topics such as homelessness, drug addiction, betrayal, and AIDSโ€ฆ as well as love, friendship, recovery, and hope. All wrapped up with a stunning score of often poignant, sometimes funny, always beautiful singing with six-part harmonies. If you want to know more โ€ฆย  duck go go is your friend as ever.

RENT on stage is usually set in a quasi-industrial area โ€“ and Maple Theatre Company donโ€™t buck that trend (I doubt RENT heads would allow it to be honest!). Scaffolding creates multiple levels which are used excellently throughout the show and frames several areas for the action. ON stage props and setting is minimal, but I raise my hat to the wonderful use of moveable music flight cases with wooden tops that represent beds, side tables and THE cafe table (if you know, you know). Quite brilliant also was the use of 40-gallon steel oil drums โ€ฆย  where โ€œdrumsโ€ covers two definitions of that word.ย  Chapeau to Luke Hocket, set designer (who also produced the show) and his set team of Tom Courtier and Milly Hayward.

Directing a show like โ€œRENTโ€ is no easy task (not as hard as reviewing it obviously ๐Ÿ˜‰) as the show is basically โ€œthe sameโ€ whoever does it (as it is so iconic โ€“ maybe after 400 years, like Shakespeare, some aspects will be changed, and we will get a RENT set on a spaceship โ€ฆ)ย  but Dionna Kate-Hargreaves set her own stamp on it in subtly brilliant ways. I mentioned the use of multiple levels already but the piece de resistance of the show is in many ways โ€ฆย  the drumming.ย  (If you know you know).

And speaking of drumming that brings us to the music โ€“ a six-piece band led by MD Kris Nock rocked out the show hidden subtly off stage but in full view (once you know, you know). I wonder if Krisโ€™ toughest task (not as arduous as reviewing obviously) was teaching three actors to hit a large piece of metal in time with two sticks for some considerable time (if you know, you know).


Tech is as ever hidden away where no one can see them up in the attic of the Rondo, and technical director Tom Courtier and his crew slid their sliders and pushed their buttons andย  lit their lights to full effect. (Iโ€™ve got a deep and meaningful understanding of tech). Rule number one in a theatre is never hack off the tech guys โ€“ they have hammers, and saws, and unlimited access to 240v at all times (if you know, you know) so โ€“ GREAT WORK GUYS!!!

Thatโ€™s about it then. Set, Tech, props, direction, music.ย  Yup. Thatโ€™ll do.


Ah.

Yes.ย  That lot that cavorts upon the stage.ย  Nearly forgot them. Starting with cavortingโ€ฆย  choreographer and dance captain Grace Egginton and Grace Shobbrook whipped the cast into a frenzy of whirling limbs when they werenโ€™t singing.ย  And often when they were come to that. It must be said the Rondoโ€™s stage is quiteโ€ฆ.ย  Bijouโ€ฆ particularly when by necessity a good half of it is taken up by aluminium scaffolding poles that donโ€™t bend if you collide with them (if you know, you know) so the tightness of choreography is impressive.

And so โ€“ the cast. Iโ€™ve used the line about โ€œstrutting and fretting his hour upon the stageโ€ before so I wonโ€™t use it again.ย  Ooops.

It takes a dedicated cast to work โ€œRENTโ€ โ€“ it is emotionally draining (if you know, you know), taking its toll on the actorsโ€™ own emotions. And this cast did Jonathan Larson proud. The ensemble – they always get listed last so here they are first cos thatโ€™s important (if you know, you know) so bravo Daisy Wilson, Morgan Hames, Georgi pepper, Steven Hockett, Jasmine Lye, Sophie smith, Milly Haywood, and Sarah Easterbrookโ€ฆย  All of whom also starred in the all-important cameo parts that just make โ€œRENTโ€ simply โ€œworkโ€. Special mention must be made though for Jasmine, who stepped up to play the role of the harassed waiter in the cafรฉ scene due to cast unavailability this evening.ย  Cometh the hour, cometh the Jas!

I suppose that leaves the principals. *sigh*.ย  OK. Wellโ€ฆย  ummm…ย  errrโ€ฆ

Well in all honesty they werenโ€™t good. Nope. Not at all.

THEY WERE BELTING!!!ย  FANTASTIC!!!ย  MAGNIFICENT!!!

and other superlatives.

In no particular orderโ€ฆย  Bryan Houce played Markโ€ฆย  his portrayal got stronger and stronger throughout the performance as the middle-class wannabe with no confidence (thatโ€™s Mark โ€“ not Bryan!). Mimi was played superbly by Grace Egginton who quite rightly as a choreographer played the part of a striptease dancer very well.ย  (Hmmmโ€ฆย  that maybe came out a bit wrong?) ๐Ÿ˜‰Roger Davis, all angst, and anger was quite phenomenal played by Josh Phillips.ย  Absolutely fantastic. Liberty Williams probably stole the show for โ€œmost likely to break a wine glass at forty feetโ€ with her incredible top note harmonising as Joanne, and Naomi Marie as Benny (dรฉjร  vu here โ€“ if you know, you know) as the brooding, mean turncoat-comes-good ex-flatmate.

If I appear to be rushing through these principals, itโ€™s because I could write war and peace about them otherwise. Next up โ€“ in her first ever principal role (which is hard to believe, if not as hard as reviewing of course) playing Maureen was Sarah Askew.ย  Now Sarah is no mean belter of a top noted harmony as well, as befits a rock band vocalist (if you know, you know) but โ€ฆย  well.ย  If you need a top MOO-ERR then Sarah is your girl (if you know, you know).ย  And then we have Davey Evans as Collins. Another wow moment.ย  Collins is a complex character to play especially with the range of emotions demanded of it, and Davey perfected them all. Great voice too. Which leaves last, but of course NEVER leastโ€ฆย  Angel. George Friend. I had the pleasure of speaking with George before and after the show โ€“ he is reprising the role he played in 2017 โ€“ and he claimed (yeah right ๐Ÿ˜‰) he couldnโ€™t believe he could still reach the high notes he needed but they were well reached, another great performance.

So thatโ€™s it. Iโ€™ve reviewed a show thatโ€™s hard to review. A show that for an opening night was quite wonderful. And let us not forget either the debut show for a brand-new Bath based community theatre company.ย  Top job.


โ€œRENTโ€ runs until Saturday 16th March at 1930 each evening with a 1430 matinee on the 16th. Tickets can be bought from
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bath/rondo-theatre/rent/e-mdxlbz

and I urge you to go.

And โ€“ donโ€™t forget to MOOOO!  (if you know, you know).

You always said how lucky you were that we were all friends. But it was us, baby, who were the lucky ones.

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Get ‘Lifted’ by Chandra

Chandra, Hindu God of the Moon, with his own NASA X-ray observatory named after him, and also frontman of a self-named friendly Bristol-based four-piece pop-punkโ€ฆ

Local Book Review: Dadโ€™s New Dress

Spent most of Pride month, and the following month too (what? Iโ€™m a slow reader and a busy chap!) reading an apt book, given toโ€ฆ

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 aroundโ€ฆ

Imberbus is running this Saturday !

Following on from last monthโ€™s email, this is a final reminder that yearโ€™s Imberbus service will be running this coming Saturday โ€“ 17th August 2024.โ€ฆ

The Drum n Bass Huntr/s of Old Devizes Town

In true Royston Vasey style, unfortunately due to time and resources we donโ€™t review international music as we did during lockdown, choosing to focus more on the original concept of local issues and talent, unless of course, we can find any vague link to someone around these parts; thereโ€™s a tenacious one with Beskarโ€™s latest album of uplifting drum n bassโ€ฆ..

Proving the irony in Devizes singer Chrissy Chapmanโ€™s nom-de-plume, One Trick Pony, her stunning vocals feature on two tracks on the album, Liquid with Friends, released at the beginning of the month, and on a number of previous singles produced by Beskar. One of them is an astounding cover of Ella Fitzgeraldโ€™s Fever.

A chance opportunity for Chrissy, working as social media manager for 4NCยฅ //DarkModeโ€™s London headquarters during the pandemic, unveiled a hidden talent producing some spoken words for a Dust tune, which in turn led her to be introduced to Beskar, who since has enhanced many of his tracks with her prowess as a singer-songwriter. Now, under the pseudonym Huntr/s, Chrissy has fast climbed to recognition and popularity in drum and bass circles, though this doesn’t mean youโ€™ll no longer see her acoustically perform on our local circuit too, I hope!

See? As the codger who was there for breakbeats slipping into acid house and creating a UK rave scene inspired equally from dub reggae as the less soulful German tekno, who danced through this progression, when hardcore fragmented into happy and dark, and celebrated what blew from itโ€™s exhaust pipe, the โ€œjungleโ€ of drum n bass, and still coming up dancing, I find it slightly confuddling differentiating between the many subgenres drum n bass has separated into more recently. 

Take it as a senior moment, but Iโ€™m dubious about breakcore or dubstep, feel theyโ€™re heading in a direction Iโ€™m not looking to journey down. For me the split came at the end of the rave honeymoon, 1993. Andy Cโ€™s Origin Unknown caused heated debate, it was dark, directed away from the cheese on toast, carefree vibe of hi-hats and crashing piano breaks we were accustomed to. In just a few subsequent years I was waving A Guy Called Geraldโ€™s Black Secret Technology CD around, but most of my mates waited for Goldieโ€™s Timeless before accepting this new force, โ€œintelligentโ€ drum n bass.

It peaked at LTJ Bukemโ€™s Logical Progression in 96, drum n bass no longer the jungle tumult you heard at raves, rather as the title suggested, hereโ€™s a style for the chill-out, for the after-party. And thatโ€™s where I left it, trundling off to the big beat sound of Jon Carter, The Chemical Brothers and Norman larginโ€™ it. While what Beskar is laying down here is fresh and original, it makes no secret in nodding to its influences, to this peak of drum n bass, and for me, that works a treat.

The opening to Liquid with Friends is much like this, thereโ€™s the sparse drum n bass riffs of Photek, Hype et al, spacey ambient sounds of the Orb, KLF, and some uplifting vocals and piano breaks. Thereโ€™s casual rap like Divine Bashimโ€™s for William Orbit, thereโ€™s a spanning package offered here, flowing sweetly. The result is euphoric and enchanting throughout, but itโ€™s the Huntr/s featured tracks, Home and Running which are the standouts, and Iโ€™m not just saying that, Iโ€™m backing it up with reasoning; because from cheesy hardcore to contemporary house, when any dance music genre breaks for some beautiful female vocals the soul is elevated.

Donna Summer proved that for Giorgio Moroder, Caron Wheeler did it for Soul II Soul in the late eighties, Rozalla took it to the rave, Heather Small did it for Mike Pickering, and a lounge style of house brought to the masses; dance music wouldnโ€™t be what it is totally instrumental. Mickey Finn knew this with Urban Shakedown, and we did, we lived as one family, the vocal only enforced it into us! We were like, โ€œdamn thatโ€™s some powerful shit, weโ€™d better live as one family now, or else!โ€ I never did get any pocket money out of Mickey!

Beskar manages to amalgamate the lot without it becoming overcrowded there. Just as DJ Cam with the trip hop trend, funky jazz loops are allowed in. Thereโ€™s a lot more going on with this album than breaks and beats, but it does this too with bells on. Silent River is one example to this experimental goodness, Inner City Life, the opening to Timeless meets Massive Attack, soulful vocals with layers of chill, and even subtle wailing guitars, akin Quincy Jones adding Slash to Micheal Jackson tunes, Beskar went there too; you magician! 

Iโ€™m taken back and in awe, our own Huntr/sโ€™ contributions here embeds her voice to a history of female vocalists who uplifted the crowd, from Summer to Small, and thatโ€™s a high but deserved accolade for our Devizes girl!  

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Marlborough, I’ve Seen Your Pants

โ€œWe can’t stop here. This is Tory country,โ€ I chuckled while fiercely yanking the handbrake, as if Dr Gonzo was in the car. We canโ€ฆ

Ruzz Up The Gate!

I was intending to start this along the lines of โ€œyou don’t need me to provide another reason why I love The Southgate,โ€ but thisโ€ฆ

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 trackโ€ฆ

Only Thursday! Jon Amor Trio Special at The Southgate, Devizes with Ian Siegal

Legend has it, as a child Elvis Presley sneaked into gospel churches and juke joints, surely the spark of rock n roll. Given a flux capacitor, that’s one point in time I’d beeline; love to have witnessed what he saw there. But it’s unlikely, Doc Emmett Brown doesn’t give them out freelyโ€ฆ..

So I ponder at the door to the Southgate, this is as close as dammit I’m going to get to a rowdy postwar Mississippi juke joint in 2024 wilds of Wiltshire! You could argue the point, but I believe I’m right; it’s rammed to the rafters in there, and it’s only a Thursday night! If you were there you would accept it’s not open for debate.

Valid reason, homemade blues legend Jon Amor shifted his trioโ€™s monthly residency from the usual Sunday to Thursday to fit the schedule of his guest, and what a dynamite guest it was. Devizes hasnโ€™t seen Ian Siegal since 2022, part of the lockdown supergroup Birdsmens at Long Street Blues Club, with Jon, Dave Doherty, bassist Rob Barry and Jonny Henderson pushing the keys. A most memorable gig for Long Street, either not forgotten by the blues hunters of Devizes, or theyโ€™ll rightfully take Jonโ€™s recommendations as red.

Classic Rock Magazine described Portsmouth-born Ian Siegal as โ€œa national treasure.โ€ He’s picked up thirteen British blues awards, three Mojo blues albums of the year, four European blues awards and three USA nominations. He is, as proved last night, cool on a barefoot Bruce Willis pounding through the glass of the Nakatomi Plaza level, he is the Steve McQueen leaping the anti-tank obstacles on a stolen Nazi Triumph of UK blues!

He came to our humble tavern, and between him and the Jon Amor Trio, sparks flew, pounding blues riffs reverberated, and crowds gyrated in harmony to a free gig youโ€™d happily pay top dollar for. So, if weโ€™ve said a number of times just how unmissable and phenomenal this monthly residency is at the Southgate, which we have, many times and by our many writers, itโ€™s always worth reminding, and because of last nightโ€™s, this is a particularly appropriate time to do so.

There were people on Jonโ€™s Facebook page commenting they were trekking up from Southend-on-Sea for this gig, ergo, we should consider ourselves so lucky to have it on our doorsteps, and thank Jon, Tom and Gerry, along with Debroah, Dave and staff at the Southgate, for maintaining Devizes as a blues town and providing us with talent on this level. It was one of the most memorable and historic nights Iโ€™ve witnessed at that tavern, and thatโ€™s pushing the boat out.

Thereโ€™s dogโ€™s bollocks accolades I could award Ian with, donโ€™t want to flatter the guy, but damn, the vibes from that fella replicate all which makes blues the root of all pop music genres, the growling and screeching Howilnโ€™ Wolf vocals, the nimble guitar picking, the very construction of the blues is in his hands, and he delivers it with a passion and virtuosity of the greats, of Muddy Waters, of BB King; hot dang, that guy can play! 

They did some originals between them, the ground thumped through Jonโ€™s Juggernaut, the heavens opened when Ian lead the Rolling Stones cover You Can’t Always Get What You Want, long hair was swished around, the booze flowed and people came to party united in a sublime vibe of happiness, it really was the kind of scorcher Iโ€™m not sure how Jon and the Gate can top.

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Cotswold Water Park to be Renamed

Here’s a prime example as to why I could never be a councillor….. Cotswold District Council will vote on changing the name of Cotswold Waterโ€ฆ

Devizes Scooter Rally Rules, OK?!

If it’s been a fantastic weekend on Devizes Green with the orchestral Full-Tone Festival, further out of town scooterists, mods, skins and anyone else withโ€ฆ

The Next Season at the Wharf Theatre

Featured image byย Chris Watkins Autumn, finish your ice lolly, as we need to to start thinking about it! Our wonderful, one and only, theatre inโ€ฆ

Wormwood; Cracked Machineโ€™s New Album

A third instalment of space rock swirls and cosmic heavy duty guitar riffs was unleashed in January from our homegrown purveyors of psychedelia, Cracked Machine. Plug in and prepare for takeoff, Wormwood continues on their already stunning discography of celestial shenanigansโ€ฆ.

Pretty much where we left off with the Gates of Keras, Wormwood offers that prog-rock gorgeousness, as beefy as Bovril on the boil, heavy-laden guitar riffs beguiling the stoner or non-stoner alike; you need not skin up to be immersed in this. Pink Floyd’s moments of drifting ambience, meets contemporary likes of the Ozric Tentacles here, itโ€™s a trip more than an album, flowing from track to track and taking you along for a ride of euphoria and headbanging moments, in equal measure. Someone, pass me a lava lamp, pronto.

All instrumental, and mentally metal, gorge yourself stupid, encased in its epic journeys. By its very flowing nature, it makes it tricky to say much more as a way of review, I found the summit track, Eigenstate particularly โ€˜aving it, and when it falls into eight minutes of Return to Anatres, youโ€™re drifting back through clouds of guitar riffs as solid as tungsten. Yet, if space-rock as a subgenre has welded into the likes of Spiritized or Spaceman 3, Cracked Machine are more likeable to Hawkwind, which in my most humblest of opinions is no bad thing. Wormwood doesnโ€™t go on whim of experimentation or try to slide anything unexpected into it, it just ripples along a course like a stream. Although intros like that of Desert Haze can cause you to assume things are going to get all trancy-techno, it doesnโ€™t stop at that riverbank.

You may have caught them down the Gate for their album release show, I was gutted to have had to miss it. You may have seen them before, such as the year Vinyl Realm hosted a stage at Devizes Street Festival and all took flight from the Market Place to erect deckchairs at St Johnโ€™s and lie in mega bliss. Such is the accomplished Cracked Machine, forging space-rock into a new era, yet not forgetting its rich history. Put this on and be submerged.ย 

Here’s their LinkTree, fill your boots, open your third eye…..

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A Perfect Picnic in the Park

A perfect sunny(ish) Sunday at Hillworth Park in Devizes, if not to overcome one’s fear of public speaking while dressed in a giraffe onesieโ€ฆ

The Pleasure was all Minety!

Broke my Minety Music Festival cherry, and it was gurt lush! When it comes to live music and festivals, I initially set a highโ€ฆ

Daisy Chapman Took Flight

Okay, so, if I praised the Bradford Roots Festival last weekend and claimed to have had a fantastic time, itโ€™s all as true as Harrison Ford retelling Daisy Ridley about the Force, with one embarrassing hiccup!

Finally, for a brief moment between closing fire doors I met Trowbridge-based singer-songwriter extraordinaire, Daisy Chapman. She was going in, with her daughter badgering her for ice cream, and I was wandering out, assuring her Iโ€™d check the release date of the album she had kindly sent me for review. All a bit embarrassing on my part, I shouldโ€™ve checked prior, She Took Flight came out in May last year, so opps, apologies, Iโ€™m late for the party, again!

Maybe this Daisy has equal power over the Force as Daisy Ridley, granddaughter of the Sith emperor Palpatine, or maybe sheโ€™s thinking, please donโ€™t make Star Wars references when reviewing my album, you stupid fanboy! but wowzers, this is one magically epic and euphoric seven-track strong album only a Jedi couldโ€™ve made!

I wasnโ€™t going in blind though, fondly reviewing her 2017 album Good Luck Songs, albeit belated again, in 2021. By way of comparing the two, Iโ€™d say while as the name suggests, Good Luck Songs is a sublime selection of songs with random muses, She Took Flight is concentrated on a theme and flows much better, with an overall narrative of life, motherhood, loss and love. Far be it to suggest it’s a concept album, but the thought, perhaps, is.

Dare I also suggest, akin to how Taylor Swift has financially benefited bending the folk rulebook to incorporate pop, Daisy folds similar, uniquely through dramatic piano and violin to define a confident euphoric and epic sound, like a musical classic. Though, with elements from so many sources and influences, to create something inspiring and enchanting, something she defines as “anti-folk,” I call it, in a word, enchanting. The uplifting musical reference is particularly true in the opening tune, Starlight, itโ€™s a grand start.

Porcelain draws again on the epic, though incoming is Daisyโ€™s refined and expertly crafted writing, often of arduous or dejected souls. This song drawn from a diary entry of the day her father died in hospital. Though there’s optimistic prose, as if life is starting over, only to be knocked back by the darker, probably most beguiling tune of the album, Womxn.

Over a subtle drumbeat the piano cruises like a well-oiled machine, and Daisyโ€™s voice enchants like Kate Bush at her finest. Womxnโ€™ chronicles a list of women
whose work was credited by men.

At the summit of the album lies the only cover, a perfect rendition of The Kinksโ€™ Waterloo Sunset, this sunny side of the street against all odds concept is gallantly captured, and Daisy makes this song her own. I couldnโ€™t think of another song so absolutely fitting for this journey, which mood changes with such gorgeous subtly, itโ€™s breath-taking.

The Gashlycrumb Tinies will then twist the narrative of the theme. An abject abecedarian, inspired by Idilia Dubb, a girl who met her fate trapped up a tower in 1851, and various other historic tragedies. Herein lies Daisyโ€™s writing influence, the likes of Leonard Cohen, and her ability to weave magic in her wordplay.

Wind Horses takes on the penultimate melancholic trip to insure youโ€™re suitably impressed before this amazing album ends, a poignant piece, a cinematic nod to all whoโ€™ve attempted to climb the worldโ€™s highest peaks.

Then thereโ€™s something downhearted lounge-room jazz about the building layers of Ballad of a Distracted Mother finishing you off in no uncertain terms, Daisy Chapmanโ€™s voice is breathtaking, her writing astute and perceptive, and the dramatic string arrangements over her own ‘Nymanesque’ piano makes a this harmonic composition truly something to behold.

After forming bands at University in Bristol, Daisy released her first solo album
in 2004, a collection of sombre songs for just vocals and piano. Her cover of Cohenโ€™s Halleujah proved hugely popular at the time on the iTunes chart and caught the attention of German label โ€˜Songs & Whispersโ€™ who have since formed a 15 year relationship with Daisy, booking her shows across Europe and beyond.

Another cover song, Umbrella, received her an International Independent Music Award (USA) in 2009, which inspired a self-booked tour of coffee houses up and down Highway One on Californiaโ€™s Pacific Coast. Upon returning to the UK, Daisy was asked to be part of super-group Crippled Black Phoenix alongside members of Portishead and Hawkwind.

Iโ€™m sorry to have her performance at Bradford Roots, and wonder why they put an artist of this calibre on so early, but after hearing this I endeavour to catch her live as soon as, and I believe you will too.ย ย Find out more about Daisy Chapman, here.

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DOCA Picnicing in the Park!

With the unfortunate cancellation of Devizes International Street Festival this year due to Arts Council cuts, all eyes are on our wonderful Hillworth Park nextโ€ฆ

Michelle Gonelan Makes History

Last political rant from me for a while, given all that happened today, pinky promise! Hitler shot himself, then, as requested, he was doused inโ€ฆ

MantonFest Magic, Again

With the danceable penultimate act attracting a packed crowd, I observed a young teenager, who, on spotting a disregarded beer bottle, picked it up andโ€ฆ