Newsletter                16th June 2007

Contact details
Tel. 01342 716975
or email:
info_at_acousticsussex_dot_org_dot_uk

Reminder – Anais Mitchell – tonight (16 June) – 7pm start

Please remember the early start time if you’re coming to this show tonight (we recommend advance booking only as capacity is limited). More details below

"In Mitchell's universe, there is no light between the personal and the political, the venerable and the radical... her canary soprano and puckish melodies can obscure the bravery of her vision. She brilliantly intertwines the mundane and the profound, singing with the same intimacy about a carefree night on the town and wandering the warring towns of Israel. Her vivid snapshots of sweetly ordinary moments spin suddenly outward to bemoan the eternal woes of poverty and militarism. Evoking weary hobos, wayward trains, and the mythic power of ancient folk songs, she views the past with wistful longing."  Boston Globe

For sound samples, visit our Myspace website

Now playing - Anais Mitchell and Kristen Marie Holly

Our next events

Ø     Saturday 16^th June – Anais Mitchell + support Kristen Marie Holly at The Ravenswood, Sharpthorne

Ø     Friday 22^nd June – Claire Martin at Chequer Mead, East Grinstead

Ø     Saturday 7^th July – Sandi Thom + support Andy Walker at Chequer Mead, East Grinstead

Ø     Future shows – September onwards

The Ravenswood

Saturday
16 June
ANAIS MITCHELL
at
The Ravenswood
Sharpthorne
www.theravenswood.co.uk
£10adv (£12 door)   
Start 7pm (please note)

Buy tickets online or:
Tel. 01342 714810

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE LIMITED TICKETS FOR THIS SHOW

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Recently nominated as Emerging Artist of the Year in the 2007 US Folk Alliance awards, 25 year old Anais Mitchell began writing songs at 17 and just 4 years later won the prestigious New Folk Award at the US Kerrville Festival.

After spending time in Cuba, a semester in the Middle East and some unexpected touring with a rock project called ‘Circus Guy's Rock & Roll Revue’ Anaïs released her acclaimed second album, 'Hymns for the Exiled' (described by UK music specialists Fish Records as one of the most important singer/songwriter albums released since the mid 1990s). This stirring collection of guitar and voice cemented Mitchell's status as a singer-songwriter to watch, and the record eventually reached the ears of Ani DiFranco, who signed the artist to her label, Righteous Babe.

Anaïs is passionate about the music of her native land, from old-school country to dustbowl labour ballads to rebel rock. However, the time she's spent in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East has lent a worldly depth to her writing, which she presents to her audience with a graceful presence of spirit.

With a new CD release, ‘The Brightness’, just released in the UK, this should be the year that this intriguing singer songwriter gets the attention she so richly deserves.

Please note this show starts earlier than usual (7pm) as Anais is scheduled to play live on BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris later in the evening (just after midnight).

"A songwriter of startling clarity and depth, equally skilled at turning a melody or lyrical phrase into what you didn’t know you needed until you heard it.”
Acoustic Guitar magazine

 “The earthiness of Shawn Colvin, the child-like bite of Joanna Newsom, and the urban jumpiness of Ani DiFranco.  Lyrics sprinkled with rosy similes, simultaneously touch on everything from politics, to literature, to mythology. These elements, as disparate as they might seem, come together as nicely as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg”
All Music Guide

Support or this show comes from US singer-songwriter and actress, Kristen Marie Holly Music is Kristen’ passion, next to pursuing her career as an actress, with roles in Spider-Man and Entourage, as well as other film and television projects (she won Best Actress Award at the New York International Independent Film Festival for her emotional role in The Collapsing Wall). Her new CD is due to be released in May 2007.

Anais Mitchell

The Brightness CD

Kristen Marie Holly

Friday
22 June
CLAIRE MARTIN
at Chequer Mead
East Grinstead
www.chequermead.org.uk
£13 (£11.50  conc)     8pm
Box Office 01342 302000

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Acclaimed as the best ever British jazz singer in a recent issue of America’s leading jazz publication, Jazz Times, and five times winner of the Best British Jazz vocalist awards, Sussex-based Claire Martin was born to sing. Growing up in a house full of music in Wimbledon, South London, she’d learned all of Judy Garland’s songs by the time she was 12. But it was hearing Ella Fitzgerald’s legendary Song Books that changed her life, inspiring her to go to Stage School and then to study singing in London and New York. She has been nominated once again for this year's BBC Jazz Awards in Best Vocalist category

Claire's latest CD, 'He Never Mentioned Love' is already being hailed as her finest album to date. Recalling the songs and spirit of the late and legendary Shirley Horn, the album features some of the hottest talent in UK jazz and captures the normally 'sassy' singer in intimate and mature mode. Claire was deeply affected and influenced by the technique, spirit and approach of Horn, and she describes the album as “A really heartfelt hour of remembering someone who I really love." Claire explains: "I wanted to do my own little tribute, because she has given me so much. She has taught me so much musically. I wanted to doff my cap and say fantastic, great, ideal. Although I’m not trying to copy her in any way."

“The best British jazz singer for a generation.“ Mojo magazine

“Talented and hip beyond her years… the most exciting jazz star to soar to my attention in a decade” New York Observer

This special show at Chequer Mead is presented in association with the theatre’s excellent Cuisine Studio, which is hosting a new a series of Jazz Café evenings (next is on July 11^th). To book for a pre-show meal, telephone 01342 324860.

Claire Martin

Saturday
7 July
SANDI THOM
at Chequer Mead
East Grinstead
www.chequermead.org.uk
£17.50 (£15  conc)     8pm
Box Office 01342 302000

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Part of the 'nu folk' scene, Sandi Thom has been compared to Janis Joplin and KT Tunstall and, according to the reams of press cuttings that accompanied her rise, was penniless and struggling until she secured a £1m deal with RCA by web-casting 21 gigs from her Tooting basement, leading to her hit single I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair). Her debut album 'Smile… It Confuses People' climbed to No 1 in the album charts and very quickly reached platinum status.

Her initial success was very much down to launching herself through a virtual 'world' tour through performances over the internet, starting with an audience of 70, quickly reaching a peak of 70,000 viewers.

Now 25, Sandi grew up in a small fishing village called Banff on the North East coast of Scotland. A singing teacher in Aberdeen suggested she should apply for a place at the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts, where she assembled the group of musicians with whom she continues to perform to this day. Last year, Sandi successfully toured the UK, US and Australia, where she achieved a record number of weeks at the top of the Australian chart.

After a European tour earlier this year, Sandi is now back in the studio finishing her second album which is expected to be released later this year. She is doing a small number of UK dates this summer, including Guilfest and this show at East Grinstead's Chequer Mead Arts Centre.

“Every new young female songwriter from 1970 onwards has been compared to Joni, but most of them are not fit to scrub her plectrum. Thom, however, has the potential.”
Independent

Support for this show is from Brighton singer songwriter, Andy Walker – a name to watch!

Sandi Thom

Andy Walker

For your future diaries..

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Future dates in the 2007 Acoustic Sussex programme include:

Ø    15 September – Ric Sanders Group  (see website)

Ø    8 October – Hans Theessink  (see website)

Ø    15 November – The Dylan Project  (see website)

Ø    3 December – Dick Gaughan (tbc) (see website)

More information on all up-and-coming artists can be found on our website: www.acousticsussex.org.uk. You can also find us on MySpace (with samples from some of the artists appearing) at: www.myspace.com/acoustic_sussex. If you know anyone who you think may enjoy our events, please forward this email to them.

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