From: Martin Snodin
[martin.snodin_at_homecall_dot_co_dot_uk]
Sent: 28 December 2010 11:22
Subject: Acoustic Sussex
Newsletter 2010-12-28
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Newsletter 28 December 2010 |
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Hi folks - hope
you've been having a great Christmas break. We've been quiet for a while,
with no events in December and none in January either - but the good news is
things get going again in February 2011, with some truly great acts coming
up. First up is an outfit tipped to be 'the new Mumfords' in 2011. They're
called ahab and they are superb - trust us on this, we've seen them
live - they're guaranteed to pick you up and blow the cobwebs away, and we're
delighted to have them right at the start of their first proper UK
tour! They're followed a couple of weeks later by the wonderful Cara
Dillon, two years since her last sell-out visit to Chequer Mead. More details of all
events for the first 6 months are below - culminating in Wine, Women &
Song on 19 June (tickets are already selling fast for this one).To hear
song samples for all upcoming artists, do take a listen to the Playlists on our MySpace website. |
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Monday at Chequer Mead Support: £10 (all seats) |
ahab (with a small 'a')
are a UK-based singer songwriter collective who formed in July 2009 after
being invited to play the annual ?Fanfare' festival in Nashville, Tennessee.
Following a successful week long residency tearing the roof off at Tootsies
Orchid Lounge, they came back to North London and decided to make the
collaboration permanent. After a year spent writing new material and layering
the songs thick with harmonies, ahab decided to hit the streets of London's
markets to put their name around. Two months of busking later, the band were
asked by the police not to play at markets anymore as the crowds that had
began to gather whenever they played were blocking the streets. Since
then, the quartet (augmented by a drummer) has played a showcase at the prestigious
BBC Club West and caused a sensation with an unscheduled appearance at
Fairport's Cropredy Convention in August 2010. Bob Harris was in the crowd
and was so impressed with the band's instrumental virtuosity and richly
layered four-part harmonies that he immediately booked them for a live
session on his BBC 2 radio show (to be broadcast on 5 February 2011). They've
also been feted by Simon Mayo, played at the Association Of Festival
Organisers Conference in November and released a five-track CD. "ahab
is the real deal - top-notch UK Americana featuring tight four-piece
harmonies." Simon Mayo "I
loved ahab's terrific performance at Cropredy festival. They are blistering
live - alt-country edge and sheer class." Bob
Harris, BBC Radio 2 Support
for the show is Will Kevans, an award-winning singer-songwriter (and
cartoonist - he was chosen to be the Labour Party's caricaturist for their
conference in 1997). His high-energy debut album (featuring Al Perkins,
Beautiful South songstress Alison Wheeler, James Blunt's pianist Paul Beard
and ex-Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist Elliot Randall) has received
much critical acclaim. |
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Saturday at Chequer Mead Support tbc £17.50 ((£15 conc) |
Returning
two years after her last visit to Chequer Mead, Irish songstress Cara
Dillon has that rare talent that you only come across a handful times in
your whole life. Her staggeringly beautiful voice has the ability to reach
inside the soul of a song and imbue material with not only profound sweetness
but also poignancy and depth. Cara
was brought up in the rich cultural heritage of her native Co. Derry. Having
won the All Ireland Traditional Singing Trophy aged only 14 she went on to
sing with Oige, De Dannan and then Equation. It was in this band that she met
her husband and musical collaborator Sam Lakeman. The combination of
Cara's expressive vocals and Lakeman's rippling piano and fresh production
squeezed new life into the music. Their original songs sit happily alongside
the traditional, reinforcing the debt they owe, whilst pointing to a distinct
and distinguished musical identity all of their own. Earlier
this year, she released independently her widely acclaimed 4th album 'Hill Of
Thieves', which won Best Album in the BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards.
In 2010, a DVD 'Live At The Grand Opera House' was also released, with Cara
performing the album and other selected songs, for one night only in Belfast. Whether
she's singing her native traditional songs of lost love and emigration, or
their original compositions, you will be hard pressed to find a more emotive
and captivating performer. Cara Dillon is at the very top of her field and
one has the feeling she'll be there for a very long time.. "What
may well be the world's most beautiful female voice..." Mojo "Dillon's
crystalline, angelic voice is an instrument of rare beauty capable of melting
the sternest of hearts" BBC "The
Irish, of course, breed prize winning musicians like racehorses, but even
among these Dillon's a wonder - wide-eyed all-Ireland champion? Dillon's
vocals, expressive beyond her years, are right on the money." Q |
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Thursday at Chequer Mead Support tbc: £12.50 (£10 conc) |
Her
decision to leave Rachel Unthank & The Winterset to pursue a solo career
looked like a brave decision at the time but has proved to be inspired.
Jackie was soon after nominated for as best newcomer in the BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards. A swathe of glowing national reviews came with the release of
?The Violet Hour' soon after, with the album going on to be one of Mojo's top
ten folk albums of the year in 2008. 2009 saw Jackie walking away with
a remarkable two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards including the Horizon Award for best
newcomer, the award which had alluded her the year before. Jackie
Oates, solo artist, had arrived. Her
latest album ?Hyperboreans' was the coming-of-age album for Jackie.
Produced by brother Jim Moray, it was nominated in the fRoots Critics' Poll
Album of the Year and she went on to receive three nominations in the BBC
Folk Awards, for Folk Singer of The Year, Album of the Year and Best
Traditional Track for ?Isle Of France'. The album firmly established Jackie
as one of the leading young artists in Britain today. "Make
room for an impeccable starlet-to-b"' Word "Oates
has a clear voice that is at once traditional and modern, as embodied by the
spine-tingling closing track" Q "A
subtle leap of faith for the outstanding young singer" The
Telegraph "English
folk-pop...as pretty as some spring mornings" The
Independent |
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Friday at Chequer Mead Support tbc: £15 (£12.50 conc) |
Originally
regarded as part of the ?nu folk' scene, Sandi Thom has since been
compared to artists as diverse as Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell and KT
Tunstall. In 2006, she had an incredible early rise to fame from her renowned
Tooting basement to a debut hit single with 'I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker' and
a platinum-selling album ?Smile? It Confuses People' that topped the charts
in 7 countries. After
spending the last four years touring the globe with her incredible live band
and working with blues legend Joe Bonamassa, Spring 2011 sees Sandi
performing at some of the UK's more intimate venues', including a return to
Chequer Mead, which she last played in 2007. Her
set will include tracks from her new album 'Merchants & Thieves', which
this year topped the UK iTunes Blues Chart and reached number 5 in the
equivalent US Chart. The album showcases a new sound from Sandi Thom,
bringing to light her increasingly-evident passion for the blues. "If
you like great music played by great musicians, then go see Sandi Thom and
the band, as they're one of the best live acts around at the moment."
BlastRadio "It's
clear that everyone in the room was blown away, a true testament to Sandi's
will as an artist, and that she is in fact one of British music's greatest
assets." Gigape. STOP PRESS: Sandi's new single
- a great version of 'House of the Rising Sun' is now available to download
from all the usual music sites. |
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Thursday at Chequer Mead Support: £15 (£12.50) |
Mary
Gauthier has an incredible life story. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, given
up at birth by a mother she never knew, Gauthier was adopted by an Italian
Catholic couple in Louisiana. At age 15, she ran away from home, and spent
the next several years in drug rehabilitation, halfway houses, and living
with friends. She spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell. Struggling to
deal with being adopted and her sexuality, she used drugs and alcohol. Spurred
on by friends, she enrolled at Louisiana State University as a philosophy
major, dropping out during her senior year. After attending the Cambridge
School of Culinary Arts, she opened a Cajun restaurant in Boston, which she
ran for eleven years. After achieving sobriety, she was driven to dedicate
herself full-time to songwriting, and embarked upon a career in music. She
wrote her first song at age 35, and has since released seven albums. The
latest, the highly autobiographical The Foundling has received tremendous
reviews. "With
?The Foundling', Mary Gauthier has created her first masterpiece. Not for the
easily frightened, it is the most raw, brave and ultimately satisfying album
I've heard in a very long time. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. " No
Depression Magazine "Not
since Lennon howled "Mother" have there been songs as naked and fraught as
"Mama Here, Mama Gone" and "March 11, 9162?. 5 stars
UNCUT Magazine "With a
voice like a grazed hawk, she sings bluesy Southern Gothic tales?Whatever you
are doing I guarantee you'll stop and listen to every word." 4 Stars
MOJO Magazine "Without
question, The Foundling is one of the most brilliant and heartbreaking pieces
of music you will hear this year or any year." 5 Stars
The Sun Support
for the show is Ben Glover, .and Irish songer-songwriter based mainly
in Nashville, whose debut 2009 album was our 'best of the year' (and his
latest in heading for a similar accolade in 2010). We've been trying to book
a gig with Ben for 3 years, so finally we get to see him play, alongside an
artist who he has worked with in the last year, including co-writing songs. |
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Friday at Chequer Mead Support: £12.50 (£10 conc) |
Jon
Allen is
a singer-songwriter born in Winchester. His debut album Dead Man's Suit was
released in 2009 on Monologue Records, producing two hit songs - In Your
Light and Going Home, which featured in a worldwide advert for the Land Rover
Freelander 2. His music is evocative of the folk-rock scene of the late 60s/
early 70s and was was first tipped by BBC Sound of 2009. Since moving
to London, Allen has shared the stage with artists such as Emmylou Harris,
Mark Knopfler, KT Tunstall, Seal With
shades of a young Bob Dylan or even Rod Stewart, Jon possesses a soulful,
slightly gravely voice. His song-writing is so beautifully
melodic, many of his songs could have been written at any time in the
last thirty years and already sound like classics. "A
breathtaking debut" Q Magazine "Rootsy?authentic?heartfelt"
Clash Magazine "A young
Rod Stewart" Esquire." "Could be
from Dylan's ?New Morning.' Like Cat Stevens, Nick Drake.." Uncut "A Little
Gem" OK! Magazine "Wow" Maverick
Magazine "When I
heard this mans fantastic voice on the radio I had to zap it with my mobile
to find out who it was" Jools Holland Support
for the show is Fiona Sally Miller, a Brighton-based singer-songwriter |
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Sunday at Chequer Mead £20 (£18.50 conc) |
What
happens when you put three women - three critically acclaimed, award-winning
singer-songwriters, three old friends, three artists with three unique voices
- on a stage together with some guitars and a bottle of good cabernet? You
get Wine, Women & Song. The three women in question are Suzy Bogguss,
Gretchen Peters and Matraca Berg. All
CMA winners, Suzy (Horizon Award), Gretchen (Song of the Year for
"Independence Day") and Matraca (Song of the Year for
"Strawberry Wine") first played a 10 city UK tour together in May
2007 to huge critical and audience acclaim. The three friends have a long
history: Bogguss has co-written with both Berg and Peters, and recorded songs
by both. Since that first sold-out UK tour, the women have been writing and
recording together, and released a special tour-only EP, "The Sewanee
Sessions" for their second UK tour in 2009. Of
the trio, the Nashville Scene's Michael McCall says: "together they
shatter nearly every Nashville stereotype. They're three smart, progressive,
well-balanced women - anti-divas, if you will - who spin real-life tales
steeped in modern love and ripe with wit, depth and spiritual profundity." The
UK's Maverick magazine called the show "pure magic... by no means a
slick, glitzy, polished performance; just three superb singer- songwriters
sitting together informally and having a great time." |
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Don't forget that as
well as our own shows, the Acoustic Sussex website has a Regional Gig Guide and links to venues and clubs
in the South East that offer folk, roots and acoustic music. |
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More
information can be found on our website: www.acousticsussex.org.uk. You can also find
us on MySpace (with Playlists of tracks from upcoming artists) at: www.myspace.com/acousticsussex. If
you know anyone who you think may enjoy our events, please forward this email
to them. |
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