Out for the summer - interview with Math Priest from Dodgy

BRITPOP survivors Dodgy are back on the road and Out in the Open for an acoustic tour from this month - and they’re looking for local musicians to support them at Arlington Arts Centre on June 11. Drummer MATHEW PRIEST tells CATRIONA REEVES  why people should come to see them on a Wednesday.

CATRIONA REEVES: What's the idea behind your current Out in the Open tour?

MATHEW PRIEST: Nige [frontman Nigel Clark] has been running a regular open-mic night in his hometown in Worcestershire for the last few years and it's great fun. Packed every time, unpredictable with some seriously good talent - what's not to love?

We wanted to see if we could take the idea on the road, so we tested it out at our Borderline show in March in London and it worked really well so we're doing it on the road.

Obviously it can't work exactly like a standard open-mic where folk just turn up with a guitar and hope to play as we actually need to sell tickets, so we're auditioning potential acts beforehand. If you're successful then you get two songs; we're hoping for about five acts per show.

CR: Nigel left the band in 1997, but you reformed with the original line-up [Nigel, Mathew and guitarist Andy Miller] in 2008. More recently you gained a new band member [bassist Stu Thoy], and are recording a new album. Now you’ve been back together a few years, does it feel like you’ve ever been apart?

MP: Well the problem is that our memories are fading so it's more a case of not remembering that we were ever apart!

We're about three quarters of the way through recording the album, but we've had to take a break for this tour. We're really happy so far, it seems to be a bit heavier and more upbeat - that might be Stu's rock influence.

Writing and recording this new album has been particularly satisfying, I can't wait for folk to hear it. The boys have done good.

CR: Were you particularly keen to play Arlington Arts again after your 2012 date there? I was quite surprised - and chuffed, of course - as you are also coming to Reading on June 6!

MP: We had a great time in Newbury last time, so we thought we'd chance our arm again. We love playing gigs: we have such a laugh. It's not right, what we get up to, it really isn't! 

CR: Apart from the forthcoming album release, have you got any exciting future plans coming up?

MP: Well it's the 20th anniversary of our Homegrown album this year and there's talk of some shows where we play it in full towards the end of the year [the band did similar shows for the anniversary of their debut, The Dodgy Album, last year]. But that's all it is at the moment - just talk. We're up for it: take a full band on the road; keyboards, horns, girls. And goats.

CR: Your Newbury show is on a Wednesday, which may mean that some potential audience members may take a bit of extra persuading to come along. Can you convince them to make the effort on a school night?

MP: The reason why we have some very suspect political parties and a climate of fear and blame is because we spend too much time at home on the computer and watching rubbish TV, and not enough time in each others’ company.

The good folk of Newbury need to come to the Dodgy show and feel the love you can only feel when you're in a room watching an awe inspiring, hilarious, spontaneous live show.

CR: Lastly, as you know, I have lyrics from one of your songs tattooed onto my shoulder [“We can be immortalised”, from Raggedstone Hill, a song on their 2012 album Stand Upright in a Cool Place]. It may be time for me to get another Dodgy tattoo... what should I have done, and where?

MP: My face on your face.

CR: Consider it done.

* Dodgy will be visiting Arlington Arts Centre on Wednesday, June 11 at 8pm. Tickets cost £16 from www.arlingtonarts.co.uk or telephone the box office on 01635 244246.

• First published in The Advertiser in May 2014

The art of the garden - feature on botanical artist Katharine Amies

SOMEWHERE deep in the woods of Snelsmore Common is a haven of tranquility: a light and airy kitchen where hours pass like minutes and creations of breathtaking beauty can be inspired by from something as apparently mundane as a root vegetable.

But these vegetables aren’t for eating, they are for celebrating in their raw state, to be captured on paper, frozen in time - and no; I’m not talking about potato printing: for this is the home of botanical artist Katharine Amies. Botanical art dates back hundreds of years, flourishing in the 17th century when it became a way of portraying and disseminating the beauty and novelty of plants brought back from Britain’s new colonies. It continued to be popular for the next two centuries, with detailed drawings and paintings of flowers, fruit, vegetables and other plants being used to illustrate flora field guides, catalogues and magazines.

The advent and advancement of photography has not made the skill of the botanical artist redundant, as the careful observation and detailed capturing of each subject brings it to life with a vibrancy and realism that somehow a camera could never capture. Amies has on display in her kitchen a line drawing of a pineapple which bristles with an micro-authentic hyper-reality that can only come from careful observation and the most delicate of pencil strokes building up layer upon layer of carbon to create three-dimensional depth and shadow.

As passionate about teaching the skill of botanical art to others as practising it herself, Amies has started holding workshops at her home, with the mantra that anyone can learn how to draw and paint, as long as they are taught well.

Attending a day’s session on painting summer flowers, I was worried that my extremely rusty pre-GCSE standard painting skills and frankly embarrassing drawing ability wouldn’t stand up to such a meticulous and detailed art form, but Amies’ explanation that botanical painting is as much a science as an art soon put me at my ease.

“Basically, if you follow the rules, concentrate, and don’t rush, there’s no reason why you can’t do it. It’s so prescriptive that if you do what I tell you, you will get a result that you can take home and be proud of. Most people who come on my courses are like you - they haven’t painted since school, and they are really pleasantly surprised by what they can achieve in a few hours.”

Amies herself discovered botanical painting after a few false starts at finding her creative forte almost put her off art for good. “I always loved drawing beetles, bugs and detailed things, but I didn’t really get on with art at school - it all seemed to be a bit vague, about ‘expressing yourself’, and that wasn’t up my street. Later on I went on a watercolour landscape weekend, but that didn't suit me either - again, I wasn’t given enough direction for my liking. I studied languages at university, and got a job in fashion retail marketing, so art didn’t feature in my life for a long time after that. 

“Then, in 2001, a friend invited me to see her mother’s botanical painting exhibition, after she’d completed a year’s course with the Florilegium Society at Chelsea Physic Garden. I was absolutely stunned - I remember her painting of a sweet pea which I found particularly amazing. I left my job, signed up for the course, and spent a year of Mondays being talked through how to create three-dimensional shapes through shading, how to make cherries and plums shine, and how to tackle petals and leaves.

“I loved it - I discovered that I like being told how to get a result rather than be told to ‘find it yourself’. I suppose the fact that I studied languages at university shows that I like being told what to do, and that if I work hard enough at something, I can get good at it.

Of course, a few generations ago, lots of people painted or drew - it was a common hobby among our grandparents when there were less alternatives, and their work can look surprisingly good, but it was because they kept at it. I believe that anyone can be taught to draw and paint if they really want to, and spend time on it.

I was taught in a way that I can pass on to others quite easily, even if they can only attend one of my workshops - all it takes from me is encouragement and patience.”

In 2003, Amies submitted her first artwork into an exhibition in Chelsea, selling eight pictures, and realised that she could make a living out of her talent. She booked a space at Shepherd Market Gallery in Mayfair for the following year, by which point she had produced 48 paintings, of which she sold 44. Her productivity has been slowed down in recently years by the arrival of her children, but she has held a third exhibition, and mainly undertakes commissions.

“Customers normally commission flowers, such as roses or peonies, but will buy the unexpected when they see them: beetroot, borlotti beans and courgettes for example. I do like to do things that wouldn’t be considered classical botanical images. Vegetables can be quite beautiful. The cardoon (also known as the artichoke thistle) is a good example of that.

Amies enjoys a challenge - “the passion flower was pretty tough, because it’s so detailed” - but there are still a couple yet to be conquered. “I started to paint a cantaloupe melon; the outside was difficult because of the spiderweb pattern, but then I cut it open, and thought “no way, I can’t do it.” Working with fresh plants also provides a challenge - flowers have to be painted before their petals droop, and the leaves of root vegetables tend to droop as soon as they are picked. The solution is to grow them in pots, only uprooting them at the last minute, so that the leaves can be painted in situ.

She also has an expert helping hand with the growing side of things from her father, the renowned wildflower cultivator and countryside restoration champion, Charles Flower. “People suggested that I use my maiden name for my artwork as it’s rather appropriate, but I thought that would be too much!” she laughs.

As for my own experience on Amies’ painting day; I was genuinely delighted with the resulting line drawing and watercolour paintings that I produced. Following the formula of imagining the light source coming from top left and thinking about how it would create light and shade on the petals and leaves, I was able to create three pieces of art that I would be proud to put on my wall. “You’ve got the hang of taking it steady, building up the colour layer by layer, not overdoing it,” Amies explains.

“The main mistake people make is to overload the paintbrush, and put on too much colour to begin with. It’s heartbreaking when that happens, because there’s often nothing I can do to help them correct it. It’s always possible to add more, but you can’t take it away once there’s too much colour on the paper.”

And so, with the motto “less is more” ringing in my ears, I departed Amies’ welcoming kitchen, the day having flown by in the blink of an eye, three pieces of artwork ready to frame, and thoughts of buying a watercolour and pencil set in my mind; with the confidence that if I practice hard and long enough, I could actually become a lot better at painting and drawing than I ever believed possible.

• First published in Out & About, 2013

A deeper shade of blue - review of The Blue Bishops and Invisible Vegas at Ace Space

Photo: Richard Markham

The Blue Bishops and Invisible Vegas, at ACE Space, Newbury on Friday, October 26, 2013

A BAND with true blue credentials (in the musical, not political sense) oozing out of their pores, The Blue Bishops cranked the sound up to 11, nearly “red lining” the sound system, and rocked to the rafters at ACE Space on Friday night.

Joined by local musician and regular band stand-in Chris Hook while usual bassist Jim Rodford was elsewhere doing his thing with The Zombies, the Bishops demonstrated what decades of individual professional musicianship and years playing as a four-piece should sound like.

Despite the slightly unatmospheric setting - ACE Space’s lighting rig  went kaput earlier in the week, meaning that the band performed their set under the hall’s harsh florescent strips - the Bishops created a sweaty ambience all of their own with two storming sets.  

The blues’ heaviest sounds, such as Fleetwood Mac’s Drifting (written by Peter Green) were juxtaposed with covers swiped from the less well-thumbed pages of the blues songbook, such as Elvis Presley’s That’s Alright Mama, which I wouldn’t have previously spotted as featuring a classic blues progression, but was actually written by blues singer Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup back in the ’40s.

However, it was with their own songs, mainly written by frontman Geoff Grange and guitarist Simon Burrett, that the Bishops came into their own, bringing a rocky - nay, poppy - and often fun edge to their sound, on more lighthearted songs such as Credit Card. A darker, Springsteen-esque seam ran through Black Diamond, written about a 1950s mining disaster at a Durham Colliery, near to Grange’s home town of Hartlepool.

Grange himself is all you want from a frontman; with a wiry charisma, he held the stage with each song, with plenty of opportunity to showcase his prodigious harmonica playing which has secured him long-standing collaborations with the likes of Bill Wyman and Nicky Hopkins. Overall, the band were truly excellent - a real treat for ACE Space, which is getting a name for itself as a small but welcoming venue, helping to put Newbury back on the musical map.

Support came from two of Invisible Vegas, a youthful Oxford band discovered by gig promoter Richard Markham, testing the water at ACE Space with a view to returning with their full membership in the New Year. Their polished indie rock sound and boyish charm went down well with the audience, so I’m pretty sure that they’d receive a warm welcome if they were to return. They’ll have to crank up the sound a fair bit to compete with The Blue Bishops, though.

* First published in the Newbury Weekly News in November 2013

Tea towels and dogma - interview with James Studholme from Police Dog Hogan

“MIDDLE aged man band” Police Dog Hogan enjoyed their Arlington Arts gig so much last year that they’ve been persuaded back to Newbury for a more intimate date at ACE Space on April 26. Frontman JAMES STUDHOLME tells CATRIONA REEVES why 

CATRIONA REEVES: There’s quite a lot of musicians in Police Dog Hogan; I hope you realise that you’re going to be a bit crushed on the ACE Space stage!

JAMES STUDHOLME: We’ve recently pared down to a six piece because our guitarist has moved away - but anyone who plays with us is a Police Dog in perpetuity, just not currently on active service. Sometimes we bring a guest trumpeter along, but maybe we’ll leave him at home for this gig!

When my friend, the DJ Johnny Walker, heard that we were starting up as a seven-piece, he said “you’ll never make any money”. But the more people there are in the band, the more fun there is to be had.

CR: I’ve heard that the band runs to a set of rules known as “Police Dogma”: what do these involve?

JS: They were based on the rules of bluegrass - mainly that we don’t involve any instruments that you can’t carry to a microphone. The original idea was that we would play around one microphone, but we quickly realised that wasn’t practical. It’s different in America, where musicians grow up with that way of doing things and are highly skilled at it, but we soon converted to a more conventional set up.

We’re still basically trying to stick to the bluegrass soundscape - we still haven’t involved a piano in the band - but the pure bluegrass style is quite restrictive, and of course we’re English, so we haven’t applied the rules religiously.

I guess that we’ve broken our own rules to get to a more interesting place. We’re probably more in the folk than the rock world, but there’s no real road map. We’ve been called “urban bluegrass”, “townbilly” and “Anglicana”, but I think our banjo player Tim coined it best with “middle aged man band”.

Our pop heritage is Slade, T. Rex, punk and The Smiths, and that’s all in our music, along with the country music thread. But we don’t want to be singing about highways and truck stops - our songs are about the A39 and Knutsford Services. 

CR: You’ve all got successful day jobs [Studholme heads up film company Blink Productions, responsible for Cadbury’s drumming gorilla and two of John Lewis’ Christmas ads] - but do you harbour dreams of jacking it all in to be full-time rock stars?

JS: Rock and roll stardom is every schoolboy’s fantasy, and we were all musicians in a previous life before we made our livings. Where we are now is a really nice spot - It’s basically a supercharged hobby; I guess the term is “semi pro”. We are now being offered more gigs than we can do in a year, and it’s nice to be able to pick and choose.

The big thing that we’re in this for is the songwriting and recording, and the success of the live shows is an unexpected surprise. When we tour, we realise that people are coming to see us who don’t know us personally, which is great. 

Like all bands, we started with a few friends and family members coming along and shuffling a leg. I think it was a relief for them when we started to get a following of our own; it meant that they didn’t have to come along to every gig!

CR: Your big selling merchandise item is a tea towel featuring the faces of band members. I hope that you’re bringing a load to ACE Space; I think they’ll sell rather well to the regulars.

JS: The tea towels seem to have developed a following of their own. They are sensational quality - larger than most, and very absorbent. People buy one, then come back for more! We’re still fractionally ahead in record sales, but I can see a day coming when the tea towels take over.

Fortunately we’re recording a new album in May, so our Newbury gig is part of a little run of dates to give us a chance to play the new songs before we go into the studio. So, hopefully, we should be able to keep the music just ahead of the tea towels, in terms of popularity.

CR: Police Dog Hogan’s banjo player is The Guardian’s weekend columnist Tim Dowling. Do a lot of readers come along to check out the band?

JS: Tim’s column is predicated on everything in his life being awkward and going wrong, so when he mentions the band it tends to involve humiliating disasters. Certainly in the first 18 months I can’t imagine that anyone reading about us in his column would have been tempted to see us live!

Luckily we started to get quite favourable internet noise, and it seemed that last year quite a lot of people were coming to check out if Tim could play. He’s actually a very talented musician, and I like to think that we’ve converted a lot of his followers to our cause.

CR: Is being in Police Dog Hogan as much fun as it sounds?

JS: It certainly is. The band is built on longstanding friendships - some of them up to 35 years - and all the shared memories and feelings that come with that. It makes the songwriting process an absolute joy. We’re looking forward to the ACE Space gig. It should be a riotous evening.

* Police Dog Hogan play at ACE Space on Saturday, April 26, supported by The Pottingshed Band. Tickets cost £12 from Hogan Music [no relation to the band] or £14 on the door. Tea towels should be available on the night.

* First published in the Newbury Weekly News in March 2014

Wicked game - interview with Jo Caulfield

FEISTY comedian JO CAULFIELD is on the road with her Better The Devil You Know tour, and coming to Arlington Arts on Friday, November 1. CATRIONA REEVES gets her to pull in at a service station in the West Country to talk about why she still loves a live audience.

CATRIONA REEVES: Right - this is only going to get in the paper a couple of days before your Newbury date: we need to sell the show quickly. You can start persuading our readers.... now.

JO CAULFIELD: My husband and I recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary - we’d got married in New York because we just wanted a holiday, and didn’t want to pay for other people to have a good time. I was talking to someone else who had also got married over there, and they mentioned the hassle of completing all the paperwork to register the marriage when they got back. Now, we never did that, so I started to wonder if we were actually legally married at all.

That got me thinking about what it would be like to be single, and after 10 years it seemed a good time to have an appraisal of my marriage - focussing on him, of course, not me as I’m perfect. Obviously, after so long together, I’ve pretty much got him  behaving as I want him to, but there’s some traits that can’t be changed, and I had to decide if it’s “better the devil you know”, compared to the single life, which to be honest, looks rather exhausting. I don’t think I’ve got the energy for that.

The show seems to strike a chord with a lot of couples - men come up after  the show and say that it explains so much, and women ask if I’ve been following their husbands with a camera. It’s really interesting talking to couples during and after the show, particularly those who have been married a really long time. It seems that after 40 years or so, the men give up and do what they’re told, so it looks like they can be tamed... eventually.

It’s great to have couples in the audience who are prepared to offer themselves up for sacrifice, but singles are also very welcome, as it’s a good reminder that they’re not really missing much by not being in a relationship.

CR: You’ve had a healthy career away from the world of stand up, not least as a comedy writer. The lure of the road must be strong for you to go on tour again.

JC: My time as a writer for the likes of Graham Norton taught me a lot about writing jokes. When you’re live on stage, and you’re coming up to a new joke, the test is whether you tell it or back out - if that happens, you know it’s not that good. It’s different on television, where it needs to be decided beforehand if the joke is worth telling. Graham is excellent at that - he says “I’m not hearing laughter, I’m hearing smiles...”.

But stand-up comedy is something you can’t take a break from for too long if you want to return to it. It’s easy to get rusty, so you have to keep on at it, and you can’t do that if you’re busy writing for someone else. So I’ve made the decision to start writing mainly for myself again now. I really enjoy touring. It doesn’t suit everyone, certainly not all women - but then there’s lots of male comedians that it doesn’t suit either.

CR: The Times described your show as “like a sociology textbook, but with jokes”. Were you chuffed with that?

JC: It made me sound very clever! I wouldn’t say that the show has an intentional message as such, bu if you’re talking about day-to-day life, it does in itself become a social commentary. It’s not so much my aim, as a happy outcome. But people come up to me after the show and tell me that they really relate to it, which is lovely, as it means that I’m on the right track.

* Tickets for Jo Caulfield at Arlington Arts on Friday, November 1, cost £13, available from www. arlingtonarts.co.uk or 01635 244246.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, October 31, 2013

Stories through song - review of Case Hardin, Daisy Chapman and The Lullabirds at ACE Space

Case Hardin, Daisy Chapman and The Lullabirds at ACE Space, Newbury on Friday, September 20

PROMOTER Richard Markham reckoned that Friday’s ACE Space gig line-up “didn’t look like it should work on paper”, but in fact, the three bands blended together beautifully, each telling moving and heartbreaking stories through song, and breaking free of the traditional rock band line-up with the sound of strings and other instruments.

The evening was opened by The Lullabirds, a localish trio featuring Kate Sharples on flugel horn, Rebecca Wilson on Double Bass, and the beautiful contralto vocals and guitar of Celia Barrett, creating a sparse yet mesmerising sound, creating a showcase for Barrett’s lyrics of love and death - two themes which made regular appearances throughout the rest of the evening.

Co-headliner Daisy Chapman first played at Ace Space two years ago, as a solo performer, although with her keyboard and loop machine to create layers of vocals, she can fill a room with sound without the need for other musicians. However, her band - cello, violin and drums - added a wonderful depth and fullness to her sound, bringing alive her tales of crashing planes, sinking boats, 18th century gin-soddenness, sin and death.

Chapman’s version of the Titanic tragedy, Mrs Hart’s Premonition, was heart-rending, ending with a cipher of Nearer My God To Me, played by the ship’s band as it sank. Even more stunning was A Sinner Song, breathtakingly beautiful in the simplicity of its tune and lyrics, and yet lush with layers of vocals, piano and strings.

Proving that she isn’t all about misery (even her jollier tunes, such as Madame Jeneva have darker undertones in their lyrics), Chapman perked up her set with a couple of unexpected covers, rounding off with an only once-previously performed version of Soul II Soul’s Back To Life; a song which should be the staple of far more bands with a string section, owing to its funky violin riff. Chapman may love the winter, as she sings on Shameless Winter, but there’s a touch of fun in her performance that keeps her darkest-themed songs beautiful rather than bleak.

Case Hardin are always a guaranteed draw at ACE Space, and while they were co-headlining with Daisy Chapman, it was only right that they would round off the evening with their hefty dose of Americana. Pete Gow’s ever-shifting band has lost mandolin and banjo player Adam Kotz to his acting career, but gained violinist Hanna Piranha, keeping Case Hardin’s sound, as showcased on their recently-released third album PM, rich and interesting.

Despite the downbeat nature of many of Gow’s storytelling lyrics (“Daisy’s album is called Shameless Winter, and ours is called PM - what did you expect?” he quipped), the band were in upbeat mood, bringing a sweaty rockiness to proceedings which perked up the saddest of tales a treat.

For the last few songs, joined by the errant Kotz on banjo for a welcome reunion, the band tumbled off the stage and into the audience, setting out their stall between the tables for an acoustic encore of Champeen, Gow’s tale of a bare knuckle fighter facing death or glory.

As with Chapman, Gow’s lyrics are often dark and his tunes moving, but the rock & roll feel of Friday’s performance added a shot of adrenaline to the mood which didn’t detract from the thought-provoking content of the songs, and signed off a tune-laden evening with an unexpectedly upbeat flourish.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on September 26, 2013

Bishops sing the Blues - interview with Simon Burrett from The Blue Bishops

WITH about a billion years* of professional musicianship on their collective CVs, The Blue Bishops are feted internationally for their work at the rockier end of the R&B and Blues spectrum - and they’re playing at ACE Space next Friday. “Everyone’s going to have a good time, and that’s not being big headed - that’s the truth”, band founder and guitarist SIMON BURRETT tells CATRIONA REEVES.

CATRIONA REEVES: The Blue Bishops have got an impressive musical pedigree - tell me 

SIMON BURRETT: Our lead vocalist is Geoff Grange, who has played the harmonica for Bill Wyman and all sorts of other people. Drummer Justin Hildreth has toured all over the world with the likes of Joan Armatrading. And our usual bass player is Jim Rodford, who used to be in Argent and the Kinks, and now plays with The Zombies - he’s currently touring with them so won’t be joining us in Newbury.

And then there’s me! I’ve been kicking around the London band scene for more years than I care to admit, but the Bishops has been my longest commitment, and the most enjoyable of the lot. I still do other things, but my main squeeze will always be the Blue Bishops!

CR: Your last album Into The Red, which featured both Rod Argent and The Who’s keyboard wizard Rabbit,  was very well received on the rock and blues scenes. Can we expect another album soon?

SB: There’s been a bit of a hiccup on that: I had the beginnings of about 40 different tracks recorded on my phone; unfortunately they got lost when it got smashed after I drove off with it on the roof of my car. I’m recreating them, slowly!

CR: So, is a lot of The Blue Bishops’ work original?

SB: We enjoy fiddling around with stuff from the Blues idiom, but it’s not a big part of our set. But although we cover the spectrum of rock & roll with our own songs, the Blues are always in there somewhere. It’s a simple basis,but when you get into it, it’s not that simple at all. It’s not just about giving a song a three-chord structure!

The producer Paul Long is attributed as saying that the Blues never stands still, and if it has the right feel, music can still be the Blues. And however rocky our set gets, there’s always a Blues heart to it. 

CR: I understand that the band has a local link to Newbury...

SB: When Jim is away with The Zombies, our other bassist is Chris Hook from Newbury, who was in Voyager in the 70s. Seeing as this is his local gig, it’s only fair that he plays with us at ACE Space!

It’ll be “hello again” to Newbury from me as well - my mum and dad used to live in Inkpen Common. I used to go to the pub in Faccombe and make my way back to theirs - I can tell you, Combe Gibbet at 1am is a spooky place! I’m not sure I’ll make a return visit there after the gig, but I’ve got strong ties to Newbury, and it’s going to be great to play at ACE Space.

CR: So you’re looking particularly looking forward to this gig, then?

SB: Very much so. We get off on our audience, and they get off on us I can guarantee that everyone will have a good time; and that’s not being big headed - that’s the truth. If you come and see us, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

* The Blue Bishops play at ACE Space on Friday, October 25, supported by The Poachers. Music starts at 8pm. Tickets cost £10 on the door or £8 in advance from Hogan Music. They can also be reserved by emailing richardmarkham42@gmail.com, or call 07974534452 or 07905590214.

* Figure may not be completely accurate. But it’s an awful lot.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, October 17, 2013

A whisper of winter - interview with Daisy Chapman ahead of her Newbury gig with Case Hardin on Friday September 20

DAISY CHAPMAN will be bringing a touch of early winter to ACE Space on Friday, September 20, with a rare full-band show by the “sinner songwriter” as she calls herself. She tells CATRIONA REEVES how Bruce Hornsby inspired her to becoming a musician, and what it’s like to be a big name in Germany.

CATRIONA REEVES: The first song you ever learnt to play on the piano by ear was The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby & The Range. Not terribly rock & roll...

DAISY CHAPMAN: Not very cool maybe, but that was the era! I was learning the piano, and was always drawn towards keyboard-led music as a result. Even now, there’s not much guitar music in my collection. I was inspired by the greats from the start, such as Elton John, especially his early stuff.

CR: I hear that you’ve got quite a big following in Germany - how did that come about?

DC: I’m signed to a German label called Songs & Whispers, as well as Folkwit Records in the UK, so over the last six years I’ve toured over there quite a lot, and a micro-climate of Daisy Chapman fans seems to have developed.

The German attitude to live music is very different to here in the UK - over here, there are so many artists, acts and venues that people are spoilt for choice, and they really want to be impressed. In Germany there is less of that available; and in particular they seem to really appreciate foreign artists that have made the effort to come and tour their country.

CR: You have performed at Ace Space previously as a solo artist, but this time you’re bringing a band with you - do you enjoy playing with other musicians?

DC: As I’ve had the opportunity to play and record more with other musicians, I really feel that I’ve found my sound, and I want to develop that - make it bigger and more powerful. I’ll be bringing a small band of violin, cello and percussion to ACE Space. It’s quite difficult to get us all together as a band for many live gigs, but we’re playing at Brisfest in Bristol the next day, so this will be a great warm-up for us.

CR: You do still tour a lot of the time as a solo artist - can that be lonely?

DC: It was actually that feeling of isolation on tour which inspired the theme of my latest album, Shameless Winter. I wrote a lot of it while in Germany, and feeling a bit lonely, in particular after a gig in Hanover, which was attended by four people. I must add that my Hanover gigs are much busier these days!

But the album has certainly got a wintery theme to it. We all need to get prepared for the winter mood - come along to the gig, and leave the sunshine behind!

* Daisy Chapman and her band will be at ACE Space on Friday, September 20, in a double header with Case Hardin, (pictured below), fronted by singer songwriter Pete Gow, who are returning with a changed line-up and a clutch of songs from their newly-released album PM, focussing on the theme of troubled souls and the outcasts of societies. First on, at 7.45pm, will be folk trio Lullabirds.

Tickets are available for £7 from Jacqui’s Shop in Blenheim Road and Hogan Music in Bartholomew Street, Newbury, or for £9 on the door, or telephone 07905 590214 (Ace Space) or 0797 453 4452 (promotor Richard Markham) to reserve if you're coming in from out of town.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, September 12

Strange and beautiful - review of Newbury Youth Theatre's The Curious Case of the Ugglie Wump and Other Mysterious Monsters

Performing in the BBC Pink Tent at Edinburgh Fringe

The Curious Case of the Ugglie Wump And Other Mysterious Monsters, presented by Newbury Youth Theatre, at The Corn Exchange, Newbury on Saturday, July 27

HAVE you heard of the Ugglie Wump, who lives under the town of Wonky Bracket? Or Hildegard, the tree beast, who turns children into boiled sweets? What about Foliculous, the kelp-bearded sea monster? Surely you’ve heard tales about the mysterious swamp-dwelling Moobies? If not, you must have had a very sheltered childhood.

The children of Wonky Bracket are very aware of the monsters that surround their town - after all, they are a suspicious lot who never wear shoes, despite it having rained constantly on their homes for the last 200 years. And so, when their parents disappear suddenly, the children set off on a monster hunt, in the certainty that one of the fabled beasts must be responsible.

Taking Sticky Monsters, a book of beastly Post-It note line drawings by artist John Kenn Mortensen as inspiration, along with the similarly unsettling artwork of Edward Gorey, “Wump” was devised entirely by Newbury Youth Theatre members with the support of NYT’s “grown up” theatre practitioners, giving the 25-strong ensemble cast the opportunity to develop their own characters, as both the town’s children and the monsters.

The resulting production allowed ensemble members to demonstrate their strong acting ability and skills at song and dance, with a satisfying streak of well-timed comedy carried through by some cast members, giving relief to what would otherwise be a very dark and scary tale. Things got a little busy up on The Corn Exchange’s stage at points, but generally the size of the ensemble helped add to the imagery; conjuring up child-swallowing forests and stormy seas through mass movement. 

Suitable for children aged six and over, as well as adults who still sleep with the light on, the twisted set and freakishly frightening masks drew heavily on Mortensen and Gorey’s artwork - as did the use of black umbrellas, which pop up regularly in both artists’ drawings. Having only explored Mortensen and Gorey’s work as a result of “Wump”, it is clear that NYT have grasped the combination of fear and fun in their drawings, creating a world which is both nightmarish and innocent, as it is never made clear if the monsters of Wonky Bracket really exist, or are creations of the children’s imaginations. Which begs the question: what really did happen to their parents...?

Having won awards and five-star reviews for the last five consecutive years at the Edinburgh Fringe, NYT are taking “Wump” up to their regular Edinburgh haunt of Venue 40, The Quaker Meeting House, from Monday, August 5 to Saturday, August 10. Hopefully this year’s production will be met with the same plaudits; but whether or not Edinburgh officially acknowledges it, the NYT cast and crew, under the long-term direction of Amy and Tony Trigwell-Jones and artistic director Robin Strapp, should be incredibly proud of an entirely original production and the dark world of childhood nightmares that they have created.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, August 1, 2013

A funny thing happened - review of the You Must Be Joking 2013 final

YMBJ 2013 winner Matt Dwyer

You Must Be Joking final 2013 at The Corn Exchange, Newbury on Wednesday, July 10

HAVING struck out alone from the Newbury Comedy Festival which it used to be part of, The Corn Exchange’s You Must Be Joking stand-up comedy gong has enough clout to continue to be coveted by new and newish comedy talent from all over the UK - and even from other countries. Sort of.

Saying that, it was a delight to have local woman Eve Slatcher, AKA Mama Eve, in the final, not only representing West Berkshire but the whole of womankind, as the only female to make it through the heats. Feisty and fearless (this was only her third gig), her material understandably needs a bit more development, but the confidence to take her stand-up career onwards and upwards was certainly on display.

Bravely taking the first spot (well, not sure he had a choice, actually) was Carl Jones, who has been out and about on the comedy circuit for around three years. His material was fairly safe and cosy, but he had a lovely, warm style, and the audience took to him with ease.

Ian Cooper had a braver edge to his jokes, and a good narrative arc ran through his eight minutes on the theme of facing fears, only falling slightly flat with a weak wrap-up which suggested material that had to be cut short to fit the slot. He had some great punchlines, though, and wholly deserved his place in the final.

Welshman Kappa Llewellyn was getting laughs before he even started his set, peeking out of the wings dolefully, before introducing to his part-lovable, part-pitiful character (if it is a character). His material was strong, about searching for love and being Welsh, and he definitely came out with the best joke of the night - which can’t be repeated here, or even touched upon, for reasons of taste, decency and my desire to continue writing for the Newbury Weekly News.

First on after the interval, Bobby Honeybun had an easy conversational style - nearly to the point of not coming across as a performance; very natural, but maybe requiring a little polishing, just to  bump up the air of confidence. His act displayed some excellent writing though, and while he might have focused on the comfortable themes of music and TV, there were some really good jokes in there, and Honeybun appeared to have a fun, dark streak that belied his innocent appearance.

Mark Cram’s act was a masterclass in comedy design; his story of sibling rivalry with his high-achieving military brother had an unexpected revelation dropped in halfway through, and wrapped up its threads beautifully by the end. Almost certainly pared down for the competition from a longer act, he left me wanting to know more about him and his family.

“Swedish-ish” Olaf Falafel was a beardy blonde Viking in a Scandi knit sweater told the most complicated toilet joke of the night.  He was a strong character and great with the audience, jumping down to interact with the front row and give them Viking names; and was confident enough to insult the judges (from the safety of the stage). What a cheeky Viking. The £250 prize would not be his.

And so to the winner: selected by a judging panel comprising local actor and ACE Space founder Adam Kotz, managing director of Windsor’s Firestation arts centre Dan Eastmond, and, er, me - the gong went to imported Australian Matt Dwyer. Dealing with the sole heckler of the evening magnificently, he was relaxed with the audience and demonstrated excellent stage craft, using the space well without too much bounding.

Dwyer’s act featured a bunch of excellent one-liners, including a bundle of jokes about women and relationships which managed to be razor sharp without ever stumbling into the mire of bitter misogyny. A well rounded performance that deserved to win, up against some other great acts; and a winner genuinely and touchingly blown away by his success on the night.

The whole shebang was compered by YMBJ 2010 winner Matt Richardson, who continues to support the contest which launched his career. Richardson will be presenting The Xtra Factor on ITV2 this autumn, and is currently schmoozing with the likes of Nicole Scherzinger as The X Factor auditions are being filmed, so let’s see if he remembers little old Newbury this time next year.

Actually, Richardson’s coming back on October 5, when he will be bringing his first solo show, Hometown Hero, to New Greenham Arts. Strange to think that he’ll actually be a bit famous by then. But hey - that’s the magic of being a YMBJ winner. No pressure, Mr Dwyer...

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on August 1, 2013

Olaf Falafal. Not the winner, but what a magnificent beard

The age of aquarium - Peixos by Sarruga

Photo courtesy of The Corn Exchange

Peixos: Creatures From The Deep, presented by Sarruga, Newbury town centre, Saturday, July 20

OF all the stunning, fascinating and thrilling events that have been put on by The Corn Exchange as part of its Outdoor Programme in the last few years, Insectes - A Night Carnival is probably the one that has left the strongest imprint on the minds of those that saw it in July 2011. And so, when it was announced that Spanish artists Sarrugia would be returning with an aquatic-themed parade, the excitement in the town was palpable, heightening even further as hundreds gathered along Northbrook Street as dusk fell on Saturday to witness the spectacle.

Powered by cyclists, the sea creatures floated, bobbed and swam their way along Northbrook Street as pumping music pounded; with clownfish spurting steam and the shark following on behind, snapping at the crowd, this was not a relaxing underwater experience; this was the raw power of watery nature in dark light form. Shoals of angelfish and disco ball-topped seaweed added to the atmosphere, as the larger creatures sent the crowd lining the street scattering with shrieks of delight and mock-fear.

The parade culminated in the Market Place, transforming it into a giant aquarium, complete with a distinct fishy smell, where the shark made short work of the other creatures, turning off each of their lights in turn until only the king of the sea remained.

The Corn Exchange’s next outdoor event will be Ablaze: a Festival of Fire, on the evenings of September 6 to 8, when braziers and animations will transform the Kennet and Avon Canal into a world of fire and music.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, July 25, 2013

Intensely familiar - review of Sam Carter

Sam Carter at New Greenham Arts on Friday, June 28, 2013

YOU know when you hear a song played that seems so intensely familiar that there is no way that you haven’t heard it performed live before - possibly more than once? That happened to me with Sam Carter’s Dreams Are Made of Money. It rang such a strong bell that I could picture myself, as  part of an audience, singing along to the chorus. I even told Carter himself after the show, that I must have seen someone else cover his song, but I couldn’t remember who. He had no idea who this could be, simply commenting “ah well, the PRS cheque will still come to me”.

Unfortunately, there will be no Performing Rights Society cheque winging its way through his letterbox on this occasion - after several hours of trying to work it out, I concluded that in fact I had seen Carter himself performing Dreams Are Made of Money on the BBC TV show Later... with Jools Holland last autumn. As me and Jools Holland are not one and the same, I have decided that it is the insane catchiness of this future folk standard that has burrowed it into my mind, and there it will stick forever more.

Carter is fully aware of the compulsive nature of the song’s tune - he first heard it himself performed in its original version as Antioch, a hymn performed acapella by four harmonising voices, while gleaning inspiration for his most recent album, The No Testament, which is partly influenced by the American tradition of shapenote singing. He told the audience that after one hearing of the song, he was unable to shake it from his head, and so reinvented Antioch as a hymn for the modern world.

Whether self-penned, traditional or a mix of both, many of Carter’s songs have tales behind them, often drawn from his more painful life experiences, including rejection in Pheasant (“you flattened me like a pheasant on a country road”) and a disintegrating relationship in She Won’t Hear. It seems like the women in Carter’s life can’t expect a song written about them until the love is gone.

Most personal of all, and stunningly moving, was Here In The Ground, the title song of Carter’s 2008 debut EP, written about the death of Carter’s older sister at the age of three, when he was a toddler. This contrasted with the following song, a cheery little ditty called Lumpy’s Lullaby, written for the child of Carter’s surviving sister while still in utero. Almost certainly entirely lacking in soporific tendencies, it was a sweet reminder of the circle of life, and how it can impact on one family.

As Carter himself quoted on stage (from whom, I can’t remember), “no one lives long enough to write a traditional song”, explaining that a song has to be passed through generations of musicians, changing and developing along the way, before it can be considered “traditional” - and, of course, no one remembers the original composer by then. On the eve of his 30th birthday, and with his BBC Folk Best Newcomer Award three years in the past, it may be that with at least one song (Dreams..., of course), and possibly with more, both written and unwritten, Carter has confirmed his place as a composer of future folk standards. Let’s hope that his name is remembered for them.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, July 4, 2013

Good Vibes at Ace Space - review by Bill Ainsworth of The PJP Band, Horse Around Home and Harry George Johns

The PJP Band, Horse Around Home and Harry George Johns at Ace Space, Newbury on Saturday, May 18

IT’S a funny old place, Newbury: lots of people love their music around here, but complain that there isn’t much of a live scene. They are quite prepared to go and see a band for free in a bar, where it can cost nearly £4 for a pint, but the idea of actually paying a mere £5 for a ticket puts them off, despite the fact that they’d be in for an evening dedicated to wholesome live music at a great little venue where it’s only £2 a pint. Build it, and they will shrug…

Right, mini rant over; to the folk who stayed away, it was your loss. The people who were there were treated to over two hours of top notch entertainment. First up was Harry George Johns, a lovely guy who, I’m told, plays regularly around the circuit with tonight’s headliners. Sat on a stool with just his acoustic guitar he held the audience in hushed awe with his yearning, achingly beautiful songs, which, by his own admission went from sad, to very sad, to the saddest.

Despite the song’s textures his between-tune banter was quite the opposite; humorous and humble; and as for his voice, well Jeff Buckley, James Morrison and Bon Ivor sprang to mind - yes he was that good. In an ideal world, guys like Johns would be household names and not these here-today, gone-tomorrow “talent” show winners, but, as we know, that isn’t where we’re at.

Mostly local guys Horse Around Home were up next, but not, we’re told, their usual line up. Regulars Julian Tulk (vocals and guitar) and Barry Pollock (bass) were more than ably accompanied by Patrick James Pearson (keyboards), more of whom later, and brothers Terry and Scott Essen (lead guitar and drums respectively). The latter two only had a few rehearsals in the last couple weeks to learn what turned out to be a very complex set of numbers. I like to draw comparisons when reviewing, but cannot bring anyone to mind with these guys I’m afraid. 

The lolloping build of set opener Hold did exactly what it said on the tin, I love a tune builds and builds to an orgasmic climax of controlled noise and this one had the crowd gripped. Other highlights for me were Dust And Dirt, Tulk’s solo effort Shoe Song and the very touching Smiling. Mr Tulk has had some rather good things happening in his personal life of late which he very lovingly touched upon when introducing Smiling; much to the joy of those involved, who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time, and bringing cheers from those in the crowd who were in the know.

Two things all three acts tonight had in common was epic facial hair and/or cool dress sense - much check and denim etc was on show. Another was an absolutely brilliant vocal range, including in the case of the aforementioned Mr Pearson, who now took centre stage with The PJP Band, his keyboards looking like an early 1970s George Harrison (that’s a major compliment in case you weren’t sure).

By his own admittance, Pearson was feeling a little hoarse (no pun intended) this evening, but if he hadn’t mentioned this, I certainly wouldn’t have noticed. He and his cohorts treated us to a stunning nine-song set, with band members leaving the stage only to return when required, meaning the band ranged from a two to a four piece during the performance. 

Highlights for me were opener Disciplines, which brought Interpol to mind, and singles I Am A Racer and the splendid psyceadelic romp that is Vicious Luck, videos for both of which are available on You Tube. Other acts that came to mind at various points ranged from Lennon, The Flaming Lips and Arcade Fire to the bass heavy groove of The Chilis and the singalong, dancealong good time stomp of The Blues Brothers.

Finally on the PJP front, Patrick impressed me greatly when not only was he able to sing and play his main instrument with gusto, but not content with that, he increased his multi-tasking by playing tambourine with his foot. Good work, sir!

Bill Ainsworth

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on May 30, 2013