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

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

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

Ever the Rebel - interview with Steve Harley

Photo by Mike Callow

FORTY years after the release of their debut album, STEVE HARLEY and his band  are still going strong and playing live. CATRIONA REEVES discovers if the decades have mellowed the Cockney Rebel.

CATRIONA REEVES: It has been suggested that your second album, 1974’s The Psychomodo, is your masterpiece - would you agree?

STEVE HARLEY: I don’t like to think that I’ve painted my masterpiece yet - there’s always a new canvas! I still strive to create it, and I think it’s still within me. I wouldn’t consider any of my songs or albums to be perfect, I’m a born worrier apart from when I’m in the spotlight and playing.

I know that Psychomodo is cited as an influence on a lot of people. We played it in its entirety November with an orchestra and choir, alongside the whole of the first album, The Human Menagerie, and it felt pretty huge.

While I was performing those early songs, I started to wonder who that young me was, and where those songs came from. It doesn’t particularly impress me that I created them, but they’re from so long ago that it does feel like someone else wrote them. These are the words and emotions of an angry young man, which is fine, but you can’t carry on like that when you get older.

CR: So, you don’t feel that you still have the same anger within you these days?

SH: Angry old men are pub bores. Anyway, I’m settled down now, I’ve got lovely children, and I get to travel the world. I’m not “Sting” rich, but I have paintings on the wall and beautiful things around me. It’s hard to write an angry song when you’re fairly content with life.

We played at the Isle of Wight Festival last month, and I went out front after our set to watch the Boomtown Rats - Bob Geldof still performs as an angry teenager, all angst and aggression. I don’t want to be like that. It’s rather ill-fitting, and also looks quite exhausting. I’ve got kids of 30 and 27; I don’t want to be the oldest teen on the block. I can’t be bothered with all that attitude and looking like a rock star. It’s not becoming at my age. 

CR: It seems like the music press gave you a bit of a hard time in the ’70s. As a former journalist yourself, did that bother you?

SH: I didn’t mind all the jibing in the music press, it was just a bit of fun and it didn’t bother me. For all the criticism there was plenty of praise. I still feel the same - there are a couple of performers out there who seem to be universally adored, and that’s just sycophantic. 

There’s a lot of sycophants among reviewers - I just wish some of them were on my side! To be fair, there are a few reviewers who do like me. But most people who come along to see us know who we are and what we do, and aren’t influenced by a review. Of course I like to read good, kind words, but I’ve been going so long that I’m indestructible.

CR: There’s a story that the reason that your single Black Or White failed to chart in late 1975 was that EMI had put all its marketing budget behind Bohemian Rhapsody. Do you think there’s any truth in that?

SH: Black Or Wight and Bohemian Rhapsody were released very close to each other, but I’ve never heard that speculation! EMI were always very good to me, and I can’t see why they wouldn’t want a band signed to them to have a hit just because another is doing so well. I’m a fatalist, and if a song isn’t a hit, that’s just the way it is. We played Black Or White with the orchestra last year  - the first time I’ve ever performed it on stage - and it sounded wonderful. It certainly felt like a hit then.

CR: You’re playing the Rewind Festival in Henley next month - will you be playing your fist single, Sebastian? It’s rather good.

SH: We only get to do a very short set at Rewind - about half an hour, so we’ll just be doing the hits, getting off stage, and getting an early dinner. I would love to do Sebastian, as it’s enormous on stage, but it’s about eight minutes long, so don’t hold me to it! Make Me Smile, is about seven minutes, so if we did Sebastian as well, we’d only fit in about three songs!

Of course we’ll do Make Me Smile, as it was our number one hit - although it puts pressure on our guitarist to get the solo right note for note, because the audience sing along. There’s no room for interpretation on that one - deviate from the original, and you’re sacked!

We do a lot of outdoor shows in the summer - we’re doing two others that weekend. They may only be short sets, but I enjoy them, because it always feels like you start off playing to strangers and end up winning friends.

* Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel will be performing at the Rewind, The 80s Festival, at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames, on Saturday, August 17. Visit www.rewindfestival.com for ticket information.

They will also be playing a full band show at The Anvil in Basingstoke on November 19. Visit www.anvilarts.org.uk for tickets.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on August 8, 2013

The one and only - interview with Nik Kershaw

FORMER jazz-funk guitarist NIK KERSHAW became a teen idol in the ’80s before going on to write hits for other singers, including Chesney Hawkes’ number one, The One And Only. Now he’s preparing to re-live his own time as a pop star at the Rewind Festival.

CATRIONA REEVES: You’re still writing new songs for yourself and other people - but do you enjoy getting back on stage and singing your old hits?

NIK KERSHAW: I love it. I went through a period of resisting playing them, but they’re great songs, and I’m not ashamed of them. It’s amazing to think that it’s 30 years since I wrote Wouldn’t It Be Good. I still remember that the tune came into my head, and wouldn’t leave me alone - it was demanding to be written. I never thought that I nailed the lyrics though, until it was a massive hit. Then I decided that it was probably alright!

CR: Talking of lyrics, your song The Riddle remains an unsolved mystery. What is the answer?

NK: The Riddle actually started off as a guide lyric - just nonsense I wrote down while writing the song. My second album [also called The Riddle] was released in a hurry on the back of the success of my first album, Human Racing [they were both released in 1984], and in the end, we just had to get the song recorded as it was! I did try changing the lyrics, but nothing else worked.

My record label loved it though - they made it into a competition for people to solve The Riddle, but I don’t think anyone ever won - how could they, when even I don’t know the answer! It’s great that the song still gets radio play. It’s what the Americans call an “earworm”.

CR: You spent a long time away from performing, to write and produce music for other people, but now you’re doing it for yourself again. What made you decide to give it another go?

NK: I feel like I’m a different person to who I was 30 years ago. Music is a weird business, you often have your biggest success when you’re still serving your apprenticeship, and then over the years you improve your craft, but by then your fans have moved on and they’re not interested anymore.

When I play a set at somewhere like Rewind, I often tease the crowd with “this is a song from my new album.... only joking!” At somewhere like Rewind, I know what the crowd want, and I’m happy to give it to them.

CR: Seeing as Chesney Hawkes is also on the Rewind bill, will you be performing your own version of The One And Only?

NK: Certainly not! We’re close friends; I’ve seen Chesney perform it many times, and to do it myself would be a bit rude!

CR: Back in the ‘80s, you were a bit of a style icon, and pretty much launched the fashion for snoods. Do you consider that your biggest cultural impact?

NK: Around that time, I did an awful lot of photo sessions - I must have only worn a snood about four times, but each time I was photographed, and that’s what I became known for! A couple of years ago, there was a big thing in the press about footballers wearing snoods, and I was called up by TalkSport to come on the radio and talk about it. I declined - I don’t really consider myself a snood expert.

CR: It was also documented at the time that you mainly bought your clothes in girls’ fashion shops. Is that still the case?

NK: Certainly not - these days I shop in Gap Kids!

* Nik Kershaw plays Rewind, The 80s Festival on Saturday, August 17 at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames. For information, visit www.rewindfestival.com

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

Straight outta Cowley - review of Stornoway

Stornoway at New Greenham Arts, Greenham on Monday, February 18

NOT actually from the Isle of Lewis as the name suggests but in fact formed in Oxford (they clearly considered it a more atmospheric name than “Cowley”; Stornoway are on the more interesting end of the spectrum of the new folk rock sound so often drowned out by the likes of the ubiquitous Mumford &  Sons. For a start, they have a saw-on-woodblock combo as a percussion instrument, and a large metal cylinder that gets bashed to oblivion. And - possibly most pleasingly - a lot less banjo.

As the first band to be allowed a standing gig at New Greenham Arts, Stornoway conquered the Monday night blues to attract a sell-out crowd, the largest probably seen on the former USAF air base since the Prodigy played in one of the old aircraft hangers in the mid-90s.

They may not have visited their remote namesake town until 2010, but Stornoway’s sound is certainly evocative of the windswept Outer Hebrides: lush layers of music sweep and soar before being stripped back to a soundscape of near-bleakness for acoustic moments and even acapella singing. There are two sets of brothers in the band, and the phenomenon of sibling harmony that arises from a shared vocal timbre is a string to Stornoway’s bow.

A slight naive tilt to some of the lyrics of songwriter and frontman Brian Briggs grated a little with the overall maturity of Stornoway’s music. For the otherwise gorgeous Farewell Appalachia!  Briggs appears to have imbibed a thesaurus of countryside terms: Through the scree at the foot of the bluff/  And I drank from the brook/ And I slept in the lee of the wood. And the line in their UK number four chart hit, Zorbing, “I feel like I just started uni” just makes me feel a bit old.

Aside from traumatising some audience members (ie me) with the realisation that at least some of these immensely talented “songsmiths, scholars, scientists and men of the earth” are young enough to be my offspring, Stornoway attracted a wonderfully wide spread of ages to NGA, and the ability of this band and their ilk to induct a new generation into the folk genre deserves a generous doff of the cap.

And anyway - any band that can produce a song as lovely as The Coldharbour Road can be forgiven a few duff lyrics along the way.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, March 5, 2013

Hardin nuff - review of Case Hardin

Photo by Richard Markham

Case Hardin at ACE Space, Newbury on Friday, July 20

AND so, as ACE Space goes dark for the month of August, the community arts venue saved one of its best for last, with a gig by Case Hardin, sort-of local (it’s complicated) leading lights on the UK’s alt-country/Americana scene.

With two albums-worth of material to chose from (2008’s Some Tunes For Charlie Spencer and 2011’s Every Dirty Mirror), plus a few new songs, the band, led by Pete Gow (intrepid TV news producer by day, beardy waistcoated musoman by night) now have a sturdy library of songs to select from - mind you, Gow has been fronting the band in varied formats since 1999, so he’s had time to build up a bit of a back catalogue.

Gow is quite a storyteller, and his songs paint pictures of bare knuckle fighters (Champeen) and shell-shocked squaddies (The Ring), complemented by Adam Kotz’s lamenting mandolin and banjo and  Jim Maving’s weeping guitar. That’s not to say that there aren’t any upbeat moments - forthcoming single Where Angels Fear To Tread, to be released on Clubhouse Records and described by Gow as “a three-and-a-half minute precis of why I am, and will always be, single”, ends with a bit of a wig-out; while, encore Three For The Road finally transformed some of the tapping toes in the audience into dancing feet.

A handful of the songs were solo or near-solo numbers, with Gow being accompanied only by Maving’s heartbreaking guitar playing, but Gow certainly appreciates the coven of musicians he has gathered around him. Stating that he’d “long been of the opinion that I’m the third best singer in the band”, he launched the five-piece into 1,000 Sides Of Vinyl, showcasing his voice alongside those of Maving and Kotz, who otherwise focused mainly on providing the harmonies that added to Case Hardin’s rich sound. 

Gow’s awareness of two elements of his songwriting, that which requires the full band sound, and the more introspective singer-songwriter component, is reflected on the album Every Dirty Mirror, which was conceived and sequenced as if produced for vinyl, with a full tilt band “side” and the second part being more contemplative. Case Hardin is very much Gow’s band, but although he suggested that he “became a bit of a Frankenstein’s Monster in the studio” (he possibly meant Dr Frankenstein himself), he is clearly very comfortable with the current line-up, and the high calibre musical input and inspiration they bring to the performance of his songs, both recorded and live.

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, July 26. 2012

Hard at it - interview with Adam Kotz from Case Hardin

AN acclaimed British alt country band with extensive local roots, Case Hardin are playing ACE Space in Newbury on Friday, July 20. CATRIONA REEVES spoke to band member, Newbury resident, actor, musician and ACE Space chairman ADAM KOTZ about the band and his many other hats.

CATRIONA REEVES: Case Hardin are definitely making waves on the alt country scene, with your latest album Every Dirty Mirror receiving excellent reviews and national BBC radio airplay. How would you describe the band’s sound?

ADAM KOTZ: The band was formed by Pete Gow - who until recently lived in Thatcham - who writes songs that echo the best of the American alt country scene, and artists like Springsteen and Steve Earle, but mixes it all up with a highly original British take.

We’ve played in the current line-up [Pete, Adam, Tim Emery, Andy Bastow and Jim Maving] for more than three years now, and we seem to able to take on different styles from stomping rock to ballads and story songs - as we hope the album shows.

CR: Pete’s job as a TV journalist has taken him to war zones in Iraq and Libya in recent years. Do his songs relate to these experiences?

AK: Some do directly, others more obliquely; but he also writes beautifully about lost love and hard drinking.

CR: What is your role in the band?

AK: Well, I weave my mandolin and banjo through the tunes, as well as singing backing and some lead vocals.

CR: Have you always combined being an actor with making music?

AK: Not always. I’ve played on and off in bands in between acting jobs but it’s particularly great when the two combine. For example, I started playing mandolin while playing the music teacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the National Theatre in the ’90s. I’ve sung and rocked my way through a fair few theatre and TV shows as well, and written music as well – I even wrote a TV theme song back in the ’80s! My first job was the TV play Oi For England, about a skinhead band.

CR: You’ve done a lot of screen work, haven’t you?

AK: I’ve done a lot of theatre too, particularly at the National and with Cheek By Jowl, and I’d love to do more, I miss it, but it’s harder to fit in with family life.

The most well known films are probably The Last King of Scotland [he played Gillian Anderson’s husband - or, as Adam puts it, “I think you’ll find she played my wife”] and Peter Greenaway’s Nightwatching, and, yes, I’ve done quite a bit of TV too.

As it happens, I’ve just finished being in Henry IV Pt 2 in the new BBC Shakespeare Hollow Crown season  - that was great, swords, horses and lots of shouting. I play Lord Hastings, a rebel who gets his comeuppance.

That was followed by a lovely one-off play for CBBC and a spy drama for Channel 4, so the variety continues.

CR: I’ve noticed that if you turn up in a murder mystery, it inevitably means that you will turn out to be the murderer or a victim - or, on one occasion, both...

AK: Sometimes I am a bright red herring, and I have had my moments as a law enforcer. In Touching Evil I kicked in doors and arrested people - at least until I went off the rails and killed a few people. OK, you may have a point!

CR: So where does ACE Space fit in to all this?

AK: I knew the old RAFA Hall in St Nicholas Road from hiring it myself, and found out it was going to close down. Luckily, the idea to save it drew in a terrific bunch of local volunteers, and we’ve improved it and kept it running as part-village hall, part-arts workshop ever since. We have had great backing from Greenham Common Trust, and donations along the way from Sovereign, MicroFocus, Newbury Town and West Berkshire councils among others.

Especially, we have had amazing support from the many local people who hire the place, come to our events and tell us they like what we are doing. Have a look at www.acespacenewbury.com – we are always happy to welcome new people.

CR: Who else is involved in the gig?

AK: We’ve got support from Des Simmons and the Hired Hands. Des is a great local musician with a great band. Sticks and Strings’ Rick Green is opening the show, and is also well known in these parts. All of us play original music with real heart.

For ACE Space, it is the last event before our summer lay-off after a busy year so we hope people will come to help us celebrate that and enjoy a great night of live music.

Ticket for Case Hardin at ACE Space on Friday, July 20, are £5 in advance (£6 on the door) from Hogan Music in Craven Road and Jacqui’s in Blenheim Road, or call 07905 590 214 to reserve. Doors open at 7.30pm.

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, July 12, 2012

The show must go on - review of The Ilsleys

The Ilsleys and Rick Green at ACE Space, Newbury on Friday, April 20

THEIR name may make them sound like a local band for local people, but The Ilsleys’ collective experience tots up to around 200 years or thereabouts in the music business, so a little thing like an injured drummer wasn’t going to put them off their stride (pretty hard to do: they were all sat down anyway - thinking of their hips), and their first headline show at ACE Space went ahead as planned on Friday, proving what utter pros they are. 

Not to say that drummer Nigel Reveler wasn’t missed (rule one of music reviewing: never annoy the drummer),  but the remaining four members (I was going to say “surviving members”,  but on second thoughts...) put on such a cracking performance that it was easy to forget that they weren’t planning on an acoustic set all along. I’m a sucker for vocal harmonies, and the richness of the band’s three-, and occasionally four-part harmonies soared throughout. Someone mentioned to me that their sound was reminiscent of Crosby, Stills & Nash - a pretty accurate comparison, as the set included a couple of hits written by Ilsleys nominal frontman Colin Jennings for The Hollies in the ’70s - albeit after Graham Nash had left the band.

The band performed two sets, crammed with an impressive 22 mainly new songs (the band might have a hard job picking out the ones to include on their forthcoming album Licks, Lilts & Lullabies) reflecting many lifetimes of musical and worldly-wise experience. “This one’s another love song,” pronounced Jennings, eliciting a comment from the audience: “Aw, love songs at their age.” Fair enough, the band were rocking the grey haired look,  but turning their hand from pure romance (Send Me The Pillow) to classic pop (their version of the Jennings-penned Hollies hit Magic Woman Touch), hippy vibes (Back To Nature) and a hint of psychedelia (I Will Love Her), The Ilsleys proved that years of experience, great on-stage banter, and top-notch professionalism create a magical musical brew.

In support was Rick Green, stepping out from behind the sound desk for an extended solo spot to showcase his new self-titled full-band album, available from Green himself at Sticks & Strings in Thatcham. His songs and shirt were tinged with Americana, and his set included a useful education in learning to love the C-word (which is, of course... Country).

What a great night. Let’s do it again soon, boys - next time, you can even bring your drummer (you might have to squish up your chairs to fit him onto the stage, though).

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, April 26, 2012

Star Turn - interview with The Ilsleys

TAKE members of legendary Newbury outfits Ricky and The Gamblers and Tonton Macoute, mix it up with up to 50 years experience in the music industry per member, and reveal the dark secret that they to blame for the 1980s novelty hit Pump Up The Bitter, and you’ve got The Ilsleys - a bunch of West Berkshire 60-somethings recording an album and getting ready for their first full gig at ACE Space on April 20.

CATRIONA REEVES spoke to guitarist COLIN JENNINGS about starting a new musical journey when the band members have all got bus passes.

CATRIONA REEVES: It sounds like The Ilsleys' members have known each other for years - what made you decide to come together as a band at this point in your lives?

COLIN JENNINGS :We played in function bands together, and of course there was our excursion into comedy [as Star Turn on 45 (Pints), the act behind Pump Up The Bitter]. The idea of making an album of totally original material was the motivator, especially at our age. They always say the first album is the most important; it’s just that for us it took a little longer than usual!

Bassist Pete Fry and guitarist Dave Hicks were founder members of Newbury’s very own Ricky and The Gamblers in the swinging sixties. In their heyday, a number of record companies came down to Newbury to try and sign the band, but failed... Dave wasn’t fond of their manner, particularly The Rolling Stones’ producer Jimmy Miller, who thought that Dave should wear satin shorts on stage... it wasn’t a meeting of minds! Pete and Dave have both continued to play with various groups since then.

Drummer Nigel was in pop band Windmill before joining local band Tonton Macoute, who achieved cult status in the 70s throughout Europe. Their albums are so sought after that they are worth more than Nigel’s drumkit!

I started my career in the late 60s with The Greatest Show on Earth, a jazz rock outfit, and earned my crust for many years as a songwriter/performer working for, among many others, The Hollies and Cilla Black.

Last but not least, there’s Dave Stevens on keyboards - another local lad, who has made a major contribution in the arranging of the band’s music. Being a much younger member, he is also responsible for making sure that the rest of us are clean before we go on stage.

CR: What is your resulting musical style like - and who writes the songs?

CJ: The style is developing every time we play. The songs, the reception we get playing them live, and recording in the studio will all help. But it’s inevitable at out age that we’ll be drawing from the greats; which is fine, as long as it has our stamp on it.

I do most of the songwriting at the moment, only because I already had songs, old and new. But the two Daves have written for our live set at ACE Space, and I am sure that we all will have ideas going forward.

CR: You’ve got a provisional name for your album, Licks, Lilts & Lullabies. How is it coming along?

CJ: First recordings have started, and will be finished by midsummer. I was keen to get my old Abbey Road engineer/producer Tony Clark to produce the album. The only problem was, I couldn’t find him, until a chance conversation with someone at a studio who could put me in touch. It turned out that Tony had been following a different path altogether; he had taken a horticulture degree and was looking after a Victorian garden in London.

Luckily, when we met, he said that he was keen to get back into the studio. It’s great to be working with him - his pedigree is exceptional; he’s worked with Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Cliff Richard, among others. It will sound great.

CR: You’ve been testing out some of the songs at ACE Space’s Unplugged events. How have they gone down?

CJ: Really well, which is why we decided to do an evening of them. It’s a really nice place with good people and all sorts of talent, so it’s the perfect place for our first gig.

CR: What can people expect from the gig? Is it going to be all sex, drugs and rock & roll?

CJ: Hopefully - as long as it starts before eight and finishes at 11. Dave the guitarist likes to get the cups turned over by 11.30.

CR: And will you treat us to Pump Up The Bitter as an encore?

CJ: The gold lame suit and wig are in for a refit so probably not... but who knows!

• Below are The Ilsleys performing at ACE Space 

A Champion night - review of Ben Champion and Guests musical comedy night

Ben Champion and Guests musical comedy night at ACE Space, Newbury on Friday, March 9

I’VE always wanted to be a muse for a song, inspiring music of beauty and lyrics of joy. And on Friday, to my delight and great surprise it finally happened - the song being the moving and memorable punk-inspired future classic Ain’t Going Back To Basingstoke, by Newbury’s very own comedy singer-songwriter Ben Champion. Inspired by my dilemma about whether to see comedian Stewart Lee at The Anvil on Friday, or to come down and support something a little more home grown, he penned a ditty listing the myriad reasons that Basingstoke is not for the likes of us Newburians.

A packed ACE Space enjoyed an excellent night of musical hilarity organised by Champion, performing alongside three hand-picked acts: Natt Tapley, Ant Dewson and Horse & Louis (pictured above), who between them displayed how diverse musical comedy can be. From Champion’s own musicianship, showcasing a different style on each song, to Dewson’s laugh-a-line piano playing, Tapley’s reworking of Beatles classics (“Dear students... you’re going to have to pay...”) and Horse & Louis’ faux rock god stylings, the presentation was pleasantly varied, but never low on laughs.

Tapley kicked off the show, performing in character as “actual” London mayoral candidate Sir Ian Bowler, the self-styled Lesser of Three Evils. Reminiscent of Rik Mayall’s Alan B’Stard at his most oblivious to the little people, “Bowler”’s two musical interludes were rather an aside to his mainly stand-up routine, which worked very well considering he was performing at a “local gig for local people” (Champion’s description) who are probably mainly not that fussed about the mayoral election thingy going on up in the Smoke.

He may modestly describe himself as a “piano player (Grade 6) and singer of stupid songs”, but Dewson’s performance was pure, unadulterated hilarity. With naughty songs about his love for Carol Voderman and Richard Hammond, and a riposte to young people who believe that life ends at 30, he encouraged audience singalongs (very tuneful - well done, the ACE Space audience), and basically went down a storm.

Champion put himself third on the bill in addition to his compering duties, with some excellent songs which gave a little insight into his day job as a composer for children’s television, the perils of auto corrective texting, his thoughts on the Higgs Boson particle (“have you tried looking for it in the second drawer down?”) and his dreams of being an atheist priest and/or a ginger cowboy. Lovely stuff; another local talent we are very lucky to be able to call our own.

Horse & Louis (aka Nick Phillips and Louis Fences) took the night’s top slot, with a most entertaining set in the style of The Conchords and Tenacious D, the duo told stories about dating difficulties, call centre woes and the sexual posturing of musicians through the medium of rock opera. A frenetic and packed performance, the only disappointment was that their set was rather short, but it was an uplifting end to an excellent evening’s entertainment.

With a bar set this high, it should be hoped that such comedy nights become a regular diversification of ACE Space’s programming. I was certainly left wanting more.

(By the way, as it happened, I had to go to Basingstoke on Sunday morning, for a football match. Sometimes, there’s just no avoiding the place.)

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, March 15, 2012