New Wave Of British Heavy Metal drummer Barry Graham Purkis, his iconic masked alter-ego Thunderstick, and his eponymously named band are set to release a second single from their forthcoming album, Lockdown. With another powerful vocal from vocalist, Raven Blackwing, ‘Snakebite’ is a tale of prima donnas, victim narcissism and manipulation as well as some nifty bottleneck guitar from former Thunderstick guitarist, Dave Kilford.
Thunderstick’s alter ego and creator Barry Graham Purkis says:“ Snakebite…Ah Yes I won’t detail the lyrical content just to say that it depicts prima donnas, narcissism, and the ease of which communicative platforms such as social media can be used to victimise by the propagation of falsities to an all-too-eager responsive audience ready to join in the persecution…I speak from experience!!…Coupled with some rockin’ bottleneck guitar.”
Lead singer Raven Blackwing:“Snakebite was a pure joy to record. Knowing who and what the song was about meant I could easily spit the lyrics (laughter). Although I shall never let on who the real individual might be, I’m sure we can all relate to that one person whose voice really grates on us….”
Release information:
The single ‘Snakebite’ is released on 6th October 2023 by Roulette Records and available on the main digital platforms.
The album Lockdown is released by Roulette Records on 20th October 2023, in CD format and on all the main digital platforms.
Mixed and mastered BGP/Danielson at Legend Recording Studios, Ålesund, Norway.
Original artwork: Baz Crowcroft
About Thunderstick:
Best known for his time with Samson and an early Iron Maiden Barry Graham Purkis (AKA Thunderstick) has been the legendary icon for the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) scene since the late 1970s. His eponymously-named band, renowned for its female-fronted power rock and theatricality, have a considerable heritage. The band played live and recorded for six years, both in UK and in the US, throughout the 1980s until playing their last gig October 1986.
Then in 2016 former lead vocalist, Jodee Valentine, tragically died following a five-year battle with early onset Alzheimer’s. In recognition of Jodee’s memory Barry decided to record some of the songs that Jodee had performed live. This became the Something Wicked This Way Comes album, the first Thunderstick product in over thirty years. It was released in July 2017 to enthusiastic reviews worldwide.
Barry:“Back in 2017 after the ‘Something Wicked’ album was released I had no intention of forming a live performing band or indeed a follow-up studio album but after such positive encouragement from both long- time supporters and new followers alike I realised that there were still an audience of many out there that wanted our particular brand of mayhem. The die was cast. After much deliberation a new Thunderstick was formed staying true to its theatrical roots but still relevant in today’s fast changing-musical environment. I am so lucky to have found the musicians that I now work with especially Raven of whom I consider to be one of the finest rock singers that I have the good fortune to watch and listen to every time we perform. She is the ‘real deal’ both in terms of voice and stagecraft. The next chapter in our story is now ready for the writing.”
Read in-depth interview with Barry Graham Purkis here
A live DVD of the band’s appearance in Lublin, Poland last April is also scheduled for release towards the end of the year.
Following their well-received debut single (’Why Do You?’) which has picked up extensive radio play and attracted the attention of devotees of both classic rock and folk, Parkbridge are set to release a second single from their forthcoming album.
‘Changing My Number’ is released on all the main digital platforms on 29th September 2023.
Robert Carter, guitarist and vocalist, explains:“One wet Saturday morning during the Covid Lockdowns I was in the kitchen with the intention of preparing breakfast. My phone is usually set to ‘do not disturb’ before ten o’clock at the weekends and this was no exception. I think the phone scamming industry must know this because before ten thirty, and before I’d had a chance to set the table, I had received three calls, one claiming I owed the inland revenue for tax evasion, one for energy efficiency and the other was just an abusive twit. Jody heard me shouting in despair and when she enquired as to the cause of my angst I simply replied, I’m ‘Changing My Number’. Within an hour and with breakfast still nowhere in sight I’d drafted the words, structure and melody to the song. A few tweaks later and it was ready for a public appearance.”
Coming together through a shared love of classic rock, folk rock and blues, bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention and Free, Parkbridge is a four-piece from Greater Manchester. Formed in 2022, all four members had cut their teeth playing in local bands for many years. But after some informal jam sessions working on songs that had been written by vocalist and guitarist, Robert Carter, Parkbridge rapidly evolved into the fully-fledged band it is today. After a series of well-received live gigs, work soon began on putting together the band’s debut album.
Parkbridge is: Robert Carter (guitar, vocals), Sean Dyer (lead guitar), Ian Turford (bass) and Dave Johnson (drums). The name comes from the area of Park Bridge on the outskirts of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, where the band was originally formed. The area of Park Bridge was founded during the industrial revolution and for nearly two hundred years the village was home to the famous Park Bridge Ironworks. This local foundry provided essential components for a number of the world’s great engineering projects, giving the band not only its name but the inspiration for the title of its debut album, too.
“If you ever go to Paris, in the museum at the Eiffel Tower there is an inscription that says “Rivets made by the Park Bridge Iron Foundry, Ashton-under-Lyne” and so Rivets For The Eiffel Tower became the obvious name for our first album,” says frontman and vocalist/guitarist, Robert Carter.
Rivets For The Eiffel Tower is produced by Buzz Hawkins at Hawkins Studios 215 in Mossley. The album is a collection of eight original tracks – a mix of acoustic, rock, folk-rock and blues.
Commenting on the album, Robert Carter adds:“I have long had an ambition to release an album of music containing songs that I’ve written. Thanks to the guys in Parkbridge, that dream is about to become a reality. All three are great musicians and it’s a privilege for me to work with them. There’s a couple of songs of what you would call folk rock. There’s a couple that are classic rock in style. There’s a couple that could be classed as indie rock and there’s a couple of blues songs. We’re probably a little different to most of the newish rock bands you hear these days. We try and be melodic. We try and tell a story in the lyrics. We try and offer something different. So if you’re into that classic rock sound with style, have a listen and tell us what you think!”
The single ‘Changing My Number’ is released on 29th September 2023 via all the main digital platforms.
Rivets For The Eiffel Tower will go on general release in October 2023 with a limited-edition CD available from 18th August.
UK-based Leonardo Giuliani is a guitarist and singer-songwriter whose music embraces elements of rock, blues, country and folk. Featuring thirteen original songs, Rogue, which came out back in February, is Giuliani’s debut album.
His sound is primarily influenced by artists and bands from the late ‘60s and ‘70s, “from acoustic singer-songwriters to electric jam bands, all of whom played something different every night and made every performance unique,” he tells us. In 2019 he had the honour of being invited to sit in with one of his blues heroes, Buddy Guy, playing at his Legends club in Chicago.
It’s clear from the album’s opening tracks that this an artist who has spent considerable time soaking up a rich array of blues influences and he’s an impressive guitarist with some nifty blues licks. As Giuliani himself stresses, however, it’s not the only string to his bow and the Americana and golden-era singer-songwriter influences shine through, too, particularly on tracks like the sublime ‘A Thousand Miles Away From Home’.
Recorded at Forward Studios in Rome and The Switchyard Studio in Nashville, Rogue is produced by four-time Grammy award winner producer, Tom Hambridge, whose empathetic production helps give the album and impeccably authentic blues/Americana feel. Hambridge also contributes drums to the album, alongside Phil Palmer on rhythm guitar, Mick Brill on bass and Peter De Girolamo who provides some deliciously soulful keyboards.
Kevin Armstrong has played alongside icons like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Thomas Dolby, Sinéad O’Connor and many others. We catch up to talk about his forthcoming autobiography Absolute Beginner which comes out on 17th October; as well as the Lust For Life project which has brought together the likes of Clem Burke, Glen Matlock and Katie Puckrik to celebrate the classic Iggy album; plus our mutual love of the live music scene down here in Hastings.
When did the idea for the autobiography first come about? Was it a covid lockdown project for you or did it begin well before that?
No, it began well before that. It was after David Bowie died. Because I was in the middle of my late-blossoming run with Iggy Pop in 2014-19. I was like two years into that and I was half-expecting to see Bowie again at some point. I hadn’t seen him for twenty years but I was half-expecting to see him again just because him and Iggy are good friends and he would quite likely turn up in the old days back-stage and come and visit us or take us out for a meal or whatever. So I did expect to see him again. When he died, it was quite a shocker and so at that point I thought, well it’s time to tell the story now. I’m back with Iggy for a second time, David’s just died and these are giants of music and it just made me think, well they’re all disappearing and soon I’ll be disappearing so we might as well tell the story.
Was it part of a mourning process for you then, as a sort of personal thing as well?
Not really. It was more of a kick up the arse. It was more saying, well if ever you’re going to write this story – obviously I’d thought about it in the past – then I just thought, well now’s the right time to start it. I didn’t know where it would go. I didn’t really think about, “Oh this is definitely going to be a book and I’m going to put it out.” It wasn’t that. It was more or less, I’ve just got to write this down now and chronicle it, even if it’s just for myself. So I started writing and because I was on the road with Iggy a lot at that time, that gives you a lot of downtime. Sitting in the back of cars, or in an aeroplane or in a hotel waiting or whatever. There’s a lot of spare time if you like so I used that time. I just carried a laptop with me and started writing. And just carried on.
So it’s definitely been more about writing than partying on tour these days?
Oh it hasn’t been partying for years, to be honest. I mean, you know it used to be groupies in the back of the bus and taking your own weight in drugs every day – but that stopped a very long time ago. These days, the more civilised and professional outfits – even Iggy Pop – it’s more bottles of Perrier and laptops.
In spite of sharing a rehearsal studio with the Sex Pistols, you are quite candid in the book about not really getting punk, musically, when it came along. Obviously, your first love was the older bands like Zepelin and Purple but then you seemed to slot into the world of post-punk extremely well?
Well, I think we all had to sink or swim at that point. I was a musician before my contemporaries at that time. So when punk came along – I’m sure a lot of musicians felt the same – it was like “Oh, what’s this? We’re supposed to unlearn everything we’ve learned? Or pretend we don’t know stuff.” Because it’s not cool to know the difference between a major and a minor chord even. So I guess I fell into that as a means of survival really. And then, of course, your taste develops over your life, doesn’t it? Things you might have dismissed earlier on in life, you sort of get them later on and you think, “Oh yeah, I know what that’s about…” And that doesn’t always happen at a time that’s useful to you but it’s what happened to me. And then during the post-punk phase, I think clearly it became, with the more sophisticated American bands coming through – your Blondies and your Televisions – it became less de rigueur to know absolutely nothing about music. Because if you were in the Talking Heads you had to know one end of an instrument from the other. Whereas if you were in Slaughter & The Dogs you sort of didn’t.
There’s a passage in the book that you describe as the pivotal moment in your life where you had been booked in to do a session with a mystery big-name artist in early 1985. When you got that call had you any thoughts on who it might be when you were first asked?
Yeah, Bowie was on the list. I can’t remember who else we thought it might be but Bowie was on the list because there was a rumour. I don’t know maybe it was just a hope or something. But there wasn’t a lot of time to talk to anyone about it because I wasn’t super-aware who was going to be there among the other band members either. I think I knew Matthew Seligman was going to be there, the bass-player, because we were always in touch. But the others I didn’t really know them that well so the only discussion about it was for the twenty minutes before it happened. In the studio itself, where we said, “Who do you think is coming? Who is it?” So Bowie was one of the names that came up.
So that turned out to be the make-or-break career moment for you, as you describe in the book, and a lot of things flowed from that?
Well it would do, wouldn’t it? I mean once you’ve had an opportunity like that to play with someone like that, people notice. And so it opened a lot of doors for me, of course it did. And I think it’s done that for almost everyone who’s ever played with Bowie for any length of time. Immediately, your kudos goes up. Your bankability. Your whole level of class goes up. “Oh, that guy played with Bowie.” It just becomes a badge of excellence wherever you go.
And he was always very aware of that, wasn’t he? And tried to use it in a positive way.
I think he was. Actually, the whole thing I go into in the book about, him using all that time, the precious seconds of his set at Live Aid to introduce the band by name. That was his way of understanding that. He knew. We weren’t getting paid for it but that’s hardly the point. The point was he wanted to actually say our names on that stage which was typically empathetic of him in a way. He understood that.
In the book you talk about the diverse range of artists you’ve toured or recorded with. For you as a guitarist, which have been the most satisfying, artistically, to work with?
Oh, that’s an interesting question. I did enjoy working with Morrissey very much because at that time in my path as a musician… it was just one of those stepping stones where I developed as a guitar-player, working for him. And I’ve always enjoyed working with those artists that stretch me as a musician. Sometimes they stretch you as a performer, you know. Like Iggy Pop, for instance. There’s a certain level of aggression and emotional focus you need to play, even though the music’s quite simple. But I have enjoyed working with the more sophisticated musical artists where I’ve really learnt something or had to stretch. I’ve said yes to it at the beginning and then realised, woah! I’m a little bit out of my depth. So Prefab Sprout would come into that category, as would Thomas Dolby, actually. Things where you come out the other end feeling, “Ah, I’m a bit smarter. I’ve learnt something here.”
Morrissey was the same because I actually got to write a few songs with Morrissey and I was there right from the start – it wasn’t like a “Come in and do an overdub” to something that was already happening. It was right in from the ground, writing, and making the records. So my guitar-playing took a definite leap forward with that because I was conscious of the fact that being ‘Morrissey’s guitarist’ you’ve got Johnny Marr as a bench-mark and you’d better do something that’s good. And so I’m quite pleased with the work I did with Morrissey from that point of view. And Thomas Dolby the same. Because he’s a keyboard-player and because he uses chords that aren’t in the book, you have to know your stuff and you have to learn what he’s doing. And sometimes he’d write guitar parts as well but he’d write them on a keyboard with a sequencer or something and then I’d have to translate them and make them guitaristic or make them even playable on a guitar – which was a big challenge. And lots of people still say, “Oh, I love your guitar part on this.” And actually it was Thomas’s but I learnt to play it and made it my own.
And so the most rewarding creatively aren’t necessarily the most high profile or the most lucrative?
No, not really. It depends how you judge things doesn’t it? I mean, I’ve never thought of it in that way. “I’ve got to work with famous people or people where you earn the most money.” It’s always, from a musician point of view, about how to please yourself in a way and how to bring something that’s like how to really enjoy what you’re doing. And sometimes that can be the most obscure artists. For eleven years I had a studio in Portobello Road and all manner of people came through there. And some of them were completely obscure but some of the best music I’ve ever made is on those tapes.
Kevin at Whelan’s, Dublin – photo credit: Ian McDonnell
And let’s just talk a little bit about Iggy Pop. Obviously, working with David Bowie opened doors for working with Iggy on the Blah Blah Blah album – which I bought at the time it came out. And then you had a second stint with Iggy. In the book you talk about your differences in approach between the first and the second stint. Clearly, there was a certain amount of growing up along the way?
Well, it was a big gap. I stopped working with Iggy for the first time in 1986 and I didn’t get to work with him again until 2014 – so go figure! You’re a changed person by that time and I definitely didn’t know very much about my craft as a sideman in the beginning because that started with Bowie and then it went on into Iggy and became a bit of a rollercoaster. But I didn’t have any preparation or run-up to that. I wasn’t trying to be that. I was trying to be an artist before that and I just got bounced into that world. So the first time around with Iggy, I’d always thought during the intervening years, “Oh, my goodness. That was so great what we did but it could have been so much better with what I know now.” Because I didn’t really know – I was kind of as green as a cabbage then. And so getting the call in 2014 was a massive great opportunity to revisit some of that work. And we’re even playing some of the same songs and this time really use all the intervening experience to make it great. And I think we got half-way there! I never think I get more than anywhere more than halfway to what’s in my head – but we did some pretty good stuff.
You seem a little bit disappointed in the book that it came to an end because of Covid in a fairly low-key way rather than a big triumphant stadium gig somewhere?
That happened to lots of people! It happened to my son who was at school and then his school career just sort of fizzled out – with online lessons and no hoo-hah at the end of it. So I felt a little bit like that. It was a little bit of a victim of the pandemic. And Brexit, also, it has to be said. Because we used to be able to travel Europe-wide with no extra paperwork and even using our own equipment and driving it all around door-to-door anywhere in Europe, it was all fine. And then that all stopped and then when Iggy did this project with a French band for what was going to be a side-project – we were even saying, “Yeah we’re back in the saddle in a couple of months lads and here we go and all the rest of it.” And I was even talking to him directly about the changes to the set and all this stuff. And then it made sense, once they’d figured it out, for the French band to carry on as the Iggy band. Because they could travel freely and it was cheaper for them and there they were! I’m still in touch with Iggy – not on a very regular basis but we still have email traffic backwards and forwards and talk to each and it’s very pleasant – but it’s a bit of a shame, yeah, the way it finished. I thought we should have gone out n a blaze of glory rather than a rather desultory gig in a theme park in Budapest in 2019.
Kevin with Iggy – photo credit: Paul MCAlpine
Although you did end up still performing those songs and celebrating Iggy in quite a different way?
As you well know! Because of the great work you’ve done on the Lust For Life tour. Our friend Tom Wilcox had the idea to do a tribute thing with some ex-Iggy members so we’ve assembled Clem Burke and Glen Matlock and the excellent Katie Puckrik – who’s been a revelation to us all – singing. So we are doing that again in March 2024 and I’m looking forward to that. I even got a message from Iggy. I sent him a couple of clips of the band playing and he said, “You guys sound great!”
Lust For Life Tour – Photo credit: John Scott
Were you pleasantly surprised by the response that the Lust For Life tour got?
I definitely was, yeah. Because, as you and I know, Tom Wilcox has these amazing concepts of bands that he’d like to see put together. And some of them work and some of them go on to have a bit of a life and other ones just crash into the dust – however good they are. I recall the one we did with Richard Strange, and Lou Reed material, which I thought was very, very good but only a very few people came to sees it. But this one caught fire. Which is good really because it was originally billed, as you know, around Tony Sales – the Tin Machine bass-player and early Iggy bass-player. It was built around him and even all the merchandise had his name on and everything. And then he couldn’t make it for sort of administrative reasons so that whole tour was hanging by a thread.
It almost came to a sticky end…
It almost came to a sticky end. I had a Zoom call with Clem Burke and Tom and Katie going, “Well, what we going to do?” We’d lost the principal guy who was selling tickets and we lost a Japan trip over it. And then I thought, hang on let’s call Glen Matlock. And luckily he didn’t say no! And him and Clem had been working in Blondie, as you know, so it was brilliant. And Glen was the only person on the planet who could have filled that seat in the right way, having the Iggy connection and being a name himself. So it took off and I was very pleased with it.
And although Glen didn’t play on the Lust For Life album he’s obviously much better known in this country anyway.
Yes, he had played for Iggy. He’s played in Iggy’s band. They know each other so all of us have that connection with the music and I was so pleased with Iggy’s reaction to the band and the crowds who came as well. They really seemed to love it.
The Lust For Life band sets out on tour again in 2024
Any my final question is more of a local one really. Like a good number of musicians of a certain vintage you ended up moving from London to Hastings. Was the local music scene down here part of the attraction or was that mainly just a happy coincidence?
A bit of both really because I knew a number of musicians who were from down here so I played with Russell Field and Blair MacKichan and Liam Genockey. So I knew there was a bit of a scene down here but I was quite surprised when we moved down here and realised quite how vibrant it is. It’s actually much more active than the London area I was working in, where obviously I had my professional friends and network of people. But down here there really is a burgeoning music scene encompassing everything from young original artists to cover bands and veteran rockers and legends and all that. So there seems to be a massive culture of music in Hastings and that’s thrilling to me. It’s brilliant. I’ve been down here ten years now and it’s really in my bones now.
Yes! I’ve been here seven now and it was definitely part of the attraction for me was being able to see so many bands.
Yeah, I’ve even seen James Hunter playing in the Albion. Or you can see Liane Caroll playing for free in the wine bar in the town – it’s just great.
Photo: Darren Johnson
Fantastic! Is there anything else you want to tell us?
Just that the physical copies of the book are out in October. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon. I’m doing two little book launch events. One will be on 15th October at the Kino (St Leonards) and that will be canapes, wine, a bit of singing, a bit of meet and greet. And I think there’s quite exciting news of one coming in the next few days in Heddon Street which, of course, is the place of Ziggy fans / Bowie fans pilgrimage. And there’s a place called Ziggy’s which is relocating to the very building where that photograph was taken in front of that building. And I believe they want me to do a launch there.
And, of course, anybody can contact me through my website and get signed copies or come and meet at an event.
Also, probably worth mentioning we’re doing the Lust For Life Tour in March next year and I’m part of the Bowie convention in Liverpool in July next year as well so I look forward to meeting people there.
Encompassing folk, rock, glam, prog and much more besides – probably no-one better captures the diverse range of artists I try to cover at Darren’s Music Blog than Joshua Burnell.
I reviewed his last album, Flowers Where The Horses Sleep, noting that “for all the quirky left-field musical influences, these freshly-composed songs still manage to retain a strong folk sensibility.” This time, however, Burnell has thrown away the genre rule-book entirely. Glass Knight is a stunningly impressive album and I was privileged to witness him formally launch it at this year’s Cropredy where I described it as “Hunky Dory-era Bowie meets folk rock meets prog”.
Burnell effortlessly plays around with all of these musical strands to come up with something that’s unique, original and utterly compelling. And, importantly – whatever the genre – it’s jam-packed full of damned good, instantly hummable tunes. He’s a wonderfully inventive songwriter and a talented multi-instrumentalist and, once again, demonstrates an instinctive ear for a catchy melody and a poetic turn of phrase.
A concept-album of sorts, with a central character appearing across its ten tracks, Glass Knight encompasses everything from ecological destruction and sci-fi apocalypse to a reworking of an ancient folk tale. From the epic ‘Where Planets Collide’ which introduces the album’s central character, to the delicately poignant ‘Out Of These Worlds, to the retro glammy-sounding ‘Last Rain’ to the impossibly catchy ‘Don’t Lose Your Faith’ to the Ziggy-esque swagger of ‘Lucy’ this is an album I just cannot stop playing. In Glass Knight Joshua Burnell has turned out a bona fide twenty-first century masterpiece.
‘Bikini Vision’ is the debut single from New York-based neo-glam band, Dream Pony, who recently got in touch saying:
“We stumbled on your blog because you’ve covered a lot bands we dig.”
I get an awful lot of emails like this, of course, but as soon as I played the video I was immediately drawn to that heady blend of garage rock meets glammed-up New York punk meets timeless pop. They rightly surmised that they’d be the perfect fit for Darren’s Music Blog so we here we are. They are not wrong.
Dream Pony: “Dream Pony draw on cinematic themes and are rooted in the poetic condition of the everyday.”
“Bikini Vision is a fuzzed out beach pop anthem celebrating personal expression and body appreciation. This recording takes us on a ride through Brooklyn on hot Summers day. Songwriter D’Arsie paints a picture of a character in search of an escape from the heat and the ensuing delirium, blissfully in love with life and able to see beauty in everyone and everything. Bikini Vision has both crisp, blown out guitars, killer drum fills driving bass, swirling organs and cruisy backing vocals. Somewhat equal parts Iggy Pop sarcasm and Rowland S Howard irony.”
Dream Pony were formed in late 2022 by singer-songwriter and poet Jordan D’Arsie (from NYC proto-punk combo Women of the Night) and Aaron Mika (from the band Televisionaries). The pair were then joined by Supremo Massiv on bass, from another NYC outfit Revel in Dimes.
“Can you recommend any decent hotels in the area?” a friend from London texted. “We’re coming to see Graham Nash at Bexhill.”
“Ooh that sounds quite interesting,” I thought, and after duly making my hotel recommendation, I went online and booked my own ticket.
Billed as ‘Sixty Years of Songs & Stories’ the ten-date UK tour celebrates the 81-year old Graham Nash’s six decades of writing, recording and performing.
I’m aware of his hits with The Hollies in the early days, of course, and (courtesy of a couple of compilations) I’m also pretty familiar with some of the best-known songs by both Crosby, Still & Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I can’t claim to have followed his solo career in any great depth but, nevertheless, I felt confident that this tour was going to be something rather special and something I didn’t want to miss.
You could be forgiven for thinking the ‘Songs & Stories’ moniker meant the evening was going to be based on that familiar format that’s become rather popular with performers of a certain vintage in recent years: a sofa, lots and lots of chat, anecdotes galore and a few songs thrown in for good measure. But no, this is a proper full-blown gig, with not a sofa in sight.
Nash is joined on stage by his two longstanding collaborators, Shane Fontayne (guitar and vocals) and Todd Caldwell (keyboards and vocals) – excellent musicians both of them. It’s truly magical hearing the trio perform classics likes of ‘Marrakesh Express’, ‘Find The Cost of Freedom’ (dedicated to the people of Ukraine), ‘Cathedral’ and ‘Our House’. Nash is in fine voice, aided by some beautiful harmonising from Fontayne and Caldwell.
There is even a new album to promote on this tour. Now was released earlier this year and we get to hear songs from that, too, including the poignant ‘A Better Life’ – described by Nash as a continuation of the themes expressed in ‘Teach Your Children’ and his hope for a better, more sustainable, more peaceful future for humanity.
As well as performing his own songs, Nash also expresses heartfelt appreciation for some of his closest collaborators, friends and musical heroes, paying tribute in the form of songs written by Allan Clark, David Crosby and Stephen Stills. There’s also ‘Buddy’s Back’ – Nash’s self-penned and wonderfully evocative tribute to Buddy Holly (“We were called The Hollies for God’s sake!”)
After an enthusiastic standing ovation the band are back on stage for an encore of Buddy Holly’s ‘Everyday’ and CSNY’s ‘Teach Your Children’. A joyous end to an incredible evening and a fitting way to celebrate the career of someone who has made such a positive mark on popular music these past sixty years.
Set-list:
Wasted on the Way
Bus Stop
I Used to Be a King
Find the Cost of Freedom
Military Madness
Right Between the Eyes
A Better Life
Buddy’s Back
Marrakesh Express
To the Last Whale (Critical Mass / Wind on the Water)
Hailing from Dartford in Kent, Tizane began writing songs as a young teenager when chronic anxiety issues forced her to miss much of her schooling and spend many hours in her bedroom. By 2019 she began venturing out on to the open mic scene around the west Kent/south-east London borders where her talents as both a writer and performer were spotted by independent label, Burning Girl, who released her well-received debut album Cherry back in 2021.
The 22-year old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has now followed that up with a second album, released on the same label earlier this Summer. Coming out towards the end of June Forever Is Nothing has picked up a slew of positive reviews.
The album is engineered by Pat Collier, a founder member of London punk band, The Vibrators, who has gone on to produce for artists like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and X-Ray Spex.
Collier says of Tizane:“I think she’s (Tizane) one of the most talented and gifted artists I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with.”
Tizane shares writing credits on the album with fellow band members: guitarist, Charlie Harris; bass player, Nathan Gordon; and drummer, Greg Titmarsh.
Of particular interest to those who come to Darren’s music blog mainly for the glam content, however, is the track ‘Every Minute’ which is co-written with former Mud guitarist, Rob Davis. As well as writing songs like ‘L-Lucy’ for Mud, he went on to have an illustrious career as an in-demand songwriter long after the Mud hits dried up, most notably co-writing the Kylie Minogue smash-hit ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’.
Deliberately taking a slightly more muscular approach than its predecessor but still providing plenty of light and shade, Forever is Nothing is a pleasing blend of riff-driven alt-rock and jangly, brooding gothic pop. This, her second album, is an impressive showcase for Tizane’s haunting, ethereal vocals and intelligent, thought-provoking songwriting.
If this type of music is your bag and if you aren’t familiar with her work already, Tizane should certainly be right up there on your ‘one-to-watch’ list.
Seven Stories part one (EP): released 22nd September 2023
“Storytelling is at the heart of Duffy’s songwriting but she finds a unique angle or topic on each track that brings a fresh perspective to a common and relatable issue.” – Maverick magazine on the 2021 debut EP from Little Lore
Following her fantastically well-received debut EP as a solo artist back in 2021, Seven Stories is the latest recording project from Tricia Duffy and her singer-songwriter alter ego, Little Lore. Seven Stories will be released digitally in the form of two corresponding EPs, Seven Stories part one, which comes out on 22nd September and Seven Stories part two, which will come out in February next year. A CD version, featuring all seven songs from both parts one and two, will also be released in February 2024.
Little Lore:“I had seven songs and I decided to release it in two parts: Seven Stories part one and Seven Stories part two. There’s a real variety of styles. Death is one of my favourite subjects to write about so there are a couple of quite bleak, sad, death songs. I’ve got some wry wit in there as well. There’s obviously a climate change one as well – I always like to include one of those. It’s a figurative song written from the perspective of the planet.”
For the full interview with Little Lore visit here
Featuring Little Lore’s compelling storytelling, irresistible melodies and heartfelt vocals, Seven Stories is again produced by renowned New York-based producer and multi-instrumentalist, Oli Deakin (who records under the name of Lowpines). As with the debut Little Lore EP and subsequent singles, Oli Deakin provides the lush instrumentation on each of the tracks, with Morgan Karabel, once again, featuring on drums.
Little Lore adds: “I recorded the vocals in a studio in Kent with an amazing producer and engineer called Paul Stanborough. Lowpines (Oli Deakin) has done the production and all of the instrumentation again and Morgan Karabel is playing drums once more. It is important to me to have women in the team so having a female drummer is really cool.”
On working with Little Lore, Oli Deakin comments:“Working with Tricia on her records as Little Lore has been a really fun journey. As a producer it’s always exciting to work with people who have great ideas, and even more so when they’re also open to building on those ideas and trusting where that might lead. Tricia has been very generous with that trust, which I think has given us both a lot of confidence to be adventurous with our approach, both in the writing and the recording. It’s super rewarding to go out on a limb with an idea and have it land in a place we both get excited about!”
Seven Stories part one will be released in all the main digital formats on 22nd September, with a CD featuring all seven songs from parts one and two being released in February 2024.
Running on Empty:“Written from the perspective of the planet, it’s sort of a love letter to the human race. The lyrics start “I hold you gently, while you destroy me. Running on Empty. I love you anyway. To get into the frame of mind I needed to write the song, I physically wrote a letter to humanity to help me get the sense of what I wanted to say, that the planet will survive the climate crisis just fine after we humans have wiped ourselves out, but she (Mother Earth) acknowledges that she benefits from some of our interventions. Despite the big topic, it’s a relatively simple song with a haunting Americana vibe.”
Stolen Glances: “I wrote this song in response to a prompt from the Song-a-week challenge run by James Tristan Redding in Nashville. The prompt was “Stolen Glances” and I was travelling home from Cornwall on the train. I remember opening my computer and typing “on a train facing backwards, I steal glances”. It has had quite a lot of re-writes since that first draft – I think the original version is still knocking around on YouTube somewhere – it’s quite a different song lyrically now. I tried to capture the sense of movement and observation that can be inspired on long journeys, the narrator is searching for answers, but there is almost a sense of not quite knowing what questions she is asking. I think we have all felt that way at some point in our lives.”
The Bench: “This devastating song was inspired by the benches that line the seafront in St. Ives in Cornwall and the true story of a friend of mine who tragically lost her husband a few years ago. The song tells the tale of a man and a women who meet and fall in love despite their age difference. He leaves her once because of the social discourse around their circumstances, but later returns and they marry only to have him leave her again. In the bridge it is revealed he hasn’t left her voluntarily, but died. In many societies benches are incredibly important to people, who use them to memorialise their loved ones with plaques that articulate their feelings about a particular place. “He loved this place” – for example. By centring the story around the bench, we have a sense of a specific location with which to build the narrative. And I believe this makes it more relatable as a result.”
Sebastian Says: “This is a song about imposter syndrome and the inner critic. I have named the voice in my head Sebastian so this is my tribute to him and a good way to tell him to button it! Obviously it had to be a man who tells me I am too fat, doormat, too old, too cold etc. It is a full on driving rock Americana song which probably needs to be played at full volume!”
Seven Stories part one: release information:
Written by – Tricia Duffy
Vocals – Tricia Duffy
Produced by – Oli Deakin
The Bench Drums – Oli Deakin
All other tracks Drums – Morgan Karabel
All other instruments – Oli Deakin
Vocal Recording – Paul Stanborough at Chapel Studio, Kent
Artwork – Afiya Paice
About Little Lore:
Little Lore is a London based, Indie-Americana singer-storyteller whose songs are both charmingly accessible and yet beguilingly challenging. You’ll want to listen twice. When you combine British wit and wordplay with cherished Americana roots, musical magic starts to happen. Based in Chiswick, west London, and originally hailing from Portsmouth, Tricia Duffy started her singing career in a live covers band performing popular rock classics. Over time, however, a strong desire emerged to begin writing and performing her own material and she formed an acoustic Americana duo with fellow musician, Al Bird. Duffy & Bird released a well-received album ‘5 Lines’ in 2017 and a follow-up EP ‘Spirit Level’ in 2019.
While Al subsequently decided to take a back seat from recording and performing, Tricia was keen to take things a step further. Little Lore was born. Her debut solo EP, Little Lore, was released in 2021 to glowing reviews. The singles, ‘Shallow’, ‘Brown Liquor John’ and ‘Birds’ were released in 2022 to similar acclaim, followed by another equally well-received single ‘Normal’ in January 2023. In her songs, Little Lore brings together an affection for the heart and heritage of Americana music, with an intelligence and maturity of storytelling that can sweep you away into new and unexpected emotional worlds.
“Vibrant, inventive and joyful” is how I summed up The Light Of The Moon, the second album from Gnoss, when it was released back in 2021. Now they are back with a follow-up, Stretching Skyward. Always vibrant and joyful, the inventiveness, too, certainly continues on this, their third album. Containing all original material, save for a cover of Gillian Welch’s ‘Hard Times’, the album fizzes with virtuoso musicianship, enticing melodies and rich sound textures. And in ‘Hamnavoe’ the second track on the album that celebrates Orkney’s Viking heritage and mythology (written, like the other original songs on the album, by vocalist Aidan Moodie), they have turned out a genuine, bona fide folk anthem.
Aidan Moodie:“Each track is centred around a story that has change at its heart. Those stories gave us pause to look at the change that’s taken place in our own lives over the past few years. We wanted to reflect this idea within the sounds we used to construct the album.”
Once more with the established line-up of Aidan Moodie, Graham Rorie, Connor Sinclair and Craig Baxter, this album again features Braebach’s James Lindsey on electric and double bass. In keeping with the theme of change though, the band embrace less traditional sounds, too, including synths, electronic samples and state-of-the-art production techniques.
A stunning album from a band demonstrating they are still very much at the top of their game and passionate about their rightful place at the cutting edge of Scottish folk.
Both highly sought-after musicians on the Scottish traditional scene, harpist, Rachel Hair, and guitarist, Ron Jappy, first came together to record as a duo back in 2019 with the album Sparks. Élan is the pair’s long-awaited follow-up comprising Hair’s original compositions alongside a number of traditional tunes and a handful by other contemporary writers.
Rachel Hair:“Élan is more closely related to who we are as musicians and people, than my previous releases. There are nods to my Highland background, with tunes from the Captain Simon Fraser collection, tunes I’ve written to do with Ullapool and Lochbroom, as well as pipe tunes. There are also sets of Irish tunes as a nod to the Glasgow-Irish music scene, and from the Isle of Man where my husband is from.”
A delightful album, the distinctive combination of acoustic guitar and harp brings a fresh perspective to traditional Celtic music and the duo’s treatment of tunes, both new and old, is invigorating and rather moreish. An album I’ll definitely want to return to.
Gavin Marwick & Wendy Stewart – Quarterdays: Whitsun
Whitsun is the second release in a series of EPs released by fiddle-player, Gavin Marwick, under the banner of the Quarterdays series of EPs being released across 2023. On this release, featuring new contemporary tunes composed by Marwick in a traditional style, he is joined by the renowned Galloway harpist, Wendy Stewart, with whom he also works in the alternative/folk string quintet, the Galloway Agreement.
Gavin Marwick & Wendy Stewart:“This second EP is a voyage of discovery into the lore and history of Whitsun. It’s a celebration of May and the beginning of the summer – the beasts are now all out in the fields, the primroses are still blooming – and in religious/spiritual terms it is mixed in with Pentecost and Beltane, holy wells and weddings. There are balmy warm days yet still the chance of bitter cold.”
While I’m late coming to this, the beautiful melodies and gentle interplay between Gavin Marwick’s fiddle and Wendy Stewart’s harp perfectly capture the atmosphere of a warm late-spring and come next May I’ll definitely be celebrating my favourite time of the year with a few spins of the Quarterdays: Whitsun EP.
An album of traditional songs and tunes from the Galloway area of south-west Scotland, singer and fiddler, Jo Miller, is joined by several musicians with close connections to the area. Miller is well-known for her work in community-based traditional music, formal education, and academic research. This recording draws on her research in the uplands of the Glenkens where she grew up, interviewing local residents and investigating historical sources.
Jo Miller:“I’m delighted to be sharing these songs and tunes which all have a personal association for me. You will also hear the spoken word, birdsong and singing for dancing – an aural landscape which not only evokes the former life of the Glenkens and its people, but also points toward its lively music culture in the present.”
Both poignant and entertaining, not to mention being a wonderful piece of living social history (with the performances on the album seeking to recreate the intimate atmosphere of performances at rural schools, individual homes and small schoolhouses where these songs were traditionally performed), A’ The Wat To Galloway is a wonderful celebration of the music and cultural life of this particular corner of Scotland.
With a blend of traditional Scottish and Irish folk, fused from a melting pot of gypsy melodies, bluegrass, Spanish, and Balkan influences (and much more besides!) Dallahan are Jack Badcock (guitar), Ciaran Ryan (banjo and mandolin), Andrew Waite (accordion and Benedict Morris (fiddle). Formed a decade ago, Speak of the Devil is the band’s fourth album.
Jack Badcock:“We believe it’s the band’s most accomplished and assured album to date. It’s been a while in the melting pot because each member of the band was incredibly busy with commitments as Covid eased off and the music world opened up again – not least Ciaran who was still working at a job he picked up during the pandemic as a fine dining chef!”
Featuring ten tracks of original material (four songs and six tunes) Speak of the Devil showcases a band that exudes confidence and creativity and is never afraid to be that bit different. The plethora of different influences and traditions that the band pull into their music, from the nifty banjo-playing to the jazz-like licks to the Spanish and Latin-American themes in the song lyrics, means that this album will appeal far beyond the confines of traditional folk, with much to enjoy here for devotees of bluegrass, world music and more.
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