Live and Local - Archangel

You could spend Saturday afternoon driving to some impossibly distant 'branded retail experience'. On the other hand you could take advantage of that which is local. Call me old-fashioned if you like but I rather prefer walking for ten minutes to get where I want to be. That applies to the shops. This is a bonus - it is much cheaper and more satisfying than retail therapy too.  

Nicky Swann and Katie Marie @ Archangel, Frome - November 5, 2011.

What You Just Missed... Acoustic Moon 2

It's still pretty new and it certainly hasn't settled in to any comfortable slot yet, but that is not to say that Acoustic Moon is anything other than remarkable.   It is now harder than one might imagine to find an evening when there is not at least one live, often acoustic, event taking place within a few miles of Frome. In a local live-music milieu that is currently firing on all cylinders live, and in particular finding an audience, is not always easy however good the event and reasonable the admission.
Spoilt for choice, you might say, but you'd surely miss it if it were to disappear. This is just a flavour of what you missed last Thursday evening. It is not, in any sense, a rarefied or exclusive event. However little or much you know about the acoustic music scene is quite unimportant - all that matters is the enjoyment of live music whether it is familiar or not.
  
The first to play was an act, Cadencia, that I had not seen before. Original compositions played in Spanish guitar style, this was both acoustic and entirely instrumental.

Following that came Frome-based guitar duo Leonardo's Bicycle - it takes its name from a relatively obscure cover version that, of course, they played. Part of their special appeal is the irreverent and rather varied banter that intersperses the songs some of which, including the splendid 'Cley Hill' that is about a local landmark, are their own compositions.

They were one of the guests on the monthly 'Live Lounge' on Frome FM in September and that is worth a listen (which you can do right here and right now).
  
The second half was given over to two artists who had come up-country from distant South Devon especially for this.  Nicky Swann previewed several songs from her forthcoming album, which has as its theme stories of the sea and seafaring.

This one is 'Newfoundland' and is about the fishermen who, from the 16th century onward, set sail from the ports of Devon and Cornwall to catch cod on the far-off Newfoundland Banks. There is an awful lot of very impressive new folk coming from the south west at the moment and this album is destined to add more to it.
She returns to Acoustic Moon for a second time on November 25, and I expect we shall hear more from this project then.
Last to play was Katie Marie, also from South Devon, and someone I have have heard and also mentioned in these posts before who also accompanied Nicky during some of the aforementioned set.

This was taken during the song 'Rostock', about touring in Germany.

  

Why not come along and join us for the next Acoustic Moon on October 27?  If you can't wait that long then just sidle into Acoustic+, at the Cheese and Grain, Frome, on Friday 14 October - doors 8pm and admission £5 - for a slightly different take on acoustic.

Live music is not scary - all ages can enjoy it and are welcome...

A young audience and Lady Nade, live at Frome Festival - 9 July 2011.

Acoustic+, Frome, September 16, 2011

After a summer recess, following the Frome Festival, the event returned to the Cheese & Grain Friday last.  The turn out was very encouraging and the audience was to hear some great music.

Four acts, as usual all very good, and the first to play was Ali George. Great guitar song-writing and largely unaccompanied.

The second is one that I have somehow managed to miss on more than one occasion previously. They come from Bristol and are Poppy and Friends.

  

There is a new EP - Flagged and Born To Be, just released to d/l (and also as a limited CD)...

  

...almost all of which are not however prone to fraying around the edges.

Next up was Dirk Landish. The album 'Blissful Drunken Blues' should be added to my suggestions for autumnal/fall music (see preceding post) and in this case it is harder to tell from which side of the Atlantic it draws the most inspiration. 

Excellent I thought and seemingly I was far from the only one to think so, at an event that was very well attended. You can listen to much of the album on his site and also buy the album direct from there too.

  

Last, and thus headlining, were Bakudan. Combining African rhythm with other influences they are fusion beyond pigeon-holing. I saw a bit of Tinariwen (at End Of The Road Festival) a couple of weeks back and I didn't really get that. Perhaps it was just a case of live music overload but, whatever the matter, I found this much more accessible and appealing.

  

So much so that, rather than choose between these pictures, here are both of them.

  

All of this for £5.  The next Acoustic+ takes place in the same venue, Cheese & Grain, Frome on October 14, 2011.

Of course you can't wait that long but then you don't have to because Acoustic Moon 2  is barely a week away and also promises a full evening of music for £5.

Acoustic+ 27 May

There is always a problem in store; one of ever increasing expectations. Another one is where to start. In this case I'm going to heed some old advice...
"Start at the beginning, continue to the end and then stop."  First to play was Douglas Hamilton and I must say it took a while for me to appreciate his song writing style.
Originally from Nebraska and very much American, this is not a problem musically or otherwise to me, but this time it just took a while for me to get his line. These songs he sung and played solo, either on electric keyboard or acoustic guitar.
  

Sometimes that lack of immediacy is actually a good thing. Currently based in Somerset, for the last track he was joined by a couple of members of Appalachia for a song that, he commented later, American audiences don't understand...
  

This was about the English belief that whatever has gone wrong it can be solved by brewing a pot of tea. It is not that of a sardonic outsider looking at the foibles of the English, which accounts for its reception in the US perhaps, but a rather acute observation.
It reminds me of two things: the commentary that Bill Bryson routinely makes in 'Notes From A Small Island' - and the reason we later adopted him as the head of the Council For The Protection of Rural England. Outsiders can sometimes see and explain the value of what we just take for granted. The song itself is also probably one of the best that Flanders and Swann never wrote or recorded and I don't suppose that even the irascible W.S. Gilbert would be particularly disappointed.
  
Next to play was Katie Marie, all the way from Totnes, with some very accomplished acoustic guitar and fine songs - traditional in many ways and certainly entirely acoustic but not hidebound in style or content.
  

I'd seen her play live before as part of Nicky Swann's band but this was quite something: Great songs, great singing and oooh... that guitar.  If you doubt me go see live... in the meanwhile get the album 'To The Journey'.  It is currently sold out on CD but available to download (Amazon, iTunes, etc.).  I was assured that another batch of CDs is on order too. I would buy this on vinyl if that were possible and I said as much.
  

Leonardo's Bicycle were next on stage. They hail from Frome but their twin harmony guitar and vocals have a great deal of influence from across the Atlantic; a neat counterpoint to Douglas Hamilton. Fascinating were their, rather successful, attempts to imitate the sounds of pedal steel guitar. Now that's something I'd like to see at the Cheese & Grain for real...
Last, so headlining, were The Pigeons. This was a good contrast and also a very good performance indeed. Somewhat less acoustic than the forgoing but very taut and well thought out.

My verdict is that it was another stunning Acoustc+.

  

The question is that, because it raises the bar yet higher, how can it top that in July?  There is also an announcement coming - there is another Acoustic event on the horizon in the greater Frome area...