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PLAYING OUT LOUD! Hamilton Loomis - Summer Blues
Festival, Hayling Island - Sunday August 6. Hamilton Loomis took Bo’s advice, and his since shown that he is not just “another cat-in-a-hat with a Strat.” He has crafted his blues roots into a funk-a-fi ed recipe all his own. A multi-instrumentalist, Hamilton practically grew up in the spotlight. He began on drums and piano at age five, mastered the guitar at age six, then conquered the harmonica. Gigging non-stop since he was 14, he formed a family doo-wop group with his musician parents. By 17, he had played the world-famous Delta Blues Festival for an audience of 40,000. Before he was 18, he was writing, arranging, and performing his own material. He produced his first CD, titled simply “Hamilton,” which received a Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary Album of the Year." Bo Diddley described Hamilton's second disc, “Just Gimme One Night,” this way: "You got to put some seasoning in what you're doin', and this boy's got the whole salt shaker!" Hamilton's third release, “All Fired Up,” his fourth, “Live: Highlights,” and his latest, "Kickin' It", on Blind Pig Records set the stage for him to stake his claim as a top contemporary performer. Touring for the past three years, his band radiates a potent vibe and boasts razor-sharp arrangements, Hammond underbelly and Hamilton's groove-driven guitar, all weaving around his silky, soul-drenched vocals. "I can't forget the legends who believed in me, so paying my dues must include giving back to the community," states Hamilton. He has taught blues in the schools, holds community blues tributes, and gives regular harmonica clinics. Very few artists are able to meld such a strong sense of the past with such an ardent vision of the future. Above all, performing is Hamilton's
forte. He establishes an easy rapport with his audience, which instantly feels
his love of the music. Chris Rose of Eminence Speaker Corporation summed it up.
"Seeing him perform at the 2001 NAMM Show renewed my faith in new music. He's
the hottest thing out of Texas since the jalapeno!" Philip Roebuck - The Joiners,
Southampton - Monday August 28. Phillip Roebuck was born in Norfolk, Virginia. His father was a folk singer, and Phillip started playing guitar and writing music himself at the age of twelve. Ten years later, he moved to New York City, where he developed his banjo style, performing every single day in the subway or on the street. He constructed his first one man band apparatus out of a suitcase and a luggage cart. Over time, the set up evolved into a harness outfit worn on his back, fitted with a small bass drum and tambourine, and operated by cables attached at the heels to custom-built spurs. This is the same instrument Phillip uses now. Before the development of the one man band, Phillip played in several New York based bands, the most recent being Brooklyn Browngrass Speaking about his music, Philip says: "The drums were already in me. I learned to play the banjo living in New York. When you play the banjo there’s always some foot tapping. I'd write songs in my apartment, tapping on the floors, and in the subways, the concrete didn't sound the same. I started using a cigar box, but broke it. That's when I decided I needed more. I built it (the bass drum backpack thing) in one afternoon", explains Roebuck. "Obviously its incredibly limiting. I try not to think about that. There's so much I still haven't done. I have to learn something new every time I write a song. The challenge is part of the appeal." Besides being voted the best subway performer by the New York Press in 2002, he’s been cultivating a nationwide following in the USA thanks to a life based on touring and hype free music. He criss-crosses the country, now, behind the wheel of a Subaru Baha, with only his bass drum harness riding shotgun. "I didn’t study any proper style. Its a bastard style. Becoming a one-man band isn't something I did consciously. It just happened. One day it was like, Holy shit, I'm a one-man band! I've tried my hand at other things. I feel like I have more to offer playing music than anything else. It comes naturally. So much stuff is shoved down your throat these days. Its about being connected to other human beings for me. That's what its all about. "The Weekly Volcano publication sums up Philip’s style thus: "Phillip Roebuck is poorly suited to written description. Merely describing what he does makes it sound trivial, when it is actually mind-blowing. Phillip is a one-man band in the traditional mould: He sings, plays banjo and harmonica with a bass drum strapped to his back, which he operates with a foot-powered harness that also plays the tambourine and maracas. See? That sounds silly, doesn't it? But Phil isn't silly, he is both a delightful oddity and the purest kind of genius. He plays in a frenetic style that suits his reedy, mountain-style singing, and manages to sound both plaintive and raucous at the same time. Look past the contraption and be enlightened." And in the programme notes to All Tomorrow's Parties 2004: "His songs reverberate with an aberrant panache and disseminate a sound like no other. Keeping true to the 'play anywhere... to anyone' ethics of his predecessors, Phillip is as at home on the street corners of New York as he is on stages around the world. He is a chimeric creation of circumstance and accident. The most untainted kind of genius. A true, modern day American troubadour. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to meet Phillip Roebuck."
RazorBladeKisses - The Railway Inn, Winchester -
Saturday August 19. Formed at the height of the millennium in February 2000, RazorBladeKisses is fronted by two female vocalists from Persia, Layla and Azadeh, who create unique lyrical and dark melodies. Although their music could be described as genre-defying, RazorBladeKisses have a strong Goth element in their music. They themselves describe it as "a secret recipe for a twisted dark fairytale that would have children crawling into corners clutching their dolls and toys. A fairytale that can conjure back haunting memories from the days of childhood and yet be so fragile, soothing and dreamy as to accompany the listener on the saddest days of a cold autumn and chill the soul on a summer night. The haunting harmonies and sweetly spooky stories unfolded in the bands eerie, ethereal and enchanting sound scapes are innocent, yet deviously deceiving, seductive and edgy. Whether in a dollhouse or in the deepest core of the enchanted woods, the audience is presented with an elegantly constructed performance that is an intriguing, sensuous and playfully sinister aural and visual musical feast."
Sounds interesting as the following reviews for RazerBladeKisses confirm: "I like the way they fuse guitar rock and tripped, spooky toybox goth with classical and Middle Eastern influences. Strongly reminiscent of midperiod Cranes to me" - Warren Ellis, January 2005 "Possibly the brightest hope on the UK scene just because they have such fun on the surface but such mystery in the depths. Goth and Pop, inextricably linked, and maddeningly exciting..." Mick Mercer, Jan 2005.
Support for their gig at The Railway on the 19th comes from Flip Monroe + The
Tulips.
Birds of Wales - Talking Heads, Southampton - Friday
August 4. All we can tell you is that the band was formed by singer/songwriter Morgan Ross, initially a solo act. Morgan had been making music for some time in the Vancouver area, but wanted to take the storytelling aspect and honesty of folk music and couple it with the raw energy and emotional impact of rock music to create what is known, to increasingly larger circles, as Birds of Wales. He had been playing shows in Northern British Columbia and Vancouver for several years, but relocated to Toronto to form Birds of Wales. There he enlisted Mike Caputo on guitar, Paul Barry on drums, and Scott Christian on keyboards, while he played bass. Despite only playing together since October 2005, Birds of Wales have played some of Canada's largest and most coveted concert venues such as Lees Palace, Horseshoe Tavern and Richards on Richards. In January 2006, they commanded a crowd more than 150 people over Toronto's Drake Hotels legal limit; A sold out Lee's Palace show on May 5th, and a ridiculously successful homecoming show in Vancouver at Richards on Richards May 23rd, all in support of their first self titled EP. In just a couple of months after the release of the disc Birds of Waleshad sold around 2000 copies of their independently released product. Birds Of Wales are actually the support act at the Talking Heads gig on the 4th - The Young Brothers a Southampton rock/roots act are headlining. The music starts at around 10pm and it’s a mere fiver to get in. Doors open at 8pm. For further information just ring 02380 678446.
Gabby Young Collective - Mr Kyps, Poole - Wednesday
August 23. Gabby Young's music transcends genres, decades and continents. She brings together elements of rock, folk, pop, soul, blues, jazz and funk and whips it into an operatic aria. Her unique singing voice was discovered at an early age. Indeed she was one of the youngest singers to be invited to join the prestigious Nation Youth Choir of Great Britain. Her incredible breadth of musical talent encompasses composing, playing many instruments, being in college choirs, playing in college orchestras, singing in rock, jazz and funk bands, recording house music for discos in Italy, and performing operative arias for concerts, weddings and funerals. After studying at music college in London, Gabby returned to her family home in Wiltshire and started writing songs. A chance meeting on the internet with a talented American musician called Jamie Bright turned everything around. He generously gave up his life in the US to live in the UK with Gabby and to plan a summer US tour together. After 6 months gigging in the UK and Europe, they recorded Gabby's debut album "Free Second Memory" in just a week, before putting on 40 shows in some 25 US states. As a result, Gabby has a huge fan base in the US. Last October, she was invited to support Al "The Cat" Stewart at three of his UK gigs, culminating in his 60th Birthday concert in front of 2,000 at the Barbican. She has now gained a collective of musicians to back her and they are taking London and Wiltshire by storm as 'The Gabby Young Collective'. One review sums up her talents thus: “This is someone with personality to burn and a great joie de vivre - you will hear it in her songs. Her voice is an eclectic mix of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Jeff Buckley and Marc Bolan. Her soulful, shimmering voice is so powerful it will leave you breathless, whilst her starkly original lyrics conjure up images that will remain long after her show is over.” The band lines up with on vocals, guitar and piano, David on guitar, Al on lead guitar, Rob on bass and Spam on drums.
Sparks - Ferneham Hall, Fareham - Friday August 4. Sparks were among the founders of glam-rock. They were formed by brothers Ron and Russell Mael in Los Angeles in 1971. Initially the band was called Halfn elson. Unlike their British counterparts, whose emphasis was on eccentric and outrageous behavior, the Sparks focused on eccentric and outrageous musical style. Their' music borrowed from pop, soul, hard-rock and progressive-rock. Their style was encapsulated on the album “A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing” in 1972 with Russell's strange falsetto well to the fore. The brothers relocated to London and reformed Sparks with a new line-up to produce “Kimono My House” in 1974 which contained their first major single “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” which reached No 2 in the UK charts. More albums followed: Propaganda in 1975, “Indiscreet” in the same year, (“Big Beat” in 19076 and “Introducing” in 1977. During the 70s the hits just flowed, the most successful including “Amateur Hour” and “Beat The Clock.” Sparks produced a bit of synth-pop on the album “Angst In My Pants” in 1982, then came “Sparks In Outer Space” in 1983 and “Cool Places, and “Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat” in 1984). “Music That You Can Dance To” and “Design” later in the 80s were another couple of syth-pop albums. In the 90s a career retrospective album “Profile” was released then came a six-year hiatus before Sparks released “The Gratuitous Sax And Senseless Violins.” Another six-year interval followed before “Balls” was released. Sparks then reinvented themselves with “Lil' Beethoven” in the new millennium. Appearing in 2003 the album contained the seven-minute “Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls. Their latest album released earlier this year “Hello Young Lovers” sees Sparks back to their witty, operatic best. |
Featured artists:
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Southampton's No 1 recording studio
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One
of the new breed of blues artists takes the stage at the Summer Blues Festival
at Warners Lakeside in Hayling Island on August 6. Hamilton Loomis is the name
of the twenty-something Texan whose career has been on an upward surge since he
took the advice of his mentor, the great Bo Diddley - "Innovate, don't imitate."
A
remarkable one man band from the USA is coming to The Joiners in Southampton
this month. Monday August 28 is the date you can see one Philip Roebuck, a
banjo-playing human dynamo based in New York. But Philip doesn’t just play the
banjo - a series of contraptions strapped to his back enables him to play
cymbals, tambourine and a bass drum at the same time. And he sings too!
The
Railway Inn in Winchester play host to RazorBladeKisses, a Southampton band with
a unique sound, on Saturday August 19.
Don’t
ask us where Canadian folk-rock band Birds of Wales got their monicker from.
Just go along to Talking Heads music venue in Southampton on Friday August 4 and
you can ask them yourself.
There’s
an intriguing gig at Mr Kyps music venue in Poole this month when the Gabby
Young Collective play “in the round” at the intimate venue. Singer-songwriter
Gabby, a Wiltshire lass brings her band to Mr Kyps on Wednesday August 23 after
a successful tour of the USA.
One
of the highlights of the Wickham Festival taking place in North Hampshire this
month is a concert by one of the most original bands of the 70s. 
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All content is provided on a "as is" basis & no responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies. |