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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
The Johnsons - Drakes, Basingstoke -
Sunday January 8 & The Railway Inn, Winchester Friday January 13 & Central
Studio, Basingstoke Saturday January 28.
 Self-confessed
“dirty, dirty rock n’ rollers” from Basingstoke, The Johnsons, make three
appearances in Hampshire this month. The band, fronted by striking female
vocalist and guitarist Nadeen White play Drakes in their home town as support to
Sodgenessabounds in an all-dayer on Sunday the 8th. Then they play The Railway
Inn in Winchester on Friday January 13 and the Central Studio in Basingstoke on
Saturday January 28.
The band got together about three years ago when bass player Ian Fuller and
guitarist Jake Knight met for a few beers in their local pub. They decided to
form a band uniting elements of the music they loved: punk, blues and rock and
roll. Recruiting mutual friend drummer James Sturtridge they started writing
their own material, before recruiting Nadeen who they both knew from drunken
dancing at a local pub. With Nadeen’s input the bands’ songs started to take
shape. The Johnsons soon established themselves as a solid, anarchic and
flamboyant act on the local live music scene, winning a Battle of the Bands
competition at Drakes.
They also began recording, releasing their first EP, “Dirty Rock N’Roll,”
following up with two more EPs “Return To the Place Of Dead Roads” and “Holy
Moly.” More recently they have released another EP “Ready For Action.” So you’ve
got three chances to see a band who have been described as “always ready to make
ya shake ya sleazy stuff and have ya dribbling, drooling and bleeding from every
orifice!”
Eileen Rose - The Railway Inn,
Winchester - Sunday January 29.
 Fans
of Americana can stick Sunday January 29 in their diaries. That’s the
date of a triple bill featuring Eileen Rose, Gilbert French and Stocks &
Powell at The Railway Inn in Winchester.
Eileen Rose was born in Saugus, a tough suburb of Boston, Massachusetts and
brought up in her close-knit Italian-Irish American family, the youngest of
five sisters and three brothers. Eileen studied criminal law but disappointed
her mum and dad by running away to England to become a rock star. Following a
couple of false starts with bands, she got a solo career under way and hasn't
looked back since.
Her records and electrifying live performances have won her a dedicated
following of both fans and critics. No-one sings about regret and precious time
lost like Eileen Rose. Her album “Come The Storm” saw Eileen moving into a
number of new directions although retaining a core alt country feel. It was
mostly written over the winter of 2003/2004 on Martha's Vineyard. Eileen was
renting an atmospheric house once owned by the artist Thomas Hart Benton who
numbered Jackson Pollock among his students. Benton and Pollock used to hang out
there and drink and the house is filled with their pictures. “There was
nobody around, it was the dead of winter, the whole place was blanketed in
snow,”
says Eileen. “I ended up feeling like Jack Nicholson in “The Shining.” I
think I went a little crazy.” The songs which reflect the intensity of that
experience were subsequently recorded at the famous Long View Farm studios in
Massachusetts, used by the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and Stevie Wonder among
many
others.
For more information about Eileen see
www.eileenrose.com . Tickets for the
gig are £8 through 01962 867795.
Dan Phelps - Havant Arts Centre, Havant - Friday
January 20 & Forest Arts, New Milton Friday January 27th.
 If
you like early acoustic blues, then guitarist and singer Dan Phelps is the man
for you. A native of Illinois, Dan plays two dates in Hampshire this month - at
Havant Arts Centre on Friday January 20, and Forest Arts, New Milton the
following Friday.
His one-man shows singing and playing traditional, acoustic blues such as the
Delta and slide styles of greats like Son House and Charley Patton, as well as
ragtime styles like Rev Gary Davis & Blind Blake have entertained fans in the
South of England on previous tours.
Dan has also opened for and shared bills with Bob Brozman, Alvin Youngblood
Hart, Woody Mann, Mike Dowling, Pat Donohue, Lightnin’ Willie and the Poorboys
and CJ Chenier among many others. While touring the UK in 2004, Dan appeared on
BBC 2’s blues show hosted by Paul Jones. The response was overwhelming and he
was invited back again in the spring of 2005.
On the recording front, Dan put out his first full-length CD “Broke Down Engine”
in 2003. The CD was produced by Matthew Fox, who has worked with such folk
greats as Peter Ostroushko, Kari Larson and Dakota Dave Hull. Earlier
this year Dan released his latest album “Matchbox Blues.” Produced by 4-time
EMMY nominee, Roger Adler, the CD includes a mixture of superb ragtime-style
guitar and delta slide work highlighting Dan’s special blues guitar skills.
For more information about Dan visit his website at
www.danphelps.net .
Kevin Montgomery - The Venue, Ryde IOW - Friday January
13.
 Country
rock singer Kevin Montgomery brings his band to the Isle of Wight this month.
Kevin and The Road Trippers will be appearing at The Venue at Ryde Theatre on
Friday January 13.
Kevin Montgomery grew up on Nashville's Music Row - a child of parents whose
careers crossed over from country music to the early, seminal days of American
rock 'n' roll. While the contemporary yet timeless feel of Kevin's own music is
strongly influenced by the California Country-Rock of artists like Gram Parsons,
The Eagles, and Roger McGuinn, his deeply resonant songwriting recalls the
Americana-flavored storytelling of Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne.
Kevin has a pretty rich musical pedigree - his father, Bob Montgomery. was an
early songwriting and collaborative partner of Buddy Holly. By the time Kevin
was born, his dad was producing records by Bobby Goldsboro and writing songs
like “Misty Blue”and “Back in Baby's Arms” made famous by Patsy Cline.
Meanwhile, Kevin's mother Carol had a thriving career as a Nashville session
vocalist, singing back up on pop classics like Elvis Presley's “Suspicious
Minds” and Robert Knight's “Everlasting Love.”
Kevin himself issued his first album ”Fear Nothing” in 1994 and after 18 months
touring with Peter Himmelman, Sheryl Crow and David Crosby, he ended up back in
Nashville. He stayed on the radar by working on the 1996 Buddy Holly
tribute album, “Not Fade Away: Remembering Buddy Holly.” He recorded the song
"Wishing" (written by his dad) as a duet with Mary Chapin Carpenter. Then he
followed up his first album, with another well-received album, “Another Long
Story.”
Having spent the last four years of a decade-long career touring relentlessly
and building a big following in England and Europe, Kevin Montgomery released
his latest album “2:30am.” He’ll be singing songs from the album, and the best
of his back catalogue on his current tour. Kevin’s all-star band includes bass
player Robert Reynolds and drummer Paul Deakin from The Mavericks and ace steel
guitarist Al Perkins. Support comes from Jill Jackson. Tickets are available
from the Box Office on 01983-568099, from Ottakar's, Newport and Craft Crazy,
Union Street, Ryde, or by phoning 01093-730930.
Richard Thompson - The Anvil, Basingstoke - Friday
January 27
.
 A
musician who made his reputation with folk-rock band Fairport Convention plays
at The Anvil in Basingstoke on Friday January 27. Richard Thompson was a
guitarist, singer and composer with the band from their formation in 1967 until
he left in 1971, playing on their first four albums, “What We Did On Our
Holidays,” “Unhalfbricking,” “Liege And Leif” and “Full House.”
After leaving Fairport Richard made his solo debut with the album “Henry The
Human Fly” before forging a professional and personal partnership with singer
Linda Peters. As Richard And Linda Thompson they made a series of albums
including “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” in 1974 and “Hokey Pokey”
the following year. Richard also collaborated with a number of other vocalists
including Sandy Denny, John Martyn, Iain Matthews, Elvis Costello, and Pere
Ubu's David Thomas.
The Thompsons separated in 1982, although Richard had completed his second solo
album “Strict Tempo!” the previous year. He then recorded the acclaimed “Hand Of
Kindness” and the superb concert recording “Small Town Romance” before his major
label debut “Across A Crowded Room.” In 1986 Richard undertook extensive US and
UK tours to promote Daring Adventures, leading a group
that included Clive Gregson and Christine Collister. After completing the
soundtrack to “The Marksman,” a BBC Television series he joined John French,
Fred Frith and Henry Kaiser for the experimental “Live, Love, Larf & Loaf.” In
1988, he switched to Capitol Records, teaming up with Daring Adventures producer
Mitchell Froom once again to record “Amnesia.”
The 1990s produced a similar mix of solo recordings and collaborations with
other artists.
1991 saw the solo album “Rumour And Sigh,” and appearances with The Golden
Palominos and David Byrne. The 1993 3-CD compilation “Watching The Dark”
collected many unreleased live performances, and helped to put into perspective
Richard’s contribution to rock music from his debut with Fairport Convention
onwards. Then came the double CD set “You? Me? Us?” in 1996, and the excellent
“Mock Tudor” in 1999.
The new millennium saw 2001's compilation set “Action Packed” and the launch of
his official website Beesweb the following year. Richard then relocated to the
independent label Cooking Vinyl Records for 2003’s “The Old Kit Bag”
and In the same year, he began touring his 1000 Years Of Popular Music show.
Inspired by Playboy asking him to name his favourite songs of the millennium,
Thompson took the magazine's question literally and compiled a list starting in
1100. The live show devised around the list saw the artist tackling material
from the 13th century English round "Summer Is Icumen In", Orazio Vecchi's "So
Ben Mi Ca Bon Tempo" from the 16th century, up to Britney Spears' "Oops! ... I
Did It Again".
A highly influential artist whose contribution to music over the last 40 years
has been massive, and who has never stood still. Tickets for his appearance at
The Anvil are £19.50, available through 01256 844244.
Bedouin Soundclash - West End Centre, Aldershot -
Saturday January 14 & Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth Sunday January 15.
 A
band from Canada who have blurred the lines of reggae and rock play a couple of
dates in Hampshire this month. They are Bedouin Soundclash, and they appear at
the West End Centre in Aldershot on Saturday January 14 and Portsmouth’s
Wedgewood Rooms on the following night.
The band formed three years ago while they were at university together.
Jay Malinowski, Eon Sinclair and Pat Pengelly got together to play the music
they liked. As they say on their website: "At the time we were making music that
reflected the music we grew up on, and that we were exposed to - punk, reggae,
dancehall, world, dub, jungle, two-step, everything… We wanted to try to make
something that was ours and was our experience, and that has continued to push
us, to incorporate the music we love in a new way."
After nine months together the band recorded “Root Fire” an album that captured
the band raw, recorded in 12 hours live off the floor. ”At the time we had no
money, and that was what we could afford.” From this inauspicious beginning,
“Root Fire”was picked by Montreal based punk/reggae label Stomp Records and
released nationally, heralded by Exclaim magazine as "one of the best albums
[we've] heard lately, and with this as their launching pad, [we] can't wait to
see what this band has in store for the future."
The band toured from Vancouver to Montreal in support of Root Fire, while still
remaining in university. In the meantime the group shared the stage with such
acts as the Slackers, Vernon 'Maytone' Buckley, and the legendary founders of
ska, The Skatalites. Bedouin was also recently asked by Gordie Johnson of Big
Sugar to appear on several dates of their Canadian farewell tour.
Presently, the band is set to release their follow-up album “Sounding A Mosaic”
on Stomp Records. The record was recorded in Montreal with founder of the New
York Hardcore scene Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains. "Working with Darryl
was a real education…he has an amazing knowledge and he really related to what
we wanted to do, which may seem strange, but he understood our sound and where
we are coming from. Bad Brains to us were amazing because they broke boundaries
and rules taking really fast breaks and splicing reggae…our sounds are
different, but we really relate to their ideals."
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Featured artists:
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The Johnsons
Drakes,
Basingstoke
Sunday January 8
& The Railway Inn, Winchester
Friday January 13
& Central Studio, Basingstoke Saturday January 28
Eileen Rose
The Railway Inn, Winchester
Sunday January 29
Dan Phelps
Havant Arts Centre, Havant
Friday January 20
& Forest Arts,
New
Milton
Friday January 27th
Kevin Montgomery
The Venue,
Ryde IOW
Friday January 13
Richard Thompson
The Anvil, Basingstoke
Friday January 27
Bedouin Soundclash
West End Centre, Aldershot
Saturday January 14 & Wedgewood
Rooms,
Portsmouth
Sunday January 15 |
Southampton's No 1 recording studio
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