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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
Bellowhead. Preview by Peter Ashton.
 Look
out for folk outfit Bellowhead who have been described as "a huge heaving
heterophony of big band Saxon dance music and song.” The 11-piece outfit were
voted Best Live Act at this year’s BBC Folk Awards and play at Crawley Folk
Festival in Sussex on Sunday June 26.
Bellowhead are a dynamic 11-piece band who play traditional English dance music
and song in high-spirited style. Their dynamic act had hundreds of dancers
bouncing up and down in the aisles at last year’s Oxford Folk Festival.
The lineup includes John Spiers on vocals, melodeons and concertina, Jon Boden
on vocals, fiddle and guitar, Paul Sartin on fiddle and oboe, Benji Krkpatrick
on bouzouki and guitar, Giles Lewin on fiddle, Rachael McShane on cello, Pete
Flood on percussion and a brass section featuring Andy Mellon, Justin Thurgur
and Brendan Kelly.
They are all familiar names on the folk concert, and are all members of an
eclectic variety of other bands. Rachael is a member of a Newcastle-based band
called Crosscurrent, Pete Flood has a band called The Very Tiny Little Kids and
Justin Thurgus has a band called Motimba who specialise in high-energy Cuban
funk. Paul and Benji both play in Dr Faustus, while Paul runs the acapella
quartet Mouth & Trousers. The other members are associated with The Carnival
Band and Fantazia, while John and Jon are well-known as a duo.
Bellowhead are in huge demand on the festival circuit with bookings later in the
summer at Eastleigh Festival, Beautiful Days in Devon, Cambridge Folk Festival
and Trowbridge Festival.
Bang Lassy. Preview by Peter Ashton.
 If
you haven’t caught up with the highly talented young female music and comedy duo
Bang Lassy you’ve got two chances later this month when they play The Plough at
Tiptoe and The Dolphin in St Denys, Southampton.
Bang Lassy are Jo Egan on vocals and Karen Smith on keyboards and backing
vocals. Both girls come from the Bournemouth area, and their fresh, self-written
act combines musical parody with original songs. The essence of their act is the
vocal mimicry and operatic voice of Jo and the subtle keyboard skills of Karen,
and the repartee between the two, plus a good deal of banter with the audience.
Much of their act is risque and not really suitable for children, so get a
babysitter and prepare to learn more about necrophilia, geriatric sex and being
reincarnated as a knitted doll toilet roll cover! They also lampoon the music of
Daniel O’Donnell, Kate Bush, Sarah Brightman and Abba and other artists, but not
in an offensive way. They remain true to the spirit of their targets, and Jo has
an operatic voice with an amazing range which is considerably superior to some
of the singers she mocks!
There’s a good deal of costume changing and donning of wigs during Bang Lassy’s
act which has seen them described as “Hinge and Bracket on acid.” The pair
really are a breath of fresh air on the Southern music scene where music and
comedy rarely combine. And they are both attractive to look at too, but be
warned - if you sit near the front, you may well become part of their act!
I haven’t got round to asking Jo and Karen why they are called Bang Lassy yet,
so I can’t enlighten you there. All I can do is advise you to witness the Bang
Lassy experience yourselves while they are still undiscovered. I really
believe the pair could go on to national success Bang Lassy appear at The
Dolphin, St Denys, Southampton on the last Thursday of every month which happens
to be June 30 this time round. The Saturday before they are at The Plough Inn at
Tiptoe in the New Forest. Both gigs are free, and both venues are friendly, with
good beer and food. So go and see Bang Lassy - you’ve read this far so you know
you want to!
Taj Mahal & many other blues acts at various venues
throughout June. Preview by Peter Ashton.
 June
is a great month for blues fans - two blues-based festivals at Chichester and
Lymington, and dozens of acts at local venues, including a number of visiting
American artists.
You can read about Blues On The Farm at Pump Bottom Farm near Chichester and
Bluesathon at Lymington in our Festival Focus section. Here, we’re going to home
in on acts at local venues starting at The Brook in Southampton, which has been
featuring the best of blues for the last decade. This month they welcome Aynsley
Lister and The Ian Parker Band on the 17th, Angela Brown and The Mighty 45s on
the 23rd and the great Taj Mahal Trio on the 27th. There’s also a lot of blues
influences in the music of Juicy Lucy and Hayseed Dixie who also play the venue
this month.
Taj Mahal also play The Anvil at Basingstoke where the Robert Cray Band will
also be putting in an appearance. The latter act also play the Pavilion in
Bournemouth. Back in Southampton, the Platform Tavern has a big blues content in
its’ programme as usual - Americans Bob Cheevers and Bill Sheffield and British
stalwart Dave Peabody are amongst the guests. Over in Southsea, the Bullfrog
Blues Club on South Parade Pier have the best in blues every Thursday
night with Little Toby Walker from the USA and The Harry Skinner Blues Band
amongst the attractions.
Elsewhere you can experience the smooth soulful blues of Eugene Hideaway Bridges
at the West End Centre in Aldershot, The Hitman Blues Band and many other acts
at The Maltings in Farnham, The Climax Blues Band and Scott McKeon at Mr Kyps in
Poole and The Spikedrivers at Winchester’s Tower Arts Centre.
There are just too many blues acts to mention this month, so check our Listings
section and look at venues like the Thomas Tripp pubs in Lymington and
Christchurch, the Central in Parkstone in Poole, Longs Wine Bar in Lymington,
The Bent Brief in Southampton, and countless other locations which are keeping
the blues alive.
Towers of London. Preview by Peter Ashton
 Punk
outfit Towers of London are on the road as part of the NME New Music Tour 2005,
and drop in at The Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth on Tuesday June 7.
The band have been banned by several venues, and are inviting more controversy
with the release of their new single “Fuck It Up” on June 20.
Stories emerging from the band’s last tour are now very much a legend and the
NME sum up their style by describing them as “belonging to the tasteless,
offensive, get drunk, destroy school of punk which is aimed at pissing off
people off who don’t get it and aimed at giving maxium enjoyment to those that
do.”
Towers of London charted with their last single “On A Noose” which reached No
32, and look set to hit the higher reaches with the riffy “Fuck It Up” which
could become a summer anthem. It’s very much in a tongue-in-cheek Sex Pistols
vein, although the Towers sound a lot more musically proficient than their
forebears.
Towers of London have also been described as “the most notorious, remorseless,
antisocial band in Britain right now” by Independent on Sunday. The website
Playlouder referred to critics of the Towers as “the children of the outraged
Yes fans who petitioned John Peel when he started playing Punk Rock” when there
were campaigns to ‘Stop The Band.’ It seems that we haven’t moved far on
musically or socially since 1977, but controversy is still the name of the game
in pop, and good luck to Towers of London for keeing the spirt of punk alive.
Tickets for the Wedgewood Rooms gig on June 7 are £6 through 02392 863911, and
you can also find out more about Towers of London on
www.thetowersoflondon.com .
Los Albertos. Preview by Peter Ashton
 Brighton-based
band Los Albertos return to Southampton’s Talking Heads venue on Saturday June
18, following their storming debut back in January. On that occasion the band
were supporting Smerin’s Anti-Social Club, but this time round they are
headlining in their own right.
Los Albertos were originally formed one hot night in October 2002 in the Albert
pub in Brighton. Dave Lacey of The Fridge Magnets helped out on drums that night
but the band now have Martin Andrews on drums, Nic Tribe on bass, vocals and
washboard, Tim Herman on alto and baritone saxes and vocals, Mark Crawford on
guitars, banjo and vocals, plus Tom Livingstone on trumpet, melodica, sousaphone
and vocals.
Last year Los Albertos built up their live reputation by creating a frenzy on
dancefloors around the UK and in Europe with appearances at Glastonbury's Lost
Vagueness, Pennabilli's Artisti in Piazza, Jazz Sous Les Pommiers in
Normandy, The Brighton Festival, the famous Spiegel tent at the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival, Beautiful Days and at many other festival events.
Los Albertos play a unique blend of ska, swing, drum n’bass and mad fairground
music - foot-stomping original songs plus their own twisted version of classic
tunes. You can also see them at the Larmer Tree Festival next month.
Admission on the door for their gig at Talking Heads on June 18 is a mere £5.
Marianne Faithfull. Preview by Peter Ashton
 ike many men of a certain age, I spent many hours fantasising about the young
Marianne Faithfull back in the 60s. I bought her hit single “As Tears Go By” and
played it constantly, and eventually saw her perform live at Salisbury
Arts Centre about 35 years later. I was even rewarded with a smile when I walked
past her in the arts centre grounds where she was doing a photo shoot for local
Technical College students! Now I and her many other fans have the
chance to see her again when she performs in the Cathedral Close during
Salisbury Festival on June 11.
Marianne was discovered by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham in 1964,
and recorded the Jagger/Richards composition "As Tears Go By" in the same year.
It hit No 9 in the British charts and was followed by three more Top
Ten hits, “Come and Stay With Me,” “This Little Bird” and “Summer Nights.”
Famously the girlfriend of Mick Jagger during the late 60s and early 70s,
Marianne’s career dipped after splitting with Mick and later developing a
serious
drug habit. She recorded rarely in the remainder of the 70s.
But in late 1979 she returned to recording with the brilliant “Broken English”
album. That fragile, breathy voice had been replaced with a world-weary, but
highly expressive croak. She had finally found her own voice, and began writing
her own material. Although Marianne’s recordings were sporadic during the 80s
and 90s, she released one triumph, the “Strange Weather” album in 1987, a
collection of standards and contemporary compositions which she interpreted in
her own unique style.
In 1994 she published her self-titled autobiography, which was followed later by
the biography “As Tears Go By” by Mark Hodkinson. Marianne also produced two
excellent albums in the late 90s, “20th Centry Blues” and “Vagabond
Heart.” In 2002 “Kissin' Time” presented an eclectic collection of songwriting
collaborations with Beck, Damon Albarn, Billy Corgan, Jon Brion, and Jarvis
Cocker among others. Continuing in collaborative vein in 2004, “Before The
Poison”
contained contributions from P.J. Harvey, Nick Cave and others.
Recent newspaper reports suggest that Marianne’s health, both mental and
physical, has not been too good in recent months, but it is to be hoped that
this still beautiful and talented performer will produce a devastating
performance during Salisbury Festival.
Christina Jackson.
Preview by Peter Ashton
 Originally
from Oxford, jazz singer Christina Jackson returned to the UK last year after
making a career for herself in Southern Africa and Paris. Now based in
Wiltshire, Christina will be making two appearances in her newly-adopted home
county this month.
Christina’s career in music began as a teenager in Oxford, playing guitar in a
local pub.
Soon afterwards, she found herself on the international stage, enjoying life on
the road with a folk trio and working the expatriate circuit throughout Southern
Africa. She eventually ended up in France, where her very first solo performance
was witnessed by the proprietor of the prestigious jazz venue Le Petit Journal
Montparnasse in Paris, where such icons as Stephane Grappelli, Enrico Macias and
Sacha Distel regularly played.
But the need to earn an honest living led Christina away from this promising
debut on the Parisian jazz scene, and she joined France’s top Western Swing band
as lead female vocalist. This led to regular appearances on the national TV
networks TF1 and France2, a recording contract - coupled with mainstream
distribution. During the 1990s, despite enjoying notoriety at the top of this
niche market, Christina finally chose to take the plunge and become a solo
artist.
I n France she had become almost too well-known as the lead vocalist for Les
Westerners, a label she felt would restrict her if she wanted to develop her
love of romantic jazz, folk, blues and swing, the strong melodies of which
had enchanted her audiences at Le Petit Journal years before. So Christina
located to the UK in February 2004 and has since been delighting audiences
throughout the West Country, including Bristol, Cheltenham and Wiltshire, where
she was invited to play at Marlborough Jazz Festival in last year. Towards the
end of last year Christina recorded her first live concert for BBC Radio
Wiltshire, which was broadcast in late December.
You can see Christina at Swindon Arts Centre on June 14 and Salisbury Arts
Centre on June 30. Christina will also be singing at Marlborough Jazz Festival
again later in the summer.
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Bellowhead
Crawley Folk Festival, Sussex Sunday June 26
Bang Lassy
The Plough, Tiptoe Sat June 25 & The Dolphin, Southampton Thurs June 30
Taj Mahal & many other blues acts
various venues throughout June
Towers of London The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth Tuesday June 7
Los Albertos
Talking Heads, Southampton
Sat June 18
Marieanne Faithfull Salisbury Festival Saturday June 11
Christina Jackson Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury
Sat June 30
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