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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers - Theatre
Royal, Winchester - Friday November 4.
 If
you fancy something a bit different, get along to the Theatre Royal in
Winchester on Friday November 4. Taking the stage that night are the Mugenkyo
Taiko Drummers who will presenting a sensational all-action show of Japanese
drumming.
The Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers are the UK’s first and only professional Taiko drum
group, having started in 1994 after two years of rigorous training under Taiko
masters in Japan. Their style is steeped in the ancient traditions of Taiko, but
infused with diverse musical influences to create an innovative and expressive
new music with universal appeal. Their sound incorporates delicate flute-playing
with gentle bells and percussion which interweave with the powerful rhythms of
the huge Taiko drums. The result is a visually spellbinding display which
features highly choreographed movement, spectacular costumes and aggressive, but
graceful athleticism by the group members.
The Winchester date is one of over 20 dates on their autumn tour which follows
their high profile appearance on Last Night of the Proms which was broadcast
live on BBC2 from the Royal Albert Hall in September. Their collaboration with
piper Stuart Cassells, the Scottish Young Musician of the Year was followed by a
collaboration of a very different sort - with the Japanese folk dance, song and
drum group Hanayui in a show which toured for two weeks in September and
October.
As the Glasgow Herald described a recent performance by the Mugenkyo Taiko
Drummers: “This latest show is something else... it is unashamedly drumming as
theatre, but also drumming as an almost religious experience...exhilarating to
behold. Even if you’ve seen them before you’ll be gobsmacked.”
Sounds like an enthralling evening in store on November 4 - for ticket details
and further information ring 01962 840440.
Natalie Imbruglia - Southampton
Guildhall, Southampton - Tuesday November 22.
 "Former
“Neighbours” TV star Natalie Imbruglia, now firmly established as a
solo singing star plays Southampton Guildhall later this month as part of a
short tour to promote her latest album “Counting Down The Days.”
Now aged thirty, Natalie is the second of four daughters of an Italian
father and an Australian mother. She grew up on the Central Coast of New South
Wales, north of Sydney. Like Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue she made her
name with a successful spell on the soap “Neighbours” before venturing into a
singing career. Her first single"Torn" in 1997 reached number 2 in the British
charts, and her album
“Left of the Middle” became a million-seller. The follow up came in 2001
with the album “White Lilies Island.”
Natalie returned to acting in 2002 with a supporting role in British spy
spoof “Johnny English” playing alongside Rowan Atkinson. She married her
long-time boyfriend Daniel Johns, lead singer of Silverchair on December 31,
2003.
In April 2005, Natalie released her third studio album “Counting Down The
Days” in the UK, which in its first week of sales hit number one on the album
charts. The first single from this album was "Shiver " which became her
longest running single on the UK charts since her debut "Torn" and also topped
the
UK Airplay charts for several weeks.
The second single, the title track "Counting Down The Days," was released
in July, and although it did not have as much success in the singles chart as
"Shiver," it reignited interest in its parent album.
Natalie appears at Southampton on Tuesday November 22 - ticket details are
available via 02380 632601.
Emily Smith - Forest Arts Centre, New Milton - Saturday
November 12.
 Scottish
folk singer and musician Emily Smith plays a gig at Forest Arts Centre, New
Milton on Saturday November 12.
Born in Dumfriesshire, Emily first made her mark on the Scottish music scene
when she won BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the
Year Award in 2002. In the same year she formed her own band, and has since
toured throughout Europe and Australasia. In 2003 Emily graduated from the Royal
Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with an Honours degree in Scottish Music.
During this time she developed her skills on piano and accordion and established
her own singing style, drawing on many varied sources.
Emily has since become popular on the live music circuit with her warm and open
stage manner and her skilled musicianship. Her voice blends delicacy with
surprising power and is equally alluring whether enriched by instrumental
backing or unaccompanied. With an imaginative approach to instrumental
arrangements, she gives a contemporary edge to ancient songs.
As well as performing with her band, Emily has worked with performers such as
John McCusker, Karine Polwart and Irish band North Cregg. She has also been a
member of the acclaimed ‘Scottish Women’ group featuring Scotland’s top female
vocalists, and is a member of Scotland’s ‘folk orchestra’ - The Unusual
Suspects. Emily’s debut CD “A Day Like Today” was released in 2002 on
Footstompin’ Records, and her second album “A Different Life” was released on
White Fall Records earlier this year.
Ticket details for the Forest Arts Centre concert are available via 01425
612393.
Kindred Spirit - Central Studio, Basingstoke - Friday
November 25.
 The
band Kindred Spirit, who play at the Central Studio in Basingstoke on Friday
November 25, are building a big reputation for their lively folk-rock act.
Built around the accomplished vocals and guitar playing of Elaine Samuels,
Kindred Spirit are equally at home with stomping jigs and reels a with their own
versions of classic rock tracks like Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and Bob
Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower.” Joining Elaine in the band are successful
session violinist Sim Jones, flute player Annie Parker, female bass player and
singer Joey Burke, and powerful drummer Russell Morgan.
One of Kindred Spirit’s strengths is their mult-instrumental dimension, with Sim
also playing electric guitar and Annie doubling up on sax. Add Joey’s harmony
vocals and the original songs written by Elaine and you have a band with a huge
range of styles. Elaine also belongs to Girls With Guitars UK and has performed
as a solo artist at Glastonbury Festival, Guildford Festival, The Marquee in
London, and many other venues.
As Rock N’ Reel magazine describe them: “One of the best undiscovered
folk/acoustic acts doing the rounds ....discover with haste.”
Ticket details are available via 01256 418318. For more information on Kindred
Spirit see the website
www.elainesamuels.co.uk .
Finbar Furey - Arc Theatre, Trowbridge - Sat November 5
& Tower Arts, Winchester - Thurs November 24.
 Irish
folk star Finbar Furey, once of The Fureys, will be playing concerts in
Wiltshire and Hampshire this month.
Finbar was born in Dublin's inner city; his family were travelling people, and
he had a pretty hard start in life. But music played an important part from the
start: “Myparents started us off in music when we were very young," he says, “my
father played the fiddle and the pipes, my mother played melodeon and
five-string banjo. She was a wonderful singer as well... I can remember when we
moved into our new house in Ballyfermot. My father singing in the empty rooms.
We lived and breathed music."
And Finbar admits: "Strangely enough, I can't remember ever learning to play an
instrument, as far back as I can remember, I could play music. There were always
instruments in the house. When we were kids, we had no TV, so we
had to make our own entertainment. We'd just pick up the instruments and start
to play and sing."
In the early 60's, he started appearing with his brother Eddie and his father
Ted, in O'Donoghue's bar alongside Ronnie Drew who later went on to form The
Dubliners. "It was the place bands went to play," he says. "Ronnie would sing a
few songs, my father would play the fiddle, I'd play the pipes and Eddie would
play the guitar."
For the next few years Finbar and Eddie Furey toured the folk clubs, colleges
and universities throughout Britain and Europe, building up a large following.
As their reputation spread wider, they consolidated their success in Canada and
the USA, Scandinavia and New Zealand. Younger brothers Paul and George joined
the fold several years later and their success continued.
But in 1993, with The Fureys at the height of their international popularity and
after nearly thirty years as the group's front man, Finbar decided the time was
right to take a break from the band and start a solo career. Since then he has
toured all over the world, treating audiences to evenings of pure Irish magic,
great music , good humour, building up a reputation as a sparkling raconteur in
the process.
Finbar Furey can be seen at the Arc Theatre in Trowbridge on Saturday November
5, and Winchester’s Tower Arts Centre on Thursday November 24.
Sherman Robertson - The Brook, Southampton - Wednesday
November 23.
 Born
in Louisiana and raised in Texas, Sherman Robertson has gained a reputation as a
master of zydeco hard-swinging Texas electric blues, R&B and swampy Louisiana
blues. Currently on tour in the UK the singer and guitarist has a
date at The Brook in Southampton on Wednesday November 23.
Sherman was born in Beaux Bridge, Louisiana and raised in Houston, Texas. He
learned to play guitar at an early age, and while still in high school was
recruited by his music teacher to play in an adult band, Connie's Combo. As a
teenager in the late 1960's, he spent six weeks on the road as lead guitarist
with blues superstar Bobby "Blue" Bland and also backed Junior Parker. That gave
him the incentive to form his own band, Sherman Robertson and the Crosstown
Blues Band with whom he recorded two albums. During the 1970's, Sherman was
content playing weekends while raising a family and holding down a "regular"
job, until Clifton Chenier, " the King Of Zydeco," asked him to do some dates
with his band. Those few dates turned into five years, as Robertson toured
Europe and the USA with Chenier before joining Terrance Simien's upcoming zydeco
band.
The word on Robertson's talent began to spread and when legendary singer
songwriter Paul Simon needed a guitar player to add some sounds to his
“Graceland” album he chose Sherman. Soon after, legendary British producer Mike
Vernon (John Mayall's Bluebreakers,David Bowie etc) signed Robertson to Atlantic
Records. His first solo recording, 1993's “I'm The Man” was nominated for a WC
Handy Award. His second Atlantic release, “Here And Now” was released in 1996 to
more critical acclaim.
But convinced he would have more promotional support and artistic freedom from
an independent label, Robertson weighed his options. In early 1998, producer Joe
Harley, with the help of Robertson's manager, Catherine Bauer,
assembled a first class back up band for a project for the AudioQuest label,
including two charter members of Little Feat, keyboardist Bill Payne and drummer
Richie Hayward. They all gathered at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood for the
sessions that resorted in the album, “Going Back Home.” 2003 saw Sherman
Robertson joining forces with top UK blues band BluesMove for three very special
dates including a headline set at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival: more
dates with BluesMove followed in 2004.
Szapora - Turner Sims, Southampton - Thursday November
24.
 If
you like stirring gypsy music then the Turner Sims Concert Hall on Southampton
University campus is the place to be on Thursday November 24. On stage that
night will be Szapora, one of the hits of this year’s Larmer Tree Festival.
Szapora is a remarkable collaboration between two Bosnian singing sisters, five
British musicians and a Polish gypsy. This group staged a mesmerising
performance at the Larmer Tree, producing songs and dances from central and
eastern Europe: Doina's from Romania, Kopanicas from Serbia, Czardas's from
Hungary, Hora's from Bulgaria, and much more. Szapora brought a true flavour of
Eastern Europe with a fiery gypsy vivacity and an occasional infectious swing
feel. Turbo-driven by two accordionists, and illuminated by the vocal talents of
Sarajevan sisters Tea and Mirella Hodzic, their music draws from the heritage of
Romania, Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria.
As Times reviewer Clive Davis summed up their appearance at an earlier WOMAD
Festival: "The incidental pleasures can sometimes make more of an impression
than the headliners at the event as sprawling as WOMAD. Strolling past
Radio 3’s tiny 'World On Your Street' tent on Sunday, I found a knot of people
entranced by Téa Hodzic, a Bosnian singer-guitarist who was performing a lament
in the company of an accordionist and clarinettist. An architecture graduate who
came to this country as a refugee, Hodzic has found a niche as part of that
vivacious Balkan-style group Szapora. Her voice haunted me for the rest of the
day. It was reassuring to find that, even in its 20th year, WOMAD has not lost
its air of serendipity…"
Ticket details for the Turner Sims concert are available via 02380 592223.
Martha Wainwright - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth -
Monday November 14.
 American
singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright has been getting some rave reviews for her
debut album “Martha Wainwright.” With tracks like “Bloody Mother Fucking
Asshole” she is obviously an artist of the uncompromising variety.
You can see her at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth on Monday November 14.
Martha comes from a family which could be described as the aristocracy of music:
her parents are the musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, and her
brother is Rufus Wainwright, a singer who has been making his own waves
recently. Born in New York City and raised in Montreal, she spent her childhood
immersed in music and often performed with her parents. She took the first step
in her own recording career in 1998 when she contributed her song “Year of the
Dragon” to her mother and aunt’s album “The McGarrigle Hour.” The same year she
started singing back-up for her brother both live and on record.
After leaving college early, Martha moved to New York City and built up a
devoted following on the city’s singer-songwriter scene. Eighteen months later
she recorded her self-titled debut album “Martha Wainwright” released in the UK
earlier this year.
The emotional world Martha describes in her music is one of personal uncertainty
and emotional fracture. Her songs are raw and honest, reflecting her own
insecurities and fears. Fears about her own talent, her place as a woman in
relationship to men and love in general. The response to the album was extremely
positive with the Sunday Times including “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole” in
their songs of the year.
A dynamic performer, Martha appeared as part of the acclaimed Leonard Cohen
tribute concert in May 2004 at Brighton’s Dome Concert Hall. Her rendition of
the Cohen classic “Tower of Song,” won accolades from both The Guardian and
Daily Telegraph. Martha also joined her brother on his 2004 UK dates to rapt
audiences, and has supported artists such as Cyndi Lauper and Van Morrison in
North America over the last year. Martha recently took a turn performing on film
in Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” starring Leonardo DiCaprio in which she
portrays a sultry torch singer. Her song “I’ll Be Seeing You” was added to the
film’s soundtrack.
Peter Bruntnell - The Railway Inn, Winchester -
Saturday November 12.
 One
of the UK’s finest exponents of Americana winds up his current tour with a gig
at The Railway Inn in Winchester on Saturday November 12. A frequent visitor to
the venue in the past, Peter Bruntnell is one of the country’s most underrated
singer-songwriters, and well worth seeing.
Peter Bruntnell’s rave-reviewed new album “Ghost In A Spitfire” is packed with
the kind of songs that led Rolling Stone to hail him as "one of England's best
kept musical secrets." Although his tent has been pitched in the Americana camp,
he's a very British songwriter, who on the evidence of this latest album and
especially on tracks such as “Fear Of Lightning” has more in common with Teenage
Fanclub than the likes of the usual comparisons with Neil Young and Evan Dando.
Lyrically he's never been tempted to stray from matters close to home, and as a
result he's been praised for the succinct authenticity of his past five albums
and “Ghost In A Spitfire” is no exception - its very title betraying a theme
rarely found amongst his western peers.
The bulk of the songs were written by Peter and Canadian writing partner Bill
Ritchie before his recent tour of the UK with Kathleen Edwards, and the album
was recorded by Brutnell and Sterephonics producer Jim Lowe in a variety of
locations: his own guitars and vocals were laid down at his home in Devon, while
Mick Clews' drums and former Black Grape member Danny Williams' bass were all
recorded in a converted barn in Yorkshire. In addition, long time collaborator
James Walbourne's lead guitar were nailed in north London and Son Volt's Eric
Heywood recorded his pedal steel on “Little Lorelai” and “Polar Bear Jail” in
his Shepherds Bush hotel room while on a break touring with Minnie Driver.
Live, the Bruntnell experience, featuring James Walbourne’s dazzling guitar
playing, is intense and thrilling. Ticket details for the Railway Inn gig are
available through 01962 867795. Support at the gig comes from Jim Jones and
Blue Book Park.
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Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers
Theatre Royal, Winchester
Friday November 4
Natalie Imbruglia Southampton Guildhall, Southampton
Tues November 22
Emily Smith
Forest Arts Centre, New Milton
Sat November 12
Kindred Spirit
Central Studio, Basingstoke
Friday November 25
Finbar Furey
Arc Theatre, Trowbridge
Sat November 5 & Tower Arts Centre,
Winchester
Thurs November 24
Sherman Robertson The Brook, Southampton
Wed November 23
Szapora
Turner Sims, Southampton
Thurs November 24
Martha Wainwright Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Mon November 14
Peter Bruntnell
The Railway Inn, Winchester
Sat November 12
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