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Interview with Peter Ashton  DENNIS LOCORRIERE, former lead singer with epic 70s and 80s rock band Dr Hook is alive and well and living in Sussex. In just twelve months life has turned upside down for the golden-voiced singer of hits like "Sylvia’s Mother" and "When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman."Dennis, whose solo UK tour touches down at Salisbury City Hall on Friday October 11 has had some readjusting to do after a disastrous 2001. "I learnt last year that if you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans," said a rueful Dennis. "Everything unravelled - my marriage broke up, my record label went bust resulting in the cancellation of my new album release which also knocked out a forty-date tour with a new band I had been rehearsing with for months!" Dennis is as positive as ever though, and sees his relocation to Sussex as both a fresh start and a good practical move, as most of his appearances these days are in Europe and the UK. " The music business in America is nothing to do with me," says Dennis. "If I wanted to tour over there, I’d end up singing all the old Dr Hook hits on a package tour with other bands half of whose original members were dead and the living ones wishing they were! Of course, I respect my history with Dr Hook and I still play Hook numbers, but I choose which ones. Also audiences in this country like my new material and request it just as much as the old stuff; that wouldn’t happen in America where they are only interested in what you were successful for originally." Dennis has a limited edition "live" double CD coming out later this year "Alone With Dennis Locorriere" on Secret Records and is currently talking with other record labels about salvaging last year’s delayed album. His current solo tour also stops off at Fareham and Bournemouth in November. Dennis is hoping his son Jesse will be coming over to join him for his first Christmas in Sussex: "Jesse lives in California now, and is an actor" said Dennis, "I can’t believe it, but he’s thirty years old now." Then it’s back on the road for Dennis with more UK gigs then a tour of Australia in April. For more details on the Salisbury City Hall gig call 01722 327676 or have a look at www.cityhallsalisbury.co.uk (©Peter Ashton 2002) Preview by Peter Ashton  IF quality American rock music is your thing, The Brook is the place to go these days. Cult 60s psychedelic rockers Jefferson Starship are the next outfit to land at the Southampton venue on Saturday November 2, following recent visits by The Electric Prunes, Tony Joe White and Southside Johnny.The history of Jefferson Starship goes way back to 1965, when their forefathers, Jefferson Airplane were formed by Paul Kantner and Marty Balin, becoming the first San Francisco rock group to be signed by a major record label. Their debut album on RCA, “Jefferson Airplane Takes Off” was released in 1966. When Grace Slick joined the band the following year she brought with her the songs “Somebody To Love” and “White Rabbit” which both hit the USA Top Ten during the “summer of love”. Jefferson Airship became icons of psychedelic rock over the next five years releasing groundbreaking albums like “Surrealistic Pillow” and “Bless Its’ Pointed Little Head.” Jefferson Airplane disbanded in 1972, with Paul Kantner recruiting Marty Balin and Grace Slick to form the first incarnation of Jefferson Starship in 1974, which produced three albums together before both Marty and Grace left the band. The group produced three more albums before Paul left in 1984 taking the “Jefferson” name with him, leaving the group called just “Starship”. Ironically they enjoyed even greater commercial success including two USA No.1 hits in 1985 and 1986 - “We Built This City” and “Sara”. Starship finally sank in 1990; meantime Kantner and Balin had revived the early Jefferson Airplane line-up. The tortuous career of Jefferson Starship resumed in 1991 with a new lineup including former Tubes drummer Prairie Prince and blues violin master Papa John Creach who died in 1993. Over the last ten years Jefferson Starship have performed nearly 800 concerts in 21 countries, recruiting a sensational new vocalist Diana Managano along the way. The current tour includes rare songs from “Surrealistic Pillow” to commemorate the 35th anniversary of its release, plus songs like “Crown of Creation” and “Sketches of China”. For ticket details ring 02380 555366. (©Peter Ashton 2002) Preview by Peter Ashton  NEARLY thirty years after his apparent suicide, the work of singer-songwriter Nick Drake is getting increasing attention, and a Salisbury-born man, Keith James, is furthering the process. Keith, already an established songwriter and performer himself, was first exposed to Nick’s delicate, haunting songs in the mid 1990s and the effect was immediate.Keith, now in his mid-forties, has developed a project touring with a group of musicians to bring the songs of Nick Drake to a larger audience, including ForestArts in New Milton on November 1. He remembers vividly hearing one of Nick’s songs for the first time: “It was a song called “River Man”, says Keith, “that was the song that got me hooked; I was completely in awe of it, both Nick’s voice and the unusual guitar tunings.” Keith made several collectable vinyl albums under his own name during the early 1980s, and still maintains a parallel career as a singer-songwriter and guitarist in his own right. Now resident in Henley on Thames, he also runs a recording studio, The Dream Of Oswald. “I work as an engineer and producer there,” says Keith, “specializing in organic music - the work of singer-songwriters, folk, roots and jazz - nothing that involves computers and tricks.” Keith’s enthusiasm for Nick Drake is being reciprocated by increasingly large audiences. “We’ve played four pilot concerts so far,” says Keith, “and we are reaching a really large wide audience, people from 16 to 60 generally. University students seem to have picked up on Nick; his untimely death may be a factor. We do one hour and forty minutes straight through with songs from Nick’s three albums, plus “Solid Air” by John Martyn which was written about Nick, and one of my own songs. We will be touring with this show throughout next year and then we’ll probably give it a rest. I’ll be releasing my own album “Outsides” and a single in January 2003. Keith’s show at ForestArts also features Matt Round on double bass, Jerry Playle on guitar and drummer James Davis. Tickets are available through 01425 612393. (©Peter Ashton 2002) Preview by Peter Ashton  NA DORSA are an Irish supergroup whose name translates as “The Doors”, but there is no link between their sound and the late Jim Morrison and his West Coast USA cronies. The music of Na Dorsa, who play at Fareham’s Ashcroft Arts Centre on Saturday November 2 is firmly rooted in the bedrock of the folk traditions of the North of Ireland.From the compositions of Josephine Keegan and Brendan McGlinchey of Armagh, to the music of Donegal, Tyrone and Fermanagh, the band have delved into old collections from this musically rich area, also making excursions to more exotic locations, Leitrim, Roscommon, Clare and Kerry. Each member of six-strong Na Dorsa is a strong personality with an impressive musical pedigree. Paul Meehan is a talented multi-instrumentalist from Middletown in Co. Armagh, who plays guitar, banjo and bouzouki, and is also a respected composer. Martin Quinn who plays accordion also has his roots in Armagh and has toured wtih some of Ireland's finest fiddlers, including Gerry O'Connor, and Gerry Harrington of the group Doon. Tiarnan O Duinnchin on uillean pipes and whistles has played in two films and numerous advertisements and has performed with artists as diverse as Hazel O Connor and Maire Brennan of Clannad. Paul Bradley is another man from Armagh, a highly energetic and evocative fiddler who is one of the foremost players of his generation in Ireland. He is also a violin-maker and studied at the Newark School of violin-making in England. Vocalist Stephanie Makem is deeply rooted in a long lineage of singers, stretching back to her great grandmother the celebrated Ulster folksinger Sarah Makem, and to her granduncle, Tommy Makem. Desy Adams from Belfast on flute completes a richly diverse sextet. Tickets for the gig are £9, available through 01329 310600. (©Peter Ashton 2002) Looking for a different article? Click here for our NEW archive |
OCTOBER Featured artists:
 Dennis Locorriere @ Salisbury City Hall. Friday 11th.  Glenn Tilbrook @ Wedgewood Rooms. Sunday 27th.  Tiger Lillies @ Salisbury Arts Centre Sat 5th.  Southside Johnny & Asbury Jukes @ The Brook. Tuesday 15th.  TonyJoe @ The Brook. Sat 12th |
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