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Moody, Floydian Celtic-tinged Rock

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"The best band you have never heard"

Since forming back in 1996, British rock outfit Mostly Autumn have garnered themselves a name for their relentless touring schedule and outstanding live shows. And this Autumn, the York based outfit are set to hammer this home with the upcoming 'Go Well Diamond Heart' tour of the UK,  Holland and Belgium.

They have built a loyal and cult following since their first album twelve years ago and in that time such luminaries as the late Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, Deep Purple's Jon Lord and the BBC's own Bob Harris are amongst its many fans.  
Mostly Autumn has also toured as an invited support act to Blackmore's Night, Uriah Heep and Jethro Tull, as well as being special guests at Bryan Adam's Murrayfield Stadium gig three years ago. That alone should give some indication as to the calibre of the band. 

Their musical palette is diverse and while they draw on influences from the golden age of seventies' rock, they have developed their own unique sound and style that both captures some of the essence of that heady era and yet looks forward into the future. 

 Bryan Josh is that rare beast – a hugely talented guitarist who knows how to play with feeling and for the song.  His soaring guitar, always drenched in pure emotion, at times recall the golden era of guitar heroes such as David Gilmour but never outstays its welcome, always leaving the listener wanting a little more. Lead vocalist Olivia Sparnenn is a true talent, the range and beauty of her voice is world class.  The magnificence of Iain Jennings on keyboards, complimented by a rock solid yet fluid rhythm section - Andy Smith (bass), Gavin Griffiths (drums), Liam Davison (rhythm guitar) and the delightful vocals and multi instruments of Anne-Marie Helder make Mostly Autumn a band that will enthrall you and awaken memories of what real music is really about.

"You play like I used to when I was young" BB King"

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(Rory Gallagher Tribute)

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Guitarist and singer Barry Barnes is one of Europe's most active enthusiasts working to keep alive the music and memory of Rory Gallagher.

Since 1996 Barry has organized the annual Rory Gallagher tribute gig at Dukinfield Town Hall, near Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire, making this the first, and the longest running Rory Tribute in the world. Currently established as one of the main events on the Rory calendar, and forced to re-locate to Sheffield, it continues to grow and now 'The Rory Gig' attracts audiences in excess of four hundred people from throughout the UK and abroad.

The same impetus to celebrate Rory's genius led Barry to form a tribute band with two like-minded musicians - bassist Dave Burns and drummer Steve Richardson. Both Dave and Steve are lifelong Rory fans, not just some rhythm section that Barry has cobbled together, and it shows! Together as Sinnerboy and driven by belief, enthusiasm and passion, it's the bands stated aim to be amongst the best Rory Gallagher tribute acts in the world. Sinnerboy are ever-presents at all the major Rory festivals throughout the world and were Donal Gallagher's choice of band for the first London festival at Hammersmith (Donal calls them his favourite 'boy' band!)

The Grooviest Man in Town Tonight!

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Liverpudlean 80's Popsters "Wishfull Thinking", "Black Man Ray"

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China Crisis are an English pop/rock group formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside, UK with a core band of vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon. Their output was pop music similar in style to that of the new romantics, but with strong similarities to the post-punk movement of the early-1980s, namely inclusion of a broader range of musical influences and occasional flirtation with political commentary.

Sharing an affection for Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, and Brian Eno, Daly and Lundon had become burned out from playing with various Knowsley post-punk groups. Daly quit school and then spent much of his time indoors tinkering with synthesizers and a drum machine. Along with Lundon, Daly began writing songs using his high-tech toys. Feeling creatively stifled by the drum machine, the pair eventually asked percussionist Dave Reilly to join them, and in 1982 they released the single African & White as China Crisis on the independent label Inevitable. Later re-released by Virgin Records, African & White was also China Crisis' first hit in the U.K.

Throughout their career, China Crisis has seen moderate success in the United Kingdom, western Europe, Australia and the Americas. Adding Gary "Gazza" Johnson and Kevin Wilkinson to the line-up, they recorded their debut album Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms in 1982. Another single, Christian, made UK #12, followed by two singles from second album in 1983, Working With Fire & Steel : Possible Pop Songs - Volume 2, regarded as a more consistent effort, standout tracks being 'Wishful Thinking', 'When The Piper Calls', 'Animals In Jungles' plus the title track.

China Crisis spent 1984-1985 making their biggest chart run, beginning with their first (and last) Top 10 hit single, Wishful Thinking. Their third album Flaunt The Imperfection was produced by the sympathetic Walter Becker (of Steely Dan fame) which resulted in the Top 20 hit singles Black Man Ray and King In A Catholic Style (Wake Up). The album was followed-up in 1986 with the lower-key What Price Paradise, the key tracks being 'Arizona Sky', 'June Bride', 'The Understudy' and 'A Day's Work For the Dayo's Done'. The band worked with Becker once more on 1989's Diary Of A Hollow Horse, which earned critical acclaim though little commercial success and spawned the singles 'St Saviour Square' and 'Red Letter Day'.

Sometimes misunderstood by critics (and with Daly's vocals not to everyone's taste), China Crisis distinguished themselves from their Liverpudlian contempories such as Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, The Teardrop Explodes, and Echo & The Bunnymen by digesting a cornucopia of musical genres, everything from jazz to progressive rock. Despite the stylistic deviations, China Crisis maintained their distinctive sound through a number of albums in the 1980s and '1990s.

Tragically, Wilkinson hanged himself on 17th July 1999. In 2000 Daly contributed a track to a tribute compilation to Wilkinson, Green Indians. The band accumulated a body of work consisting of six studio albums (including one covers album) and two live albums between 1982 and 1995. Since 1992 there have been three compilations albums of their work.

Soul and R&B diva, Ruby Turner is truly the genuine article. Blessed with a voice to die for

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Ruby Turner, one of the UK's finest Soul Singers, has just launched her long awaited new album "So Amazing".  One of the tracks was recently featured in the BBC Drama "Silent Witness".

Ruby was born in Jamaica and grew up in Montego Bay.  She was told that Grandfather Turner was a lead singer in a gospel group.  Music in the blood was confirmed.  She was relocated to Birmingham, England when she was 9. Ruby can breathe life and meaning into a song whether it is a passionate soaring ballad or a soulful up-tempo groove. Her career to date has been sensational with major Tours, Film, TV and theatre appearances.

Her major break came when taken under the wings of Britons own Blues Legend Alexis Korner – sadly now gone from us.  In the mid 1980's she joined 'CultureClub' at the height of their stardom. Since then, Ruby has releasd 13 solo albums.

Ruby's first Album, "Women Hold Up Half The Sky" was released by Jive to critical acclaim in 1986. This period spawned the hits 'If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) and 'I'd Rather Go Blind' and, in the American R'n'B chart, the number 1 hit single 'It's Gonna Be Alright' - one of less than ten British records to achieve this! It was at this time that she also released her hit album 'The Motown Songbook' on which she performed with some of the great stars of that era - The Four Tops, The Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin etc.

"Ruby Turner Live In Bristol" was her last album. Recorded live at the Bristol Theatre Royal, she performed some of her biggest hits,  including 'I'd Rather Go Blind', "If you're ready come go with me", "Stay with me Baby" and 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered'.  

White has had songs recorded by dozens of major artists including Elvis, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Hank, Jr., Tim McGraw, John Mayall and Waylon Jennings

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In 1969, Tony Joe White came howling out of the swamplands of Louisiana into the national spotlight with his classic, "Polk Salad Annie,"--a Top 10 Hit, followed in 1970, by Brook Benton's soulful rendition of White's timeless classic, "Rainy Night In Georgia." Thirty years later he's still doing just what he's always done, creating soul-flavored, blues-drenched, truth-injected songs about swamp characters and reflective soul-tinged ballads about life and love. Throughout the '70s and '80s Tony Joe White toured with some of the biggest artists of the decade including Credence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor. The 1990s began with an explosion of activity for White as superstar Tina Turner recorded four of his songs for her multi-platinum selling Foreign Affairs album including the world-wide hit, "Steamy Windows". With the advent of that project, White formed an alliance with Turner's manager, Roger Davies and his career began to soar. While there was a certain "mystique" surrounding White in the United States, it was in Europe where he gained legendary status. In 1991 he signed with Remark and debuted Closer To The Truth and spent the next two years touring Europe with Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker, among others. He cut two more albums for Remark, 1993s Path Of A Decent Groove and '95s Lake Placid Blues, the latter garnering the first of two nominations for "Best R & B Album" from the Nashville Music Awards, (the second being, The Best Of Tony Joe White, a 1996 retrospective of his work on Warner Bros.). French audiences eagerly embraced White as the 'Swamp Fox' and in 1998, he became the subject of a French produced documentary: Tony Joe White-The Man From Down South. In 1999, White went back to his roots and recorded One Hot July, in the swamps of Louisiana. He then toured Australia and Europe once again in support of the critically acclaimed album. In 2001, Audium and Koch Entertainment released The Beginning - a stripped down in your face acoustic masterpiece that received worldwide recognition and five star ratings in virtually every country.

(Fantastic David Bowie Tribute)

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Jean Genie were formed in 1993 in Birmingham by John Mainwaring the lead vocalist of the band. They play all over the world and pay tribute to Bowie's music of the 70s 80s and 90s.

John has had many recording contracts with major companies under different guises and has toured with David Bowie's original band of the early 70s - The Spiders From Mars - being their vocalist. John has been produced by Bowie's producer Tony Visconti in the early 80s and worked with Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and Joe Elliott of Def Leppard.

He has also had a number one hit in The Lebanon in 1990. Jean Genie play all of Bowies hits in an amazing show of complete detail. John Mainwearing is without doubt the only other David Bowie on the planet, his voice is exactly the same but you don't need to close your eyes because he looks just like him too.

The South's Finest SKA

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(2-4-1 When you buy music tickets!)
Ian Cognito & Will Hodgson Tour

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Will Hodgson ::

WINNER-PERRIER AWARD-BEST NEWCOMER-2004 Wil Hodgson is quickly becoming established as the most original new comedian on the circuit. Drawing on a wealth of life experiences not available to the current homogenized middle class pool of comics, this former skinhead, punk, professional wrestler and member of the communist party, regales us with tales of anti fascism, small town prejudice, his passion for 'the big women' and care bears.Wil is already a firm favorite with comedians, promoters and audiences and is set to become a big name in the world of stand-up. Reviews "Wil Hodgson's frantically hilarious routine is about being an outsider, but then what would you expect from a mohicaned ex skinhead with tattoos and makeup that has a My Little Pony fixation." THE LIST '...an undeniable talent...a genuine find' TELEGRAPH" He is a true individual storyteller for all the jilted generation, one with all the potential to be a true cult hero."  CHORTLE  'Hodgson's strength is his ability to weave a story that engages you completely … he's a skilful comic storyteller' - BBC Radio 7

First Full Band Tour In Years! (Doors 7:30pm)

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Writer and singer of "Stop" returns with an intimate show

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(Fleetwood Mac Tribute)

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FLEETWOOD BAC are the world's first and best Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band, endorsed by Mick Fleetwood himself, and raved about by Peter Green's biographer, the only Mac tribute band to authentically replicate the classic Stevie/Lindsey/Christine/John/Mick 'Rumours' line-up.

The band returned in 2001 with their best line-up yet, and in the last 2 years the response has been amazing. Rave reviews in 'The Stage', The Fireflies and Go Your Own Way (the U.K.s leading Fleetwood Mac fansites); an endorsement from The Nicks Fix (the official Stevie Nicks website); and ecstatic audiences wherever the band played, including wowing an audience of 10,000 at the H.O.G. festival in St. Tropez, and very successful recent shows in the Cayman Islands. The band has also recently been rated by The Times as one of the U.K.'s leading tributes, alongside The Bootleg Beatles, Bjorn Again and the Counterfeit Stones.

The sound, the look, the mystical atmosphere and on-stage chemistry are all portrayed with the passion and energy that got the seal of approval from 'Big Daddy' Mick, and built up an excellent reputation amongst Mac fans through numerous tours, festival appearances, corporate events and TV and radio slots all over the U.K. and Europe.

Fans include original Mac bassist and biographer Bob Brunning, who has joined the band several times on stage for great versions of 'Need Your Love So Bad', and Peter Green's official biographer Martin Celmins.

The Fleetwood Bac show focuses on the Stevie Nicks/ Lindsey Buckingham/ Christine McVie 'Rumours' era of the band (still the 5th biggest-selling album of all time). It also features several songs from the Peter Green days, plus some of Stevie's biggest solo hits, in a theatrical two-hour show, including costume-changes and an acoustic section.

Songs featured include: Dreams, Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way, You Make Loving Fun, Tusk, Gypsy, Everywhere, Oh Well, Rhiannon, Little Lies, Black Magic Woman, Seven Wonders, Say You Love Me, Big Love, Oh Diane, Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, Albatross, Sara, Man Of The World, Hold Me, Green Manalishi and Need Your Love So Bad.

Fleetwood Mac fans are also raving about seeing and hearing favourites like: Gold Dust Woman, The Chain, 2nd Hand News, Silver Springs, I'm So Afraid, Songbird, Sisters Of The Moon, Isn't It Midnight, Leather And Lace, Oh Daddy, Monday Morning, Landslide, I Don't Want To Know, Beautiful Child, Over My Head, Never Going Back Again, World Turning, Blue Letter, Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You, Eyes Of The World etc.

Robin Trowers career has spanned more than four decades. He is one of the finest guitarists in Rock n? Roll history

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Robin Trower's career has spanned more than four decades. He is one of the finest guitarists in Rock n' Roll history. Robin Trower spent the early 60's playing guitar in various London based outfits, the most successful one being The Paramount's. They specialized in mostly covers, but managed to issue several singles between 1963 and 1965 and were a favourite band of the Rolling Stones. It wasn't until 1967 that Trower received his big break when he joined Procol Harum. Trower was a member of Procol Harum until 1972.

After leaving Procol Harum, Trower embarked on his solo career and found the success that has made him a legend today. Armed with his fluid and powerful guitar style, redefined during his stint with Procol Harum. All of his early albums share a tough, explosive style mixed with his trademark "soft psychedelia" that made Robin Trower a power trio that will forever remain in Rock n' Roll history. Throughout his long and winding solo career, guitarist Robin Trower has been called the "White" Hendrix due to his uncanny ability to channel Hendrix' bluesy/psychedelic, Fender Strat-fueled playing style. Trower released his solo debut, Twice Removed From Yesterday, in 1973. The album barely left a dent in the US charts, but that would change soon enough with his next release 1974's "Bridge of Sighs". The album skyrocketed into the US top ten, peaking at number seven selling a million and a half copies and it still sells 15,000 copies a year to date worldwide. Although "Bridge of Sighs" was to be his most popular solo release, Trower's stock continued to rise throughout the mid 70's, as he became an arena headliner on the strength of such hit albums as 1975's For Earth Below, 1976's Robin Trower Live and Long Misty Days, plus 1977's In City Dreams. Further releases followed in the 80's, and a brief union with ex-Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce spawned a pair of releases, 1981's B.L.T. and 1982's Truce, before Trower returned back to his solo career.

The 80's saw Trower expand his audience with several releases that updated his blues-rock style (such as 1987's slick produced Passion). During the early 90's,Trower returned back to Procol Harum for a brief reunion (1991's Prodigal Stranger), before backing ex-Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry on a few releases (1993's Taxi and 1994's Mamouna, the latter of which Trower earned a co-producer credit for).

The 90's saw Robin consistently touring the USA with his power trio. In 2002, Trower returned to the production role, linking up with Bryan Ferry again, to work and play on Bryan's "Frantic" album. In the following years Trower concentrated on writing and producing film music for releases such as "Good Humour Man". In 2005, Fender are scheduled to release a Robin Trower signature guitar to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stratocaster, along with this there will be a "Bridge of Sighs" custom shop Stratocaster, of which only 100 will be made and will mark the legendary album's 30th anniversary. To celebrate this event, Trower has decided to return to live work in Europe. 2006 will see Robin Trower touring the UK, Germany, France and The Netherlands. His band will feature Dave Bronze (Bass), Pete Thompson (Drums) and Davey Pattison (Vocals).

Pink Floyd Tribute

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Now, with the passing of Rick Wright in 2008 there will sadly never be the reunion that we all hoped for, but the music is timeless and will live on for many more years to come. How many 60's bands today are still attracting new and often young fans 40 years on?

Today, there are many bands trying to emulate this music, the most outstanding by far being Perfect Alibi. Founded in 1990 the hampshire based band have been described as "the definitive Pink Floyd tribute."

When Dave Blake (lead guitar) formed the band they were playing covers of classic rock songs by Pink Floyd, Marillion, Eagles, Neil Young and more. Being huge Floyd fans themselves and from the reaction and requests from the audiences, more and more of there songs crept their way in to the set until it got difficult to mix other material in. Realising this, a concert was staged in a theatre as a tester and Perfect Alibi emerged as a totally dedicated Pink Floyd tribute.

With Perfect Alibi, you have the chance to hear Pink Floyd songs as they are meant to be heard. The band are now widely respected and appreciated in their field, giving the audience a truly authentic reproduction of the music of Pink Floyd. With the emphasis on capturing the live Pink Floyd sound. With well over 40 songs in their repertoire, spectacular lighting/lasers/projections, this is a show not to be missed!

But don't take our word for it... judge for yourselves. You won't be disappointed!

3 fantastic artists presented by the legendary BBC DJ. This show will be filmed for future TV release

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"Here's to tonic, here's to gin, here's to sparks and here's to gasoline…" You're The Radio

We are lucky to have musicians like Thea Gilmore, musicians that want more from themselves and more from music than some pre-formed, whistle-friendly cud, something to chew on but never fully digest. In an age where artists – male and female – tend to be either hyper-sexualised or completely neutered, Gilmore is that rare creature, an actual adult with a heart and a soul, a grown up with an opinion. Thea Gilmore is a real person tackling the sort of issues real people deal with every day, only, unlike the rest of us, she tackles those issues with an utterly beautiful voice and songs that touch on folk and jazz and rock and Americana.

Not for no reason does Bruce Springsteen buy her records, do artistes ranging from Martha Wainwright to Mike Scott seek to collaborate with her, and not for no reason does Tom Waits' celebrated percussionist Michael Blair appear on Murphy's Heart, Gilmore's tenth album – one that follows a sustained period of artistic and critical success.

2008's Liejacker was a deeply personal collection that included a track with Joan Baez. It was, in Gilmore's words, "the lovechild of whisky and heartache". The Observer seemed to agree, noting that these songs would, "make your heart catch, your skin prickle and your eyes fill with tears", which seems a good place to start. The Times said that last year's Strange Communion was so good it just proved that Gilmore is, "unarguably one of the finest singer-songwriters of her generation."  There is the sense of a tipping point being reached. Album ten is a serious landmark release in anyone's book except, perhaps, that one owned by the artist in question.

"It's just a number," Gilmore says, laughing, a cup of tea in her hands. "If it's a milestone at all it's because I feel my guard has dropped a bit and that's something I've always battled with in the past. There's been a bit of a glass wall in front of what I do. I never tended to let people in. If that's not all gone, then it's only clingfilm now."

Gilmore says she's not "an easy going sort of girl", but if that translates into firmly resisting pressure to conform to singer-songwriter stereotypes then we should hope more people take up the fight.

"Maybe being 30 and being a mother has changed me," she says. "That's my everyday now, but the greatest art comes from the everyday. I always used to be getting told what to do, getting told to be more like whoever was happening at the time, but that's what happens when you put baked-bean salesmen in charge of art. I hate calling it "art" as that sounds awful, but when you're dealing with what comes from the human psyche, you're dealing with art. Trying to make one person's mind like another inevitably leads to failure. It struck me even at 16 or 17 that this was weird. So I got this name as someone who was stridently against signing a major record deal, but I just thought of it as being sensible."

For someone who has grown up "standing back and making great state of the union addresses", Gilmore is quietly delighting in examining the tiny aspects of life and pulling at each thread to see what just how enormous the repercussions can be.

"I don't have to live my life with this sense of impending self-importance anymore," she says. "That's very liberating. You don't have to be trying to write Masters Of War every time. You can write about your own decisions, turn small parts of your life into songs that people can relate to."

So Gilmore's new record Murphy's Heart is smart and honest and confident enough to concentrate on life's most important themes: love and sex. She considers both the damage that love does, the violence that it can invoke, the guilt that comes with parental love, but also the maddening truth that one means precisely nothing without the other. Gilmore is wise enough to write a song like God's Got Nothing On You which casually nails an habitual self-regarder (already speculation has it that one Tony Blair was the inspiration) who abandons "all those friends you outgrew with Bombay gin and a rose tattoo…", while being uncynical and open enough to write something as beautiful as Due South where a young man heads off, "feet on the dash of a rented car" only to soon find himself alone and lost, "looking for hope in stiletto heels…"

If not all of life is here, then certainly the bits that really matter are dealt with in ways that will have you going back repeatedly, poring over her thoughts and words, her actions and their attendant inactions.

"I'm a 30-year-old woman with a 3 1/2 year old son," Gilmore says. "I feel like I know life a little more now. I am in the dance rather than watching from the sidelines."

Parenthood crops up – subtly – on the album. Mexico is about impending parenthood, how your life is changed forever in that moment of discovery, while Wondrous Thing is about suddenly being a parent, imagining that the world might just stop at any moment with the shock of this strange, undying love.

As for sex, well if the song Teach Me To Be Bad  had a subtitle it might well be, Teach Me To Do Bad Things. "I'm from a small dreamy village in rural Oxfordshire," Gilmore says with a twinkle... "So I grew up appreciating people who take their time over things... and, err,  further education can never be a bad thing?"

She also describes Jazz Hands as, "a pure sex thing. I wrote it and it made me laugh so it had to go on. I love that track…"

The single, You're On The Radio is a decidedly sunny take on being properly in love, appropriately as it's a co-write with her partner, Nigel Stonier. It is, Gilmore admits with a laugh, a distinct artistic departure for her.

"I've not done much like that, no! But you can't be dark all the time. I wondered about whether I wanted a bright, breezy, happy person for a few minutes – then I thought, why not? What could go wrong! In fact, being upfront and honest about the positivity in my life is way more of a challenge for me than getting the dark stuff across"

That darker side ("I think of it as bleak optimism…") is well represented by How The Love Gets In, a piano-led piece that considers the "glimpses" we get of fulfillmnent and happiness, while Automatic Blue deals with a friend of Gilmore's who met the love of his life some years after getting married and having children to someone else.

"Watching someone so in love with the person they couldn't have made me very, very sad," she says. "I come from a background of having experience of that - my father did the same thing for years and years and years – so I know what the fallout feels like. But my friend was very dignified. He backed off and it made me feel very sad. That was an unknown feeling for me as I've always been on the side of the injured party, the person who had been cheated on, as that's what I've always dealt with."

Gilmore grew up in a house was full of "hippy" music. Dylan, Beatles, Fairport Convention, Hendrix, Cream, but they found room for Dire Straits and Abba too. Her dad was a fairly hardcore folky – there were John Renbourne and Jake Thackery records – while her mum was a huge classical music fan who, famously, refused to even enter the Isle Of Wight festival when she saw the state of the place.

Gilmore was a solitary child. There were only two other children in her village, both boys. She was "gobby", but the youngest of two, so she could be gobby and not get a smack for it. "I was pretty bookish," she says. "I loved to read and write. I enjoyed my own company."

When Gilmore was 6 she had an all-three-books-in-one copy of Lord Of The Rings. She took it into school only to be told she was not allowed to read it as it was "too grown up".

"My mother steamed into the school and tore shreds off this teacher. I loved her for doing that, but I also thought, why aren't more people doing this?"

Gilmore was, she says, "raised on Guinness and live music", though she insists she never wanted a wild party lifestyle, which was lucky as, "there wasn't one to be had!" At 17 she moved to the heaving metropolis that was Sandbach in Cheshire taking her Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits records with her.

Thea had got some work experience at a recording sudio when she was sixteen. She loved words and loved singing but she never wanted to be a singer – it never crossed her mind apparently. But she met Nigel, wrote a few songs and got a deal with a tiny label in Oxford. "I was passionate," she says. "But I never thought anyone could get that lucky. I thought it was magic – and it is! Writing music is magical and the idea of selling it was too much to imagine. But these things kept on happening."

She still looks back on the ten years that have passed with bewilderment, like she can't quite believe the way things have really evolved. The first time she got on the radio she was already on album three. Her career had been fuelled by her own passion for writing and making music, but also by the small, close-knit team she had put together.

"That feeling never diminishes," she says. "Especially as I don't have a £300000 ad campaign behind me. When I get radio play it's because they like the song. Incredible. And it keeps getting better."

So now Gilmore gets to play Glastonbury and go backstage to meet Bruce Springsteen.

"His whole team is amazing," she says. "The first time I met Bruce he'd just done three hours on stage in Manchester and he was still bouncing off the walls – he has so much energy. He said  he'd just bought another one of my albums. I said Bruce you buy albums?? You so should have just called me I could have spared you one!!But he goes to record shops and buys what he likes. He puts his hand in his pocket and supports the musicians – that's an amazing person…"

Ten albums in, Gilmore has a strong and supportive fanbase in place, the sort of people who turn up for every show and want to meet and talk, to share how her music makes them feel.

"So much of our life now is transient," she says, "but there are people out there who have really stuck with me. I speak to a lot of people who come to gigs, but I try and speak to everyone. With this record I want people to hear the progression, the broadening of what I do. I've stepped outside my musical box and actually pulled it off!"

How does that feel, I ask?
"It feels natural," she says, putting the teacup back in the saucer, "but it took a long time to get here!"

Brian Houston

Belfast's Brian Houston may well go on to make a more obviously commercial album but he will struggle to make one that has quite the impact of Jesus and Justice. Jesus and Justice cannot have been recorded for financial gain or for career advancement, although both may follow as a result, this is surely the result of some kind of emotional house cleaning. As the title suggests, the album deals with faith, right and wrong but that simple appraisal masks a treasure trove. Instead of a preaching treatise on the world's ills or some TV evangelist's latest attempt to boost his bank balance, you get the twinkle in the eye music of a born performer. As is usual with highly intelligent musicians, the path of the album never runs smooth. Houston has little time for the rose-tinted view of the world, We Don't Need religion sums it up. This is about personal belief not shoring up the establishment view. There has always been a spiritual element running through Brian Houston's music and, as Buddy Miller has with House Of Universal Prayer, he has now brought that spirituality into the spotlight. It retains all the trademark energy and passion of a Brian Houston album, he is a man who blossoms when he is making music, whether on stage or in the studio and you're guaranteed to leave with a smile on your face. taken from a review written by Michael Mee for NetRhythms

Johnatha Brooke

"In a perfect world, the prefab poseurs would be waiting tables and the gifted singer-songwriters would be big stars.  Jonatha Brooke tosses around gorgeous chords and whip-smart words like Britney tosses her hair. She paints in true grays while Beyonce paints on her next costume. Such elegant pop songs deserve to be heard." - The Boston Globe "This overlooked talent deserves to be heard.  If the music world was fair, Jonatha Brooke would be a huge star.  Her songwriting is more memorable and more poignant than Sarah McLachlan's or Sheryl Crow's.  Her voice is more stunningly beautiful than Dido's or Jewel's.  And she's way cooler than Liz Phair." - Newsday "Ms. Brooke slips considerable craftsmanship into her songs.  Skill and ambition remain, even as her songs have turned to pop forms, showing a fondness for the Beatles and Joni Mitchell. Now and then they also hint at Suzanne Vega, Alanis Morissette, Ani DiFranco and Neil Young.  As the music climbed to graceful resolutions, the implicit promise was that romance can, too." - New York Times

Awesome blues/rock

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Legendary Twin Guitar Rock

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Having already started the year with an extensive tour of Germany, Belgium & Switzerland, Wishbone Ash stop off in the UK for a twenty-five date tour, taking in many of the country's major towns and cities, and proving they're still one of the hardest-working and in-demand bands.

Their colossal work rate is testament to an enduring popularity that shows no sign of abating nearly 40 years after they first formed. In that time, they have inspired bands such as Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden with their pioneering, trademark twin-lead guitars; their unique blend of blues, jazz and English folk continuing to delight audiences throughout the world.

Wishbone Ash has released nearly 40 albums & 6 DVDs and performed on five continents to worldwide acclaim. The band regularly performs more than 150 shows a year, delivering the goods to an ever-growing number of appreciative fans of all ages.

Throughout the years, many notable musicians have contributed their talents to the band, including Asia's John Wetton, Trevor Bolder from Uriah Heep and Laurie Wisefield, who would later play guitar for Joe Cocker and Tina Turner.

The current and established lineup comprises founding guitarist Andy Powell, long-serving bassist Bob Skeat, guitarist Muddy Manninen and drummer Joe Crabtree.

Still selling out venues, they will be performing such classic tracks as The King Will Come, Throw Down the Sword & Blowin' Free as well as songs from their latest album, The Power Of Eternity. With such a vast back-catalogue of material to draw from (including the multi-million selling Argus - considered one of the classic rock albums of all time) the fans will be guaranteed an unforgettable evening of the best in rock.

And as if the band weren't busy enough, they depart these shores the day following their last UK show to start their USA tour by performing in Pennsylvania that very same night!

See what all the fuss is about. Explore the band's website for up-to-date tour information, sound and video samples, complete discography and much more.

 

Influencial '60s Band, former members including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck...

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By now, everyone knows the Yardbirds legend, if not their music; the band graduated three of the great Ph.D.s of rock guitar: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. They created hard rock out of standard twelve-bar blues, doubling the tempos and whacking the amps up to ten. On the British club scene, the Yardbirds, the Animals, and the Rolling Stones ruled the stages. The Yardbirds expanded the range of the electric guitar, experimenting with feedback, sustain, and fuzztone. They also coined and popularized the rave-up, a kind of free-for-all where you jam long and hard, not as soloists, but in a tandem, until you reach an epiphany about 10 or 20 or 30 minutes later, a shuddering climax of decibels and pure energy, and then—back into the song for one more boom-boom chorus. The Yardbirds were the bridge between the tributary white R&B of early-sixties London and the pastures of fuzz-toned psychedelia and power-chorded heavy metal plowed much later in the decade and throughout the seventies. Yes, the Yardbirds laid the groundwork for Rock Guitar As We Know It. — from Parke Puterbaugh liner notes to Rhino's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, 1964-1966 We really didn't know what we were doing in those days. We were just trying everything and thumbing our noses, not knowing that it would become a blueprint for a lot of stuff. — Yardbirds co-founder Chris Dreja

(Marillion, SAS Band)

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Fish's music defies trends and fashion, it's a brave statement in these days of banal musical small talk. His career, spanning over 20 years of the entertainment industry, is notable for his charismatic stage performances and uncompromising lyrics.

Graeme Smith, S1play: "...being at one of his gigs is like being entertained by a boisterous host at a particularly loud private party."

Edinburgh Evening News: "It's all great fun, and the crowd loved it. But in full flow Fish prowls the stage, a sinister and brooding figure. Dynamic and powerful, he roars out the lyrics with undiluted passion, at all times in total control of the crowd. A national tabloid recently suggested that Fish was no longer relevant to the music industry. If that is true then the music industry has lost touch with great music, entertainment, passion and lyrics that make you stop and think."