I am delighted to be able to bring you a great deal of excellent news from Ellie Gowers.

As you'll know from my report from her February showcase of new material & work in progress at Warwick Arts Centre, she had been working on songs of the highest calibre and taking her art into brand new directions. To some extent (and I know it posed questions from those so excited by her pre-COVID19 releases), her folk roots concept album ‘Dwelling by the Weir' and its popular & critical success blurred people's perceptions of her arc.

Of course necessity to some extent drove that lockdown created project and, in any case, I think an artist is entitled to explore a variety of facets of musical style. Now this new body of work is back towards that more contemporary sound which she was moving towards with "Against the Tide" or "The Sky is on Fire".

In fact she's already scheduled a six track EP (‘You, The Passenger' it's called) which is released in its entirety on November 24^th of which today's single, "A Moment" (on Gilded Lily Records) is the first taster.

I mentioned this song to you as standing out in February in its raw, acoustic form: it's one of her Canadian compositions and it "explores the tightness of guilt when not experiencing the familiar feeling of homesickness, and instead wanting to carry on in a place where one can ignore life's problems and indulge in running away."

With Ellie, you've always had subtlety & exquisite nuance. However she's manifested these approaches to writing in a considerable variety of ways: empathy for others, details of nature and situation sit alongside "big picture" issue macro-songs like "Against the Tide", "The Sky is on Fire", Waking Up To Stone" or "The Stars Are Ours".

Since Tradfolk called her "quite literally, an all-singing, all-dancing folk polymath", such breadth in addition to her considerable depth of vision could be expected.

This time, Ellie has turned her powers towards her metaphysical interests: "A Moment" is uber-Ellie-metaphysical though one of the first things which popped into my head was her (never-released but live favourite) "For A While": a much different story, but an interesting example of how getting her head round tiny packets of time & applying mindfulness within, is not a new aspect of her thought processes.

One central duality, if not paradox, in Ellie's music has been the barely contained passion of her live performances (her Morris dancing skills perhaps being practised in all her incessant foot movements on stage) and the outright anger of some of her lyrics, co-existing with the serenity of her delivery. The latter fits well with this idea of her finding tranquillity and perspective at any given time & taken together, is an engine house for powering the tensions which create the emotional heart of her songs.

No wonder the Guardian have said of her that her work is: "full of delicacy, precision and gentle delight". That precision though can be that of stiletto when she needs it to be.

 Goodness knows though how she keeps on coming up with such perfect & original melodies time after time, regardless of style. Well: that's a hallmark of the best musicians if you want one, isn't it?

If one is going to be fully accurate (which I'd like to be), this latest incarnation of Ellie (Ellie Gowers Mark III?) is driven by a number of conscious artistic decisions. Which frankly just as well for me to know, otherwise I get jammed up when I write that this is her best work yet having been so effusive (genuinely so) over her earlier work.

One is that picking back up of the thread of exploring more contemporary sounds (Mipso, Gemma Hayes and Jeff Buckley being inspirations she cites)

Another relates to moving on In terms of professional collaborations: musically with producer TJ Allen (who's worked with Bat for Lashes, Hannah Peel and Anna Calvi) and to get her music out there to as many people as possible, Absolute Label Services.

The latter builds on her quietly developing relationship with the national BBC: this includes her live session for Mark Radcliffe and her composition of music for Radio 3's production of "Middlemarch": by the time you read this, "A Moment" will have had its broadcast debut on Radio 2 on Wednesday evening: I'd guess a result of her being highly visible on their radar.

She's been touring a lot too: including internationally (as noted above) and as well as raising her profile & making contacts, like most musicians, being on the road generates songs. While many of these tend to dwell on ennui, fatigue or even poor personal morals, Ellie being that reflective writer focuses on that guilt mentioned above & generally we can expect "themes of absence, push/pull, and longing" to populate her whole EP.

The bar is bumped up quite a lot higher now isn't it?

"A Moment" is transcendental & although there is another song out there which I had "picked" as a potential single (and I know Ellie rates it really highly), this one serves as a very powerful calling card to slam down onto the table as a statement of intent: and so I see now why she's gone with this one. It asks profound questions of its composer & performer & so will challenge the listener ethically & emotionally: though not musically as it's a most beautiful song.

Ellie Gowers makes music for thinking people & feeling people & she just gets better & better at that. I've loved her work since I first heard it, but clearly she is now soaring higher in terms of her artistry.

I've long felt/hoped that Ellie would be able to take her talent to at least national audiences & think I've been predicting this since at least her ‘Parting Breath' EP (which was 2021). COVID19 scuppered that timetable but now with material this strong & with the BBC, The Guardian and a new distribution/promotion partner to help me spread the word… it could well be 2024.

If you'd like to catch Ellie live promoting ‘You, The Passenger', here are your opportunities:

27^th October:  Cafe #9 in Sheffield

30^th October: Band on the Wall in Manchester

6^th November: Acapela Studios in Cardiff

9^th November:  Tin Arts and Music in Coventry

15^th November: The Grace in London

Out today is the single "NOTHING2U" on Ripe Records, instalment number three from artist Euan Blackman's ‘Thunderstorms' EP (his third). It thus joins "Butterfly" and "I Don't Think About It (Too Much)" as pieces in that particular jigsaw puzzle.

In accordance with his clear ambition to use EP #3 as a shopwindow for his wider skills beyond the introverted sound of the first two, "NOTHING2U" takes a big step forwards & ends up outside the "alt folk for kind folk" perimeter entirely for the first time in his recording career. I cannot doubt that he aims still at kind folk, but this is better described as a variant of rock: it's illuminating that he tells us that "I wanted it to sound like if Elliott Smith fronted The Smashing Pumpkins" which is both accurate & helpful in preparing his core fanbase for a paradigm shift. "It's music designed to be turned up loud." Which isn't the first thing which I can imagine coming into anyone's head with any of his previous releases.

The words too take the song away from the wistfulness which has characterised his approach until now: here he starts to engage more with the concrete practicalities and anxieties of an urban, rather than pastoral life. There are definite hints of feelings of alienation present. Now those wispy, delicate vocals are telling a different story: they've spoken of the ethereal, now they turn to senses of isolation. You have to admire him for using much the same approach to evoke such contrasting moods.

While Euan accurately describes "NOTHING2U" as "..the biggest and most anthemic my music has ever sounded.." and is looking forwards to more exploration in this direction, the relative continuity in his singing approach provides support for his fans seeking to avoid trauma in navigating this evolution.

That the mothership is named ‘Thunderstorms' fits with the change in style & volume: I wonder is he building towards something even more tempestuous for the final EP track?

Trust Club's new EP ‘Slump', which comes out on 16^th August (there is a launch gig the previous night at Leicester's Firebug), is of course the follow up to their ‘This is Trust Club' EP  (reviewed last September) but the story is neither as straightforward nor conventional as one might think: all five tracks ("All I Can Do", "Fall Asleep", "The Fear", "Feel It Like You Do" and "Not Quite") were recorded (they were produced by Nathan Morris at 300 Acre Studios) at the same time as the tracks released on their previous EP: the band seem to have separated them out into two sets based upon tone: they feel that these five "represent the heavier and darker side of Trust Club".

Like many others, they have chosen to release some (in their case three) tracks prior to the EP itself coming out, and as you can calculate, they'll be appearing at a brisk rate.

"All I Can Do" is the first & it's out right now. Today. Taking the sound of The Cars as a starting point, it's a power pop track of considerable attractive qualities (I think the "darker" tag is relative rather than absolute). It helps that the style is a long term favourite & I certainly listened to The Cars: so I'm biased in its favour (disclosure alert) but it's so infectious that I honestly think that references to long defunct bands or even a genre which oddly seems  out of favour (or at least the expression is) are irrelevant: like everything else, take it for what it is & enjoy it on its own many merits: the band (Matt Good on guitar and lead vocals, Ali Hutton (drums & backing vocals) and Noah TH on bass and  backing vocals) reveal that it's "a favourite singalong track live" and frankly I'm not a bit surprised.

Dark it's not really, but it's reasonably heavy & certainly has jaded edges which add spikes to the melodicism and these give us things to hold onto as well as adding spice & savour to the pop.

It would have been a contender for commercial success back in 1979 when all the big labels & mainstream media were looking for this type of music (and before their butterfly minds got distracted by New Romanticism): obviously it's just as catchy in 2024 as qualities remain constant. Can it be successful? Well it has the right ingredients & it's certainly the most commercial Trust Club song to date. Fingers crossed that it gets exposure.

You'd be advised to get your heads round this excellent single quickly as its successor is hot on its heels, arriving on August 5^th.

You can also catch Trust Club tonight supporting Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam at the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham.

So here we are with the third instalment of Duke Keat's forthcoming ‘Bornstar' EP (pretty apt title eh?)  as "Android" joins "Data Machinery" and "Heavy Heartbreak" within our consciousness.

Co-produced by Mason Le Long (who's cropping up so much in my reviews at the moment) I suppose that within the context of what he himself describes as an "eclectic" EP, this track & its predecessor form as close a matched pair as is possible in their exploration of "the intertwining of technology and society."

I find it very odd finding myself writing the next words as I neither enjoy any process of trying to rank tracks nor find it possible to judge between the individual songs in Duke's repertoire, so diverse are they, yet my first instinct was to feel that this might be my favourite (so far) of his work.

I'm not going to over-analyse that thought given the immediacy of my response, but sometimes we need to acknowledge the voice of our subconscious & to respect what it's telling us.

Possibly it's because it's not one of his darker songs & the sun is shining outside that it struck a personal chord. It also could be because I delight in his sure footed approach to the subject. While delivered in an appropriately icy tone of futuristic detachment, there is none of the angsty paranoia of previous writers on the subject like Gary Numan nor the loss of humanity in the delivery where, for example, Kraftwerk, crosses over into tones of alienation.

Instead, there are elements of definite empathy or at least comprehension, even when discussing the gulf between himself & the subject of the song. He may not feel fully connected but he offers a sense of pity which few (if any) dystopian songs care to do.

There is also a lightness of touch which might include elements even of humour to banish the darkness & this is conjured up for the most part by what I might call gorgeous synthetic music: tones are comparatively warm and the compelling riffs (on keyboards and beautifully calibrated fuzztone guitar), hypnotic in their embrace of the listener.

Duke himself cites inspirations such as Daft Punk, Bloc Party or Muse but I'd also suggest parallels with early 1980s synth pop: such as when Jo Callis started writing the Human League's songs and Martin Rushent started producing them…

Maybe "Android" is Duke Keats' finest pop song to date? I hope he'll take that as the compliment I intend.

As ever, you mustn't isolate the song from the wide context of Duke's imagination: both his filmic inspirations & his talent as a visual artist. To that end, I'd recommend that you check out the single's video at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=AOkXar7j5rg

This not only showcases those graphic skills in abundance (it must have taken a lot of finesse and hard graft just to make it not to mention the imagination to conceive of it) but helps to tell the deeper stories within the song which on a personal level relate to exploring how the Duke Keats persona created by Connor Blundell navigates the contemporary digital world but the broader inter-relation of technology, social media and real people.

A summer hit with the built in refrigeration we need on a day like today?

Out Here by Eva Gadd - a Spirited Challenge to Follow Your Destiny
Song Release date: 26/07/24, Genre:  Indie Pop / British Soul

'Don't bring me down, I've been trying for so long' is the pivotal sentiment of Eva Gadd's new song Out Here, and when first written, these words were about matters of the heart, but the British Soul Pop artist was moved to revisit the lyrics more recently because the words rang so true as a description of her journey as an emerging singer songwriter and performer.

A sensitive intro builds to a driving beat showcasing Eva's angelic vocal in what becomes an empowering indie pop anthem about choosing your own path and overcoming judgement.  In parts, upbeat enough to dance to, Out Here is also the perfect backdrop to relax and unwind. London based producers Andrea Trevisan and Lucas Miles worked with Eva to create a track full of light and shade from rousing instrumentation including piano, synths, guitars and drums to the uplifting dreaminess of an almost Acapella bridge into the chorus. 

Whilst Out Here was born from a vocal about about a romance, it has grown into a feisty call to shrug off naysayers and self doubt and follow your own path.  Eva is super encouraged that this message is resonating with her social media fans who have used clips of her song in their own posts. One recent TikTok video of Out Here garnered many thousands of  views with comments like "a gentle summer breeze and the sun on my back" and "feels so fresh – it makes me want to go for a walk and clear my head."

Says Eva, "Choosing to be a creative artist or performer is not everyone's idea of a sensible career, and I've experienced questions like "but when are you going to get a proper job? and "are you making money yet?" Being made to feel niaive, unrealistic, even stupid for pursuing music by people who want to bring you down to earth isn't fun, but I'm tuning out those comments, and in Out Here I want to prove them wrong, but also acknowledge how lonely doing something different than the crowd can be.  Ultimately though, the message is positive; In the second verse the words "I would walk this earth to find you" describe myself now, and my future self, knowing deep down, I'll only reach that person I've wanted to be since I was little by staying true to myself."

Out Here will be released on all major music streaming channels on Friday 26th July 2024.
For live show and release updates join Eva's email list at www.evagadd.co.uk

There can be few more civilised pleasures than sitting by Stratford Upon Avon Bandstand on a sunny summer Sunday afternoon & listening to such classy musicians as WLDFLWRS.

Something of a flexible concept as a band, with its origins in the loose group of professional musicians who facilitate Stratford's Street Arts Project, there are those members who appear at most if not all gigs, but with likeminded guests, the ensemble can grow greatly as it did in when I reported in April on their recreation of The Band's "The Last Waltz" gig to raise funds for Street Arts.

Yesterday saw the band with Jack Blackman & Jono Wright on guitars & vocals with Wes Finch on bass & vocals and Chris Quirk making his live debut as a FLWR on drums. Sadly Katherine Abbott was unwell & not able to play.

Not unwholly like the similarly Americana inspired Dirt Road Band whose ‘Righteous' debut album I reviewed so recently, it's been fascinating to observe the development from a covers-based project designed initially for a more or less one off purpose into a longer term one which ha s then written & recorded their own songs.

I was delighted to hear this of WLDFLWRS but had no idea how many originals they've added to their live set already nor, I gather, how close to release some of them apparently are.

It's tempting to state that the originals fit in nicely with the existing set given the collective admiration for The Band. Yet that implies pastiche & the new songs are very strong & unique articulations of what such experienced & strong songwriters are interested in: albeit with that majestic dignity of The Band, the clear roots in musical heritage and the interest of all the composers in more abstract, philosophical & "big picture"  ideas for songs: possibly (I'd need to hear the recorded versions I suspect to make sure), touching on the spiritual too.

So please look out both for these special new songs & for my review of them.

Look out too for more WLDFLWRS gigs.

Some aspects of these will surprise you: you'll be hearing songs you've never heard before and probably a configuration of the band & their friends never before seen.

Other aspects do not vary: performances of class & distinction by musicians who love & know their music and who get as much joy out of playing as you do witnessing them.

There are gigs all over the place (literally) taking their show round the country: the culmination (at least judging by concerts announced to date) will be in Halifax on December 21^st where guest WLDFLWRS will include P P Arnold (yes, THAT P P Arnold), regular WLDFLWRS Nigel Clark and Adam Barry, Chris Helme, Neil Ivison, Rachel Croft, Thor Jensen plus some whose names are still under wraps. Tickets are going fast & since most of the venue will be taken up by the many performers, audience slots will be at a premium: the link is here:

https://www.loafersvinyl.co.uk/products/loafers-presents-a-celebration-of-the-last-waltz

The world is a strange & dynamic, wonderful place. Roughly a year ago, when reviewing Jono Wright's debut solo album ‘Special Measures', it seemed helpful to offer you the reference point of his being a member of the highly regarded trio Mos Eisley Bros.

Since then, his own profile has risen higher & he's been written about repeatedly for his work with the Stratford-based Street Arts Project & subsequently the spin off band from the professional musicians supporting that endeavour, WLDFLWRS.

Their "Last Waltz" tribute to The Band has evolved from a one off charity gig for Street Arts into a national tours & now recording their own material (amongst the frenzy of activity, the 21^st December WLDFLWRS gig in Halifax particularly catches the eye with star studded support from the likes of Nigel Clark, Chris Helme and the legendary PP Arnold).

Glorious as all this is, one might almost have forgotten Jono's own band & so I'm delighted that amidst all the other things he's been doing, their own debut single "High" comes out on the 16^{th of} August.

Written by Jono, it features him on guitars, harmonica and lead vocals, Spesh Maloney on bass guitar, percussion & backing vocals and producer Tim Walker provides more guitars, piano, keyboards & backing vocals. (George Shilling mixed and mastered the single).

The sad loss of Matt Hernández has set me to reflect upon bigger picture questions. I certainly recollect that from the earliest days of my attending his music evenings, long before I started writing these articles, he featured a few talented artists who were influenced by American roots music. They tended to bemoan lack of performance opportunities: finding Folk or Jazz festivals the only events who'd have them.

Years down the line "Americana" events proliferate and the more cynical performers have had great commercial success from music based around the apparent conventions (and even cliches) of the genre(s) and the amount of bandwagon jumping has been impressive. My personal bugbear is often the affected accents (and random dropping in of US place names): there have been tracks to which my initial response has been laughter.

Therefore to finally have the first release of material by an act whose love & understanding of such music is wholly genuine, is uplifting. "High", moreover is a real song with a real lyric rather than a pastiche as cited above.

These players know their music & behave towards it both with integrity & respect but also keep it fresh by using it as a vehicle for something they want to & need to say: as the artists they admire did.

Musically, they possess those rare attributes of taste & skill to pull off that challenging trick of laying down a song of considerable complexity and detail yet giving the impression of the simplicity of genuine roots music. The feel is one of a spontaneous performance captured live, though I suspect that they did spend plenty of time getting it right.

Keeping your output rare increases its value & keeps your audience hungry for more, but even so, I suspect that prior to this release, the profile of Mos Eisley Bros may have dipped below the threshold of its due: it was high time that they reminded us of what they can do. I hope that they find the time to record & release more & get out there and play live as much as possible.

"High" is a great song regardless of perceived genre: intoxicating & compelling. Audiences will enjoy it greatly without finding the necessity that I do to over-analyse it nor its significance in any big picture.

Equally, musicians will respond to the quality of composition and performance & hopefully it will persuade some that "Americana", however one might define that, is a living & vibrant culture & not merely a template.

Do you like irony? I usually do, though this one has left me looking a bit foolish in terms with my keeping up with the zeitgeist…. When I described "What's Going Down" by the Dirt Road Band last week as their debut single, I was, I suppose being technically correct but the band are way ahead of me in terms of release formats & the irony is that much as I appreciated the sounds they are producing from their sessions at Woodbine Street & linking them to sounds from the past (in a totally complementary way), they are not releasing singles in the 1976 fashion, but dropping a track a week (of the first four so far recorded for their debut album) in 2023 style.

Therefore "What's Going Down" has already been followed up by today's "Next Train Out of Town" (Horace's debut composition with the group) before any of us has had time to pause for breath.

The mood remains the same: a similar sense of confrontation and menace which I loved last week & which as I said, took me back to what I think the peculiarly British take on R&B (which kind of reached its zenith in the Pub Rock bands who mutated into punk): not the sort of people you'd think you'd want to bump into in an alleyway on a dark night: Steve's vocal if anything is even more dark & desperate than on the last one.

Much as I liked the breakneck ferocity of "What's Going Down", I suspected that the band would not replicate the musical feel: they are far too experienced & tasteful to do that, and so it turns out: "Next Train Out of Town" channels its emotions through a more sinister, measured speed: which if anything makes for an even more compelling impact.

The guitar solo here is just as vicious in its tone as last time: stabbing home its jabs to complement the lyrics while the rhythm section stalks menacingly behind with an ominous groove, relentless in its delivery.

In just two tracks, the Dirt Blues Band have shown that you can, if you know how, convey equivalent emotions in completely different ways to similar effect: and all within the context of the blues. This one simmers with the brooding intensity of Howlin' Wolf (and he was another one who gave the impression that you'd be better off not crossing).

The Dirt Road Band could easily have taken other routes (using other roots too) to debut their own material (in fact I imagine that they'd still sell out venues on performing covers alone): there are plenty of blues bands offering various, agreeable takes on the blues: some might be consistent with the technical requirements of the genre but rather a long way from the emotional original sources.

To their great credit, the band are determined to go for maximum credibility & produce original music which is not necessarily comfortable listening but authentic in terms of reflecting the dark roots of the blues and which is impossible to ignore: these songs engage with the audience and if you are not moved by them, then you must be rather lacking in sensitivity to the real thing.

The blues was born out of harsh circumstances & came to wider attention through the work of artists with the most appalling biographies of suffering & ill-use. Out of respect to them, it should not be an easy listening genre, regardless of using the "right" scales, licks etc: though too often it is. The Dirt Road Band are showing due respect to the music which they love & the artists who inspired them by writing material like "Next Train Out of Town" or "What's Going Down": barbed, dynamic songs which channel anger, frustration, cynicism & pain: and doing it very well.

Look out for the next two instalments over the coming fortnight. You won't be able to ignore them.

You can access "Next Train Out of Town" via this link: https://dirtroadband.bandcamp.com/track/next-train-out-of-town

Thankfully there has been a short turn around between my live review of the Dirt Road Band at The Arches In which I explained that my review of their debut album ‘Righteous' needed to wait for the ju-ju men at their bank to work their magic regarding electronic payment processing and that being resolved, so here I go.

As you know, the band have released the majority of the album as individual releases already, so you got the chance to process each one & give it its due. I have therefore  reviewed already "What's Going Down", "Next Train Out of Town",  "Cheap Talk & Whiskey", "Don't Count for Nothing", "Been So Long" and "Steal My Heart" so they should be familiar to you: especially if you acquired them on Bandcamp as I advised you to do.

"Never Get Over Losing You", "Worry No More", "Cutting Room Floor" and "On The Up" complete the ten song set & appear today online for your pleasure (with hard copies also an option).

As my various meditations on this band have said before, the identity as a "blues band" is indisputable, yet they dropped the overt use of the term "blues" in their name some time ago: I suspect that players of the experience of Steve Walwyn (guitar & vocals), Horace Panter (bass guitar) and Ted Duggan (drums) are unwilling to lock themselves into any artificial constraint & as the first six tracks have already evidenced, the breadth and diversity of their interest are such that the push the envelope of the genre to the point where it's best just to take them as they are.

"Worry No More" features Friday night's guest James Oliver playing guitar with Steve and Sam Powell the harmonica on "On The Up", which, taken with the keyboard contributions from Bob Jackson & Nikolaj Torp Larsen which I have mentioned before, offer external additional textures to the songs concerned and shape their individual characters very significantly.

However, these are guests and not core band members (I guess their appearing live to play the songs in question will be a sporadic phenomenon at best) and the truth is that the trio themselves can provide all the variations and changes of style necessary to build sets of considerable variety: as Friday's setlist proved. This then is shared with you via the immaculate production by the band & John Rivers.

The title of the album is ‘Righteous' and these three have been on the merry-go-round of professional music for so long that sticking to their principles & defying bullshit is etched into their nature. They are three of the most polite & friendly people imaginable, but they stand their ground tenaciously. Consequently, I refuse to entertain the notion that the ten songs are so varied because of some cynical commercial ploy (I can't imagine anyone urging them to cover demographics as presumably many artists experience) but it's because they have broad tastes: and can play them.

The first two were written by Steve and "Cutting Room Floor" and "On The Up" by Horace (great to see him getting a chance to explore his compositional side) but obviously owned by them all, the songs could be borrowed by a documentary maker to illustrate an evolving history of blues based music. Let's start with "On The Up" (the "harmonica one") which apart from the superb harp solo (and only having the one on the album increases its power) demonstrates too the DRB lightness of touch. Despite the adrenaline fuelled passion & speed of the live shows & plenty of the tracks, they work just as well at lower volume & pace as shown on this rather 1940's blues type number.

"Worry No More" with twin guitars is necessarily faster & more spiky to make the most of the extra input. Has Steve ever hammered on more in a song? Possibly never. Status Quo ought to cover it if they have the sense. Along with "What's Going Down", whatever American roots lie behind this music, these songs could only have been written & performed by British musicians with a nodding acquaintance with punk rock & pub rock.

Album opener "Never Get Over Losing You" is to riffage what "Worry No More" is to the hammer-on. Steve seems to balance the existential angst of trying to get through life as best he can, which shapes many of his songs, with the occasional admission of light & love into his writing: though here any great sense of optimism is quenched by the love being of the lost variety.

"Cutting Room Floor" is (I assume) a witty update of the Howlin' Wolf song (which I have heard Horace play with Blues2Go so that makes sense) and is faintly reminiscent of the sort of sound Free went for. The lightest & most affectionate of his lyrics on the album (though that is not to ignore the satirical bite) it's as much a dig at the film industry as anything (the bar in the song is presumably metaphorical) and offers a handy respite from the intense numbers around it.

It's a bit intense too getting four new tracks which need your head getting round rather than the double headers earlier, but their being so different makes the task less traumatic.

However playing all ten back to back…. Now that's quite something.

If you haven't read Horace's regular detailed blogs about his life in music: you don't know what you're missing. Witty & illuminating, they offer his inside perspectives on the stuff we enjoy from outside. Regarding the gig on Friday, where a half dozen of the ‘Righteous' songs were played, he singled out "Cheap Talk & Whiskey" as working particularly well. Now they all sounded great to me on record & the ones I've heard live, but it does prove how conscientious they are given that self critique.

And the there are several keys to trying to describe the Dirt Road Band. One is that although on paper, at this stage in their distinguished careers, they could be playing the music they love for themselves: except they are not: they aim to stimulate & delight audiences & get them moving & they reflect afterwards on how individual songs went so as to further hone their live act.

The blues is on surface a simpler form of music (and its roots explain why) and these songs reflect that: yet beneath that misleading surface is so much technique. And as I've said so often about the DRB, it's tasteful technique, without excess nor bombast. After my comment the other day about Ted not using toms with the band, he kindly shared a story with me about Norman Watt-Roy first seeing them live at Putney's Half Moon and declaring "No tom tom ….. fucking love it" which is quite a seal of approval.

As I say, playing ‘Righteous' all through cannot be taken lightly. Don't think of sitting back in your armchair with a glass of something. It's not that sort of album. You'd be better off warning the neighbours or better still inviting them round & clearing space for dancing.

You will have noticed my considerable respect for & excitement concerning the Live On Stage project if you've been reading my article over the months.

In fact I mentioned project members Mugshot as far back as my round up of 2022's Godiva Festival before knowing much about the bigger picture.

The astonishing & inexorable rise of Project Overload both on record (they released their debut album ‘New Beginnings' this year) and live & subsequently their appearance on the Main Stage at Godiva Festival 2024, with fellow project members Loophole up there the next day, has accelerated the need to focus upon what's going on.

My thanks therefore to the project team for inviting to me to their Summer Showcase at Coventry's HMV Empire and for the input from some of their members plus participating musicians to help me paint an accurate picture for you.

Organised by Coventry Music Hub & taking place at The Tin, its mission is to allow "..young musicians to form rock bands, develop song writing skills, learn about the music industry and take part in live performances" and as such involves artists aged from 11 to 18.

The team of mentors/tutors consists of Mark Patton from the Music Hub who leads the first year of the two year course, his colleague Alex Stott, second year leader Mason Le Long, Nina McLean-Ellmann and Michelle Bailey-Le Long who work with both year groups and Steve Weir who works with the second year.

As Mark told me: "by supporting our young bands to step on stage and learn of the other areas in the music industry, we hope they will always remember their journey with Coventry Music and The Tin Music & Arts, continuing to raise the profile of Coventry city's live music scene. "

Mason & Michelle will be known to many of you already: the former as a producer of so many artists we've covered as well as his own work with Batsch & !nvisible Hand and Michelle not only as a member of bands such as Deathsex Bloodbath, Duck Thieves and Sister Panic but for her work as a film maker. It is primarily through these two generous people that this article has been able to be written.

Nina (whom again you may know for her sound technician work at The Tin and elsewhere) was in the aforementioned Mugshot and later Permanent Daylight & hence is a Live On Stage contemporary of Project Overload: one of the great features of the project is the underlying philosophy of "there's no such thing as being too young" and to see someone evolve directly from being a student to a tutor (she teaches aspects of sound) is very exciting. No wonder the project prepares thirteen year old musicians to get ready to win "Godiva Calling".

Those of you who are aware of my career in education will probably appreciate my profound interest in what the project is doing. To help musicians at a critical time when personal musical skills are probably developing nicely and help them to develop what they are doing in a way which emphasises their own unique creative voice is crucial.

At this point, there are too many Svengali types looking for fresh talent to mould: at their least egregious these tend to try & persuade young musicians to copy the work of successful models: at worst it leads to various forms of exploitation. After we lost Gemma Leahy Waddell, one of the things I focused on was her hard work in these areas offering completely the opposite sort of mentoring philosophy, so it's great to hear of others operating similarly.

Confidence building must lie at the heart of this process: taking the form of both that approach to writing your own material saying what you want to say, whatever others may be whispering in your ear but also the physical form to get up on big stage & play naturally. I've written how Project Overload owned the Godiva Main Stage, but it's illuminating when the parent of one of the members of Loophole mentioned to me the "nerves of steel" he perceived in them: and I totally agree. Promoting this must be a priority at Live On Stage judging by what I see.

And I saw a great deal in one evening: the featured bands were Loophole, Electric Blue, Creative Sounds, Luminae, New Obsession, Rosewood, What About Eric? and Lucent.

All were skilful at what they did (some were jaw-droppingly so) but it was the attitudes which impressed even more. That confidence was there for starters: and I'd emphasise that within the broad characteristics of the project, there was much diversity. Several bands were up there with Project Overload and Loophole in terms of readiness to play anywhere. But this is a two year course & some were on year one, others year two & the age ranges were from eleven to eighteen so you'll catch me writing about them individually in some sort of sequence over the next few years as they play more in public & record, but unless the usual pressures of keeping bands together operate unhelpfully, I see no reason why you'll not experience them all.

There was also an overwhelming sense of community with bands supporting each other (far from always the case in the wider world of course), delighting in each other's music & having such positive relationships with the course team.

I took the opportunity to try & chat with some key players during the evening, though some were just too busy and I wanted to taste all of them (unfortunately the speed of sets and rapid (and highly skilled) changeovers meant that I only heard a couple from my interview room backstage) so as to try and capture the essence of Live On Stage.

The ideal starting point with a bridge back to previous articles would be starting with Loophole & I was delighted that Lucas, George, Nancy & George spared me the time literally just before they had to go on stage (and I mean that: they walked straight onto stage as we finished. The calmness & serenity of how they did that was eye opening: I'd never normally have attempted an interview with a band just before stage time).

Since this is the first time I've focused on the band rather than describe their performance, I thought it best to begin with examining how they saw their music. Lucas led on this one: "I think our band is mostly indie rock pop sort of based and I think for me especially, the bands and artists which take my interest and we incorporate into our music are Declan Mckenna, Jamie T, The Arctic Monkeys: they're all great bands and artists that I feel are really helpful in the creation of our music". George (the drum playing one) agreed: "a lot of the musicians that we listen to personally influence the different types of music that we play".

Loophole have actually evolved out of a previous band which included Lucas, Nancy, guitarist George and a drummer, Georgia, who left to be replaced by George on drums as part of the Live On Stage project "I think we're all really thankful for that, that we got this opportunity".

In terms of the Loophole journey to date, Lucas feels "I think it's got off to a really good start, playing at Godiva Main Stage the other weekend: we've been playing lots of gigs, HMV Empire tonight, many gigs at the Canal Basin, at The Tin, which is a really nice, homely environment, it's a really nice venue and I think what we're hoping to do is record more songs, write more songs and play at bigger venues, just try & expand our growth. I really enjoyed Godiva: it's such a big experience in our band career so far. To play such a big stage so early on, it's almost like a fever dream: it doesn't seem real. I think we're just so thankful that we had that opportunity and we took it & played really well to our audience and made a really good day of it."

Nancy expanded upon this: "I think Godiva was a really good opportunity for all of us and I think it definitely helped getting us more exposure on social media and meeting the other bands backstage was a bit of an achievement".

George (guitar) added "we played really well with minimal mistakes. We were backstage watching Beverley Knight and that was really good. There was also Oh My God! It's The Church. I quite liked them. They were good".

I asked them if six months previously they'd have anticipated playing such a stage, the answer came "absolutely not". While having dreamed of it, they seem to have considered themselves not on a level of bands who did play it: an assessment they've now hopefully fully revised.

In terms of next steps, building on this achievement, they are very grounded: they are, as Lucas says, "trying to play some gigs, get exposure & to write more songs & to release them. This band I think is really good at expressing ourselves which is a really good way to write music. The best part is just having fun with friends."

I asked the band for tips for you to check out: they suggested both Batsch & Duck Thieves and from the project, Luminae (and when I heard the latter later, I understood why).

They finished with Lucas telling me "how lucky we are to be given all of these opportunities by the Live On Stage project because without it, none of this would have happened. We're just really grateful & hoping to make more music".

Personally, I doubt that many of even the most experienced and skilled of musicians would necessarily be keen to or possess the right skillsets to work with young musicians, so I wanted to explore with Michelle & Mason more of the values side of what brought them into the project.

Ironically, the story's origins are far more prosaic than ideological: Mason putting their involvement down to a consequence of all his previous work at The Tin, causing them to "fall into it" with his venue & band experience being key factors into be invited to participate. "And suddenly, all of a sudden I was managing it." Michelle then spoke about their values "it is about developing skills of developing know-how of the local music scene and nationally as well, but the most important thing is about seeing the confidence grow in the kids. Confidence building is one of the core values of the project I would say.  We definitely give them the space to develop their own creativity and to develop songs: it really is student-led practice. Another core value of the Live On Stage project is to give the young adult the empowerment and encouragement to find their creative voice. Just to see the evolution of the kids: when they do their first gigs, they are really shy, really nervous and then by the time they leave the project, they're rock stars, they're owning that stage and it makes us really proud."

Mason expanded on that point "it really is so rewarding when you watch them on the Main Stage at Godiva or here at The Empire after a year of work: I mean not only the bands we've been working with for two years but the ones we've worked with for one year & seeing their evolution from September until now is pretty amazing. They are all at different stages, there is a lot of variation in where they are at in terms of their progress as a band but they are all making that progress and that's the bit that's really rewarding to see."

Michelle continued: "what's great is to see the first watch the second years on stage and learn from them and celebrate them: it's a nice community of kids. What do we get out of it? We get to be really proud of these young musicians: the next generation in Coventry but also the next generation of the people at The Tin, like Nina who was in one of the first original bands and now she's teaching sound on it. To see Nina become a colleague, a collaborator, someone that we are proud of but is also completely an equal and has such a great input and a way with the kids .. the kids love her: Nina's the favourite, which is fine!"

As noted, Nina has the unique status of having been a project member and has moved onto a tutoring role which gives her perspectives I was eager to tap into…. "It's really amazing to be honest. It was such an important project to me that to be able to support from the other side, it feels like a really important thing for me to be able to do. It happened fairly quickly after I was out of the project and I think that was partially because I'd been so involved for so many years" (Nina did work experience at the Tin thanks to being part of Live On Stage).

Responding to what Mason & Michelle had told me (above) about how this circumstance made her relationship with project members different to that of the other tutors, she said: "often when you speak to people like Mason & Michelle when you're on the project, you don't really realise that their experience of music is still current: I don't mean that in a negative way. As someone who's been through the new stuff & the new drama of being in a band is important as well I think: there are times when you don't get on necessarily when in a band, particularly one which was put together by other people".

And on the palpable sense of mutual support that I was picking up: "the support that over the years I've received & the support that I'm hoping to give is just immense. Mason & Michelle were always there for Mugshot & Permanent Daylight, showing their support in every way they can".

She talked also of how she still played herself (in fact she later guested on bass with Lucent) but was so busy with her sound tech work to be part of a band currently: in fact I hadn't expected her to be at the gig but she'd come back from working at a festival, slept until 4 and made it to the showcase.

I wanted to catch up with Project Overload too for several reasons: their stupendous rise & rise over the past months and also how that relates to their experiences on the course. Luckily, I got to speak with Lucas as he was there playing with Loophole & later on with Tom & Callum who were present in the audience.  Chatting first about the big gigs they've just played: "I think we're all still trying to take it in: obviously it's a really big feat, that  we managed to get onto the Godiva Main Stage on the Saturday, playing to just under a thousand people, which is definitely one of our biggest gigs and we're hoping to keep that going, maybe go somewhere else outside of Coventry. We've got a gig in Birmingham which is coming up in September and a festival we're looking forwards to". They were also processing playing on the same stage as people like Sam Ryder with millions of followers: "surreal: it shows how far we've come".

In terms of new material, apparently they have plenty ready for recording a new album in 2025 (no danger of "second album syndrome") so although I told them I loved "Wildfire" which they played as part of their Godiva set & can be found on social media, such are the riches available that the most I got from them was that it …"might be a good shout for a single as I think it's one of our strongest songs". They are really excited to bring some of this previously unheard material into their set.

Inevitably with a group on such a trajectory there were plans which I can't yet share with you but will knock your socks off when they come to fruition.

With regards to how Live On Stage helped them get here, they told me about the tutorial support & guidance they'd received from Alex, Mark & Mason, drilling down into specifics like stage presence, what it's like to be in a band, how to interact as a band: but crucially not dictating how to play.

What is clear from their trajectory is that having nurtured young musicians over the duration of their time with the project, once they start moving, they fly. My advice to you is to keep your ears & eyes alert for the bands I saw. Already there is a sense of privilege for me to have caught Project Overload & Loophole so early in what can be distinguished careers: others such as Luminae, What About Eric? or Lucent are already on my "to do" list for their no doubt imminent recordings and future live reviews: the others are on the road too. Keep on watching this space.

If you know anyone who'd like to enrol for 2024-25, please direct them to this page:

https://www.coventrymusichub.co.uk/directory-record/9/live-on-stage

I asked the alumni of the project to whom I spoke what they'd say to anyone thinking of joining: "take your shot, take your opportunity: they provide lots of opportunities: they offer lots of gigs, lots of support, lots of help to get into a music career. It's a really good start for years 6, 7 & 8 in expressing themselves in music" (Project Overload).

"Just do it. When you start out, you can be nervous and that's sort of the point. The project is there to help those nervous first starters to get to a place where they're much less nervous and support them through that into being in a full band. There is expected stage fright: we work through that as part of it: that's why it's so important" (Nina McLean-Ellmann).

Having previewed the Glastonbury debuts of Izzie Derry & Dolly Mavies for you, I thought readers might like a follow up piece on their experiences.

The short & simple answer to this is to recommend that you check out their social media sits as both of them vlogged in articulate detail of their performances & wider enjoyment of the festival: so you get it in their own words & with visuals too.

Nevertheless I caught up with both of them to elicit their thoughts & here they are:

I chatted with Izzie before her Godiva Festival performance, midway between Glastonbury & her new single release ("If We Don't Laugh We'll Cry").

This is what she had to say about it all: "absolutely incredible: possibly the best week of my life I wasn't expecting to play it quite so soon but I always said that I wouldn't go to the Festival until I played. Now I've gone, I've played & it's a bit surreal I played one set on the Wednesday & one on the Thursday & I think that worked out quite nicely because the big stages weren't open then and so the smaller stages, like I was playing on, were quite crowded because there wasn't as much to go to .There were a few friends of mine there but everyone else there were like new people. There were loads of people who were just brand new to my music. It was kind of exciting to play somewhere where no-one knew who I was. I had loads of people coming up to me afterwards & saying how good I was. There was a mother & daughter came up to me and they lived in Brighton so they could follow me there, so that was lovely. I didn't meet any (big stars) but I did get to see a lot of music I was excited to see like PJ Harvey, I'm a huge huge fan of hers. I guess that following Glastonbury I'll be playing some more shows, releasing the new single & hopefully carrying on the momentum applying for shows & festivals next year that having done Glastonbury this year, we're more likely to get chosen".

Dolly was trickier to speak to: she is currently amidst a whirl of activity and so we settled for online contact which went thus: "Glastonbury was amazing….We had an incredible time, it was a dream come true and an amazing opportunity. We will hopefully return next year!"

Just back from Scotland, she also announced today an Autumn tour of Britain including Birmingham's Sunflower Lounge & the Green Note in London: prestigious dates which don't even take into account "the Glastonbury effect": these simply reflect the esteem which helped take her there. One can only speculate as to what will happen when the effect kicks in (and I imagine that Izzie's current announced dates also are yet to take the career boost into effect).

I'm sure that you feel as pleased for them as I do.

Only a week ago, I suggested that "expect the unexpected" was a thread running through the artistry of those of whom I wrote. Few of them epitomise that more than King of the Alps, that restlessly innovative group for whom repetition is anathema.

Known generally for their elusive yet beautiful songs which explore the avenues to the human heart with the degrees of (un)certainty of adulthood, few (if any) releases features the same exact lineup of any of their predecessors & often significantly different instrumentation.

Occasionally though, they plunge even more radically off piste : 2020's "Happy Christmas, All Will Be Fine" being the most radical to date: until today's release of their ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel'  album has offered a serious challenge.

I had not expected a spoken word album in my wildest imaginings: so thank you once again to Paul Ingram & Simon Ward for the element of surprise ("no one expects the Spoken Word Album").

In fact ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel'  is so esoteric even by their standards of diversity and variety that initiator Paul had originally considered it as a side project to released under a different moniker. Thankfully Simon convinced him that weird ideas fall comfortably within the King of the Alps DNA.

The songs themselves are named  "Why?", "Wealth Could End Poverty", "Ununited Humans", "You Can't Grow Bananas in Milton Keynes" "Change the Future" and "We Are All the Same".

I've never reviewed anything quite like this, so had little idea of the technical difficulties involved. The project was delayed by COVID19 but even so, at that point, the search for a collaborative narrator wasn't getting anywhere: presumably the idea was too freaky for any of those approached to contemplate and so it's Paul you'll hear.

What he had not anticipated though was how difficult it was to fit the music to the existing words and so when you play it, please have in mind a lot of hard graft, composing, arranging & rehearsing.

What you hear in fact are six very different tracks with the music clearly written to reflect the words: rather than (for example) the approach of John Cooper Clarke whose musical settings of his poems (much as I really like them) tend to be jazzy mood tracks not particularly related to what he's reciting (though in a few places he almost starts singing).

Drums (Paul's instrument of yore with bands such as The Giraffes) appear more prominently than on most King of the Alps tracks: the significance of which eludes me (which is hardly surprising given the overall context). To be honest, you could strip the words away & be left with some decent instrumentals so much effort has gone into the backing tracks which include a range of sounds including samples.

The words though are the centre of the project & the mixing ensures that though they are supported & complemented by the music (and even emphasised by it), you are not distracted from them. We're talking Big Themes: societal as against the personal which tend to shape Paul's song lyrics.

Racism, xenophobia, inequality, fear, the environment, the role of the media, politicians, property/capitalism, materialism, greed and many more targets appear in his sights on the album, mostly set to ominous forms of accompaniment, yet tying all these together is the theme made most explicit in "Change the Future": he's challenging us all to effect change in our individual lives and to abandon the issues he's previous discussed: by multiple communal actions we can have an impact. At this point, the music becomes lighter & the urge to sing becomes greater as the words are more positive and his manifesto is emphasised by closer "We Are All the Same" (set to the brightest, funky, party-based backing) which emphasises our global communality, our shared interest in overturning the forces of darkness and our combined power to do so.

Taken as a  whole, ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel'  is a very powerful piece of work: outlining the problems for the bulk of the record is offset by offering solutions, or potential ones, in the final tracks & given the album title, Paul has a sense of optimism that it might come off.

 I agree with Simon: this fits nicely into what King of the Alps have always done: musically it's a high quality, highly listenable album. Lyrically, it addresses both matters of the heart and dives straight into the heart of the matter by looking at the bigger issues facing humanity & thus complementing what Paul's written about before.

I'm not even sure it's really a spoken word album at all: I'm inclined to go with it being an example of Sprechgesang of which there are significant numbers of examples in popular music, some by really big names.

If you care about the world in which we live & like thinking deeply, ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel'   could be your cup of tea.