The Transatlantic Sessions – Royal Festival Hall, London
Nigh on its third decade since its original TV showing, The Transatlantic Sessions completed its final 2024 tour date with applause ringing around this venerated hall as Country royalty, Carlene Carter, led the entire onstage ensemble through a rousing Ring Of Fire. Words: Paul Davies Pictures: Michael Hingston To get to this point, the […]
Connor Selby/Grainne Duffy at The Forge, Camden Town, London
A month long series of blues concerts, at this relatively new venue, warmed the cold January cockles as blues hotshot guitarist, Connor Selby and Irish blues queen, Grainne Duffy, combined their bona fide talents to entertain a very decent turn out of blues aficionados. It’s rare to witness two headliners sharing a bill. This produced […]
Van Morrison – Shepherds Bush Empire
Van Morrison belied his sometimes-grumpy reputation as a performer by opening tonight’s set with a bopping Accentuate The Positive, the title track of his latest long player and twelfth album in a highly productive decade. He wonderfully took this song’s message to heart as he led his well-drilled group of superb musicians through a setlist […]
IAN SIEGAL BAND: A CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO BLUES
30TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY: AIN’T NOTHING BUT THE BLUES BAR, LONDON By: Barry BluesBarn Hopwood When offered the chance to see one of the best singer/songwriters in the UK who swaggers along side the Blues, you don’t take it, you jump on it and wrestle it to the ground. Plus it’s taking place in your most […]
Toby Walker, Brook’s Blues Bar, Parsons Green Social Club, London
September 29th 2023 Brook’s Blues Bar is one of London’s oldest running blues gig venues. Its location has changed over the years but run by blues stalwarts, Tony & Ann Rosenberg, it remains a haven of guaranteed acoustic blues quality. September saw a rare visit to the UK club by New Jersey acoustic picker Toby […]
Orkney Blues Festival 2023 – STROMNESS, Various Venues22nd – 24th September
The UK’s northernmost Blues Festival, held in Orkney, once again proved a major success. With a mix of local and national/international blues artists, this year’s event was hailed as the best by some attendees who have been coming for over two decades. The welcoming atmosphere was only matched by the high-quality performances. VIP passes allowed […]
ORKNEY BLUES FESTIVAL 2023 – September 22nd-24th 2023 – REVIEW
Words: Colin Campbell Pictures: supplied Interview with Dylan Pepper Festival Organiser and Drummer with Andy Taylor Group First I asked Dylan about the background and how he got involved? When I was just a little boy, my mum used to take me up to it, and it was run by a clever guy called Colin […]
Graham Nash, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London
‘Some of my best songs come from ridiculously ordinary moments’ observed Graham Nash as he recounted the tale of having breakfast with Joni Mitchell one wintry day in Ventura Boulevard. After which they passed by an antiques shop wherein a vase took Mitchell’s eye. Upon returning to their home, Nash remarked that he would light […]
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE JAZZ DE MONTREAL 2023 – review
Roaring back to full power after the enforced absences and restrictions of the pandemic, the Montreal Jazz Festival returned to optimum strength once again this July. Although the word ‘jazz’ is in the title, it shouldn’t deter you from checking out this annual masterpiece of festival planning and programming, because the Festival operates on a […]
Black Deer Festival, Eridge Park, Kent
Black Deer Festival, Eridge Park, Kent June 16 – 18, 2023 Black Deer is mostly billed as the primary UK Americana music festival and generally speaking the artists booked reflect that fact. But this year, the line-up featured the wonderful US blues artist, Bonnie Raitt. Closing a hugely successful UK tour, Raitt was simply on […]
