Tag Archives: singer songwriter

REAL GONE GOES OUT: Fred Abong – Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate, Kent 1/7/2018

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The first half of 2018 has seen a few excellent gigs that have helped put the Ramsgate Music Hall on the map. The venue has played host to a warm up gig by Pulp legend Jarvis Cocker (a show that sold out in under a minute), energetic sets from Shonen Knife and Kolars as well as an evening of acoustic English whimsy from the legendary Robyn Hitchcock. The venue could now legitimately be considered a tiny giant. Tonight promises to join the list of legendary performances as the venue is host to a Throwing Muses double bill, with solo sets from ex-bassist Fred Abong and singer-songwriter Kristin Hersh.

2018 has been an important year for Fred. He’s made a long overdue, proper return to the music scene after many years. He’s also recorded new solo material, the ragged ‘Homeless’ EP, and he’s been giving it some hefty promotion throughout the summer whilst on the road with Hersh. This is the second of two appearances at Music Hall and even though it’s a school night for most tomorrow, it’s still a sell out.

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ANDY K. LELAND – Happy Daze EP

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Andy K. Leland first came to the world’s attention as one third of Italian/Icelandic alternative rock band My Cruel Goro. Disbanding after just two (excellent) EP releases, the band decided that having members so widespread wasn’t geographically viable and Andy embarked on a solo career. The first fruits of his solo work are minimal. Fans should not expect the full volume Ash-meets-S*M*A*S*H riffage of his previous band. Instead, ‘Happy Daze’ presents Leland with an acoustic guitar and a few microphones in a lo-fi, introspective set up.

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REAL GONE GOES OUT: Robyn Hitchcock – Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate, Kent 31/5/2018

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Robyn Hitchcock is one of those artists whom, for many, will have a name that’s more familiar than the music he’s recorded. Often billed as the “musician’s musician”, the one time Soft Boys frontman has many famous fans, including R.E.M.’s Peter Buck. This evening, he’s appearing at the very intimate Ramsgate Music Hall on the Kent coast. He’s attracted a crowd ranging from devoted fans to the merely curious. We’ve arrived with no real expectations, but the opportunity to see such a cult figure up close isn’t one to be missed.

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DAVID MYHR – Lucky Day

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Let’s not mince words: David Myhr’s solo debut ‘Soundshine’ is a classic album. Not just for the time of its release, but a genuine classic. Its retro pop style places it on a par with 10cc’s ‘How Dare You’, with Wings’ ‘London Town’ and Badfinger’s ‘No Dice’. In terms of more contemporary recordings, it rivals the Oranjuly debut and Jellyfish’s ‘Spilt Milk’ for sheer pop wonderment.

A follow up had a hard act to follow and perhaps knowing he had a big job in hand, Myhr rallied around the troops. As a result, 2018’s ‘Lucky Day’ features co-writes with Linus of Hollywood, Bleu, Bill DeMain and Young Hines – names which should be familiar to most power pop aficionados – and songwriter/producer Brad Jones, a man whose credits involve working with Matthew Sweet, Jill Sobule and Josh Rouse. It’s fair to say it’s got some solid foundations.

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SOPHIA MARSHALL – Song 3 EP

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At the beginning of 2018 singer-songwriter Sophia Marshall released an EP of low-key, stripped back Kasabian covers. With the arrangements finally allowed room to breathe and a decent vocal applied, Kasabian never sounded better. Barely a month later, Marshall returned with a two track digital single centred around The Pretenders. It perhaps wasn’t as broad in appeal as the Kasabian release, but her dreamy, strung out version of the Ray Davies penned ‘I Go To Sleep’ was definitely worth hearing.  The third release in her ongoing covers project, ‘Song 3’, turns its attentions to Colchester’s favourite sons, Blur, and rather disappointingly, despite the title building up hopes, she doesn’t re-imagine their indie-punk belter ‘Song 2’ in a swoon-some dream pop style. That’s not to say her three choices aren’t interesting of course, since the Blur catalogue is ripe for the picking…and it’s not like they get covered very often either. Also, two of Sophia’s re-imaginings are of a gold standard – great additions to her covers project.

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