Brilliant Buskers at the Navy   Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matt Thomas

There is a famous tune called ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and although I have sung it many, many times, I have never really understood the line ‘Now Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers, they’ve been known to pick a song or two’. That was until this last week, when a brilliant BBC4 documentary explained it. Muscle Shoals is a studio in Sheffield, Alabama and almost everyone in the music world, from Aretha Franklin to The Rolling Stones have recorded there at some point. The resident rhythm section, who were able to busk almost anything in any musical key, became known as The Swampers…hence their inclusion in the famous Lynryd Skynryd number. I mention this only because every week at the Newport Open Mic in the Navy Club you will find a bunch of musicians who get up on stage performing with someone they perhaps have never met, playing something they have never played.

More of that later, but first up Helen Brown from Telford, who has just returned from six weeks in Thailand. Always a pleasure to listen to her soft style and she managed to squeeze two of my favourites, James Taylor and John Prine into her lovely set.

A little bird tells me that Robbie Pilgrim and Jobe Spencer have been spotted busking in Stafford. Clearly the practice is paying off because their short instrumental set was excellent….particularly ’Freefallin’.

An absolute pleasure to welcome back Jade & JP from Wolverhampton. Their visit a couple of months ago set the place alight and they impressed once again with a brilliant performance. ‘River Deep Mountain High’ was my highlight of a fantastic medley of songs, which segued seamlessly from one to the other.

Next up, Newport’s own ‘Swampers’
I was tempted up on stage to join very experienced musicians Steve Hammond on guitar, bassist Simon Mann and drummer for hire Paul Crewe to hammer through a roaring set that had little heard rock and soul from the sixties….great fun indeed.


Continuing in the same vein, Martin Jacks and Tony Rodberg otherwise known as the Magpies, lived up to their name by ‘borrowing’ a few musicians from the floor to fill out their sound. A brilliant set from this five piece followed, my favourite being ‘The Thrill is Gone’ made famous by BB King. Tremendous stuff from these musical strangers.


Resident bluesman Dave Sandford stayed on stage with the rhythm section Al Middleton and Baz Webster, recruiting youngster Olly Flavell for some serious blues tunes from JJ Cale, before another very experienced guitarist joined them for a finale. Roger Clark hasn’t been seen in a while but rousing numbers from Dire Straits and Bryan Adams blew away any cobwebs.

So never mind Muscle Shoals….the talent is here in Newport!

If you play, sing or just want to jam with other like-minded musicians, then the Newport Open Mic is for you, every Tuesday at the Navy Club.

Till next time, keep it live!

Back to rock nights at the Navy   Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

We are nothing if not democratic at the Newport Open Mic. Since October, the last Tuesday of the month has been a purely acoustic night but attendances have not been as high as the normal club nights. A simple vote was taken on whether to carry on and it was decided to shelve these and just hold normal ‘music for all’ nights. So back to that this week with a full board of performers before 8pm and a crowd of around 60, waiting to welcome them.

Our audience is always generous and very appreciative and first to hear that appreciation was Alex Hislop, performing at the club for the first time. His eight stringed instrument looked like a cross between a mandolin and a bouzouki, and was perfect backing for his self-penned folky set.



Nice to see keyboarder John Minor back on stage. He had a couple of problems with vocals last week, so it was all instrumental this time with a couple of Oasis tunes to delight the crowd.

Regular bluesman Dave Sandford assembled a fine scratch house band to up the tempo, including Pete Barton and Clive Roberts. A great set included the quite brilliant ‘Need Your Love So Bad’ before another fledgling busking band came on stage.

Steve Hammond, a superb guitarist from Shrewsbury is always keen to collaborate with others, so keeping Clive on bass, he recruited drummer Tony Callister to play a blistering rock set, finishing off with timeless classic ‘Johnny B Goode’







Richard Thomas next up, and as always, something entertaining and completely different.  Jimmy Dean’s song from 1961, ‘Big Bad John’ opened proceedings, but it was his closing number that received most of the attention. I have heard ‘These Boots are Made for Walking’ many times, but never in German…..it made for an interesting chorus when the audience tried to join in!

Gaz and The Tones have hardly missed an Open Mic in months and their dedication and hard work is clearly paying off. Their original compositions are always well crafted and played, but there is tightness to the band now that only comes from playing together regularly. A fine set included a couple of as yet unnamed songs to add to their repertoire.

Turn the lights down, light an e-cigarette and listen to the fabulous keyboard skills of Ben Garrott, who brought the evening to a close with a couple of his own compositions and a stirring rendition of ‘Sweet Child of Mine’….if there is still a smoky piano bar in Soho, that’s where Ben should be performing.

Where does the time go? It seemed only a couple of hours had passed since Alex had started the evening, but as the clock ticks past 11pm, the equipment is put away for another week.

Join us every Tuesday for a regular dose of local live music, from 8pm at the Navy Club in Bellman’s Yard. Till next time. Keep it live!

Too old for touring?  No chance! Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures:Matt Thomas and Paul Crewe
 
I must admit, I hate March. Normally at this time of the year I am away on the ski slopes, but due to a knee operation, there will be no skiing for me this season. Maybe that’s why I’ve felt a little tired and listless this week. Open Mic on Tues at The Navy; same again at The Navigation on Thurs and a gig tonight, Friday….I was thinking, am I getting too old for this Rock & Roll lifestyle? That was until I saw a programme about BB King, who throughout his seventies still played around 250 gigs per year, and even now at almost 90 still performs more than 100 times annually!

Rich Evans, who like BB King has a guitar with a female name, in his case Amy WInebox, got the evening off to a great start with a crowd pleasing set which included the C&W hit, ‘Ruby (don’t take your love to town) before Telford based Ricochet came on stage. Everyone agreed that the new softer sound, with Sand Kumar playing electric acoustic was very nice indeed….something to note for the future lads?

Also from Telford, the lovely voice of Claire Shaw never fails to please. A really nice rework of ‘Believe’ by Cher was followed by a self-penned ‘Deliverance’ …not from the film of the same name as I originally thought, but as a tribute (?) to an ex-boyfriend….who she described with a choice expletive.

A couple of songs from a very melancholy Nathan Davis next, including ‘I’ll Always Say’ which he wrote himself and the Bob Dylan classic, ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’ which, by comparison, seemed almost lively.

It does what it says on the tin was a great advert for wood stain, but the description fits equally well with Gaz & The Tones. Very hummable favourites, ‘Maybe it’s Me’ and ‘Resign’ sandwiched a new number, provisionally entitled ‘Just Wanna Make you Smile’ which I am sure will feature on their crowd pleasing set list.

John Minor played keyboard onstage for the first time last week and returned to try out vocals with a heartfelt tribute to his uncle who died recently. Clearly emotional, he had some difficulty getting some of the words out, but this was ignored by the audience who rewarded him with generous applause at the end of his short set. Well done John.

The ever dependable Olly Flavell brought proceedings to a close with his own very recognisable style, part jazz part funk. ‘Sunday Morning’ one of his own songs, is very well crafted and deserves to be recorded….I could certainly imagine hearing it on Radio 6. Olly tells me that he is starting another Open Mic in town, starting next Monday 10^th March. It seems unclear whether or not The Bridge, who are under new ownership, wanted to carry on with their alternate Thursdays, so The Shake has stepped in to host Open Mic every other week. Good luck with that!

So too old for Rock & Roll?

Don’t you believe it. Till next time, keep it live!

Talented new faces at The Navy.    Words by Dave Whiteman, Pictures by Laurence Gale

So, the most expensive sporting event in history comes to a close and nearly three thousand athletes from more than 80 countries make their tired way home. How was it for you? I must admit, being a winter sports fanatic, I really enjoyed it, basking in the limited success of our small island against the giants of the sporting world. President Vladimir Putin seemed happy; not only did the threatened terrorist attacks fail to materialise, but his country also finished top of the medal table. Sadly for him, the one he really wanted escaped, as Russia fell to the Finns in the ice hockey, but overall I think everyone regarded the games as great success. But at what financial cost? Russia spent more than anyone in Olympic history, around £30 billion……so even though they totalled 33 medals, that works out at just less than £909,090,900 almost one billion pounds each! Team GB however, only managed to win four medals, but at a cost of only £13.4 million….quite a bargain by comparison!
Even more of a bargain was this week’s Open Mic at The Navy, as the usual £1 raffle ticket entrance was waived for the acoustic evening, held on the last Tuesday of the month. With a few new faces on stage and the audience enjoying around ten live acts, we could have given out a few awards ourselves.


Putting down his camera and picking up his guitar, first up was resident snapper Laurence Gale, who gave us a great start to the evening with classic songs from The Beatles and Harry Chapin. He is a busy man is Laurence….before the applause had died down, he was back up with his camera taking pictures of the next act.


All the way from Market Drayton and making only his second appearance at the club, Tristan Wood brought new songs from Harvey Andrews and The Levellers to delight the crowd.

 The atmosphere at these acoustic sessions is completely different to a normal Tuesday at the Navy, and Steve Davis’s soft voice is perfectly suited to the occasion. I always thought ‘Across the Universe’ was a George Harrison composition, but it was actually written by John Lennon for the Sgt Pepper album. When he failed to convince the other Beatles about the songs qualities, a miffed Lennon gave the song to a charity release for the World Wildlife Fund. Nonetheless, a great version from Steve.


14 years old Isis Sky is a natural entertainer and once the sound man had figured out her backing tracks, she belted through the KT Tunstall song, ‘Big Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’…..what amazing confidence from someone so young…..it is very easy to picture her onstage performing in a musical.


Nathan Davis and Jobe Spencer collaborated next, with a couple of self-penned songs and then one written by Nathans late father, Martyn, I wonder Why’ A friend whispered quietly “Close your eyes and it sounds just like his dad” which is a superb tribute.



Hard to believe, but it is eight years on Sunday since the Open Mic lost one of its favourite sons, bass man Roy Hodges. Roy was great supporter of live music and is fondly remembered by many of his friends; none more so than next up Graham Dabbs.  Onstage at the Navy, Roy and guitarist Dave Morris would be behind the singing Graham, often muttering and making comment at his expense. A heartfelt tribute entitled ‘I Can Hear You’ had smiles and sniffles in equal measure.

John Minor is a regular member at Open Mic, but only ever in the audience, never on stage. This week he was encouraged to bring his keyboard and play for the very first time, and although admitting to being too nervous to sing, his instrumental set included a very original version of a fairly obscure Beatles song, ‘Run for Your Life’

Another vibrant song from Isis Sky, ‘Express Yourself’ livened up the crowd before the incredibly talented Ben Garrott, took to the stage with borrowed instrument. He insisted that he only intended to come and listen, but a little gentle persuasion had him debuting material from his just released album, ‘Here/There’, using John Minor’s keyboard. All three tracks were quite superb pieces of original composition, and my personal favourite ‘City Rain’ had film sound track all over it.


So whether the rain is pouring or there happens to be footie on the telly, there will always be a hard-core of fans wishing to enjoy the live music at the Newport Open Mic. Back to normal next week, with full kit on the main stage, so come and see what all the fuss is about. Till then, keep it live….and give yourself a medal!

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