Last week one of my music heroes, Johnny Winter, died on 16^th July at the age of 70.  Almost a year ago to the day JJ Cale died on 26^th July at the age of 74, another legend in the music world. My all time music hero remains as John Martyn who went to the great gig in the sky in 2009 at the age of 60. Their musical legacy lives on however, not only in my own personal music collection but frequently we hear their songs covered at our Open Mic sessions at the Navy Club and at the Navigation in Gnosall by many of our local musicians. I have been lucky enough to have seen both Johnny Winter and John Martyn on several occasions and even hitchhiked from Stirling to Brighton (and back) to see John Martyn, a round trip of just over 1,000 miles.....he would have been 24 at the time and I was still in my teens. Every Tuesday I can take a 3 minute walk to the Royal Naval Association in Bellmans Yard in Newport to enjoy the up and coming talent who regularly support Open Mic. Eight out of the nine performers at this week’s Open Mic session were still in their late teens or early twenties and what a wealth of outstanding young talent appeared on a very hot and sticky July night.

John Minor was first on this week and rapidly gaining confidence playing a couple of instrumentals on electric guitar. I suspect Oasis is one of his favourite bands but the older members of the audience had their feet tapping to Slade’s “C’mon Feel the Noize”.

Zak Christie left his mark on several hundred festival goers at his recent appearance at NEWfest14. A more intimate venue on Tuesday night provided an ideal opportunity to play a couple of tracks from his forthcoming EP entitled “Stay Close to Me”.  A couple of lesser known songs by George Ezra preceded a wonderful version of the Beatles “Blackbird”. Beautiful vocals and fingerpicking guitar from this talented young man.

It’s been a year or more since Dylan Evans has been heard at Open Mic but his opener by Glen Hansard, “Leave”, reminded us what great young talent we have on our doorstep. Joined on stage by 17 year old Harriet Sutton-Green and once again choosing some great covers from Kaiser Chiefs and Nina Nesbitt’s “Noserings and Shoestrings”, newcomer Harriet held us spellbound.

Dan Walton first appeared at the Navy with his band Blue Tuesdays and still only in their teens surprised us all by playing songs from more than 40 years ago by The Who, Cream, Hendrix and Blind Faith. This week Dan played and sang on his own opening with “I’m One” from the 1973 album Quadrophenia, back to the sixties with “Waterloo Sunset” and back further still to 1957 and Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away”.

Claire Shaw’s version of Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel” had everyone’s feet tapping and once again a good choice of lesser known songs and some of her own material made for a splendid set.  

Acoustic duo, Left on Hold, featured Dylan Evans once again but this time on ukulele and Tom Miles on guitar. Another cover I haven’t heard done before was Foster the People’s “Pumped up Kicks” followed by a Blink 182 number. Tom continued on his own singing “Superman”, the theme tune from Scrubs and Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire” from The Hobbit soundtrack. Joined by Joe Rose singing Take That’s “Back for Good” the various mixes of Dylan, Harriet, Tom and Joe worked really well. All of them I believe are involved with the Musical Theatre Production Company but were on their way out the door before I could glean further information...I am sure they will be back before too long however. 

A fine evening of acoustic music was brought to a close by accomplished veteran of the evening, Pete Nihill, paying tribute to his friend Martyn Davis and oh, what transport of delight, 3 songs by John Martyn!  

So, lots of newcomers, lots of new songs and bags of talent keeping music LIVE!! 

See you next week.





 

 

Young talent and old faces at the Navy!  Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

So all is back to normal in the world. Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup, politicians entering and leaving through the Tory cabinet revolving door and huge conflict in the Gaza Strip. Amazingly though, I am not talking about this year….this was 1990! The World Cup in Italy gave us the unforgettable Gazza tears and Margaret Thatcher had one last cabinet clear out before she lost her job. Without getting to political, I wonder if David Cameron has noticed the symmetry?

The years seem go by on our local music scene at the same great pace, and our ‘youngsters’ from just a few years ago are now veterans. Tuesday night at this week’s Newport Open Mic had a very nice mix of raw young talent and several performers who could be described a s a little longer in the tooth!

First up Jay Harris and Liam Anslow performing as Late Addition are definitely in the former category. Both aged just 11 years they bring a confidence and attitude to their performance that belies their tender years. This week they collaborated on a couple of tunes, from The Editors and Guns & Roses, before both playing a solo spot…..Liam with a classic from the Eagles and Jay with a Boyzone song for his Mum,,,which brought a large ‘Aaahh’ from the audience.

Steve Davis hasn’t been around for a while, but I know he has been busy supporting his local Open Mic in Manchester. It’s always a pleasure to hear his soft vocals and melodic guitar and in a great short set he paid tribute to famous songwriters from the West Midlands.  A lovely acoustic medley that segued seamlessly from Robert Plant in the form of ’Stairway to Heaven’ to an almost reggae version of ‘Paranoid’ by local hero Ozzie Osbourne was well appreciated by the audience.

It’s always nice to welcome new faces to the club, particularly if it is musical cross pollination from other Open Mics.  Andy Appleby and Martin Jacks are regular players on Thursday night at the Navigation Inn in Gnosall, but with the addition of multi- instrumentalist Ben Garrott and stand up Bassman,  Neil Wells, they have formed a great band, Dream Ticket. Not sure about the name, it sounds too American presidential for me, but the music is first class. Imagine a smoky scene in Ronnie Scott’s Soho club (before the smoking ban, obviously!) a soft tenor sax and an almost jazzy arrangement and you get close to the picture. Don’t be misled though….there is a jazz feel to this band they are not in that category. A superbly varied set managed to mix Elvis Costello with Van Morrison and even the Jackson5 with The Police. A quite brilliant debut performance from four very solid musicians….hope to see you back at the club soon guys.

A little bit of busking now as the aforementioned Steve Davis, this time on bass, and drummer John Freestone recruited yours truly as vocalist to rattle through a crowd pleasing set that had David Gray, Paul Carrack and Bad Company…always a pleasure to play with experienced musicians like these.

‘I Wish I was Punk Rocker with Flowers in my Hair’ was the debut single of Scottish singer songwriter Sandi Thom and became the fifth biggest selling single in the UK of 2006. Our very own singer songwriter Melissa Walford put her own slant on this and it was one of the most original things I have ever heard. Singing A cappella she utilised a plastic cup a rattle and a table to add percussion and the audience was mesmerised. Interestingly, Melissa finished her set with the song that knocked it off the top spot in June of that year, Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’…an interesting and very entertaining set.


The last few weeks have seen John Major finishing off the evening with a couple of Oasis songs on guitar rather than his usual keyboard. Although clearly lacking a little bit of confidence, it didn’t matter to an audience who know how difficult it is to get up on stage in front of a lot of people. A good reception to his short set brought another evening to a close.

Our club relies quite heavily on a number of helpers at the beginning and end of the evening, and now that we are getting in to the holiday period, these have been a bit thin on the ground.

We urgently need someone on the sound desk for a few weeks as well as the usual humpers and dumpers.

If we don’t get the volunteers, there is a good chance the club will have to temporarily close throughout August, so if you can help, please make yourself known!

Keep it live folks. 

Competition winners at the Navy!  Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matthew Thomas

I was recently asked if this was a music column or a football column….apparently I have been banging on about the World Cup much more than a local music correspondent should, so this week….not a word!

Bandslam was a competition held earlier this year to find local music talent and hopefully help them make the step up to the big stage. 
Last month six acts from the area had the opportunity to impress both judges and audience to win a support slot on TLive which will be held on 30^thAugust with headliners Union J and Lawson. 

This week’s Newport Open Mic had not one but TWO winners from that competition…..more of which later.

First up Malcolm Purvis had just returned from watching the Tour de France in his native Yorkshire (see…no football!) and entertained as usual with his self-penned songs taking a sideways look at life. New song ‘Open Day’ was my pick of the bunch.

The last time Lawrence Plant played at the Navy it was as part of Newport Jazz band ‘Quicktime’ but a talented drummer cannot sit in the audience if the call comes for help from our first Scratch House band. Olly Flavell and Dave Blue swapped guitar licks and introduced Lawrence to a new genre…..blues rock….and needless to say he performed superbly.

Olly stayed on stage to debut a new song, ‘Love on Top’ by Beyonce. Last week we had Minnie Ripperton, this week Beyonce, who have you got in mind for next week Olly? Good stuff from this talented young man.

Mellissa Severn has been coming to the Open Mic for a few years now so it is difficult to believe she is still only 16 years old. The first time I saw her I predicted a musical future….she has a stage presence that most performers can only dream about and this is supplemented by a great song writing talent. At the Bandslam mentioned above, she was the youngest participant, the only female and the only soloist, but that did not stop her winning a 20 minute slot at the musical extravaganza in August. New material showcased included ‘False Alarm’ which had a lovely Alanis Morissette feel to it. Well done Mellissa, don’t forget your roots when you are famous!

Another Scratch House band had the talents of Steve Hammond, exceptional guitarist from Shrewsbury, Olly Flavell, this time on bass, and brilliant drummer John Freestone, who we don’t see often enough. A tight set featured The Killers, Stereophonics and Bryan Adams.

A spirited ‘Happy Birthday’ to Mark, one of our Open Mic stalwarts preceded the presentation of a specially baked cake and scones, made by Gail & Cath….this is becoming a very nice habit!

John Minor took to the stage next without usual keyboard, just a borrowed guitar to give us a couple of nice tunes from Oasis and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, before our final act of the evening.

To paraphrase Monty Python, ‘and now for something completely different’. To close a brilliant evening of live music, next up, the other winners from Bandslam, The Kooz. Guitarist Josh Sole and percussionist Jason Latham delivered a superb original mix of music that had the audience shouting out for more. With just acoustic guitar and cajon, they fill this sound with great vocal harmonies and terrific arrangements. ‘Even Out’ a modern day story of Jack and Jill was superb, but ‘Caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ was simply outstanding…..it is easy to see why the judges were won over.

So the very best of luck to both Mellissa and The Kooz on 30^th August, I am sure it will be a fantastic experience to play on the big stage in front of thousands of people.

So that’s all for this week. Not a word about football in the entire article, just an honest report of a super showcase of local talent. Till next time…keep it live!

PS Who do you think will win the Golden Boot?

Almost acoustic down at The Navy   Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

Call me unpatriotic, but I have actually enjoyed the World Cup more since England came home. I no longer have that knot of uncertainty before games, as I am really not too bothered who lifts the trophy. That said, my patriotism may well be questioned once again when I say that I have transferred my allegiance to Germany…..our biggest rivals over many years. We did live there for a number of years so I have always had them as my second team if (or more likely, when) England go out.

Once again, football on the telly had a real impact on the Newport Open Mic attendance at the Navy Club in Bellman’s Yard, with a smaller than usual crowd. That didn’t seem to matter too much though, as the evening got underway with a lovely solo performance from Sand Kumar, lead singer with the band Ricochet. I am more used to seeing Sand play what I call ‘thrash rock’ but with just an acoustic his performance was far more melancholy. Songs from John Lennon and The Libertines were very nice indeed, but my favourite was a song recorded by Lulu of all people, but originally written by David Bowie ……. a much better version. There was more to come from Sand later, with his band, but it was a lovely laid back opener.

One of our youngest members, 11 years old Jay Harris had not intended to play but when he was offered the opportunity to try out my new electro acoustic guitar, he could hardly refuse. Everyone remembers the Jimi Hendrix recording of ‘All Along the Watchtower’ but Jay stuck much closer to the original folky type version, written and recorded by Bob Dylan, no less.

I must admit I like to see Laurence Gale up on stage. He is a great supporter of live music in the town, made a big contribution to Newfest and provides our pictures most weeks at the Open Mic. Once again with borrowed guitar, he gave us a fine rendition of Jackson Browne’s ‘Naked Ride Home’ before pleasing the Beatle’s fans in the audience with a nice little medley. Lovely stuff.

Olly Flavell played a great set at Newfest on Saturday with his band, The Rivals, but it was a solo business as usual on Tues, just one man and his guitar. Songs from Amy Winehouse and Boyzone are always nice to listen to, done in Olly’s individual slightly jazzy style, but a great new number caught my attention, ‘Loving You’. Originally recorded in 1975 by MInni Ripperton, it was initially a lullaby to her daughter Maya, and is still getting radio play after nearly forty years.

We had already seen Sand Kumar of Ricochet opening the evening and he was now joined on stage by the rest of the band. They are talented songwriters and performers, evidenced by a strong new song ‘Machine’ but they are clever enough to realise that it is sometimes useful to put a couple of foot tapping covers into the set to provide variety. A couple from Phil Collins and Maroon 5 did just that.

We don’t see Thom James in the club too often, but when we do see him there is always something different from him. With his beautiful white Gretsch he managed to mix Kate Bush with The Buzzcocks and even found a small part for the instrumental,  ‘Albatross’, his musical tribute to Monty Python!

Just time for one more act before the end and it was John Minor, unusually on guitar and not keyboards who brought the evening to a close, with a couple of classics from Oasis.

So still lots of football to come. Who will triumph….Europe or South America? There are four teams from each continent in the quarter finals tonight and tomorrow (Sat) but interestingly, no team from Europe has ever won the trophy in South America. Could it be about to change or will Brazil, who have won it in Europe, become the best team in the world on their own soil?

Whoever it is, it will be nice to welcome back all the footie fans into the Navy for our weekly music fix! Till next time, keep it live!

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