From Lawn Mowing to Music Making

"I Can Hear the Grass Grow" by The Move, "Green, Green Grass of Home" - Tom Jones, "Whispering Grass" - Don Estelle and Windsor Davies which reached number 1 in the summer of 1975 and originally recorded by the Inkspots in 1940, "The Hissing of Summer Lawns"  - Joni Mitchell's superb album released 40 years ago by one of the greatest lyricists of all time, "High Tide and Green Grass" - Rolling Stones, "Snake in the Grass" - Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, "Night of the Long Grass" - The Troggs. Where is this going you may ask?  My intro to the regular Newport Open Mic report is usually formulated prior to Tuesday night's session whilst cutting grass on Mondays and Tuesdays but by 5pm this Tuesday I was definitely lacking in inspiration for a relevant musical topic. Now, at fast approaching midnight and with an 800 word report to meet the copy deadline for Newport Advertiser I thought I would just see if I could think of a few song or album titles to link in with my job as a gardener. Surprisingly quite a few about grass sprung to mind!!

So from grass cutting, to song titles,  to a band of helpers setting up at ready for Open Mic on Tuesday at the Royal Naval Association in Bellman's Yard Newport and by 7.40pm there was a healthy looking list of names on the board boding well for a splendid evening of live music. After a few antics from bluesman Dave Sanford checking on sound levels with Matt Thomas on the desk the evening got off to a prompt start with the now regular John Minor accompanied by Richard Heywood performing some great tracks by Oasis and Greenday. Lovely to see how the confidence of these two young lads has grown over the months. Richard at just 19 is fast becoming an accomplished guitarist and played and sang a great cover of "Lady Madonna". That, and Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" were really well received by an audience of around 60. 

Alan Lane and Alex Ash were up next to perform a lovely acoustic set, billed as 2/3 of Vinyl Tap. Some great ballads delivered by Alex included Tom Petty's "Free Falling" and Elton John's "Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues. Powerful vocals from Alex and some delightful guitar playing from Alan made for a great set.

Back for the second time at Open Mic was Blue Season, four 17 year old's from Adam's Grammar School featuring Tom Boddison on lead guitar, Callum Shaw on bass, on drums Luke Owen-Bowden and Adam Clark-Hills on vocals. A real musical treat from these four with a big sound reminiscent of the Small Faces delivering a set with attitude and confidence. A strong bass intro from Callum for the lesser known  "Left Hand Free" by Alt-J and Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" was a good choice to show off the musical prowess of this young band. Their final song was a self penned musical collaboration called "I Can't Be Wrong". Hopefully we shall be seeing a lot more from these young men. Tom Boddison remained on stage and stunned the audience with traditional Spanish flamenco "Soleares" followed by a departure from the Spanish but nonetheless a superb classical rendition of "The Godfather". Speaking to Tom after I discovered that he has only been playing classical guitar for about 8 months and is hoping to get some bookings for weddings and small venues. I am sure he will have no problem there as he is a talented young man indeed.

By way of complete contrast and who better to follow that was Richard Thomas or Rich T as we have come to know him. Rich has a vast repertoire of songs and included "Poison Ivy", "I Don't Like Mondays" and a Ska favourite from The Specials "Too Much Too Young". A first class night of music so far but time for a quick break in the proceedings to wish soundman and photographer for the evening, Matt Thomas, a happy 22nd birthday for 19th August. It is great to have the involvement of so many young, talented and willing people keeping our Open Mic sessions going.  

From the young to the old relics and this time a wonderful looking worn black relic of a strat belonging to Dave Sanford who was joined by Steve Black on drums and Geoff Melville on an amazing looking long scale pea green bass and provided backing vocals to some blues classics by The Stones, Canned Heat and Steve Miller's chart topper "The Joker". An excellent three piece band. 

 

Steve Black is a terrific drummer and this time kept the beat for another three piece band billed as The Bangs which was actually half of local band Bang to Rights. Mark Langford as ever was excellent on lead guitar and vocals with big Steve Smith on bass and their set included some great driving songs from the seventies including the Peter Frampton classic "Show Me the Way" and The Faces "Stay With Me".

With still a sizeable audience and the time fast approaching 11 o'clock there was quite a buzz around the room as the hugely talented fiddle player Joe Nunn was set to see the evening out accompanied by 24 year old Gareth Bowen from Market Drayton on accordion. And what a treat indeed as these two had us clapping and stamping our feet to jigs, reels and hornpipes from Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall. Joe and Gareth have never played together before but were simply awe inspiring. There couldn't have been a better finish to an evening if live music of the highest calibre and all this for £1 happens every Tuesday at the Royal Naval Association in Newport.  KEEPING MUSIC LIVE!

From Priscilla Maria Veronica White, cloakroom girl at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, to the girl we all knew and loved, Cilla Black is expected to have her funeral service at the same church as her beloved husband of 30 year's Bobby Willis who died in 1999 after battling with cancer. Cilla was part of the British Invasion in the sixties when British music found its way across the Atlantic and took the United States by storm forefronted of course by The Beatles. One of my favourite films from the sixties was "Alfie"with Cher singing the title track over the closing credits although it was a big hit for Cilla whose version was used in the original British soundtrack. Despite Cilla's negative reaction when asked to record the song saying "I can't do this, for a start - Alfie? You call your dog Alfie......couldn't it be Tarquin or something like that?" the single became a top 10 hit in 1966 and the opening line of the song was used by Cilla in her 2004 autobiography "What's It All About?"

The meaning of the word "invasion" usually conjures up something of a threat of a violent nature but in terms of the British music invasion of the sixties this was certainly not the case. With all hands on deck at 7pm to set up for the weekly Newport Open Mic session at the Royal Naval Association ready for the invasion of music lovers who come out on a Tuesday night to enjoy an evening of live music.

Richard Thomas did the honours with the early soundcheck with Matthew Thomas (no relation) on the desk as well as behind the camera this week. "Me and Bobby McGee" written by Kris Kristofferson and made famous by the earthy, husky sound of Janis Joplin and a  splendid drum solo from Steve Black in Suzi Quatro's Devil Gate Drive got the evening off to a great start. 

John Minor had been practicing on keyboards earlier in the day and delivered an excellent rendition of Greenday's "21 Guns" on guitar showing no sign of nerves whatsoever. With a couple of songs by Oasis which included "Supersonic" accompanied by 19 year old Richard Heywood, John has certainly found a niche for himself at Open Mic with his musical ability coming to the fore. 

Richard Heywood continued with a solo acoustic set and since his first appearance around 3 months ago has to be one of the most improved young performers not only with his vocals but with his guitar playing . A great choice of songs included Razorlight's "Golden Touch" and my favourite from his set The Who's "Pinball Wizzard" from the 1969 rock opera "Tommy". Some great guitar playing on that one Richard.

Back on stage for his set was Richard Thomas and you know that he will deliver something completely different. Who else can glide effortlessly from Abba to The Stones and then to the punk mayhem of The Members' "Sound of the Suburbs"? As always, Rich T deliverers musical entertainment with a capitol E.

Visiting his home town of Newport this week we were delighted to see Ben Garrott at Open Mic where he first cut his musical teeth some years ago. Multi talented musician, Ben is in the up and coming country rock band Darcy who went down a storm at this year's NEWfest. A classic by the man in black, Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" was followed by 2 songs written by Ben for the band Darcy "Whisky and Cigarettes" and "Me and my Guitar", two great foot stompin' country numbers.

Last weekend saw  Bloodstock Open Air, the UK's biggest independent Metal Festival with headliners, Trivium, Within Temptation and Rob Zombie. It is difficult to believe that our next performer was amongst some 15,000 metal heads for 4 days of unadulterated heavy metal and then on Tuesday she delights the Open Mic audience with her hauntingly beautiful vocals. If you haven't already guessed the young lady in question was Remynie Faith. "In the Arms of an Angel" a moving song by Sarah McLachan about the Smashing Pumpkin's keyboard player, Jonathan Melvoin who died of a heroin overdose in 1996 was superb but the outstanding song of the night was Remynie's interpretation of Dido's "White Flag". Marvellous.

Older brother Hayden Lee followed Remynie and another great musical talent delighting the audience with his very original experimental style of acoustic music. Detuning his guitar and stretching his vocal range he never fails to deliver something different to a receptive audience and his proud mum!

Tuesday night at the Navy would not be the same without a hastily assembled scratchband put together this time by Rich T, with Ben Garrott on drums, Jude on bass and Richard Heywood on lead guitar. Rich T had us ripping through some classics including "Johnny B Goode" and "Roll Over Beethoven"....never played together but that's part of the fun!

Bringing the evening to a close we were delighted to welcome back Alan Turner, too long absent from the Open Mic stage at the Navy. Alan has a really lovely voice and his vocals tonight were crystal clear (well done Matt on the sound desk). A Beatles' opener "Don't Let Me Down" followed by Cat Stevens' "Father and Son", heavy with emotion from Alan and to round the evening off and indeed this report, back to the British Invasion and Liverpool's Gerry and the Pacemaker's  "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" a song they played on their first U.S. television show in 1964 and their biggest British chart hit. No doubt there will be a few tears shed at Cilla's funeral and no doubt too a great many shed by those who were a part of her life when she started out in the sixties.

Another great night keeping music live here in Newport.

Packed house once again at The Navy Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matthew Thomas

Anyone who knows me, or reads this column occasionally will now that I am a massive Beatles fan. This week marked the 46^th anniversary of one of the most iconic album covers….and coincidentally one of my favourite fab four releases, Abbey Road. Originally, the title of the album was to be ‘Everest’ and the plan was to take a private plane to the Himalayas to shoot the cover…how grand is that? As deadlines grew nearer however, the always sensible Paul McCartney suggested they go outside from the Abbey Road studios and take a picture of them walking across the zebra crossing, which photographer Iain Macmillan managed within the allotted ten minutes!

Down at the Newport Open Mic, we give our performers a little bit longer to find their groove and first up this week John Minor recruited Richard Heywood to give us a super opening selection of Oasis covers…with the iconic ‘Wonderwall’ closing their set and giving us a great start to the evening.

Good to see Alan Lane back on stage, this time with a lovely 12 string guitar to accompany Alex Ash on vocals and take us through a super choice of songs, including Ralph McTells ‘Streets of London’ before finishing off with a classic….’Dock of The Bay’ by Otis Redding.

I could sense it was going to be a lively evening as Perton’s Mike Collins and son Mikey got the crowd going very early on with an out and out singalong set. A different version of jungle Book’s ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ started them off, but closer ‘500 miles’ had everyone joining in….great stuff.

There is an excellent Open Mic at the Royal Oak in Gnosall, and it was very nice to welcome a couple of their regulars to sing at the Navy for the first time. Anthony Cox is actually a very good Elvis impersonator, but tonight, along with Phebe Simkins it was another singalong set from Queen and the Eagles….things were shaping up very well!

A real musical treat next as Alexandra (call me Alex) Jayne, a very talented singer/songwriter from Wheaton Aston also made her first appearance at the club. I spoke last week about having the ability to silence a room and as soon as she started her self-penned ’Clumsy Love’ that is exactly what happened. Her voice reminds me a little of Amy McDonald, but that said she is totally original, and mark my words….this girl will go far. Check out Matthew Thomas’s excellent Hey Jude’s sessions online and see if you agree.

Only one band on the board this evening and it was Vinyl Tap, warming up for their forthcoming appearance at a festival in the town later this month. This versatile five piece, with stand guitarist Steve Davis deputising for Alan Lane, also seemed to sense the playful mood of the audience as they also launched into popular singalongs ‘La Bamba’ and ‘Mustang Sally’. Catch them at the Phez on the August Bank Holiday.

Singer Alan Critchley normally uses backing tracks onstage, but this week for the very first time, he sang with just an accompanying guitarist, and I have to say Al, I enjoyed it a lot more. There is no doubt about his vocal ability, but when you are without a safety net, so to speak, it adds ‘sharpness’ to the performance! Yet another singalong ‘Can’t Take My Eyes off You’ once again had the seventy or so audience joining in every word.

I think I am right in saying that final performer of the evening, Dylan Wynford is pursuing a career in music and drama at University and that is an excellent career choice. Despite a technical problem with his own guitar, he picked up the club instrument and carried on as if nothing had happened… a real trouper. His opener, ‘Hopeless’ is the first song on his recently released first album, but it was ‘The View’ that made my ears prick up. This song is perfect for a stage musical and the way he delivers it would reach the back of any theatre, even without a microphone. Another terrific talent, we wish him well.

So this will be my final article for a little while as we are off touring Europe in our campervan for a couple of months, hopefully making it back to Newport in September without any extra passengers! Have no worry; the column will still be here in the Advertiser each week and online through the TF10 network. If you feel that you can contribute to the Newport Open Mic in any way, whether performing, humping and dumping equipment, taking photographs or even writing this column, please come and say hello! 

Till next time, as always, keep it live!

Busy, busy, busy at The Navy   Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matthew Thomas

I read this week that one of Britain’s most successful and enduring bands, The Zombies are reuniting for a world tour. Whenever I go to a pub or club to hear a band, there is a better than evens chance that they will play The Zombies greatest hit, ‘She’s Not There’. As is often the case, money caused them to break-up, with songwriters Colin Blunstone and Chris White earning much more from royalties than the rest of the group did from performing. They folded in 1967….ironically just before the release of their most successful album, Odessey and Oracle. Paul Weller amongst others cites this as one of the best recordings ever released, but it wasn’t until all the artwork was finished and covers printed that they discovered that Odyssey was incorrectly spelt! They will be playing Birmingham in December, check it out.

Dave Blu, AKA Dave Sanford, once again provided a great sound-check before John Minor kicked off a very busy evening, with a selection of Oasis classics. Nice to see him relaxing more in front of a live audience.

Always good to welcome a new face, and after a little bit of a technical hitch trying to find the appropriate backing track, Josh Whitmore from Gnosall gave us a fantastic vocal performance of ‘Take Me To Church’ by Hozier. He hardly needed a microphone to reach the back of the room and I am sure we will be seeing more of him, good stuff Josh.

From first timer to established singer/songwriter Olly Flavell, who has been very busy since releasing his debut album ‘Lo-Fi’. He seems to be gigging every week these days, so it is nice to catch him on home territory. A new as yet untitled song, sounded very good on its first outing.

Even younger, Jay Harris aged 12 years, continues to impress. A great mixed set followed, highlight of which was ‘Sacrifice’ by ex-Coral frontman, James Skelly…..good consistency and variety from young Jay.

I don’t think we will be able to call Dave Blu’s band a Scratch House band for much longer. With bassist Steve Bennett and drummer Steve Black providing a solid foundation, Dave is then free to express himself with brilliant guitar work. Always tricky to play Jimi Hendrix, but this band made it look easy. Get a name and get out gigging fellas……you are now officially no longer a Scratch House Band!

With around sixty in the audience, the background noise can climb in direct proportion to the alcohol being drunk, but a sure way to shut everyone up is to put Remynie Faith on. As soon as she starts to softly strum her guitar before adding her beautiful vocal, the noise dies down…….always. Ed Sheeran’s ‘I See Fire’ was terrific and very well received, but when she played a special request, ‘Hallelujah’ you could hear the proverbial pin drop. Not many people have this talent…..Remynie has it in spades.

Once again it was time to welcome old friends back to the club as a temporarily reformed Robbie’s in Rehab took to the stage. With original member John Freestone back behind the drums after at least six years, it was as if they had never been away. Variety is the key with this band, and with songs from Police, Squeeze, Doobie Brothers and John Waite, we got plenty of that. Time for another local gig perhaps?

And just like local buses, you don’t see one for ages, but if you wait long enough another band that we haven’t seen for a while turn up and continue to rock the house. Vinyl Tap carried on in the same way, finishing a superb set with the anthem crowd pleaser ‘500 miles’….great stuff.

The clock was fast approaching 11pm as Richard Heywood took to the stage. With a full board, Rich had waited all evening to play, but he was still enthusiastic as he launched into opener, ‘Lady Madonna’ and then gave us a taste of one of his own compositions with ‘She Only Wanted to Sing Him a Love Song’

Our fourth musical bus then turned up in the form of Telford three piece, Ricochet. Sand Kumar and his band can always be relied upon to play something a little ‘off the wall’ and this time it was a song released more than fifty years ago. ‘Sherry Baby’ was originally recorded by the Four Seasons in 1962, but like all good songs, they can be revamped, reinvented and redone. Ricochet’s version was faster, louder, more energetic and nothing like the original….but quite brilliant!

So once again, thanks to the helpers, before and after, who set up and break down the kit….we could not do it without you. Till next time….keep it live!