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!