The great Scratch House Band in the sky.    

Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matthew Thomas

It is fair to say that for music fans at least, January has not been a great start to 2016. Rock icon Lemmy died just before the New Year, then the shocking death of David Bowie just last week and fans were left wondering, could things get any worse? Well, yes it can and did as the latest shattering news is the demise of another music legend, Glenn Frey, aged just 67. Legend is a word used far too often these days, but in the case of the founder member of The Eagles, the title was fully justified. Add to that Dale Griffin, drummer with Mott the Hoople and Mic Gillette, brass player with the Tower of Power, who supported amongst others Rod Stewart and The Stones, and it looks like there is a fine Scratch House Band being assembled up in heaven.

One or two tributes at this week’s Open Mic, but more of that later as Clarke, Black and Blue, AKA Andy Clarke on bass, Steve Black on drums and Dave Blue on guitar warmed up our brand new speakers with a blistering sound-check, before club regular and Vinyl Tap vocalist Alex Ash started us off. Songs from James Taylor, Elton John and Alex’s trademark ‘Walking in Memphis’ gave us a great opening and the stage was set for another brilliant night.

The afore mentioned Clarke, Black & Blue returned to the stage to give our blues fans in the audience a real treat, before finishing with a cover of JJ Cale’s ‘After Midnight’ that any rock band would have been proud of.

Our youngest Open Mic regular, Jay Harris…..he is a teenager next week, he reminds me….then gave us a whole set dedicated to David Bowie, whose songs are never easy to play. His Dad Russ told me Jay had been practicing non-stop since the great man’s death and what a lovely tribute it was, with Space Oddity the stand out number.

What can you say about next up, Lost the Plot? They absolutely wowed the crowd at our Christmas party last month, and turned up this week determined not to repeat any songs from then. The Waterboys ‘Whole of the Moon’ has long been one of my favourites, but once again it was an audience participation number, ‘Minnie the Moocher’ that had everyone joining in and then clamouring for more. A class act as always from this talented bunch of musicians.

How do you follow that? Well a good way to start is to steal two thirds of the band, which I did to play a short set in memory of Eagles front man Glenn Frey who died this week. Ed Conway didn’t mind me ‘borrowing’ bassist Simon Mann and drummer, Paul Crewe this time on Cajon, for this heartfelt tribute to one of the great song writing musicians. Special mention here to the bass line on ‘Hotel California’ which was simply outstanding….well done Simon.

A few years ago a local singer songwriter Martyn Davis was a regular at the club, and I vividly remember him introducing a shy 8 year old on to the stage, his son Nathan. Nathan has now grown into a superb singer and guitarist and, just like his Dad, writes most of his own material. Sadly we lost Martyn a while back, far too young, and it somehow seemed fitting that on an evening when tributes were being paid to famous musicians that we could remember one of our own as Nathan sang ‘Good Company’ one of Martyn’s own and a fitting end to a brilliant evening.

So 2016 has started in the same way as 2015 left, with a hard core of musicians who are willing to play and a dedicated group of fans who make up our enthusiastic audience  willing to listen…..many thanks to you all. 

Some of you may have noticed that we have invested in a new sound system and it doesn’t stop there. In partnership with the Navy Club we are revamping the stage area with a new, larger playing area, new lights, stage curtains and hopefully a better experience for all concerned. We are already regarded as one of the best Open Mics in the area, but we don’t want to rest on our laurels, hence the investment. Much of the work will be self-help of course, so if you feel that you can make a contribution in any way, as a carpenter, electrician or like me, just general dogsbody, your help would be very much appreciated. Just give your name and contact number to Jude or myself and we will be in touch. 

Till next time, keep it live and let’s make 2016 even better than last year! 

 

 

We Too Can Be Heroes, Just For One Day

Report Jude Paton, Photographs Matt Thomas

Two years ago, astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded a cover of "Space Oddity" whilst aboard the International Space Station. The out-of-this-world performance racked up an impressive 23,489,187 views on YouTube and got a "Hello Spaceboy" thumbs up from David Bowie.

Bowie brought us the soundtrack of our lives and the world was a sadder place with the news that he died of cancer on Monday just 3 days after his 69th birthday and the release of his 25th and now his last studio album, Blackstar, featuring the return of one of his most revered creations - Major Tom.

Radio playlists were rapidly changed and devoted to a David Bowie extravaganza and celebration of his music across the globe whilst hundreds payed their own tributes to him in his home town of Brixton. 

Our own musical heroes, young and old, braved a cold wet winter's night to return to the first Newport Open Mic session of 2016 at the Royal Naval Association to pay their musical tributes. Tuesday night and around 50 faces, some regular, some new and a few made a welcomed return to live music here in Newport. With a taster of what was to come Mr Bluesman, Dave Sanford, soundchecked alongside Steve Black on drums and Andy Clark on bass. Good to see you back Dave and "feeling a little rusty"? I don't think so.

Young Tom Lowe made his first solo outing at Tuesday's Open Mic and an excellent debut with Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over" and a lesser known song by Mac DeMarco "Chamber of Reflection" and delightful it was too. I'm sure he'll be back next week.

Never easy to read poetry to a crowded room but Jolene Modd managed to hush the audience with recitations from her 3rd book of poems called "My Journey". Jolene hails from Manchester but has obviously embraced Newport and its people as well as the surrounding countryside and talks of it as "My Home". On an observational level she also portrays the feelings of isolation, loneliness and depression in her poetry, feelings we all experience in our lives.

Jay Harris was up next and quick to tell me that he will be a teenager at the end of the month. Nonetheless he remains one of our youngest and most loyal supporters of Open Mic not only here in Newport but around the county. His infectious smile, passion for music and an uncanny likeness to a young Mick Jagger will stand him in good stead in years to come and as always he brings new songs to the Open Mic stage. The only one I new this week was Greenday's "Holiday"! A special surprise for Jay before he left the stage as regulars in the audience, Stuart and Lorraine, who both turned 60 this week presented him with a guitar pick from The Cavern Club in Liverpool. I don't know who was more delighted.....Jay or his mum and dad!

Background music during the evening included many tracks from Bowie's rich catalogue and Laurence Gale's first song of the evening was "Sorrow" originally done by the McCoys then the Merseys  in the mid 60s but later of course covered by Bowie in 1973.  Sorry we couldn't match Top Dogs Open Mic last night in Manchester with 14 Bowie songs performed! Laurence finished with what is becoming something of an Open Mic anthem and Darius Rucker's "Wagon Wheel".

"Black Andy Blue" (well that's what I renamed them) was the return of Steve Black, Dave "Blue" Sanford and the ever grinning Andy Clark with some great tried and tested vintage blues and pop. "Let's Work Together"  and "Hey Joe" both superb.
Upping the tempo and the volume 19 year olds from Shrewsbury, Miles Hammond and Louis Doran, were the duo PubNutz opening with their own song "Blow" and then a couple of well worked covers by Biffy Clyro and Beastie Boys. Refreshingly lesser known and original material from this pair who were obviously enjoying being in front of an audience.

Father of Miles, Steve Hammond, brought the evening to a close alongside cohorts Dave Sanford, this time on bass, and Steve Black on drums. Great musicianship by these three seasoned performers with "Mustang Sally" and "Crossroads" before lowering the decibels and a lovely gentle ending to the evening with Peter Green's "Need Your Love So Bad".

An evening of celebration of live music and remembering an iconic musical hero of our time. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust......RIP Starman.

Review of 2015, July to December. Words: Dave Whiteman

Well here we are in another year, with our belief that the Newport Open Mic will continue to go from strength to strength. New faces are joining all the time, equipment is being added and a major renovation to the stage area will soon be started. We thought it might be quite nice to take a reflective look at 2015 and review some of the highlights of the year.

July started with our oldest and youngest performers on the same bill for the first time. Eddie Maiden at 71 years young is our senior member and he showed once again that he can still belt out a tune or two, with a couple of great covers from Neil Diamond.

Following Eddie, our youngest player, 12 years old Jay Harris gave another solid performance with an electric set that featured Neil Young and Tom Petty. It is easy to see young Jay running this Open Mic in the future, such is his passion for live music.

August With a large audience, it’s not unusual for the background noise to climb as the night progresses, but a sure way to shut everyone up is to put Remynie Faith on. As she softly strums her guitar before adding her beautiful vocal, the noise vanishes. You could hear the proverbial pin drop when she played ‘Hallelujah’….. not many people have this talent…..Remynie has it in spades.

Not to be outdone, older brother Hayden Lee followed on stage and another great musician delighted the audience with his very original experimental style. Detuning his guitar and stretching his vocal range he easily won over a receptive audience and made his mum proud! What a talented family.

September Girl Power came to the club in the form of a three piece rock band, a first at the Navy Open Mic, with Emma Woodhouse and Becky Hick on guitars and vocals and Lexi Jones on drums. A rocky set mixed Alanis Morisette, Suzi Quatro, and even The Kinks…..great stuff ladies.

Newcomer 14 year old Frankie Wakefield made her debut in front of a crowd of 50 including her proud dad. With no apparent nerves, lovely stage presence and a voice mature beyond her years, she sang songs by Kodaline and Vance Joy as well as her own "You Said". A great mix of new songs and original material from a young lady destined for a great future. 

October More new faces on stage in the form of Jan & the Noizy Boyz. Guitarist John Cooper, sax Paul Mettem and bassman Andy Plant have all played here before as Syatica, now local drummer Andy Chapman and superb vocalist Jan Bagshaw, have taken them in a new and very entertaining direction……more jazzy and laid back. Opener, Buffalo Springfield’s classic ‘For What it’s Worth’ was understated and simply outstanding.

John Reynolds has been a regular member of the audience for some time now, but he finally took the plunge and got up on stage to play a great Buddy Holly medley, ably assisted by Andy Clark on bass and Richard Thomas behind the drum kit. Since then we have seen John perform a number of times…great stuff.

November I can truthfully say, I cannot remember seeing a more accomplished musician at the Navy than visiting professional Matt Woosey. His guitar playing is simply awesome and his bluesy soulful voice had the crowd spellbound. Self-penned ‘Black Smoke Risin’ was simply outstanding but follow up ‘Love is the strangest Thing’ was even better. Matt has now moved to Germany, but I certainly hope he comes back to see us at some point.

As if things could not get any better, later in the month another touring professional, New Yorker Toby Walker, paid a surprise visit. Freddie King's "Hideaway" opened his set and NO-ONE was heading off for an early night! Toby is a terrific singer/songwriter but his guitar prowess had experienced musicians looking at each other and just rolling their eyes….how did he do that? Fellow American Tosh Murase and blues harp player Ed Sullivan, who were in the audience, were then invited up to accompany Toby, with a song entitled "Just Crazy About an Automobile" which brought probably the loudest applause and cheering I have ever heard at an Open Mic.

December This month saw the club say farewell to local musician Jon Davies, who has moved to London, when his band One Nation played for the final time. With Spence Pollard on drums, Karl Pope-Terry on bass and vocalist Roger Clarke they immediately filled the dance floor with their mixture of ska, funk and soul and it stayed that way till the end of the evening.

This brings us to the climax of the year and the annual thank you to organisers and audience…the Christmas Party. Who better to finish off 2015 than local madcap band ‘Lost the Plot’, who manage to inject slapstick and a huge amount of fun into their act. Don’t be misled, however….these guys are superb musicians and the packed crowd just did not want them to leave the stage. So a magnificent finale to a brilliant year in which hundreds of musicians played at our Open Mic….. far too many to mention here.  Apologies to the many who did not get a name check, but you know who you are, and we are extremely grateful.

Many thanks also to the legion of helpers who have turned up week in week out to set up and break down the equipment, and of course to all the live music fans who have made the regular pilgrimage to the Royal Naval Association every Tuesday evening for the Newport Open Mic. Best wishes to everyone for 2016, and remember…..keep it live!

Review of the year 2015 January to June by Dave Whiteman

Where did it go? They do say that as you get older, time seems to accelerate, but I cannot believe how quickly this year has vanished. Here are just a few highlights from 2015 which had around 250 different acts over the year…far too many to fit into an article, but here is just a taster.

January started very well, with great attendances after the Christmas break. New face James Flanagan from Gnosall was a real breath of fresh air. His voice reminded me a little of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, but with a slightly rougher side….think James Morrison, and you are getting close. His original set showed a strong song-writing talent as well…. ‘Flying De Lorean’ was both original and excellent.
Whichever band I watch or listen to, I sometimes get a little fed up of hearing just the one voice, so Coal Train with three different vocalists always provide plenty of variety. Deborah Higginbotham gives us a brilliant KT Tunstall style, Bryan James acoustic rock and finally Dave Gitten provides the harder blues voice, along with a great blues harp. This was the first of many performances, culminating finally in a great set at Newfest.

February Sam Scott from Church Aston has a remarkable talent and an even more remarkable voice and he made his first appearance in February. One of his own songs ‘Seren’ had the audience spellbound, but it then just got better. Joining together with guitarist Tom Bond and our own Remynie Faith he gave us an unplugged and totally brilliant version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘I see fire’ with delightful three part harmonies….breath-taking.
It has been a wonderful year for Melissa Severn, winning competitions, playing festivals and releasing CD’s. I predicted when I first saw her four or five years ago, that she would have a career in music and it seems I will be proved right. Her music, all self-penned, has always been good, but her confidence on stage is now that of a seasoned performer….what will 2016 bring for this brilliant young talent?


March We often have musicians from Stafford, Wolverhampton and Stoke but the ones who travel the furthest have to be Gary and Darren Nettleton, all the way from Manchester. They run their own Open Mic in the city and were introduced to Newport by a regular at both venues, Steve Davis. Steve joined them onstage for their set and they soon had feet tapping with their versions of songs from The Jam and Peter Sarstedt.
Steve Reynolds is another musician who travels a fair way to play…..in his case from Wolverhampton. He is a big man and one would expect a loud gruff vocal to come out when he starts to sing, but his voice is quite soft and very melodic. He also has a lovely guitar style and covers from Crowded House, Eric Clapton and even Adele, delighted the crowd.


April One of the great young bands from the last few years was the Blue Tuesdays. Sadly they went their separate ways with members off to university and the like, but lead singer Dan Walton made a return to the club with just an acoustic guitar and what a super set it was. Songs from Dylan and Damian Albarn were excellent, but his own composition ‘Wandering Man’ was superb and deservedly got the most applause.
Will Morgan runs an Open Mic evening at Brewood and had heard about Newport Open Mic on the grapevine. Clearly Will has a lot of experience and as he launched into a Johnny Cash opener, the audience were clapping their hands and singing along. A beautiful version of Springsteen’s ‘Ballad of Tom Joad’ showed his musical prowess, with haunting harmonica over lovely guitar picking.


May Should Be Band started out as a trio with Derek Griffiths and Pete Ryan on stage joined by Joanna Deacon, vocalist in the most recent Groundhogs line up. Joanna is a natural performer and a
mini Nina Simone set was superb. Blues harpist Ed Sullivan joined them for Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" to put the icing on the musical cake.
Singer/songwriter Alexandra Jayne paid her first visit to Newport Open Mic and has since become a regular. AJ, just 22 and from Wheaton Aston is another example of what fine young talent we have here on our doorstep recently supporting James Blunt on his recent tour.


June Two members of one of Newport’s most popular rock bands, Old’s Cool came in for a quiet pint but not for long as they were recruited into a Scratch House Band. Vocalist Stephen Simpkins and guitarist Dave Lowe were persuaded to join drummer Paul Mettem and bass-man Ed Young for a classic rock set. ‘Can’t get Enough’ is a real rock opener, but it was Free’s ‘All Right Now’ that had the crowd shouting out for more.

Cavan & Harry James, from Telford, played at the Open Mic for the very first time, and what a debut it was. From the opening chords of ‘All my Loving’ they had the sizeable crowd in the palm of their hand. The Navy audience loves good vocal harmonies and their set was full of them.

Happy memories from the first six months…..watch out next week for the rest of the Open Mic year!