World Cup Qualifier?  Not in The Navy!   Words: Jude Paton, Pictures: Matt Thomas

What was all the panic about? Just last week the press had written off the national football team. Two games to play, two games we ‘must win’ and the harbingers of doom were having a field day. Even after a business-like despatch of Montenegro last week-end, there was still an awful lot of negativity before Tuesday night’s game against Poland. Comparing the situation to 1973 when Poland denied England the chance to qualify, they overlooked the fact that none of the present team were even born in the seventies. Never mind, step forward Captain Marvel in the 88^th minute and all is well, the flights booked for Rio. Thankfully, not all the population was glued to the TV as evidenced by the sizeable crowd at this week’s Open Mic.

Graham Weir who hasn’t been on stage at the Navy in a while gave us an excellent opening set with a self-penned song ‘Third Floor’ and a lesser known Waterboys’ number ‘Old England’. It then became a family affair as Graham’s nephew Dave joined him to perform a couple of songs from Alex Clare and Damian Rice…both exceptionally well executed by this talented young 21 year old.

Next up, one of the most accomplished guitarists in the Navy, Carol Cartwright, brought us a classic ballad, Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly”. Great covers of songs by Alison Moyet, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge showcased her beautiful fingerpicking style…..good to see you back at the Navy, Carol.

16 years old Nathan Davis and Jobe Spencer sang the second Damien Rice song of the evening “Cannonball”, before two songs written by his late father Martyn, “Why Didn’t You Say” and “Many Roads”. Nathan, who once nervously joined his Dad on stage aged just 11 years old, is starting to sound more and more like him, and I can think of no greater compliment. 

10 year old Jay Harris consistently brings new material to Open Mic and tonight was no exception with “Holes” by Passenger and James Blunt’s “Bonfire Heart”. Making chord changes look easy on a full size guitar Jay destroys the myth that “I can’t play guitar because my hands are too small”. He stands at about 4’10” and can hardly see over the music stand, but a silent room and well deserved applause rewarded this talented youngster.

We then welcomed a first timer at the Navy, 16 years old Vicky Boulton with two of her own songs “Farmer’s Daughter” and a sad song about the loss of her dog last year called “Paw Mark”. I particularly liked the line “you left your paw mark on my heart”. John Denver’s “Country Roads” finished an excellent debut set from Vicky.

Gaz and the Tones are fast becoming familiar faces on the local Open Mic scene performing their own material. Opener “Around the Sun” had Gaz’s strong vocals driving a very solid sound and they kept up the high tempo with more self-written songs “Over”, “This Too Shall Pass” and a new song “Surrender”.  Twin brothers Andy, on bass and Tony on drums provide a great rhythm section and I am sure we will here an awful lot more from these likeable youngsters.

The extremely talented Ben Garrott is equally at home on keyboards or tenor sax but tonight found him in the solo spotlight playing guitar and singing for the first time. He bought a guitar just last Saturday and in 3 days he had mastered Fat Bottomed Girls and 39 both by Queen, but delivered in an unusual and interesting country style. Keeping in the C&W theme he closed with one of Johnny Cash’s signature songs “Folsom Prison Blues”….another string to your bow Ben!

Good to see Darcy Crawford back sporting his trademark cowboy boots and fender t-shirt, performing songs by Paulo Nutini and The Calling. His outstanding performance of Wayfaring Stranger, by Ed Sheeran, used five overlays on his loop pedal and was wonderful stuff indeed.

Onto the graveyard shift and a spellbinding set performed by Cockney rebel Steve Davis, the oldest person on stage all evening. An appropriate opening with Neil Young’s “Old Man, he then covered Bruce Springsteen’s “All I’m Thinking About is You” from the recent Devils and Dust album. ’Ride On’ by Christie Moore and two wonderful songs from the late great JJ Cale – “Call Me the Breeze” and “Crazy Mama” had the audience captivated and closed an excellent set.

So who’s bothered about the footie when there is so much musical talent around? Don’t forget Olly’s Open Mic next Thurs at The Bridge, and a reminder that the last Navy Open Mic of this month, on the 29^th is an acoustic evening to be held in the back room…no bands but plenty of entertainment!

Newport Open Mic 8th October 2013

Report and photographs by Jude Paton

Our regular columnist Dave Whiteman has recently undergone surgery for a knee replacement and although he is now home and starting the recovery process he will no doubt be missing the local Open Mic scene for the next couple of weeks. Music is one of his greatest passions, closely followed by football and skiing and it is a well known fact that music can be a great therapy, reducing pain and anxiety. He may miss some of the live music sessions in and around town but it is worth remembering that there have been a number of great cds produced over the past few years featuring some of the local talent. John Heath was the driving force behind Now That’s What I Call An Original CD, raising funds for Severn Hospice, which came about following the deaths of Open Mic regulars Robbie Woolrich and Roy Hodges over 7 years ago. Live at the Lion and Shroprock were two further cds which were produced and many of you will know some of the performers who included Jon Lloyd, Mark Langford, Pre Sleep Monologue, Alan Turner, Laurence Gale, Rob Bryon, Gerald Maddox, Martyn Templeton, Weazel Diesel, Richard Thomas, Vinyl Tap, Brakedust, Blue Tuesdays, The Making, Near Enough, Anything Goes and many more. Many of these people can still be heard at the Open Mic sessions here in Newport and until Dave returns to the fold he can sit back in his own front room and listen to some of the familiar voices featured on these discs. Not quite the Open Mic atmosphere, I know, but a good aid to his recovery.

Dave Sanford opened Newport’s premier music night at the Navy Club in Bellmans Yard last Tuesday with his new white Fender and a song from comedian-turned-actor-turned-blues-maestro Hugh Laurie before being joined on stage by three Open Mic veterans, Harry Woolley, Andy Clarke and Steve Davis. Harry’s  Allstars eased us into the evening with some slow blues (in E of course) which included JJ Cale’s Call Me The Breeze and something with the line “I love Shropshire onions cos they’re good and strong.” That’s Alright Mama raised the tempo and made way for young Nathan Davies and an excellent solo set which included songs from the Levellers and Bright Eyes followed by Revolution, a song written by his father Martyn and then Nathan’s own composition Hold You. Despite a sore throat his voice sounded really good tonight.

Rich Thomas resurrected some old songs bringing us Abba, the Bee Gees, Mud and Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots are made for Walking unexpectedly sung in German. As always a good and greatly entertaining set from Mr T.

Robbie Pilgrim and Jobe Spencer are now so much more confident on stage at the Navy Club and can often be heard busking their set outside in Bellmans Yard beforehand. Hours of practice has paid off enormously with these two talented 15 year olds playing terrific instrumental versions of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, Jake Bugg’s Lightening Bolt as well as one of their own compositions. A great set from these two indeed.

Steve Davis, now an Open Mic regular, held us spellbound with his unique interpretation of some lesser known songs by David Crosby and Family as well as Neil Young’s Old Man and finally JJ Cale’s Magnolia with Dave Sanford accompanying him.

From two 15 year olds earlier to a foursome whose combined age came to about 220 years, the veterans who opened the evening, Harry, Dave, Steve and Andy brought us a familiar but highly enjoyable blues set which, you guessed it, included Digging my Potatoes, King Bee, St James’ Infirmary and Laudie Miss Claudie with Harry on vocals, Andy bass, Dave with his lovely Fender and bottleneck and Steve very competently on drums. Dave finished the set up tempo with Clapton’s Before You Accuse Me.

Gaz and the Tones were back again this week with guest drummer Matt Miles comfortably playing alongside these three 24 year olds who play all original material. Twin brothers Andy who plays an excellent solid driving bass and Tony, lead and vocals, compliment Gaz on 12 string and lead vocals exceptionally well and bring refreshing new material to Open Mic. Songs tonight included Round the Sun which I especially liked, Passion, Out There and This Too Shall Pass.

Once again an evening of live music bringing together like minded people either to play or just to sit back and enjoy. All this for just £1 takes place every week at the Royal Naval Association in Bellmans Yard.

Whoops

New faces and lots of talent at The Navy.  Words by Dave Whiteman, Pictures by Laurence  Gale


I’ve just returned from a holiday in Luxembourg, one of Europe’s best kept secrets. The hiking in the border area with Germany is outstanding, with caves and fairy grottos as well as incredible views of the Saure. Then just last Sunday as summer made a very welcome return, we had a fabulous day out on Shropshire’s diamond, The Long Mynd. Even just walking around the Newport canal, particularly now that the leaves are turning into Autumn colours, is every bit as impressive. Where is all this going? Well it occurred to me that sometimes you cannot see something when it is right under your nose. Music for instance. Ticket prices for the Fleetwood Mac tour start at around £75, which would get you admission to The Navy Open Mic for the next 18 months or so. OK, you may not get the same musical quality but I know that there is something for everyone and think of the cash you will save!


 Sound check this week was a new band, Enigma, put together by club regular Roger Clark, With Al Middleton and Spence Pollard providing a the rhythm section, vocalist Karen Jackson gave us a great opening, with ‘Steamy Windows’ the Tina Turner classic and the Snow Patrol anthem ‘Chasing Cars’ mixing well with covers from Bryan Adams and Guns & Roses.


 Mike Collins, all the way from Perton had the difficult task of following and a mighty fine job he made of it. Songs from David Gray and then The Levellers were very good, but his finish, Kings of Leon’s ‘Sex is on Fire’ done with just his trusty Takamine to accompany, was excellent and received a great reception.


 Haven’t seen young Zak Christie in a while, but he has been very busy playing gigs in the area including an appearance at The Pheztival in August. He really is an exceptional talent….a soulful voice married to a simple and solid guitar style. Opening with a Jimi Hendrix number he then completely changed tack with An Old Country Song from Jake Bugg before pleasing the 60 or so audience with the Ray Charles classic, ‘Georgia’. Watch this space…this young fella is going places and will not be playing small clubs for very long.


 Olly Flavell has been running his own Open Mic for a good while now and it continues to go from strength to strength. Check it out at The Bridge, next one on 10^th October. Here at the Navy he gave us a couple of his favourites, ‘Valerie’ and ‘Sunday Morning’ performed in his own inimitable style, before we welcomed newcomer Lizzie Hogan to the stage.


 I caught her act at the Bridge just last week, was very impressed with her piano/vocal and persuaded her to come down to the Navy. She has been living in Cornwall for the last three years and although she only looks about 14 and is often asked for ID in the pubs, she is actually 21. Playing all her own compositions she completely silenced the large crowd, who seemed to welcome the change from an evening of mainly male singer guitarists. I am sure that if she chooses, a musical career awaits and until then, equally sure that she will be in great demand around the live music circuit as her reputation spreads…..brilliant stuff.


 Gaz & the Tones played at the Navy last week and received a very good reception for their debut self-penned set. This three piece, Gaz Attwood on vocals and brothers Tony and Andy Collister on guitars, make a very nice noise despite having no drummer, and it is good to hear a 12 string guitar filling out the sound. Interestingly, after a five song set of their own compositions, a couple of people commented on the lack of percussion. Step forward experienced drummer Matt Miles, who, after a little chat, joined them back on stage to reprise ‘Around the Sun’ and ‘This too Shall Pass’. No doubt they are a good young band with real potential, but in my opinion the songs were more powerful with someone driving the beat. Applicants for the vacancy should turn up at the Navy for an immediate audition!


 So another brilliant night of live music with a couple of great bands and four or five solo performers….where else can you get such value for a quid?


 Please remember the last Tuesday of this month, 29^th October will be a little different. We are going to have an acoustic evening, ie no bands. There will still be a PA system and mikes etc for guitarist, keyboards or whatever you wish, but the atmosphere should be very intimate. Get there early to be sure of a seat!

Armed Officers in Newport firearms drama may have kept a few behind locked doors but the intrepid music lovers were at the Navy Club in Newport as usual on Tuesday night for another Open Mic session in Bellman’s Yard.

No band names on the board this week so the red drum kit stood resplendent at the back of the stage and was a good backdrop to an evening of varied musical talent. 16 year old singer/songwriter Melissa Severn from Telford has not been heard at the Navy for a few weeks but for good reason. Not only has she been busy writing songs, she has recorded and released an 11 track acoustic album called Melissa Severn Acoustic as well as, mon dieu c’est incroyable, busking in the streets of Paris. Now she is saving up for a trip to Nashville! 3 self penned songs tonight and one I particularly liked called Port Maine, a song about love and loss, this time a boy in converse boots. Her final song was a One Direction/Jake Bugg amalgam with an original twist from Melissa.

Sixth Former from Thomas Telford, Dylan Evans was next up with strong vocals and acoustic guitar singing an original song called Bolder and was then joined by musical cohort Joe Rose. Together they have written a musical over the summer months called Catatonic Matt which should hit the West End of Wellington in January. With a cast of 16 the lads describe it as a zany, off the wall tale of friendship and growing up. The 3 songs they chose from it, School is Fun, Secrets and Goodbye Friend gave us a flavour of their endeavours.

Mellissa Walford is another local young singer/songwriter but tonight sang some great covers by Goo Goo Dolls, Plan B, Birdy and Alex Clare. Wonderful strong vocals and mature stage presence from this young lady.

Cockney and Geordie lads Steve Davis and Alan Lane joined forces tonight and performed a lovely harmonious set with the seldom heard Traction in the Rain by Dave Crosby, Norwegian Wood, Ride On written by Jimmy McCarthy but made famous by Christie Moore and finishing with JJ Cale’s Call Me the Breeze. Steve has a wonderful vocal range complimented tonight by Alan’s lead breaks.

It’s been some time since we have seen Tugboat Pete Nihil out on a Tuesday night but taking centre stage with trademark hat and dark glasses, gravelly Tom Waits voice and unique guitar style together with Tristram Dixon (bearing a passing resemblance to Syd Barrett or a young John Martyn) and a somewhat bemused Ed Harpman Sullivan the unlikely trio finished the evening in fine style. The set included Bob Dylan’s I Shall be Released and some marvellously random ad-libbing  which included such lines as “I got a brand new polecat” and “I was born at the bottom of a septic tank”. A great way to finish and a sure way to send everyone home with a smile on their faces and as ever a splendid night of live music in Newport.

See you next week.

Photos from Laurence to follow.

Jude

I noticed in the press this week that one of my all-time favourite bands, Del Amitri, have reformed with the original line up and are doing a nationwide tour next year (including Wolverhampton in February, catch them if you can) It seems that although ‘musical differences’ broke up the band some ten years ago, friendship and a love of music (and perhaps money, if you want to take the cynical view) have brought them back together. The band was started by a bunch of school friends in Glasgow in the early eighties and they formed their craft playing Open Mics in pubs and clubs in the area, before finally getting noticed. It made me wonder where some of our young talent will be in ten years’ time, given that a lot of our young performers are still only 15 or 16 years old?

But first up tonight, a newcomer to The Navy, Joe Bayliss from Lapley, near Brewood. I have seen Joe a number of times at the Navigation in Gnosall and it is always a treat. Songs from Brian Houston and Jake Bugg were very well received by an appreciative audience, but a melodic reworking of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ was original and quite superb.

One of our regulars, Melissa Severn aged just 15, has won through to the Open Mic regional finals, to be held in Liverpool on 27^thOctober. If she gets through that, then a spot at the O2 Arena in London awaits! She really is an exceptional talent, singing and playing her own compositions with crystal clear vocals and a terrific stage presence.  Good luck with that Melissa…whatever the outcome I am sure there is a stage career in front of you.

Another first timer followed, 15 year old, Lara Millard from Shifnal.  A couple of strong self-penned compositions, ‘Straight Up’ and ‘You keep me up’ were followed by a nice version of ‘Gethsemane’ from Jesus Christ Superstar. A great debut, Lara, come back anytime.

Next on stage a familiar face who travelled a fair distance to play for us. Trevor Rowley was a regular at the club for many years, but we don’t see him too often now living as he does in Church Stretton. He did just turn up to watch and listen, but with a little bit of persuasion he was enticed onto the stage with borrowed guitar, to give a master class of vintage blues slide guitar. Songs from Robert Johnson and Blind Willie McTell, were followed by a blues classic made famous by the Rolling Stones but actually written by Howlin’ Wolf, ‘Little Red Rooster’….superb stuff.

Another 15 year old, Nathan Davis, son of old club favourite Martyn was next in the spotlight. He is yet another youngster whose singing, playing and song writing has come on enormously. Self-penned songs, ‘Save Me’ and ‘I’ll always Say’ kept the crowd quiet and it was a nice touch to finish with his late father’s composition, ‘Revolution Song’

Time for something a little bit different, as Olly Flavell who is rapidly becoming a veteran at aged just 16, assembled a very impressive line-up for a Scratch House Band. With Roger Clark on bass, Baz Webster on drums, Ben Garrott on tenor sax and Trevor Rowley on lead guitar, the five piece conjured up images of smoky Soho clubs as they improvised a delightful instrumental set. It is great to see experienced musicians gelling together on stage like this and for me it is always the most interesting part of the evening.

Gaz Attwood and brothers Andy & Tony Collister had been waiting patiently all evening to perform and were rewarded with an extended set to close the proceedings.  This Newport three piece, Gaz and the Tones, were making their first appearance at the club, having formed just a short while ago. With Gaz on lead vocals and 12 string guitar, the solid acoustic rock sound was a treat to behold. Playing all their own material, the five song set was original and very listenable…..think Springsteen meets The Beautiful South to give you some idea.

So another excellent evening of local live music. With guests appearing from far and wide including Brewood, Shifnal and
 Church Stretton, word is getting out that The Navy is the place to be on Tuesday.  There are other good local Open Mics in the area, check out The Bridge on alternate Thursdays, next one on 10^th Oct, and The Navigation in Gnosall, weekly on Thurs.

Many thanks to the unrewarded but willing band of volunteers who set up the equipment and then pack it away at the end of the evening….without you there would be no Open Mic. All for now, keep it live!

A mediocre 0 – 0 draw in the World Cup qualifier against the Ukraine edges England towards next summer’s showpiece in Brazil, Scotland fare better in a last gasp win against Macedonia and the news that Lord Hill is crumbling in Shrewsbury (the statue that is) may be front page news in the national and local press but as ever Newport Open Mic makes centrefold (or thereabouts) in the Newport Advertiser every week. The reason being is that there is always a band of willing folk and talented musician who make it happen on a Tuesday night 50 weeks of the year.

Starting off the night this week was young Jobe Spencer who treated us to a classic instrumental written by one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival, Davey Graham who at the age of 19 wrote Angi. Graham was inspirational to many practitioners of fingerstyle acoustic guitar including Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, John Martyn, Paul Simon and Jimmy Page and pioneered the DADGAD tuning, later widely adopted by acoustic guitarists. Jobe at only 15 did a wonderful interpretation of Angi, a difficult choice and only learned by him in the past week. His friend Robbie Pilgrim then joined him on stage at the Navy Club for an acoustic instrumental jam session. This twosome gel really well together. I have to smile however as I remember Robbie stripped naked and on the scales at the baby clinic 15 years ago (I did check to make sure that he wouldn’t mind me revealing that fact and not sure that he quite made the 50^th centile in those days).

Now a regular at Open Mic, Steve Davis opened his set with a lesser known song by the prog rock band Family.  My Friend the Sun from the 1972 album Bandstand with Roger Chapman’s distinctive vocals was covered beautifully by Steve who then sang one of his own songs, Dusty Road followed by All I Want to Do written by drummer Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys and then Ride On made famous by Irish folksinger Christy Moore. A great set demonstrating Steve’s exceptional vocal range.

Newcomer to Newport Open Mic, Helen Brown from Telford, took us back to the sixties with Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice, unbelievably written over 50 years ago and still sounding as good as ever. Meet Me on the Corner, a Lindisfarne classic was next and then a song called Run by Dublin born singer/songwriter Edwina Hayes who now lives in Yorkshire. A lovely gentle voice from Helen accompanying herself on guitar who will no doubt be back at Open Mic very soon completing her set with a classic from Neil Young Heart of Gold.

The talented Ben Garrott was spotted in the corner with his tenor saxophone and was persuaded to make up the Olly Flavell Combo with Jobe on drums and just let the music flow.....purely ad libbing but great stuff from this trio. Olly continued with an excellent bluesy soul set which included Alison Krauss’s When You Say Nothing At All finishing with a new song for him, Adele’s to Make You Feel My Love. A reminder that Olly’s next Open Mic Session at the Bridge Inn in Newport is on Thursday 26^th September starting at 8.30pm.

Always good to see newcomers at Open Mic and the second one of the evening was 15 year old Cameron Forrest from Loggerheads. Up until December last year he had been doing karaoke but since then has taken up the guitar and is now through to the regional finals of Open Mic UK in Manchester on 6^th October for which there have been 12,000 entrants! Covering songs by Jake Bugg, Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini, Passenger and Bastille he is a young man of considerable talent and maturity and proud dad from Glasgow is obviously his number one fan.

A scratch band to finish an evening of great music at the Royal Naval Association in Bellman’s Yard with Steve Davis, this time on drums, Andy Wynn on bass and Rory Forster vocals and guitar performing Naive by the Kooks and a great version of U2’s One Love. The highlight of the set however was a song written by Rory 3 years ago called Suicide.

Thanks as always to all those who help on the night and looking forward to the return of our European correspondent so that I can get to bed before 2am on Wednesday mornings.

Plant on Home Turf

Monday night found me in a queue alongside Bev Bevan (drummer from ELO) wearing purple socks and Allison, sporting a baggy Jack Daniels t-shirt, sister of legendary man of rock, back on home ground, Robert Plant.  A coup for the Civic in Wolverhampton (Willenhall Leisure Centre had a dominos fixture) where 3,000 Plant/Zeppelin fans had travelled far and wide for 2 hours of musical magic and a whole lotta love from the 65 year old rocker looking and sounding as good as ever, with his new band The Sensational Space Shifters.

Tuesday night Wolves vs Walsall resulted in a 2-2 draw in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy where no doubt Plant and Bevan, as huge Wolves fans, would be found seated in the new Stan Cullis Stand at Molineux.

Not quite the same attendance at Newport Open Mic perhaps but nonetheless an enthusiastic crowd of music lovers starting with Malcolm Purvis from Leeds who now makes the Navy Club a regular venue to try out his self penned songs. Malcolm first attended Open Mic here just over a year ago and has been inspired by many of the talented performers he has heard over the past 12 months. His first song, Higher and Higher, was about optimism and making the best of everything and at the other end of the spectrum Black Sun took us down the road of pessimism. The Girl on Line 14 was the first song he ever wrote and I remember its first airing last summer about a Polish girl at the checkout with whom he fell in love. Malcolm is off to Chicago in November for 2 weeks and has got some gigs booked over there so he is indeed going Higher and Higher.

Despite a sore throat and swollen glands Olly Flavell was in extra chilled mood and Ronan Keating’s When You Say Nothing at All was especially soulful. He can be heard this Saturday performing at Herofest at Sir Alexander Fleming School in Sutton Hill an all day charity event between 10am and 6pm.

15 year old Nathan Davis is very much at home on the Open Mic stage as his late father, Martyn, was. Coldplay’s Fix You was especially good as was the Bon Iver song Skinny Love. Great to see Angel Day, also 15, joining him on stage and singing Best Day by Taylor Swift with him. Always a good choice of songs from Nathan which very often include his own material as well as some well remembered songs written by his father.

Steve Davis was next up and has made his own the little known David Crosby song Traction in the Rain from the 1971 solo album if I Could Only Remember My Name. Christie Moore’s Ride On suits his vocal range to a tee and this was followed by an ad lib with the title Dusty Road. A Londoner himself his version of Steve Marriott’s and Ronnie Lane’s You Need Loving was outstanding. A fine set enhanced by the use of a chorus pedal was concluded with Tom Petty’s Learning to Fly.

A second time round for Olly and finally a lovely finish to an all acoustic evening when Graham Dabbs got up and treated us to his fine flat picking and melodic vocals with country songs by the Carter Family, Wildwood Flower and US country star Hal Ketchum’s Past The Point of Rescue. Hal can be seen at the Robin at Bilston on 21^st October.  

Another great night at the Navy. Don’t forget full PA and drum kit is provided so just turn up and play or relax and enjoy an evening listening to some great local talent.

Report Jude Paton

Photographs Matthew Thomas