Acoustic once again at The Navy.  Words and pictures: Dave Whiteman

I've just returned from a short holiday in Spain….well Benidorm actually! And, yes before you ask, it really is a lot like the popular TV programme, with thousands of Brits visiting every year to enjoy the climate, the cheap booze and the all-day breakfasts. Wherever you go in the town, you will find musical entertainment, from the smallest bars to the biggest clubs, but almost all have the same thing in common. Although the glossy advertisements on the street state ‘Live music every night’ it is really no such thing…..it is normally vocalists without any form of instrument singing along to backing tracks. Don’t get me wrong, some of them are incredibly good….we saw a fantastic four piece Queen tribute act for instance, but in the main, if you like truly LIVE music, then it probably isn’t the place to go.

Unlike our very own Newport Open Mic, held every Tuesday evening at the Royal Naval Association in Bellman’s Yard. This week saw a continuation of our acoustic sessions, which started a few months ago and is held on the last Tues in the month. This is a much softer approach to our evenings, with just electric acoustic guitars, and no bands. A Cajon provides the rhythm section instead of a drum kit and even though the voices and instruments are amplified the whole evening is a much quieter affair.

A new face opened proceedings, Tristan Wood from Market Drayton. His very comfortable blend of melodic voice and lovely guitar was a very nice start to the evening…… ‘Universal Soldier’ original written by Buffy Saint Marie and recorded in the UK by Donovan, was a highlight……please come back again Tristan.

Guitar/vocalist Sand Kumar and bass man Scott Thompson, collectively known as Richochet, then followed with an ‘almost acoustic’ set which included songs from The Libertines as well as a couple of their own tunes, which included new song ‘89’.  Catch their gig at The Haygate on 20^th Feb.

Always good to see the incredibly talented 15 years old Melissa Severn. Although busy with her GCSE’s, she still found time to visit the Navy and entertain the crowd with her totally original set including a new song, ‘Sleepwalker’. I understand that she has just been into the studio to record this song…. good luck with that Melissa.

Adam Brown on the desk as usual,  was giving us a great sound with every instrument and vocal clearly heard throughout the room, and next to benefit was Nathan Davis. Opening with a new self-penned composition, ‘I’ll Always Say’ Nathan is clearly developing into a very accomplished singer song writer….just like his Dad.


 
Speaking of young talented singer songwriters, Olly Flavell is firmly in that category, and he also showcased a couple of new songs, ‘Right by My Side’ and ‘I don’t Know Why’. Catch Olly’s Open Mic at The Bridge on alternate Thursday's.






I always like to hear good harmonies and the acoustic setting was the perfect stage for Steve Crouch and Ben Jason, from Cheswardine. With Steve on guitar, Ben on harmonica and both voices dovetailing so well, it was a fine vocal performance. Anyone that can mix Nik Kershaw and The Beatles in the same set is alright with me!


I can’t remember the last time I saw Ed Sullivan down at the club. In mid-2013 a group of us went to The Robin in Bilston to see the last live performance of great local band Weazel Diesel whose final gig was as support act to Nine Below Zero. Well, they may not have played together for ages, but when Ed reunited with former band member Rich Evans it was if they had never been away. ‘Fulsom Prison Blues’ was a great crowd pleasing opener, a tribute to John Mayall a brilliant filler and then a very unusual and original interpretation of ‘Here I Go Again’ by Whitesnake had the crowd asking for more. As if you had never been away lads……time for a reunion?

The acoustic open mics have been a popular extension of our weekly live music evenings, but as usual we rely heavily on you, the members, to give feedback. The intention is still to keep the last Tuesday of every month in this format, but please, speak to the organisers and let them know what you think.

So Benidorm or Newport? One has the sun, cheap beer & food and of course, Union Jack T-shirts, but a severe shortage of genuine LIVE music. The other is far more picturesque, the people speak the same language, there isn’t a Union Jack T-shirt in sight and the music is always live! Come and see what all the fuss is about, every Tuesday at the Navy.  Keep it live, Adios!

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Tony Iommi lead guitarist with Black Sabbath invented lighter gauge strings which were made especially for him by Picato Strings in Wales in 1970. Previously only the heavier gauge strings were available but Tony was unable to “bend” them after he lost the ends of 2 fingers in an industrial accident on his last day at work in a sheet metal factorywhen he was just 17. Thinking that he would never be able to play again Picato came to the rescue and made him the lighter gauge strings. Producers thought he would never get the “full sound” from lighter strings but I reckon he proved them wrong! Picato in Treorchy are still going strong as is Tony Iommi despite being diagnosed in 2012 with the early stages of lymphoma for which he has undergone successful treatment as of January 2013. Never Say Die, Black Sabbath reformed in 2012 and are currently doing a massive sell out tour.

As for Newport Open Mic, now into its second decade, it seems to go from strength to strength and one can never say it’s just the same old faces because every week there are new faces in the audience or up on stage. Thanks to the posse of helpers who arrived at 7pm to help set up we were ready for the telecaster blues jam session which kicked off the evening featuring Dave Blu and friends warming up the audience for Malcolm Purvis, all the way from Leeds for the second week running. Singer/songwriter, Malcolm never fails to please the Newport crowd with a prolific repertoire. His opening number called “The Drifter” was about a man in a foreign town who gets set upon but who has his comeuppance in the end. 5 great songs from Malcolm tonight and I particularly liked “Black Sun” and “God Only Knows”. I would like to think that Newport Open Mic has inspired him with his song writing and he made the nice comment “I have a lot of good feelings about this place”.

Robbie Pilgrim, Olly Flavell and Jobe Spencer formed an interesting trio busking some excellent instrumentals on electric, jazz and acoustic guitars. It’s great to see these three teenagers on stage together. 

10 year old Jay Harris bubbles with enthusiasm about music and life in general and with about 10 members of his family in the audience he well deserved the resounding applause at the end of his 3 song set which comprised Shed 7’s “On Standby”, and back to the 60s with “Wild Thing” and “Twist and Shout” with the audience on backing vocals.

 

Dave Blu’s scratch band was up next featuring guest vocalist Rich Evans with a great version of “Crossroads” and ably accompanied by Steve Davis on drums, Andy Clarke on bass and Olly Flavell on jazz guitar. A great jazzy blues set from the band.

 

Regulars Gaz and the Tones delivered a great solid sound with a lovely 12 string intro to the first of their self penned songs “Surrender”. Recent newcomer to the band and drummer Andy Clegg drives the band along together with the marvelous, seemingly effortless, bass playing of Andy Callister.

Rich Evans invariably brings something different to the Open Mic stage and tonight was no exception with his guitar shaped bouzouki and a set comprising country, folk, skiffle, a sea shanty and for the first time on bouzouki a song actually called “For the First Time” by The Script. Always a varied and most enjoyable set from Rich. 

Steve Davis, now a familiar face at Open Mic, was this week sponsored (in his own words) by Gaz and the Tones but I suspect only because he borrowed Gaz’s 12 string guitar and put through a chorus pedal made it sound amazing with his opener “Old Man” by Neil Young followed by Dave Crosby’s “Traction in the Rain”, “Weather With You” by Crowded House and finally the late great JJ Cale’s “Magnolia” joined by Dave Blu on lead guitar. A terrific set demonstrating an amazing vocal talent and vocal range from Steve.

An audience of around 60 over the course of the evening enjoyed a closing jam from Dave Blu, Andy Clegg, Andy Callister and Olly Flavell with some good old classics including Johnny B Goode and some blues bottleneck from the blues man himself (Dave Blu) on his 1992 DeArmond jazz guitar by Guild which appeared to have a For Sale notice hanging from it.....£275 including case I believe!!

Another great Tuesday night of live music at  the Royal Naval Association in Newport and a reminder that next Tuesday is the acoustic Open Mic session, in other words no drums but another night of live music in excellent company is promised. Keep music live and come along and see and hear for yourselves.

Bands are getting  even younger at The Navy!     Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

Dedicate….. what does it that word really mean? I was thinking this on Tuesday evening whilst packing up after another great night of live music at the Newport Open Mic. Obviously we know the dictionary definition don’t we? At least I thought I did until I resolved to look it up and check. Dedicate (verb) ‘to devote time and energy to a particular cause’, to commit, to pledge, to give to sacrifice….. and it occurred to me that all these people who help to set up, play themselves, collect raffle money and break down the kit at the end of the night are all ‘dedicated’ to our particular cause….bringing live music to the town. And don’t forget the audience. They MUST be dedicated to leave a nice warm house on a very wet and windy January evening to support the Open Mic with such amazing regularity!

Around sixty did just that on Tuesday evening and as usual, the performers didn’t disappoint. All the way from Leeds, Malcolm Purvis brings his self penned songs of love and angst to the Navy every time he is working in the area. A new song, ‘Chance’ reminded me very much of Al Stewart and was quite superb.

Start ‘em young we say, and the next act, Newport band The Revenue are one of the youngest we have seen. This five piece had a combined age of about 60 years, but don’t let their youth fool you. ‘I Bet She Looks Good on the Dance Floor’ and the Oasis classic ‘Don’t look Back in Anger’ rocked the house….very hard to believe this was their very first live performance.

At 16 years old Nathan Davis who followed, is almost a veteran! Revolution Song is one of his favourites, but you could hear a pin drop when he played ‘Cannonball’ by Damian Rice…great stuff.

Steve Hammond from Shrewsbury had heard about the Newport Open Mic on the music grapevine and turned up with his guitar looking for collaborators. “I don’t sing or play acoustic guitar” he told me; he was looking for a few musicians to join him on stage to rock though a bit of classic rock. Step forward Richie Evans (unusually on bass) Olly Flavell on guitar, yours truly on vocals and Pete Barton on drums, to form the first Scratch House band of the evening. Steve proved to be no slouch, with great solos throughout a short tight set. On top of that he won a bottle of wine in the raffle, making his journey doubly worthwhile!

I am running out of superlatives for next act, Gaz & the Tones. Looking around the room I saw experienced musicians nodding their heads to the solid tight beat, and all agreed that they have improved enormously over the last few months. New songs ‘Resigned’ and ‘Maybe it’s Me?’ sandwiched more familiar numbers….surely a recording contract beckons for these likeable young lads?

I have been involved in the Open Mic for many years and can truthfully say that the one performer who has surprised the most over that time is Richard Thomas. Years ago, he would get the audience on board with ‘Living Next Door to Alice’ but he is much more adventurous now……Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown’ anyone….sung entirely in German?!!  He never fails to bring something interesting to the table, nice one Rich.

Olly Flavell had already enjoyed his time on stage with the Scratch House Band, so didn’t expect to play again. He has been busy writing new material and after a little arm twisting he showcased one of his new songs, ‘By Your Side’. More familiar covers from Ronan Keating and LMFAO completed a super set for this very talented young man.

Another Rich, this time Rich Evans, was last act on stage to bring proceedings to a close. A melancholy start, Paul Weller’s ‘You do Something to Me’ was faultlessly delivered, but his next song ‘Is This the Way to Amarillo’ complete with bar staff contribution, ignited the room with everyone joining in the chorus and handclaps.

So there we are….dedicated. No one gets paid and it can be quite challenging at times, but we can truly say that we have a ‘dedicated’ bunch of talented performers …..not forgetting our amazing regular audience.

Back the same time next Tues for more local live music, and please note that the last Tuesday of this  month, the 28^th will once again be an acoustic evening. This doesn’t mean bands are not allowed, just that  there will be no drum kit or electric guitars, so try an unplugged evening for a very nice change! Once again, many thanks to all the volunteers who make the whole thing possible.  Until next time……..keep it live!

The New Year Starts In Fine Style

Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures Matt Thomas (to follow).

Quite hard to believe, but only three weeks after our Christmas party we now find ourselves in the middle of dreary January. It’s official….the first month is also the worst month of the year, at least according to the Daily Mail. Having spent up over Christmas, lack of cash and short dark days coupled with miserable weather, lead lots of couples to take it out on their partner, arguing on average for over eight minutes per day. Lots of these disagreements will probably be over ownership of the TV remote, but I have a simple solution to save all those relationships out there……..forget those New Year’s Resolutions, ditch the 5-2 diet and get yourselves down to the Navy for a post-Christmas remedial dose of live music!

More than sixty people decided not to argue and welcomed first act of 2014 to the Navy stage, local duo Knockout. It's always nice to see something a little different, and with Phil Jervis on bass, Martin Woodhall introduced us to classic rock played on overdriven, distorted ukulele...a very interesting start to the evening!

Good to see Trench based Richochet back at the club. Guitarist Sand Kumar and bassist Scott Thompson recruited resident drummer Andy Conway to hammer through a set of self-penned songs, which included ‘King for the Day’ and ‘Underage, Underpaid’. A great version of Green Days ‘King for the Day’ finished a nice set. How do you describe their music? Thrash, Punk or a mixture of both? Either way, very enjoyable, welcome back lads.

We always try to get Jay Harris a fairly early slot….at just ten years old he needs his sleep! Watched and supported by his parents, Jay delighted the audience with songs from Tom Odell and former Haircut 100 front man, Nik Heyward.  This was the first time I have heard Jay playing guitar and harmonica together, no easy task, but he did it in his own laid back accomplished style. One for the future!

 Nathan Davis has matured enormously over the last year; his many appearances at the club have given him a lot more confidence and stage presence. A nice change of direction with his material included a favourite of mine, ‘Altogether Now’ from Liverpool band The Farm.
We started off with something a little different and next act Thom James, carried on the trend. With just his Gibson guitar for company he rattled through ‘River Deep Mountain High’ and then gave us a song I have never heard played at the club before….Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’….entertaining stuff. 

Speaking of entertainers, our next performer is exactly that. He has polished his act over the years playing many gigs around Shropshire, but I am pleased to say he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Richie Evans is a one man band with his homemade Guitar/Banjo appropriately named Amy Winebox and his drum machine….an old bio hazard rubbish bin, and he delighted the audience with sing-alongs such as ‘Galway Girl’ and ‘Ho Hey’ the popular Lumineers song from last year.

Dave Blue had the difficult task of following, but he came up to the mark with his assembled ‘Scratch House’ band of Olly Flavell and Andy Clark, on guitar and bass with the busy Andy Conway on drums. Just like the advert, he does exactly what it says on the tin……Black Country Blues, including a couple of self-penned songs…..great stuff.

Gaz & the Tones played a great set at the Christmas party and they have been busy writing new material since. ‘Resigned’ ‘Changes’ and ‘Maybe it’s Me’ were showcased, and I am sure will become as ‘hummable’ as their previous offerings. Have to say how much tighter the band now seems with the rock solid rhythm of Andy Clegg on drums. 

Just time for guitar/ vocalist Pippin Henderson, bassist Rob McDonald and busy drummer Andy Conway to bring the first Open Mic of 2014 to a close with a high octane and high volume offering.  Their hard rock medley, which segued between Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, a bit of improvisation and back to Led Zep to finish, may not have been light on the ears, but it was perfectly executed and sent the crowd home happy. 

Post-Christmas events are sometimes quite cold and flat, and often have low attendances, so Tuesday’s large crowd was a pleasant surprise. Many town centre establishments would be quite delighted to have an audience of this size on a Saturday night, let alone a cold wet weekday, so we must be doing something right at The Navy! Our continued thanks to all the live music supporters in the town; let’s try to make 2014 even better than last year. Till next time, 

Happy New Year and keep it live!!

Review of 2013  Open Mic    by Dave Whiteman

Almost exactly ten years ago, Mervyn Williams, Ken Evans and myself came to the Navy and started the first Open Mic. And every week since on Tuesday evenings, with very few exceptions, the Newport Open Mic has entertained thousands of live music fans. This has been a particularly busy year and as we look forward to 2014, I thought it would be fun to take a look back over the last twelve months. 


January: First appearance for New tennis coach, Darcy Crawford who would become one of the most regular and popular performers. Highlight of the month was a four piece band from Blythe Bridge, Sons of Clogger with their particular blend of Folk Rock.

February: Nice to see Richie Evans take to the stage with his Dad, Clive a keen player and live music supporter. 


Mellisa Walford made an appearance in Britains Got Talent, and her Mum & Dad turned up to watch her performance at the Navy wearing Simon & Amanda masks!



 
 
March: Carol Cartwright was becoming a Navy regular, with her lovely style of finger picking and soft melodic voice. 

Nathan Davies made his first appearance on stage accompanied by his Mum, Louise.




April  Good to see Martyn Templeton back on stage…his effortless vocals never fail to please. 

Also nice to see Dan Corcoran on a flying visit from Cork playing a vintage blues song from Mississippi John Hurt





                            
May: Vinyl Tap made an          appearance this month, opening with a fantastic instrumental, Wipeout by The Surfaris. Also memorable for the first appearance of 10 yr old Jay Harris playing songs that were written fifty years before he was born!



June      Graeme Beardmore and Sheena McDonagh from Stoke made their first appearance at the club as Rain….a very appropriate name given the weather in June. Love and Affection by Joan Armatrading was superb. From Telford came Bryan James and Steve Ross singing self penned songs including ‘The Future’s a Mystery’

July     Claire Shaw made her first appearance on stage at the Navy and soon became a regular favourite. Another debutant was 15yrs old Zac Christie playing live for only the second time. ‘English Rose’ by Paul Weller stunned the sizeable crowd in to silence. 


 




August          Ian Simpkins runs his own Open Mic at Copmere End, but also now a regular at the Navy. His soft Scottish brogue and lovely guitar style are guaranteed to entertain. 
Eighteen year old Jack Pierce played for the first time, and songs from Mumford & Sons made for a fine performance.

September    Londoner Steve Davis entertained with a great version of Traction in the Rain, by David Crosby, While Gaz & The Tones made their debut this month and I don’t think they have missed an Open Mic since.


October        One of my favourites of the year, singer songwriter Lizzie Hogan performed for the first time. She only looks about 14 but is in fact 23….a fabulous talent. Roger Clark brought his new band to the club, Enigma and rocked the house with ‘Steamy Windows’ the Tina Turner classic.




 

November   Ben Garrott usually plays keyboard and sax, but having bought his a guitar just a couple of weeks ago, he played it on stage for the first time. Graham Dabbs was making a welcome return to the club singing the Johnny Cash/June Carter number ‘It Ain’t me Babe’

December    Barry Hollyhead joined forces with his old musical partner Harry Wooley to give us some superb sixties covers. 

Open Mic Founder Mervyn Williams brought his band Bang to Rights to the club to play some blistering rock from AC/DC amongst others.

So Open Mic 2013 in words and pictures, I hope it brought back happy memories. See you next year at probably the area’s best live music evening,  The Newport Open Mic at The Navy!

 A Christmas Grand Finale at the Newport Open Mic

Words:  Dave Whiteman,  Pictures Matt Thomas and Laurence Gale

As the party season gets into full swing, Tuesday night saw the Newport Open Mic reward their loyal followers with a free evening of live music and great food. Every week for the last year, live music fans have been flocking to the Royal Naval Association in Bellmans Yard for what many regard as the finest Open Mic in the area, and the last Tues before Christmas is the day when, traditionally, everyone enters into the party spirit.

A short introduction by Chairman Pete Bunting thanked the Open Mic for their continued support of the RNA and expressed the hope that the long partnership between the Navy Club and the Open mic would continue.

Our opening act of the evening first came to the club in October, nervously strumming their own compositions. Since then, Gareth Attwood, brothers Tony & Andy Callister and Andy Clegg have been delighting the audiences each week with their brand of high octane acoustic rock. It was fitting therefore that the band, collectively known as Gaz and the Tones, should open this year’s musical extravaganza
 

Open Mic regulars are very familiar with their set list and the guys did not disappoint, including all the popular numbers, but a few well-chosen covers lifted them to a new level. Opening with favourites, ‘Sweet Lorenzo Harmony’ and Round the Sun’ the band then surprised everyone with a lively version of ‘Handle me with Care’ by The Travelling Wilburys.
 

The sizeable crowd of around a hundred were definitely in a festive mood and their reaction to this brilliant cover seemed to give the band the confidence to try out some new material before raising the roof to finish with a couple of crackers. Merry Christmas Everybody is the Slade song always played at this time of year, but Gaz & the Tones preferred instead a foot stomping ‘Gudbye 2 Jane’,  before leaving the audience wanting more with a raucous version of ‘Ghostbusters’.  Watch out for this band, they collected a few more fans tonight and I am sure they will be gigging every week, very soon.

Into the break with a fabulous curry supper, courtesy of ex-Navy chef Mark Rowley. This gave our willing helpers time to circulate waving collection tins for Severn Hospice, the Open Mic’s adopted charity, and around £160 was raised. Connections with SH go back a number of years indeed a number of our members have had loved ones cared for by the hospice, so the cause is very dear to us. 

One of the great things about the Open Mic is that every week, a couple of guitarists, a drummer and a singer will get up on stage and just ‘jam’ together; that is busk through a set without rehearsal, sometimes meeting for the first time. 

Our main band tonight, Reworx, was a ‘made up’ group making their very first live appearance….though all the musicians have played with other bands. Steve Smith and Mark Langford are ‘half’ of local rock outfit ‘Bang to Rights’, Dave Whiteman and John Freestone vocalist and drummer with ‘Robbie’s in Rehab’, Yiasmin Freestone a busy solo singer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Garrott a veteran of a number of local bands, despite his tender years!

 After just a couple of rehearsals, Reworx belted through two strong sets of popular rock and pop, from such bands as Texas, Stereophonics, Queen and Fleetwood Mac, but it was a Eurythmics song that stole the show. As soon as Ben Garrott on keyboards played the opening sequence to ‘Sweet Dreams (are made of this)’ there was a real buzz about the room and Yiasmin’s superb vocals brought the house down.

So what a way to end a fantastic year of local live music in Newport. Every Tuesday evening for the last twelve months hundreds of acts both local and from as far afield as Wolverhampton, Stafford and Birmingham have stood on the stage at the Navy Club in front of generous and appreciative audiences. Big thanks to all the people who give their time each week to set up and put away equipment, monitor the sound, sell raffle tickets and generally keep the Newport Open Mic firmly on the live music map.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all…….keep it live!

Where does Newport get this young talent?  Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

Did you ever watch The Old Grey Whistle Test? The programme name came from a legend that if the grey haired lift attendants at the BBC centre could whistle the tune to a song that they had just heard, then that song would likely become a hit. I was reminded of this on Tuesday night at The Navy, where a wealth of new young local talent played their own material and for a day or two afterwards, I was humming the tunes., So says Mr Dave Whiteman (to your left).

Newcomers Richochet, a duo from Trench were first on stage, with a mixture of originals and covers. Sand Kumar on guitar and Scott Thompson on bass treated us to a couple of great songs from The Libertines and Babyshambles, but it was a self- penned number, ‘Underage and Underpaid’ which caught my attention.

A couple of young rising guitar stars, Robbie Pilgrim and Jobe Spencer, followed. They could barely hold a tune a year ago, but their instrumental renditions of Radiohead’s ‘High & Dry’ and ‘Lightning Bolt’ from Jake Bugg were superb. Once again though it was as yet unnamed original that got the most applause. When are we going to hear a vocal from you two?

We pride ourselves on showcasing young musicians at The Navy, and the next band was, by far, the youngest we have ever had. Ten years old Jay Harris is well known at the Open Mic, and on Tues he assembled Charlie Parker and Jack Emerson, also both 10yrs old, to form a great three piece, ‘Born With Attitude’. Where these youngsters get their confidence from to play in front of a sixty or so audience, I cannot imagine, but they simply blew us away with Jimi Hendrix’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’, before Jay stayed on stage to give us a solo version of ‘Sweet Child Of mine. Credit to their parents for encouraging such musical passion.

Given such youth, we tend to regard some of our performers as ‘mature’ and it is easy to forget that next up, Nathan Davies, is himself only sixteen. ‘I Wanna Wake Up With You’ was the third bestselling single of 1986, by Boris Gardiner, and Nathan changed its original reggae beat into a really nice acoustic guitar song. Covers from The Wonder Stuff and The Levellers completed a fine set for this talented young man.

Another newcomer next up. Thom James, who has recently moved back to Newport after living in Sheffield for the last seventeen years, told me he wants to get involved in the local music scene and he clearly enjoyed his first outing at the club. The classic ‘Boy Named Sue’ was a great opener and songs from The Ramones and a little known tune from Bones Park Rider, ‘Up all Night’ made for a fine debut.

Haven’t seen Lizzie Hogan at the club since around October, but she once again made a terrific impact, with her fantastic keyboard and brilliant vocals. This 21 year old is another supremely talented musician who writes all her own material and listening to her songs make you think that you have heard them on the radio before. Her music is well crafted, original and at times though provoking……. I am sure songs like ‘Human’ and ‘Fill Your World’ would make great singles.

Is it only a few months ago that Gaz Attwood brought his band Gaz & the Tones to the Navy for the first time? To say they have come on in leaps and bounds is an understatement and now with new drummer Andrew Clegg on board, they really are performing well. They manage to marry a quite original 12 string acoustic rock sound, think sixties summer of love, with a driving rock beat that is bang up to date. Once again, their set was all self-penned and provided another couple of Old Grey Whistle Test numbers for me to hum for the rest of the week.

Time for Just Jimmy from Telford to bring a great evening of live music to a close. Jimmy, who at 72 managed to raise the average age of the performers by some measure, recruited Ed Young on guitar to rattle through a couple of Johnny Cash standards, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and ‘Ring of Fire’.

So yet another brilliant evening of locally produced live music from a very talented Newport Musical Youth brought the Open Mic to a close for 2013.  Don’t forget, next Tues is the highlight of the year, the Christmas Party, with Gaz & the Tones supporting six piece band Reworx. A hot supper is provided and entry is free of charge, but please bear in mind that there will be a collection for the Open Mic charity of choice, Severn Hospice.