Venue:

St. George’s, Bristol

Date: 27/11/2025

Between Symarip and Tackhead on my shelves, tucked in between the skinhead ska and the, er, whatever Tackhead were, are some LPs from a woman who released her first solo album fifty years ago.

I’ve heard her sing a few times now. She’s sung with many people, she’s recorded with many people. She doesn’t play an instrument. She plays her voice. She inhabits songs like few singers I’ve heard. She has the rare and uncanny ability to deliver any song in a way that makes it her own.

Last night she sang with the two accompanists with whom I think I best enjoy her performance. They are celebrated jazz players, Iain Bellamy on mellifluous saxophone, and Huw Warren, making the most of St. George’s lovely Steinway. Together with the woman we’ve come to hear sing, these three took us through nearly two hours of stunning music. The songs we heard were chosen from several recorded sources across many years, but they all shared the same thing; unalloyed tenderness, tranquility and sympathetic delivery.

This trio go by the name of Quercus. Check them out if they are new to you. See if you » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Pound Arts Centre, Corsham, Wiltshire

Date: 01/11/2025

What a revelatory, serendipitous evening we had last night.

Following last month’s lovely Katie Spencer gig in Calstock, Cornwall, I spotted that she had a gig lined up that was a tad closer to Foxy Towers – only an easy 20 minutes away in Corsham. A look at the ticketing for the night in question revealed that the gig was headlined as a John Smith performance, one of only four on his current tour where he has teamed up with Katie. The inevitable effect of this pairing was that there were only a handful of seats left, two of which we promptly grabbed.

My companion at the Cornwall Katie gigs (we’ve seen her twice in God’s Own County) has been my younger brother, who is himself a lovely guitar player. His house is like a guitar shop; they line the walls. For him, the name John Smith invokes a low sigh as his head rolls backwards and his eyes shut in profound admiration. When I told him we’d got tickets for the two-hander, he immediately asked if a) there were any more left, and b) could he crash » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Calstock Arts, Calstock, Cornwall

Date: 20/09/2025

Last Saturday my brother and I drove down narrow lanes embellished by thick mohican strips of vegetation into the depths of darkest Cornwall. Not deep into the west, just across the river from Devon, but beyond the easy reach of many an aging sat-nav. In the background of my photograph of the venue’s stage, that land you can see is in Devon. The venue itself is in Cornwall, a lovely re-purposed chapel, steeply perched on a riverside hill. Only the 50 yard width of the Tamar – the middle of which delineates the border at this point – separates the venue from the hills behind.

I suppose I could have taken the photo half an hour later, while the gig was in progress, but as we sat less than 5 yards from the stage I couldn’t bring myself to raise my phone up to grab a shot almost face-to-face in such an intimate setting.

The reason for our pilgrimage was the second gig in Katie Spencer’s latest UK tour – details of which can be found at the link I have included in this post. Katie has a new album to promote, » Continue Reading.

Venue:

St Georges, Bristol

Date: 26/06/2025

The band Lady Maisery in cahoots with the duo of Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith have worked together for some time now – their Winter show, called ‘Awake! Arise! has charmed and warmed us twice now over the last two years.

Happily they have now been inspired to put together a sibling show for the summer; it’s called ‘Wakefire’ – and last night we went to see them perform it at the wonderful St. Georges venue in Bristol.

What we witnessed was stunningly original, beautifully delivered and expertly played by musicians who have both mastered their instruments and have fabulous voices.

Five part harmony singing. Electric and acoustic guitars, an Mbira, a harmonium, a piano accordion, a drum, an amazing bouzouki, a banjo, some clogs, a violin, an old valve radio and a couple of shaker sticks. Old songs and new songs, songs from Latvia and Sweden, chord sequences and phrases stolen from mash-ups, even cocktails, it’s all there. All in an evening’s entertainment that left a packed, sold-out hall on its feet applauding enthusiastically for the final numbers.

Outstanding and exuberant, original and exploratory and innovative, this was » Continue Reading.