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Open Mic UK is the UK's biggest search for unsigned talent and has a strong pedigree behind it. One lady who has been gathering a lot of attention after progressing to the regional finals is 30 year old singer/songwriter Lara LouX. Lara has a great energy and enthusiasm for what she does and her passion comes across when I talk to her. Lara tells me that she's "a bit of a perfectionist, I like everything to be in tip top condition." When I spoke to Lara she had recently spent the day in the studio putting the finishing touches to her début single, which she plans to release in the new year. I was curious to find out what preparations she was making to ensure that her performance at the final is spot on. "I've spoken with a choreographer to learn about how to use the stage and give the song a little bit more drama. I'm singing in front of audiences as much as possible so I can get feedback on my music and I am just making some final tweaks to my songs with my producer." Lara comes from a musical family and her Grandfather was a professional opera singer. She plays piano and saxophone and wrote her first song aged 15. "Music has always been part of my life. I've always sung at charity gigs and weddings, but I've always had something else going on too." She has a background in business, a degree in Psychology, is studying for a Master's in Mental Health Counselling and is an avid fitness fan. "I originally wanted to do psychology because I wanted to help people and have my own counselling practice." Now that she is focussing on singing and writing the need to help people comes out through her music. Lara describes herself as "an emotional writer," who writes about what happens in her life and hopes people can relate to her songs. Another way she helps people is through charity work. "I'm a huge advocate for Help the Heroes and did a concert a few years ago which helped raise over £4000 and have done a lot of fitness fund raising for them too." She has also written a song for the military which she performed at the concert and hopes to record and release. (Gareth Malone and Military Wives are you reading this?) In July of this year she auditioned for London based record company Downtown Artists and secured a recording contract. "Music has been my passion since I was a little girl. It's only in recent times that I'm now concentrating purely on my music... it's my life." Her unique style has been described as jazz meets rock, encompassing modern blues and soul. She lets me hear an unmixed version of her song My Heavy Heart which she plans to perform at Open Mic UK. Lara LouX certainly has a strong, powerful voice and bags of talent. Fingers crossed that the judges will put her forward to the next round. Look out for her single and EP to be released next year. https://www.facebook.com/laralouX.official

16th December 2012 Roundhouse Camden The St Albans four have certainly had and explosive year that included taking their trailblazing and unique blend of metal and dubstep on tour around the world and winning Kerrang Album of the year for their latest album A Flash Flood Of Colour. Tonight at the Roundhouse,Canadian Hardcore Punk band, Cancer Batssupported Shikari, turning the lights down low and blasting London with their riffs and screaming vocals; they were a perfect choice to get the crowd warmed up and ready to rock! A countdown clock heralded Shikari's pending arrival. When the quartet did take to the stage they were met by a sea on inverted triangles. As with most die hard metal fans their band is not a simply a band, it is a religion, a way of life and a way to unify the troubles in this crazy world “we are all connected here” the line from Pack Of Thieves reaffirms this. Their songs are painfully relevant to today’s world and in many ways are as political as the protest songs of the 70s and tap into the mindset of their mainly young audience; which reference climate change, a generation in crisis and protests against the greed and horror of war as highlighted in Stalemate: “ Previous wars make billionaires out of millionaires, today’s wars make trillionairs out of billionaires, tomorrows wars will fuel generations of hate.” Inside their post hardcore, aggressive, pulsating music is a very deep message about human destruction and betrayal of those in power; In very modern terms lead singer Rou Reynolds says “We're sick of this Shit!”.Touché. Enter Shikari are known for their powerhouse live shows and tonight at the Roundhouse was no exception. The venue was heaving with moshing, pit circling, crowd surfing fans, including Santa Clause himself; although not as many came over the barrier as in Birmingham the previous night apparently (for shame London, for shame!) The adrenalin pumping set kicked off with the System...Meltdown... prologue from the album ploughing at headlong speed into Sssnakepit. Shikari are a incredibly visual band and each track is delivered with maximum precision and energy. Their pounding set slows down midway through the set for some “music” Reynolds jokes before a semi acoustic track, Gap In The Fence. This was followed by a fan favourite from the Common Dreads album, Juggernauts. This track soon had the audience back jumping and Rou Reynolds back leaping around the stage once more to their electro rock beats. The frantic set culminated in Rory and Chris leaping off their amps to the Motherstep intro of Mothership. The encore finished the night with the closest thing Shikari have to a ballad -Constellations, Pack Of Theives and Zzzonked. This game changing band have been around for nearly a decade and still are breaking the boundaries of the music genre that they refused to be defined by. Another line from Pack Of Thieves says “Don't be fooled into thinking a small group of friends gonna change the world...” Be under no illusion, this group of friends are doing exactly that.

25th August 2013 Kenwood House Battle's finest conclude their current tour at Kenwood House as part of British Heritage’s Live by the Lake concert series. Supported by a the talented soul singer Laura Mvula (check out her début album Sing To The Moon). Her set certainly put the 6,000 strong crowd into the mood for enjoying some quality music on a relaxing bank holiday Keanefest! Chants of Keane-Oh! Ring out across the Hampstead park until Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes and Jessie Quinn casually take to the stage. They seem awestruck and humbled by the appreciative crowd that has turned out to see them. Tom launches into the anthemic You Are Young, the first track from new album Strangeland followed by Bend and Break.He is in fine voice and his vocals on We Might As Well Be Strangers are particularly heartfelt. He continues this high standard for the 19 song set and shows no signs of fatigue. Seeing them live really brings out their distinctive style sans lead guitar and sets them apart from other alternative rock bands. They are solid as a band and really look like they are having fun. The toe-tapping On The Road has the crowd swaying and singing along to its infectious piano melody as does Everybody's Changing. They take the concert up a gear for Is It Any Wonder? Then simultaneously slowed things down for a B Side rarity Snowed Under beautifullyperformed by Tom and Tim. They then pick it up again as they perform as if their life depended on it through the rest of the set to the tunes of This Is The Last Time, Bedshaped and Somewhere Only We Know which all of the audience seem to relish in. The encore consisted of a homage to their home town in Sovereign Light Caféand crowd favourite, Crystal Ball. Sadly there are no more performances scheduled for Keane this year. But if you need a Keane fix, the good news is they do have a Best Of Album due for release on November 11.

The Horn St Albans APRIL 2ND 2014 After an all too short career as a double Super Bike Champion, James Toseland returned to his first love of music. He was a trained pianist before developing an interest in motorcycles, which led him turning professional at the age of 15 and riding his bike all over the world. As a result music had to take a back seat. After retiring from racing due to injury in 2011, music has resurfaced as his focus. Now he has a band together, an awesome new album and we hope a long musical career ahead! Kickstarting this new musical chapter saw Toseland playing at Download, supporting The Darkness, Little Angels and now Status Quo. Despite the small stage at The Horn, the band Toseland dominate the stage. They kick off the set with Gotta Be A Better Way and cook up a storm with their melodic riffs and powerhouse rock songs throughout the set with Singer In A Band and Crash Landing. Playing unfamiliar material is always a challenge, but something that the St Albans audience responded well to - in fact some of them even knew a few of the songs (Renegade, Life Is Beautiful) thanks to You Tube and Planet Rock; Who knew there were so many closet head bangers in suburbia! For good measure the set also contained a couple of familiar tunes, an excellent cover of Teardrop Explodes Reward and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting. An unlikely rockstar, James Toseland is totally relaxed in front of an audience and whilst he is not a showman in the vain of Bruce Dickinson or Freddie Mercury, he has a natural charm and enthusiasm for his music which just radiates from the stage and makes him very watchable and he's a bloody nice bloke too. His keyboard playing is highly competent and his rock vocals are perfectly matched with his songs. Move over Dave Grohl, rock may have found it's new nice guy! This 5 piece band are really tight and drive the music with a bad-ass rhythm section and some great shreds from Zurab Melua on lead guitar. The band really enhance the rockier elements of the songs and look like they are having a ball and especially like playing up to the audience in the intimate venue. Toseland are certainly building up a bit of a reputation and it's only a matter of time before this super bike champ and his band are superstars in the rock world too, we expect nothing less!

Tenors Un Limited are an outstanding vocal group. Dubbed the 'Rat Pack of opera', they perform a variety of different music in their energetic cabaret style show. Their latest album Viva La Vita is out now and they are embarking on a series of intimate concerts around the UK in September and October. This group of talented performers formed Tenors Un Limited after getting fed up with the precarious nature of being a performer and "decided to take control back." Singer Jem Sharples explains. Ten years later they are still together and have played around the world and worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including Beyonce and Sting. "Performing or supporting people on shows is great, we've been very lucky. Sting was great." Jem continues to enthuse about a recent project which was only finished last week! "We just recorded with Jeff Wayne and we've been working with him for a concert at the Festival Hall we're doing next year. He's never worked with a group creating harmonies before. That was very exciting." You heard it here first! Far from being a group manufactured by a media mogul, these guys are the real deal. "We are treading a slightly different path but no less enjoyable." These three tenors (Scott, Paul and Jem) have a strong pedigree in musical theatre and opera, appearing in shows such as Rent, Grease and Whistle Down The Wind. Jem continues to tell me about the style of the group. "We are quite diverse and different... We have three very different voices so we're not trampling on each others sound. And we have very different personalities." Something which is so important within a vocal group. Being diverse is indeed part of their appeal. Jem talks about his love of music from Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga and Mario Lanza who Jem says is "everything a tenor should be, bright, open, passionate." This love of music has also extended to the tenors writing their own material including the title track from the new album Viva La Vita. " We do have ambitions to do an album completely of our own material" Jem says. Let's hope these guys do get round to recording it. Be sure to catch this exceptional trio on their current intimate tour where you can get up close and personal with their wonderful harmonies. This show is one for traditional theatre goers and music fans alike of all ages!

The talented Billie Myers, stormed onto the music scene back in the late 90s with her transatlantic hit Kiss The Rain. The former nurse from Coventry who has been residing in America for the last 8 years, is back on her home turf to promote her impressive new album Tea and Sympathy. The songs are indicative of an older and wiser Billie Myers; they are heartfelt, truthful and cathartic. The album has some fantastic tracks like Send Me An Angel (Is God Dead), Anonymous and of course the new single Wonderful. But I really feel that soft rock ballad You Wear Heaven is the stand out track on the album and could be a sleeper hit for Billie. Does She have a favourite song fromthe album? “It depends on any given day...I love them all. I don't have a favourite,I'd feel I was abandoning the other songs.” Billie talks candidly and is deeply passionate about her music and issues close to her heart. She is gracious and humble with a sharp mind and sense of humour. In-spite of a roller-coaster life, including battling and managing depression, it is refreshing to meet someone so down to earth. Now she has come through the other side with help and support from those around her. She is planning to work with the charity MIND to help de-stigmatise depression as an illness. She says, “it needs a voice and a face. It needs to be made ordinary...we aren't dealing with it. You can't stop people waking up and finding themselves there, but nobody needs to stay there.” For Billie many of her songs have been her own voice. A way of expressing her angst and battles with depression. She tells me “I sing what I've experienced. I can tap into it easily.” She has always kept journal for her thoughts and writings or her “doodles” as she affectionately calls them. When she is writing a song the lines come first, she says that they come from a phrase and a scenario is worked around them. The melodies come later. Billie is adamant about one thing in the song writing process - she won't change a lyric. “I want the melody to work around it. I've had lines in my head for years just waiting for the right canvas.” For Billie a great song should “capture moments and the psyche of reality.” She sites country music, of which she is a fan, as an example, “they make complex themes simple, they have a good narrative and make things real...great pop songs, like country songs are difficult to write...because they're seemingly easy.” After the success of her first album Growing Pains, her follow up, Vertigo, received critical acclaim but failed to do so well commercially. As a result Universal Records dropped her from the label. "At the end of the day it’s a business...the critics loved the second album, but it didn't make money..." Billie talks openly about how her confidence suffered as a result of this bombshell, and also spiralled her into a troubled time. "With a song like Kiss The Rain when you don’t' follow it up, you feel like the biggest loser in the world...I didn't want to face people...” She continues, “I feel more comfortable here (in the UK)... but it's also the place I feel most judged...I spent years being really embarrassed to come home, and not wanting to face friends or family...I think I've moved past that now." Which is certainly good to hear! Having had the luxury of time to focus on her work, Billie is now in a good place and ready to put herself totally back into her music. Looking back does she feel that it was a blessing in disguise and that she now has more creative freedom and autonomy over her music? "I had complete autonomy then...universal left me alone...I didn't experience any downfalls that I hear many people talking about...they were great, they didn't ask me to change at all...if they are not trying to control you it's perfect.” Although she doesn’t deny that it would be easier to get air play and promote her music if she were with a major label, she seems content to fly solo and concentrate on putting her music out on her own label Fruitloop Records, affectionately named after her nickname for her anti-depressant medication. It's not just music she is working on, but she is also working on a screenplay, a black comedy about dealing with depression, and of course her continuing work with mental health and LGBT organisations. Does she have any advice for newcomers to the business? “Be authentic about what is real to you...You're unlikely to become multi millionaires these days in the music industry. But you can pay your rent by doing what you want to do...Cultivate those people at the very beginning who like what you do, it's those people that will follow you because they are passionate. If you're lucky enough to sing, write, record, do live stuff, and make a living doing that. Don't be an ass... you are nothing without the people you work with.” Sound advice from the voice of experience. So good to see her back. She deserves success with this brilliant new album, it's a gem, don't miss it! #pop

25th November 2012 Roundhouse London Scottish rock band Deacon Blue shot to fame in 1987 with their hit album Raintown, letting loose their distinctive sound and Gorbals charm on the music world. 25 years later (yes really!) they finish their anniversary tour at London's Roundhouse to a near full house to give a performance that lead singer Ricky Ross says has been '25 years in the making.' The two hour plus set started with the music of a roaring crowd that led into a haunting rendition of London Town with only Ricky and keyboard player James Prime on stage. The song is a very poignant one, especially tonight on the last night of the anniversary tour. It's a song about the past and the hope for the future coming full circle. Tonight it really was as if Deacon Blue had been reborn and the world had indeed begun again and they had risen from the ashes of their painful absence. Tonight they were on fire. After the soft, understated opening the rest of the band joined them on stage, bounding with energy to perform the title song from their top 20 album The Hipsters. From that moment on, their well rehearsed, unrelenting performance had the audience captivated. It was as if they had never been away. The classic songs like Real Gone Kid and Chocolate Girlall featured in tonights set including some of the new ones such as the bittersweet love song Turn and Laura From Memory, a memorial to Ricky's cousin who passed away. And despite the album only being released a month ago, still had the audience singing along. The set finished with another new song, Starswhich is one of the strongest songs from the album. Their sound is still as distinctive as it ever was, even with two new additions to the to the bands live line up in. Featuring Gregor Philip on guitar and the 'too young and too talented' Lewis Gordon on bass. The vocals of Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh (who deserves far more credit for her still simply stunning vocals) still leave you with goosebumps at the wonderful way their voices blend. If anything their vocals have matured and have an even richer tonality to them. The final encore number was a cover of Bob Dylan's Forever Young. This gave all the band members a chance to show off their singing. I was particularly impressed with the bands dark horse, drummer Dougie Vipond, who whilst being an amazing drummer has a pretty good set of pipes too. The band were supported on their tour by London based singer songwriter Azadeh, who showcased her talent to a appreciative audience. Her lyrics are painfully honest and her melodies are harmonious and melodic. An experienced musician with a soulful voice she is an artist to look out for. I can honestly say that performance wise Deacon Blue's concert was simply one of the best live concerts I have ever seen, and I have been to many a gig in my time. No one would have believed that this band has only been playing the occasional gig for the most part of a decade. The cohesion of the band was water tight and the chemistry between them electric. I sincerely hope that they don't retire their microphones again, and we see a lot more of this awesome band up there where they are meant to be.

20TH SEPT 2013 Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw is a classically trained jazz singer of an exceptional standard. Better known as Caro Emerald, she is also a sassy and fun performer who knows how to put on a show! Following her no 1 sophomore album The Shocking Miss Emerald, the Dutch jazz singer has been around the UK on a sell out tour. Her début album Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor was a record breaker in Holland and a homage to the music of the Golden Age of Hollywood. This merging of old and new is something Caro does with ease and makes her show totally original. This 40s and 50s retro chic suits her personality and vaudevillian music style. Caro's unique blend of jazzy pop, fused with Latin and Parisian influences with the occasional nod to R & B thanks to DJ Kypski, is the freshest sound to appear in the mainstream for a long time. Songs like That Man,Excuse My French andTangled Up(all on the set list) are gloriously swinging toe tappers and Caro's enthusiasm is infectious. It is clear from her interaction with the audience that she wants them to be part of the show and have a good time. This is indicated in her playful songs like Pack Up The Louie, Dr Wanna-Do, Coming Back As A Man and her latest single, the witty, Liquid Lunch, which she also performs tonight with a slightly different more up-tempo arrangement. This quirky song about the perils of a lunchtime binge is something that could only have come from the World of Caro Emerald. It is perhaps the perfect starting point for any one new to Caro's work as it combines all the elements that make this talented and vibrant singer so popular. Caro demonstrates her formal training in what she calls her 'James Bond film audition piece'; the atmospheric I belong To You.Another nod to the retro, but this time modelled on the classic Bond song. She performs this with every bit as much passion as Shirley Bassey or Adele and really shows her strengths as a vocalist as does her final song of the night If You Go Away (Ne me quitte pas) which she sings in French and English. She has a totally natural stage presence and a great rapport with her musicians. Words cannot begin to describe just how sublime her band are. The brass section, Special Request Horns are out of this world they have a great sound and really let rip with those horns! Ladies favourite and versatile guitarist, Wieger Hoogendorp plays everything from rockabilly to gypsy jazz with lightening precision. Lets not forget the keyboards, drums and bass who are on fire and never falter. It is not surprising that this band are some of the most (in)credible musicians of the Dutch jazz scene. Whilst they sound good on the record it is in a live arena that they really stand out away from the constraints of the studio. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Southend Cliffs Pavilion has one of the best sound and lighting set ups around. It may be a regional theatre but the sound and visuals far surpass some London venues. It is little wonder that this theatre attracts some big names! The shocking Miss Emerald is far from shocking, in fact, she's sensational.

The British audience have always been receptive to Vegas work, her début self titled album from 1985. The album went Platinum in the UK and was a real hit. (With Marlene on The Wall possibly partly responsible for that success) whilst well received in the USA, the album did not attain the same success as it did in the UK. However, when Solitude Standing was released two years later it again achieved Platinum status but also contained two hit singles (Luka and Tom's Diner, the latter became a hit in 1990 when British group DNA remixed the song) Believe it or not but it has been 25 years since Suzanne Vegas break through album Solitude Standing was released. To mark the occasion she has been doing a string of tours State-side and returns to the UK on the 16 October for a one off concert at London’s Barbican Center. Photogroupie were lucky enough to speak to Suzanne about her views on Solitude Standing 25 years after its initial release and her new album. Solitude Standing is indeed a very poetic and well constructed pop/folk album which has influenced countless other artists. It consists of Vegas trademark haunting melodies such as Calypso and Gypsy, but also the titular track which has a punchy rock feel and is eerily catchy. But which song is she most proud of? “I am proud of Luka, and in its own quirky way I'm proud of Tom's Diner, but mostly Luka. I had no idea on the day that I wrote that song that there would be so many people who would respond to it. It's a good song, I feel it's well written in a dramatic sense.” For those of you who don't know Lukas pop feel is somewhat misleading as the narrative of the story is told from the point of view of an abused child - not really what you'd expect from a hit record. But like some of Vegas other work the song and the album tapped into a public consciousness at the time, which is possibly why it has had such longevity. So what does its author think is the key to its success? “I really can't tell why people buy things and why they don't. I'm always surprised. I'd like to think that the themes are still the same. I think people still like the sound of it. I think I hit something at a moment and the themes still speak today.” Her song Left Of Center (1986) from the film Pretty In Pink, tapped perfectly into the 80s feeling of isolation and alienation, a common theme in Vegas work, but is also a theme that has remained constant in our modern world. If you listen to the reprise of Tom's Diner which appears at the end of the album, this is enhanced further. “ I was imagining it to be Brechtian. I wanted it to have an absurd feel, but the song has that too, it's not just a person in a diner drinking coffee. There's an observing ironic distance in it.” With so many references to these themes in her songs does Vega see herself in the same isolated way as the characters from her songs? “Compared to most modern celebrities I do, I'm a private person, but I'm not a lonely person. I have friends, and I have my family. I'm probably more sociable than people would expect. I perform live, which I love. I do like the touring aspect and seeing an audience.” Which is a great relief to hear as certainly a world without this first class poetess performing her songs would indeed be a poorer place. The songs for the series of anniversary concerts will sound a lot like the originals but are reinterpreted mainly by Vegas guitarist the fabulous Mr Gerry Leonard, who is also the musical director for the band. If you who cannot wait until October for the 25th Anniversary Concert at the Barbican the final instalment of the Close Up series is due out in September entitled Songs Of Family. This volume will feature songs and some new songs never before released and is also fittingly titled as her daughter Ruby (herself another very talented musical lady) sings backing vocals once again on several tracks. For Vega the end of this project marks the beginning of a new creative chapter. “I'm very much looking forward to writing new material. I've got a bucketful of half finished songs.” Her new album, like all the Close Up series will be released on her own record label, Amanuensis Productions. Now that Suzanne is without the influence of a major record label, what advice would she give to new artists looking to get signed: Stay independent or go with a label? “I would say its great to go with a company if you can stay aware of your rights. What you want to do is have a manger who will make sure you can own your own masters so that if your droped you can take what you have made with them. These days you can have that kind of record deal 25 years ago that was not the norm. So you can go with a big company but dont give away your stuff.” But she also has plenty of other creative pursuits to follow such as the musical play about the life of American author Carson Mc Cullers, co written with Duncan Shiek which she'd love to get into production with another performed playing Mc Cullers this time round. “I'd like to write a book one day about my life, which I think would be entertaining at the very least. I'd love to continue studying dance and yoga and I'd love to study a bit of martial arts.” Having watched American 'shock jock' Howard Stern interview Susanne back in the 90s, I always felt that he seemed to treat her unfairly and place more regard on her appearance than her music. So when I had the chance to ask her would she have liked to ever get her own back ? Not a bit. “I know he likes me, he's not so bad” she says generously seeing beyond his formidable persona. “I've always felt a certain amount of intelligence and graciousness” she muses “I know he's abrasive, I expect that, but that's not the whole man.” Vega is also a Buddhist and says of her faith that “it's kept me on a good track and keeps me grounded” in accordance with her Buddhist beliefs she is philosophical about absolutes: when I asked jokingly quizzed her about her nine object of loathing (in reference to her fifth studio album Nine Objects Of Desire) she says “ to be honest I don't put a lot of energy into hating things,” but naturally some things she finds unpleasant such as polyester (who'd have thought) because it brings her out in a rash. Also eggplant would fall into that category. “Loud people cursing on the beach I don't like very much. I guess haters, people who find something to hate and make a career out of devoting themselves to hating that thing. That is something that seems like a huge waste of time to me”. Of course she's right it's almost impossible to be creative when your head is always full of negative thoughts. For one as creative as Suzanne Vega I am sure that her fascination with the psychology of the human spirit will continue to provide her with subject matter. With many of her influences coming from classical literature (she has a degree in English Literature and I learnt that she has also really enjoyed listening to Mumford and Sons especially the song Tinshelwhich is based on Steinbeck’s East Of Eden – one of her favourite books!) So what exactly inspires her to write and tell a story in the way she does? “Something speaks to me. I'll read a story, I'll see a name or a face and it will speak to me in a certain way, or it will haunt me. And it will keep coming back to me until I feel I've expressed it. I haven’t really analysed what makes something speak to me but I know when it has. Then I feel I have to wrestle with it until it comes out.” In the past I've heard Suzanne talked about the writing process as if she were a scribe and having the music and lyrics are channeled through her from some place (perhaps this is why her record label is called Amanuensis) “ You really feel at some point that you're taking it all down. Sometimes it takes months of fiddling around and trying different approaches. It really can take a while of crafting it before you get to that moment where it really strikes you and moves through you.” She is not alone in saying this as Albert Hammond, and I am sure many other writers, have also been struck by this ethereal burst of creativity. But what does it feel like to be on the receiving end of such a creative process, Suzanne explains: “It's a great feeling but its also can be very painful. A song like Queen and the Soldier happened that way. I had been fooling around with it for months and months and finally the minute I had the Soldier come to the door of the Queen the whole song seemed to write itself, including the tragic ending they seem to have a life of their own, and the whole thing seems to unfold itself right in front of my eyes. Its inspiring but it can also be cathartic.” Finally, I ask Suzanne why she thinks she has had more mainstream success than her some of her peers from the Greenwich Village Fast Folk movement. Once again Vega in true songwriter fashion is generous of spirit and takes little credit “Some of it is management. I worked with Ron Fierstein for many years. He had a vision for me, and he had a vision especially for the song Luka that was bigger than what I had for myself. He worked really hard, he sort of engineered the production of Luka. So in many ways the kind of success I had was due to his hard work. But it's not all management, some of it is the time that we live in, who responds to the songs, luck, destiny all of that.” I would agree that what has given Suzanne Vega her dedicated fan base is indeed, “all of that.”Like all the best story-tellers the audience is still responding well to her work 25 years later not only because her songs are universal and therefore timeless; but also due to the fact that she, like Kate Bush remains an enigma. Not an easy thing to do to do in our fame obsessed world. It all comes down to the story and the music which is perhaps the biggest key to her longevity. #folk

Hammersmith Apollo 9th May 2013 Emmylou Harris is one of a kind, with a voice to die for that remains virtually unchanged since her 70's heyday. Her once auburn hair is a now a stunning steel grey and for a woman of 66 she is remarkably handsome. Collaboration has been a big part of her career from Gram Parsons and Dolly Parton to Linda Ronstadt and more recently Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller and of course another legend of the county scene, the great singer/songwriter Rodney Crowell. The pair go way back to Emmylou's Hot Band days (that also featured amongst other fine musicians the amazing guitarist Albert Lee). Rodney wrote one of the first songs they collaborated on, Bluebird Wire - which they performed tonight. The song also features on their new album Old Yellow Moon which could well be one of the best country albums of the year. Their voices blend beautifully and the album features some spine-tingling harmonies. A fine example of this is the hauntingly moving and vocally exposing Back When We Were Beautiful, which was amazing to hear performed live – you could have heard a pin drop at the Hammersmith Apollo. It certainly showed Emmylou's prowess as a vocalist. Emmylou said how she has 500 songs in her head and jokingly suggested that she has little room to remember much else. The appreciative audience would have spent the whole night listening to everyone, if there hadn’t been an 11pm curfew. The nearly 3 hour long show was a example of what stellar musicians these veterans are. The varied set featured something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue to mark this musical marriage made in perfect harmony! Hanging Up My Heart is a punchy country toe-tapper, the bluesy Black Caffeine was a pleasant break in the mostly country set, and very reminiscent of Bonnie Raitt. The Patti Scialfa penned (borrowed) Spanish Dancer in the hands of Harris and Crowell becomes a powerful ballad and Darling Kate written about the late Kate Mcgarrigle, was a beautiful heartfelt tribute to a friend. It was also great to hear some tracks from the classic Luxury Liner Album. The fast and furious title track gave Jedd Hughes the opportunity to show off his guitar skills. This young guy hails from down under, but you'd never believe it to hear him play. It sounds as if he was born and bred in Nashville! I'll Be Your San Antone Rose, Tulsa Queen and the Townes Van Zandt classic Pancho and Lefty had the crowd cheering, but I feel that being a classic of Emmylou's it could have featured later on in the set. Being a collaborative concert, it wouldn’t be complete without hearing some songs by Grammy award winning Rodney Crowell, such as Till I Gain Control Again. A highlight of the evening was Long Time Girl Gone By, a song recorded by Emmylou on Rodney's 2012 album Kin which she had never performed live. (If you don't know it I urge you to download this rarity from Itunes immediately, you won't even find it on You Tube!) There were a few grumbles from the audience about poor sound quality as some for the vocals sadly got lost in the mix. Whilst Crowell graciously allowed his leading lady her place in the limelight, although I am sure it wasn’t his intention to be left in the dark when the uneven lighting meant that he spent the majority of the evening in shadow. Despite this the audience gave the concert a standing ovation and were left screaming for more. The new Queen and King of country? Quite possibly.

Union chapel 17th Feb 2013 Elizabeth McGoven is a dark horse. Not only is she an amazingly gifted actor with pathos and subtly to her performances, she is also a musician, writer and singer to boot! She has been playing guitar for many years and has turned up on many a film set with her guitar in hand. Anyone who's ever been on a set will tell you that there is plenty of sitting around to be done and McGovern has used her time to strum away and play some music. Song writing has become a hobby of hers over the years, but really took on a new level when she met virtuoso guitarist, Steve Nelson. Their weekly guitar practice soon turned into song writing sessions, and as the title of one of McGovern's song says, one thing lead to another, and Sadie and The Hotheads was formed. The Hotheads took to the stage first playing a raunchy Cajun reprise of One Thing, before Elizabeth made her sultry entrance onto the Union Chapel stage and picked up her guitar. She has as much poise and presence on stage as she does on screen and is able to hold an audience. She appears totally at ease within that environment. If she was nervous it didn’t show. For Elizabeth, her song writing and music are a labour of love rather than a deliberate move towards forging a second career. This comes across in her song writing and performance. She is clearly enjoying her work as much as the audience is responding to it. Her songs are fun (How Not to Lose Things has the audience cracking a smile), honest, witty and refreshingly different. They are ethereal and dreamlike as if she is turning her musical stories into something cinematic (the wacky audience favourite The Cow Song is very suggestive of this.) Highly appropriate for somebody who has spent their career in front of a camera! She even looks back at her home town in the song LA Days which has a Neil Diamond feel to it. Her singing voice is not strong, but soft, beguiling and natural. As with all great screen actors, McGovern can impart meaning and humour with a simple raised eyebrow or wry smile. This injects the evening with a cabaret feel; especially when she puts down her guitar for the jazzy My Debt Collector, which should have had Elizabeth swooning over a piano, were it not for lack of space at the Chapel. Her voice is at its best when she is being raspy, sexy and low; Singing songs like the bluesy Superficial and the catchy and gloating song Old Boyfriends, which is reminiscent of the jazz standard Fever. Having written a song about former beaus, she sang about her love for her husband, director Simon Curtis (who was in the audience) with the tender and heartfelt All The Time. The Hotheads are comprised of the Nelson Brothers, Simon – on electric guitar and dobro and Steve on acoustic guitar, bauzouki and banjo, Ron Knights on bass, Nick Lacey on keyboards, Teri Bryant on drums and Philly Lopez, a very talented backing singer who has also played with Stevie Wonder. They are a great band and exceptional musicians who bring McGovern’s lyrics and music to life with everything from the Country to folk and jazz, with a spice of Americana and Cajun and even a sprinkling of Pink Floyd in the guitar solo of Use It Up, which is a great atmospheric song to bring the evening to a close. Despite their current tour sadly being cut short due to McGovern’s filming commitments on Downton Abbey, Sadie and the Hotheads are an entertaining, fun and very tight band. With the captivating Elizabeth McGovern as their front-lady, hopefully we will see more of them in the future.

Cambridge Corn Exchange 17th November 2013 Those with a passing acquaintance of Frank Zappa's music tend to think of him as an avant garde musician, who is perhaps, too clever for his own good. But Frank Zappa is probably the finest composer of the modern age. He would have been 73 this year, but by the time he died in 1993, he had created 80 albums and a body of work such monumental proportions that it was enough for several lifetimes. He still stands alone as a one off musical genius, far beyond his time. If he had lived long enough to embrace the current digital age, one can only imagine and marvel at what else he would have done. The music Frank composed was highly complex, constructed with the utmost precision and notoriously difficult to interpret and play. In fact the handful of musicians who are able to tackle this music are as rare as Frank Zappa himself. Fortunately, there are those who are skilled enough to be able to bring his compositions to a live arena and not leave them confined to a studio recording. Enter Zappa Plays Zappa, the talented musicians who have been assembled to execute the mastery of Frank Zappa's music under the watchful eye of his guitarist son, Dweezil. The current concert is part of the 40th anniversary of one of Franks most popular albumsRoxy and Elsewhere, which they play in full during the first half. The audially mesmerising set kicks off with the 16 minute Gumbo Variations. This lengthy track shows that Zappa Plays Zappa really mean business and is one helluva way to warm the audience up before launching into Roxy. This really is music like nothing else and is difficult to categorise - which is precisely what makes it so remarkable. Within the space of one track you can get jazz, rock, funk and anything else you care to mention. Even more remarkable is that the musicians were not reading the music, but playing from memory. Given its complexity, this is something approaching miraculous considering orchestras had difficulty playing the music from the notation! To learn such intricate time signatures and sophisticated melodies requires such jaw dropping musicianship you are left astounded at its technical brilliance. I have rarely seen such quality of musicianship. Dweezil although placed centre stage, does not play the showman and seems very reverential to his fathers music. He plays with sublime accuracy and is one of the most fluid guitarists I have ever seen. Shelia Gonzalez, a Grammy award winning saxophonist and pianist is sheer gold. Her work on The Blank Page along with virtuoso drummer Ryan Brown is one of the highlights of the evening and one of Zappa's most involved and complex pieces. Certain songs such as Penguin In Bondage require a theatrical approach to make the song come. Although a little contrived it was necessary to make the songs work. One surprise of the night comes is I Come From Nowhere from the album Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch; a track which originally used SFX to make the vocals out of tune on purpose. Shelia Gonzalez rises to the challenge of trying to replicate the track in a live setting without the assistance of technology and does a seller job.Teenage Prostitute , The Torture Never Stops, Broken Hearts are for Assholes all feature in the heavier second set. Followed by the lengthy encore of an instrumental Duke Of Prunes, Cosmik Debris and Muffin Man. Zappa plays Zappa is a stunning presentation of Frank Zappa's music. A real treat for audiophiles and music lovers everywhere to appreciate the timeless work of a musical master.