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When I first spoke to head judge and founder of Open Mic Uk, Chris Grayston last year, he was just starting regional heats. Now singer songwriter Heidi Browne has been crowned this years winner, I caught up with Chris to get his view on this years competition. In what was a strong year for talented performers and writers, it was Heidi that caught the attention of the judges. “We're really pleased...I think what stood out for her winning it was her song was instantly appealing, you could see it being a single. It had a lot of potential.” The self penned song Heidi performed at the competition, G.I.R.L.F.R.I.E.N.D, is fun and incredibly catchy. “ I was singing it in my head, you could imagine it on the radio...Which is what you need.” Accompanying her at the competition was her Dad, Colin Browne on keyboards. Chris says having her father as a musician and “that sort of environment has helped her...she’s got a good pedigree.” For Chris, the fact that Heidi is that little bit older than some of the contestants has also contributed to her success at the competition, in respect of experience and knowing where she wants to go with her musical career. “She knows her sound, she’s been gigging and doing festivals so hopefully we can help take her to the next level and get a single out.” The next step for Heidi is working on her songs with musical director and producer Gareth Henderson who worked with Birdy – another Open Mic success story. “Since Heidi's won there's been a lot of interest from BBC 6 and BBC Introducing and they are keen to get something played out there.” Heidi's music would definitely not seem out of place on a BBC 6 or Radio 2 playlist alongside Thea Gilmore, Caro Emerald or Jake Bugg. Open Mic UK and it's sister competition TeenStar are fast becoming a great forum for new talent to be discovered. Through these competitions Birdy, Jahmene Douglas, Lucy Spraggan and this years X Factor finalist, Luke Friend have all gone on to achieve success. Unlike television talent shows, Chris says Open Mic and TeenStar are “about getting on stage and proving what you can do live...we're not looking for stories, we're looking for raw talent.” In these days of auto tune and where image sometimes is more important than talent, it's good to have an arena to showcase the rising stars of the music industry and give them positive exposure and the confidence to go on to pursue their music. For Heidi the next step in her musical journey is just beginning. With the springboard of Open Mic UK to help give her that exposure we hope she achieves the success she deserves. Auditions for this year's TeenStar are starting soon and later in the year for Open Mic UK.

Oceana Watford 28TH DEC 2013 There is no denying that Wilko Johnson is a bonfide British guitar hero. Not only has he created a musical legacy by laying the foundations for Punk music with his distinctive style, when faced with the bombshell of a terminal cancer diagnosis, Wilko stuck two fingers up at the Grim Reaper, picked up his guitar and went back on the road. In what is inevitably his last tour, Wilko has been playing at packed venues around the UK with fans and music lovers alike turning up to see the man who helped change modern music. Wilko came to the fore in 70s band Dr Feelgood and stood out due to his energy, attack and uniquely choppy R&B infused guitar playing. After influencing a whole generation of musicians, Wilko has been receiving awards for his musical endeavours, winning the Classic Rock Magazine Innovator award and the Lifetime Contribution prize at the European Blues Awards. When Elton John was defined as a musical genius as the GQ awards back in September, he promptly gave his award to Wilko saying“You're the f****** genius here. He's too busy living life to think about f****** dying.” Elton may well have a point. Seeing Wilko perform he plays with every bit as much fire and zeal. It is almost as if the music is helping him fight to stay alive. He is greeted with a huge welcome by the audience who are with him all the way as he struts about on stage with Canvey Island swagger and pretends to machine gun the crowd with his trademark Telecaster. He wastes no time on rambling song introductions, preferring to let the music do the talking. Dr Dupree, Sneaking Suspicion, Keep On Loving You, Roxette, Back In The Night and Chuck Berry's Bye Bye Johnny are all on the set list. Wilko is supported by the brilliant Norman Watt-Roy on bass and Dylan Howe on drums, who between them make up a mean rhythm section. Such is Wilko's reputation the audience is made up of a variety of age groups which shows his influence runs deep. Hats off to Alex O'Reilly and the team at Oceana in Watford for hosting an evening of fine music from Eddie and The Hotrods, Nine Below Zero and of course Wilko Johnson headlining. The first musical venture at the nightclub proved a huge success. Whilst not the first place you would think of hosting a live music event it actually worked very well. With a 80s themed bill scheduled for February, featuring The Christians, China Crisis and Ex Simple Minds, it looks as though Oceana could get a reputation for being one of Hertfordshire’s great music venues. Wilko Johnson's swan song is both inspirational and uplifting. His recent plaudits are well deserved and it is pleasing that his musical importance has not passed unnoticed. With this brings a resurgence in his music that will go on to influence another new generation of musicians and long may it do so. He is indeed Some Kind of Hero.

Long before Robert Zimmerman rolled up in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s, Tom Paxton was pioneering the new folk movement. For over 50 years Tom Paxton's work has inspired countless song writers across different genres and throughout the world. His influence runs so deep that Pete Seeger once told a story of how he went to a small village in Calcutta and a villager sang What Did You Learn In School Today in Bengali! His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Simon and Garfunkel and Neil Diamond to name a few. Tom is returning to the UK for a tour not to be missed. Sharing the stage with him is long-time friend and songwriter Janis Ian. After successful performances in the US, they finally take to our shores in March with the Together At Last Tour. “For this tour it's not a split bill. We take the stage together and stay on-stage and sing on each others songs. We have a lot of fun and audiences over here have enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to bringing that to the UK.” Tom initially started out wanting to be an actor but “settled for the security of folk music.” He laughs wryly at the ironic nature of his comment. “I loved folk music long before it became popular with the Kingston Trio and the like. I grew up into this and reached a point where I wanted to do it myself and it's been that way ever since.” Of course the two careers are not dissimilar, both rely heavily on storytelling and Tom is a gifted and natural storyteller. Aside from song writing he has also written a series of children’s books along with his songbook The Honour Of Your Company which is part music score, part memoir and filled with some wonderful anecdotes and photos from throughout Tom's life. For such a prolific creator of stories I ask Tom where he draws his inspiration from, to which he responds simply “from paying attention... I read the newspapers, I watch the news, I listen to conversations. If I want to write a song, they seem to present themselves and leave me to take it from there.” This inspiration has led Tom to write powerful, moving and humorous songs such as Buy A Gun For Your Son, On the Road to Srebrenica, Sarah Palin and What If, No Matter... as a commentary on our world and society in a way that only folk can.In recent years folk music has had something of a resurgence commercially with artists like Mumford and Sons, Newton Falkner, Bellowhead pushing folk music into the mainstream. But for folk stalwarts like Tom, of course folk music never went out of favour. “I’ve always been involved in the folk music world, it's never mattered whether something was financially viable or not. What mattered was, is this good? Sometimes it's also financially rewarding, but that's not the first consideration....It has to come from the heart if you want it to be real.” Some purists decry pop music as superficial and want to maintain a disassociation from mainstream music. For Tom this certainly is not the case. “I don't like the smug attitude that folk music is better than pop music. It's never been that way. Some pop songs have become folk songs. Great songs are great songs wherever you find them.” Tom is right, a truly great song transcends language, culture, politics and genre – something much of his music has also done. The Coen Bothers latest film Inside Llewin Davisbased on Dave Van Ronk's The Mayor of McDougal Street is also drawing public attention on folk music once more as it centers around the folk scene of the 1960s. Van Ronk is a long time friend of Tom's and the soundtrack features a version of Tom's classic song The Last Thing On My Mind, which incidentally was Dolly Parton's first hit. Speaking to Tom there is a great humility to him. During our conversation he is continually singing the praises of fellow musicians and their work. He sites Rodney Crowell's memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks as 'brilliant!' and is equally exuberant about Elenor Rigby. “You can't find a better song than that, It's a brilliant brilliant song. You can listen to it and find something new every time.” For this storyteller lyrics are also of profound importance, he says “I told Paul Simon you don't have to write anything else after writing I get all the news I need from the weather report! That line absolutely flattened me!” He continues “with 3 words Johnny Mercer (who wrote Moon River) stopped me in my tracks, My Huckleberry Friend..that's inspired writing. What that doesn't say doesn't belong! Perfect perfect words” I ask Tom what his favourite song of all time is and the response takes me aback. He tells me that the song is the great American folk song Shenandoah, at which point he serenades me. I feel honoured to have such a great singer-songwriter sing a verse of his favourite song just for me! Tom is even gracious when reflecting on what it's like to have had so many artists record his songs. “it's a wonderful piece of luck. I'm always so flattered that someone decides to do a song of mine.” As Tom says, a great song is indeed a great song. As the music industry changes, so too does the world of folk music. Tom tells me that there are much more songwriters on the folk scene than there were when he started. “I was one of the first after Woody Guthrie to write all these songs myself. So then this kid named Dylan came along and started writing songs too and others of our ilk.” He continues “you don't hear as many traditional folk songs as I would like to hear, I suppose I have to take some of the blame for that, I miss hearing as many folk songs as I used to hear. At the coffee houses you'd hear a greater variety of songs. You might hear people singing Israeli folk songs or bluegrass songs now it's strictly songwriters.” For now a new generation of folk songwriters are writing songs to express how they feel and how they see the world, just as Tom Paxton, Janis Ian and many others have done and continue to do; Tom tells me he is currently working on a solo album for later in the year, which I am eagerly looking forward too. I dare say that the old traditional songs will never be too far away, as history has a funny way of repeating itself and the messages of those songs will find their way into the collection of a new audience of folk listeners. But what does Tom think the future holds for folk? “The same as the past has held. There's always going to be an audience that loves this kind of music and these kind of songs. Now and then you'll see a temporary rise in popularity but it can never sustain itself at the top, it's not a popular form. Most pop music you can dance to. I think dancing to On Top Of Old Smokie is gonna be a problem” he jokes. “Folk will always be a viable form that a sizeable minority will enjoy.” I am certain that for as long as there is inspiration in the world around us the folk music tradition will continue to tell wonderful stories through song. #country #folk

O2 Arena London 3 AUGUST 2013 The Artic inspired landscape of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son adorns the stage. The video screens either side of the stage show vast ariel shots of rolling hills and crashing sea as Bruce's dulcet tones serenade us to the prelude of Moonchild. Those wonderful and mysterious opening notes wrack up the suspense before the band burst onto the stage amid a blaze of pyrotechnics and screams from the crowd. Iron Maiden are back on home ground after their European tour and are on fire! Maiden England 2013 follows a similar set list from their Maiden England 88 tour and Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour classic album shows. With many of the songs being played tonight, including some live rarities like The Prisoner. And of coursethe epic titular track from Seventh Son played in all it's glory with Bruce dressed as a soothsayer and plenty of dry ice too! For any fan this track is the moment of the night! Of course all the faves are there: 2 minutes to Midnight, Can I Play With Madness and Wasted Years.Throughout the show Bruce showed the usual displays of athleticism and some serious flag waving in The Trooper. In between songs there are interchangeable backdrops with each one having Eddies fearsome grin staring at you. The customary horned beast animatronic in Number of the Beast and clairvoyant Eddie are spectatular. Even a giant Eddie as General Custer during Run to the Hills chopping away at Nicko with his sword and a hint of chopping away at something else ( are you just pleased to see us Eddie!) Personally I would like to have seen Afraid to shoot Stranges substituted for one of the best rock ballads written: Infinite Dreams as I think it's a stronger song and more in keeping with the Seventh Son theme, but hey! The set closes with the mandatory Iron Maiden and for the encore Churchills speech the popular Aces High, The Evil That Men Do and Running Free. With pyrotechnics galore, fire (you can feel the heat) and ice, these guys know how to put on a show!! As much as the O2 is a great place for music in theory they still have never managed to get the acoustics right. To be honest Maiden deserved better than the fuzzy muffled mess that the O2 offers for sound quality. For a band as epic as Maiden where their lyrics and melodies are crucial, much of it's message gets lost inside the circular tent. Another disappointing part of this evening was the amount of people taking up amature video on their pocket cameras. Personally I find this very rude to the band they have paid to see. Also to the audience who are trying to enjoy the show around them, some of whom needed to remain seated and were virtually unable to see the gig at all, even the screen. Very unfair and selfish behaviour. They really miss the whole experience of the live gig, they would be better off buying a DVD! Iron maiden are a band of colossal proportions. They deserve your full and absolute attention!!

HEIDI BROWNE WINNER OF OPEN MIC UK 2013 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW The name Heidi Brown may not be one you are familiar with yet, but all that is all about to change. Heidi is receiving much wider exposure since winning this years Open Mic UK, having beaten over 8000 applicants in January’s competition to win the grand prize. This young lady is a gifted singer/songwriter with a serious musical heritage. Her songs are melodic thoughtful and fun and have a complexity in their construction which surpass others in her peer group. She is yet another great talent that Open Mic UK can add to their growing alumni. When I spoke to Heidi she seemed to still be in a daze about how her life and career have suddenly taken a surprise turn. After years of struggling to break out into the music industry, Heidi was days away from starting a job as a bilingual secretary for an Engineering Firm before being crowned the winner.“It's been a pretty crazy week. I’ve been constantly on the phone doing interviews, going into different studios. I've had the BBC round my house interviewing my Mum, It's been mental!” Whilst being caught up the in whirl of the press, she's had to come back down to Earth to make some choices about where she was heading. She explains, “ I was on the brink of giving it up because I'd been writing music for 15 years and I'd recorded two albums...but I'd reached a plateau with it. When you don't have any contacts, a manager or an agent it's quite difficult to reach the level I'd like to be at. It was pretty much impossible. The doors were shut and then I win a competition. I've had to reignite my drive and go 100% for music again.” Heidi strikes me as someone who is intent on taking her music seriously and for all the right reasons. Perhaps having a father who is a successful professional musician along with a grounding and supportive mother, has led her away from the glamour and glitz of the pop charts and towards creating a serious body of musical work. Of course being in her late 20's has also had an impact on wanting to be taken seriously as a writer and musician. Heidi says she's love to perform on The Jools Holland Show, Bob Harris Show and Radio 2 live sessions and eventually go on to become “a well respected writer of albums.” She adds “it's important to get validation for people who are respected within the music industry.” This is something she is already receiving a great deal of from the likes of Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music and singer/songwriter Thea Gilmore. Heidi is also a self taught multi instrumentalist and says she has always had a desire to communicate through music. “I love performing a song and the connection with the audience.” I've always written stories and it just developed when I was a teenager and you have all this emotion; stories weren’t enough and a diary was too intimate, so I turned it into a song.” Her approach to writing music is more of an intuitave one rather than being bound by notation and music theory. She says that her dad's musical collection has been an influence and has taken her inspiration from such luminaries as The Kinks Annie Lennox, Sting and Corrine Bailey Rae. Heidi certainly likes to keep herself busy creatively. Having studied History of Art and French at University, she also runs a life drawing class and an open mic night locally along with teaching languages. But for now the soul focus is on her music. She’s in the process of recording a third album, and also re-recording some of her earlier tracks too along with planning some gigs and festival dates for later in the year. Heidi Browne really is a talent to watch out for in the future. Not only is she charming and humble she writes some good songs too! We wish her all the success for what will surely be a great career as a musician and songwriter. www.heidibrowne.co.uk

THE OLD QUEENS HEAD ISLINGTON Songwriter Shane Beales attracted a supportive and attentive audience at The Old Queens Head to celebrate the release of his new EP Time. The quirky Islington pub which mixes modern and traditional Victorian and Edwardian décor has a tremendous atmosphere and is a perfect place to showcase rising talent. Shane's ability as a songwriter is unquestionable and the release of Time demonstrates his continual maturity as a writer. The title track is a beautifuly crafted lament for those we have loved and lost. Listening to Shane perform his songs I can't help but draw comparisons to Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright and Snow Patrol in the the way he uses unusual time signatures, chord progressions and has the ability to creates an atmosphere lyrically and musically. Signal demonstrates a rockier edge and is a great contrast to the more sensitive songs like Blackbird. The Crunch from his Heavy Clouds EP appeals to the thirty-something London audience and certainly gets a reaction for the social commentary. Oceans,Hunted By Innocence and PRSM are just as musically versatile and like much of Shane’s work they are multi-layered and require more than one listen to really un-pick them - I'd urge you to download his music to really appreciate his craft. Shane has great range as a singer and uses his voice as an instrument as much as his guitar. His voice has a raw but melodic sound, indicative of the indie genre from which he takes his influence. He pours his heart and soul into his music and when he performs on-stage he is unassuming and sings with his eyes closed, really becoming the music. A New Year, his final song, really demonstrates this unity with the music and is a terrific song! With plans for an album and a tour on the horizon I am sure Shane will continue to gain more exposure as an artist and emerge as a real creative force from the UK with a promising career ahead. Time is available to download now on iTunes

Move over Simon Cowell, Open Mic UK and Teen Star founder Chris Grayston is back with a new round of auditions ahead of the final at The O2 Arena in January. This years competition is now in full swing, with the area finals about to start. "It's a bit exciting right now, we're starting to see all the acts shaping up... It's a good stage of the competition, it's probably my favourite." Whilst Chris remains tight lipped about the burgeoning talent in this years contest, he does tell me that "anyone's who's tipped to be a winner or get to the grand final, has the crew talking about it and there's a real buzz going on." Chris, who has a background in recording and producing tells me "Open Mic started as a result of trying to find some singers to work with... and having a platform to profile and launch them. It just overtook I suppose...The need for the competition to be bigger and higher profile was prevalent. It's been a journey of two or three years to build it to that status." With an excess of 10,000 applicants which is growing every year, the Open Mic competition is ever expanding and gaining recognition within the industry. One thing that makes this competition stand apart from the others is that it encourages singers of all genres and encourages the acts to write their own material and be more creative. The competition has already proved to be a platform for young talent, with Birdy winning Open Mic in 2008 at the age of 12. TeenStar, which started this year, also discovered the current X Factor finalist Luke Friend, who was the overall winner of the contest in July. Open Mic and TeenStar really are becoming a way of propelling acts into the spotlight and further success. Talent contests have come under criticism for being exploitative and offering a quick route to success. Chris is quick to defend Open Mic and TeenStar as being very different to TV talent shows. " We're not a TV programme so we're not looking to mock anyone we just mark it (the singers performances) as we see it... and we take the best ones into the show, put them on stage and see what they can do." He continues to explain "We're quite different in that we don't have that massive TV exposure, which can be good and bad. It can catapult these artists into the limelight, but sometimes they're not ready and not quite developed, that can be quite detrimental...It's a open criticism of TV because the singers are suddenly stuck in front of a camera with millions of people watching. But it's also an opportunity to show your talent. Why should they be denied that? People can criticise it but the alternative is a very long slog and one that may not be a fruitful one. The traditional route of building up your fan base is one that's still there, but its hard. I think Lucy Spraggen (who was a past contestant of Open Mic forerunner Live and Unsigned) is a great example of someone whose combined the two. She did a lot of gigs. As much as it was an easier route for her in the end, she wouldn't be the artist people took up on without that experience." With none of the pressure that TV puts on the artists, Chris is keen for the performers in his competitions to get as much experience and feedback as possible, rather than forcing them into the limelight being inexperienced and unprepared. "We help the artists during the competition. We give a lot of feedback and we try to be encouraging with a view for them to be better, so they can get something good on their CV, get networking and hopefully build up to getting picked up by record labels and management." With such high profile performers such as Birdy and Luke Friend now in the public eye, many people may be unaware of there previous involvement with Open Mic and TeenStar, but the competition was not a quick route to success for either of them. "Birdy auditioned the year before (she won) and didn't get through. It might have been that in the audition she was missed, but it may have been because she wasn't ready. With Luke he did Open Mic a couple of times before he did TeenStar. If you look back at the footage you can see, even his mum will tell you, he wasn't ready because he wasn't good enough." Open Mic UK has been described by Joel James of BBC York and North Yorkshire as "one of toughest competitions in the country." I asked Chris how he felt about this and if he feels the competition is as tough as Joel says. "I hope it's not too hard for people, I hope there's an element of enjoyment and people find their level with it, whether it's just coming on and having a bit of fun and camaraderie with the other singers and learning from the experience...I wouldn't like to say people should come into it thinking oh this is tough, it's hard to win it. It's tough in that you do have one or two songs to impress people, I suppose in that respect it makes it a tough competition to win." Chris sees competitions like Open Mic as the way forward for singers to showcase their talent in an ever game changing industry. " The music industry is changing but it gives the artists a chance to be pragmatic and break the mould. Artists are using tools like twitter,Instagram, Facebook to get stuff out there and promote themselves. It's changing by the day. I think it will change again over the next 5 years." With unknown talent cutting their teeth from Open Mic UK and TeenStar before they appear on TV talent shows and music moguls like Simon Cowell not discovering some of these performers, it looks like the game is already changing. http://www.teenstarcompetition.co.uk/ http://www.openmicuk.co.uk/

The Bull Theatre Barnet 1st August 2013 Andy Fraser has been to hell and back and lived to tell the tale. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that the press had mistakenly written him off as dead! After seeing him perform on stage at The Bull Theatre I can say that he is very much alive and kicking. For a guy that has touched the hand of death on several occasions it was inspiring to see such a respected and influential musician rocking out and enjoying life. Joining Andy on stage is an equally talented bunch of musicians including Chris Spedding and Andy's protégé Tobi. The band start the set with All Right Now an old Free favourite (as if you didn't know!) Andy has penned some new lyrics to introduce the band so it works well as an opener. The majority of the evening focusses not on Andy’s own material post Free but on Tobi. Andy has worked closely with Tobi to produce and record his albums including The Spirit In Me which received a Grammy nomination and his latest EP The World (which can all be downloaded from Andy's label McTrax). Tobi has a distinctive voice and shows acumen as a guitarist. For an 18 year old he is in an enviable position of being able to work with some of the greatest musicians in the biz who will inform his craft over the next few years. He demonstrates great potential as a new artist. I Will Be Free, Evil Woman and Bad Love are all tracks worth checking out. He is able to move with ease between R & B and rock and also some world music influences. Tobi is heading off to Cambodia soon to do some guitar workshops with children, so I dare say he may pick up some more musical influences there too. Chris Spedding continues to show his skills as a guitarist having worked as a session musician with some big names such as Elton John, Bryan Ferry and features extensively on Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. He gives Tobi a rest from lead vocals by singing his hit Motorbiking and Way Down In Louisiana. Andy intersperses the set with some more Free classics, firstly The Stealer which is received with a rapturous applause. As an encore the band play a stonking rendition of Mr Big which does not disappoint as Andy works his bass in one of the most memorable bass lines in rock. Support for the evening was provided by Malcolm Bruce, son of Jack Bruce of Cream fame and an accomplished musician in his own right. His songs are thoughtful and at times melancholic but always poetic. His classical training and jazz influences are apparent with his use of unusual chord structures and melodies. Towards the end of the set he welcomes to the stage his very talented daughter Maya (who is also a backing singer in the Andy Fraser Band along with Barbara J Hunt) to perform a composition Summer Skin which they wrote together. They also do a wonderful acoustic version of the Ellie Goulding song Guns and Horses. Barbara J Hunt an established singer songwriter closed the first half, it was a shame that there wasn't enough time to hear some more of her wonderful songs. The audience response was favourable too, with people saying that Tobi is one to watch out for in the future. Many also said it was a pleasure to see Andy Fraser perform as he has brought so much joy through music over the years. Tonight he certainly did just that. It was an evening brimming with first class musicianship and an opportunity to see some burgeoning young talent too.

The acclaimed Classic Rock Show will return to venues around the county at the beginning of 2013 with a brand new live show: 'The Ten Best Selling Rock Albums Of All Time'. It has been billed as a rock fans jukebox and we can expect to hear songs from Led Zeppelin IV, The Dark Side of the Moon, and Born To Run. 'The show will feature a track from each best selling album and the best of the rest...Steely Dan, The Who, The Eagles, Joe Cocker, ELO, Boston, the list goes on and on.' lead guitarist and vocalist, Damian Darlington says. 'We cover a lot of ground under the umbrella of classic rock!' The Classic Rock Show burst onto the scene about two and a half years ago when Damien was on tour with Brit Floyd. Damien and the shows manager/producer, Chas Cole realised that with the success of Brit Floyd, there would be a demand for a purely classic rock themed musical show. 'There wasn't really a show out there touring UK theatres that was putting on this range of music for people... There were tribute acts concentrating on one act or 80s rock but nothing catering for the classic 70's period of rock music.' Damian who is also musical director for the show, comes from a musical family has been playing guitar since he was 13. He has played all around the world with The Australian Pink Floyd Show, so he so no stranger to the rock world. His musical background is as varied as his influences encompassing everything from Jimmy Page and Pat Metheny to Al Di Meola and John Martyn. So how does his background help with the tough role of being musical director for the show? 'It's a challenge, but it's a challenge I enjoy...It helps working with such good musicians...it makes being a musical director a lot easier.' TheClassic Rock Show requires the group of talented musicians in the band to play different types of rock music which calls for different styles and techniques. 'We try to apply the same attention to detail as if we were focussing on one artist.' Vocally Damian tells me that it is also a demanding show as the cross section of music they play calls for a variety of vocal styles. Luckily the band members who can play their instruments and do lead vocals are able to cover all the range of voices needed. So for those of you who like your music loud, play air guitar to your favourite tunes and head bang along to Bohemian Rhapsody à la Wayne’s World, thenThe Classic Rock Show is for you.

Alban Arena 22/02/13 Former Mike and the Mechanics front man Paul Carrack took to the Alban Arena again on Friday night following his successful tour last year. Carrack's smooth voice is instantly familiar as he starts his concert with the soulful 'it ain't over'. The audience were very well behaved and so quiet they are almost reverential. But after a few numbers they began to relax and get into the music, singing along and foot tapping, by the end of the night some were even dancing! 'I don't wanna Hear Anymore' (which he wrote for the Eagles) perfectly displayed Paul's amazing way of conveying emotion through song. I sense Paul is more comfortable letting his songs speak for themselves as he gives little introduction between songs. He is more of a musical story teller, whose lyrics and music transgress the stage, transporting you into the world of the song. Paul then gave us a taste of his forthcoming album (which hopefully will be released in the summer) with the west coast feel of 'long ago'. A wonderfully sentimental song which I'm sure will receive a great amount of air play. Of course he also played popular favourites 'Eyes of blue', the Jackie De Shannon penned song 'Every time you walk in the room' and 'Tempted' which he originally wrote and sang with Squeeze.' The Living Years' received rapturous applause on the opening bars. This song will hold a resonance with anyone who has lost someone and wished they could have told them they were loved. Carrack's tender performance was certainly deserving of the applause it received. Paul finished the concert with 'How Long', the first song he wrote and also his first hit from his time with Ace still sounded as fresh and vibrant as it did all 37 years ago. Paul also requested the audience help with fund-raising for St Albans boy, Bailey Sarwa, who needs help with life saving cancer treatment. The audience responded by giving very generously which in these cash strapped times is good to see that people have not lost their kindness. By the end of the night the audience had given Paul and his band a standing ovation and were not going to let him go without another number. They were delighted when he performed his most popular song 'over my shoulder' and finished the evening with 'what's going on?' The great musicianship seen from Carrack and his band (featuring his son Jack on drums) along with his fantastic support act, Tinlin, was very refreshing is a era increasingly dominated by manufactured pop. It is a reminder that the Alban Arena is still a great venue to see great live music, and long may be be so.

Liverpool has always been affiliated with great music from The Beatles to A Flock Of Seagulls, from Frankie Vaughan to The Zutons. The Mono LPs are another emerging band from the Liverpool music scene, but there's a twist: They are a rock band with a cello, and we don't mean the occasional underscoring of a track, Vicky Mutch's playing is at the heart of their music. When I was first introduced to them, I was pretty excited by their fresh and unique sound which could signal a new chapter in the story of rock. Like all musical styles, there was an evolution of The Mono LP's sound. At music collage frontman and chief songwriter Ste Reid "bumped" into Vicky and her cello in a cafe and was fascinated with this "giant violin case", he jokes. "My heart's always been in rock 'n' roll, but at the time I saw myself more like Bob Dylan." Ste tells me. "I was writing all these folky tunes and I thought a classical instrument with acoustic guitar would work." They began to busk around town and later bass player Chris Barlow joined and they became an acoustic trio. Although they worked well together, something was missing, Ste had a desire to "rock out a bit more." The trio needed a bigger sound that incorporated Ste's love of The Beatles and The Kinks and even Led Zeppelin. The final piece in Ste's vision for the band was Dan Beech on drums. "He's the rockiest drummer I know, he hits things a bit harder than he should." Ste says laughing, in that cheeky Liverpudlian way. I have visions of Keith Moon, which, as far as rock is concerned is no bad thing. Part of the rock tradition is to break boundaries and experiment, which is where the cello comes in. "We wanted to treat Vicky like Jimmy Page... and see how far you could push the cello!" With the band throwing all their influences into the mix from classical, rock, metal, indie, punk and funk that cello is very much at the heart of their music. Vicky's ability to construct a cello part which is lavish, edgy and fit a little too well into a rock song is what makes the band stand apart. "We were working on this song and when Vicky added her cello part, even though it was pretty much what we had been playing already it was elevated to another level and became The Mono LPs sound." Talking to Ste it's clear that we share a mutual appreciation of The Kinks and Ray Davies' genius, the fine musicianship of classic rock and the powerhouse aggression of The Who. "You can't beat the attitude of rock n roll. It comes back around, styles die off, but rock 'n' roll always mutates and evolves." With modern rock bands like Royal Blood, Black Stone Cherry, Alter Bridge and Rival Sons waving the flag for contemporary rock it's clearer than ever that the genre is here to stay, especially when new bands like The Mono LPs put a spin on the genre. "When you think music has exhausted itself something comes up. We keep churning out new things even if it is a nod and a wink to old things or a mixture of everything there's still so much in the pallet." With their single Emilia being launched on 4th May, the band have decided to have a masquerade and burlesque theme for their launch - Pretty rock 'n' roll! Burlesque dancer Dorothy Krueger and other acts including multi instrumentalist Paul Straws are all going to make the event a spectacular one. "It's great to see bands live, but gigs are gigs, we wanted more of an event rather than just a single launch." The band hope to bring the launch to London too and there should be an album out in the not too distant future. Until then, rest assured that the future of rock is safe. www.themonolps.com www.facebook.com/themonolps www.youtube.com/themonolps www.twitter.com/themonolps #rock #alt

O2 Academy Islington The Quireboys are keeping rock n' roll alive on their 30th anniversary world tour. Having had some commercial success with Hey You and 7 O' Clock in the late 80s, the band have maintained a loyal following ever since. Led by front man Spike, a swivel hipped geezer somewhere between Mark Bolen and Mick Jagger with the voice of Rod Stewart and Axl Rose whose charisma and energy are a huge part of the bands appeal. They are also blessed with some good musicians too including Paul Guerin and Guy Griffin, two excellent guitar players who help glue the band together and Paul Weir on keys. After support from The Vargus Blues Band the Quireboys launched into an energetic set from the get go. Spike gave Bruce Dickinson and Freddie Mercury a run for their money in the microphone acrobatics throughout the night. His chit chat with the audience is so effortless and relaxed that the intimate surroundings of the O2 Academy Islington seem more like a pub than a London venue; but this is exactly the vibe we have come to know and love from the band. Songs such as What Do You Want From Me?Stubborn Kind Of Heart and Troublemaker from from their latest album, Black Eyed Sons, sit alongside classic tracks likeMona Lisa Smiled, Sweet Mary Anne and Too Much Of A Good Thing with ease, blending seamlessly into the set list. Guerin was playing with broken fingers but soldiered on and at times Spikes voice struggled, but he's such a showman that his sincerity carried him through. Even with their tour wounds these British rockers put on a terrific show. The Quireboys are an endearing band with a jovial quality who love rock n roll. You can't help but enjoy and respect what they do and their tenacity for keeping rock alive.