Southern Fried Festival
Perth Concert Hall
29^th July 2017

I’m trying to remember when I last, if ever, attended a bad gig at the Perth Concert Hall during Southern Fried. Ah yes, it was Los Lobos a good few years ago, who disappointed me with a lacklustre performance. That fact – one less than excellent act in the past ten years – will give you some idea of the high expectations I have of this festival. I even bought a T-shirt this year!

Well, tonight I went in, yet again, to a concert given by someone I hadn’t listened to in years, supported by someone I hadn’t heard before. That’s two nights in a row – Nick Lowe and Jim Lauderdale last night, Loudon and Beth tonight. The main difference between the gigs, however, was the fact that neither singer appeared alone on stage. Beth Nielsen Chapman had a musical sidekick, who sat there patiently and accompanied her on harmony vocals, bass guitar, keyboard, and percussion, as each song demanded the appropriate extra facet. That ‘sidekick’ was Ruth Trimble, who is in fact a brilliant singer-songwriter in her own right, as was demonstrated when she and Beth swapped roles for one number, which Ruth led from the grand piano.

Beth was talkative throughout, never shy of telling us the intimate details of her life that account for some of her songs. She has a voice that has not only a considerable range but also great variation in dynamics and timbre, which enables her to inject emotion into her singing. Once or twice there is a slight crack in her musical patina, but only a slight one, and not enough to merit the deduction of a whole star. She could even rock it with upbeat numbers like This Kiss or Willie Nelson’s Nothing I Can Do About It Now (which she actually wrote, so is it his or hers?). I can’t direct you to a decent YouTube clip of her in action – those that exist seem to be phone quality only – so maybe you should make a point of catching her when she’s in your town.

Now then, to Loudon Wainwright III. Well, I thought I was going to see Loudon Wainwright III but what I did see was ‘The Loudon Wainwright Three’. Like three grizzled eccentrics perched on a park bench, David Mansfield, Loudon, and Chaim Tannenbaum faced the audience with wry smiles – “Oh look, a YOUNG person! Your grandparents dragged you here tonight!” With that, Loudon declared ‘his’ demographic to be in the majority at the concert. That includes me; It’s about thirty years since I last/first saw Loudon, so I had no idea what he had been up to, apart from growing old. I was surprised and, I must admit, delighted by the bluegrass spin that mandolin/fiddle to his right and banjo to his left brought to his songs. Loudon shared lead vocals, often taking a verse of a song by turns, with Chaim, the latter having a voice that reminded me a little of Pete Seeger but with Pete’s urgency smoothed off. Chaim soloed with a gentle version of the 1893 version of Bates and Ward’s America The Beautiful, having mentioned in the preamble that the vast majority of Americans only know and only sing the first verse, and that they take it to be a poem of uncritical ultra-patriotism. Chaim, by the way, is Canadian.

Loudon and company didn’t mind singing other people’s songs at all, from Tom Lehrer’s The Old Dope Peddler to an Americanised version of Michael Marra’s Harmless (Hermless in the original). The evening was one of weirdness, wistful irony, and wit – “Put your hands together. No, don’t clap, just put your hands together.” Loudon established a point of reference for me by singing the song that, he claimed and I haven’t quite verified, was the first one he ever recorded – School Days. He got us involved in a sing-along with I Went To The Doctor and Dead Skunk.

A total departure from the festival’s norm of music on stage came in the middle of Loudon’s set, when he sat alone and read a passage from his forthcoming book, giving us an insight on how it feels to be visited by children from a previous marriage and cope with their fighting whilst he fails to make them scrambled eggs. Yes, it was one of those evenings. It’s remarkable just how many of his presentations had to do with failed relationships – Unhappy Anniversary and I’d Rather Be Lonely for two – or ageing – Old And Only In The Way – that nevertheless made the audience chuckle.

As this is my last visit of the weekend, thank you to the folk at Southern Fried for another great festival. I’m already looking forward to next year.

Reviewed by Paul Thompson

Southern Fried Festival:
Perth Concert Hall
27^th July 2017

What you have to remember when you read any review from Perth’s Southern Fried Festival is that it will only scratch the surface. There’s so much going on, not only in Perth Concert Hall, but outside, and in venues all over the burgh. Some of it is free, some events are ticketed. But the point is that although the reviewed gig may be over and done, by the time you read it there may still be time to nip down to Perth and catch something else, or at least to get a plate of soul food. And you can make a note to get in on the action next year – the festival has been going for ten years and shows no sign of stopping.

It’s often said of the late Chuck Berry that he only wrote two songs – My Ding-a-Ling and the other one. That’s a little unfair. It’s true that he recycled intros, solos, licks and tricks, riffs and biffs, and even whole tunes, but there was never a single song that didn’t feel original when you heard it. In the opinion of Geraint Watkins, who played electric piano on the night for Andy Fairweather Low’s Hi Riders, as well as bagging some solo spots, any songwriter who could come up with lines like “I was campaign shouting like a Southern diplomat” was a poet, pure and simple. I think that in Nadine Chuck Berry fought against the impulse to make that “Southern Democrat” as a dig at Governor George Wallace, but still as a songwriter he had a simple, imaginative genius for narrative.

Time was when the folks at Southern Fried made the introductory concert of the long weekend a kind of casual affair, with artistes sitting at café tables and strolling over to the microphone to give an unplugged tribute to a chosen songwriter. Now, with Andy Fairweather Low and the Hi Riders hosting and providing the musical platform, what you have is a full-on gig. Of course it asks visiting singers and players to step out of their comfort zone, sometimes to have to read the lyrics from a music stand – perform a kind of all-star karaoke, if you like – but what is eventually produced is a compilation of interpretations, not covers. This is because of the diversity of the performers. Two peripheral things struck me. Firstly the fact that the combined value of guitars on stage must have been astronomical. Secondly that the stage crew’s activities were perfectly choreographed, as they changed mics and mic-stands, handed over and took back instruments, making the sharp-eyed aware that the night’s performance was not as ad-hoc as all that.

Andy Fairweather Low is still the King of Bustle, hustle-bustling around the stage in his immaculate mohair suit. “I’m not a good guitarist,” he lied. What he isn’t is a shredder in a smoke-and-lights stadium band; what he is is a solid, rocking, R&B guitarist, with fifty years of practice. His solos drove along most of the performances tonight, and what they didn’t drive they backed up. Not all the guests were on the bill – there were one or two surprises. James Hunter turned up and rocked it, as you would expect. Andy and James were on the same wavelength, although I believe this was the first time they had met, let alone played together. Angeleena Presley brought her young son on stage to duet on Hail, Hail Rock and Roll.

Chuck Berry wanted to be a Country and Western singer, and in fact thought of himself as that. This was brought home when the likes of Doug Seegers tackled Oh Carole, or during an unplugged interval when Flats and Sharps delivered a bluegrass version of Sweet Little Sixteen. For Promised Land Geraint Watkins stepped forward with a small, dry-tuned piano accordion and paid tribute to Johnnie Allen’s version and Belton Richard’s Cajun playing style.

I mustn’t leave out any of the performers, or their interpretations. The Hi Riders are an enlarged version of Andy’s Low Riders, with added keyboards and horns, and they gave a lot of body to the sound (but see my overall views on sound, below). Cyndi Cain, with her soaring voice turned I Do Really Love You into a soul ballad. Hamish Stuart made Havana Moon into something so cool, so laid back, that it almost took on a spooky sound. Amythyst Kiah – oh how I love her voice, her intense, serious delivery! – turned It’s My Own Business into a relaxed country blues. Steve Gibbons, barely touching his Gibson Les Paul, managed to inject a little Elvis into No Money Down. Throughout there were jazz, country, blues, rock, and big band echoes. The final ensemble numbers provided the nearest you could get, this side of the pond, to the Louisiana Gator Boys. The audience was by then, of course, on its feet.

One or two things didn’t work. The Concert hall is a great venue, but trying to balance the sound in such a switch-and-swatch format must be a nightmare; as a result some solos tended to get lost. But it was a party. Maybe it would have been more of a party if they actually had sung My Ding-a-Ling and got us to join in, but you can’t have everything!

Reviewed by Paul Thompson

Hello Bartosz, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I was born in Poland and have studied in Vienna. Presently, I live in Göttingen. But this is just technically speaking, as I am there just approx. one week a month, the rest of the time I am traveling across the Europe and abroad, active as a musician, mostly as a member of the Apollon Musagete Quartet.

When did you first realise you were musical?
As a child, I have spent a lot of time building simple musical instruments. I have played them along with already existing ones. O played from hearing every known and rememberd songs. And so my mother thought it would be good to start a regular lessons.

What instruments do you play, & which do you consider as your forte?
I am 33 now and have been playing the violin already 26 years so it is more than enough time to consider violin and everything around as my main interest. I played also a piano quite good and a electric guitar for a while in the past, but it is the violin which was always my primary focus.

Can you tell us about the Apollon Musagete Quartet?
We are four Poles, we have formed our group in Vienna and after winning one of the most prestigious music competition in Munich are now traveling extensively throughout the Europe, Asia and America to share our musical ideas with a public worldwide.

How do you choose the numbers for your repertoire?
As a string players, we are extremely lucky to have an extraordinary repertoire counting of never ending masterpieces. There are always periods of time when you have particularly strong interests to specified styles which are changing with time to another areas. This keeps freshness in your mind and also allows you to approach different types of music always with a background and experience of a music played before. There is always a private list in your head of works you would like to play in the nearest future. As our interests are rather vast, there is always polish and slavic music at our music stands accompanied with strong classical and romantic core and a modern music.

You have played all across the globe, which have been your top three performances?
I would name Carnegie Hall in New York, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the tour with Tori Amos in Europe and USA, it was quite new and exciting experience.

What does Bartosz Zachlod like to do when he’s not being musical?
I like to read. Especially, when I can focus on it more than just a short while, so that I can really get into what I am reading. My second passion are instruments. I have a small collection of instruments and bows. I made also a violin maker course once in Munich which gave me some basics that I now can spread and practise on. It was always my big curiosity how the violin and it’s part are made and how can they influence the sound of the violin.

What is it about performing live that makes you tick?
That it is not 100% predictable what will exactly happen during the performance. You have of course everything planned, but you also react to what is being developed. You are able to reach the forces that are not to achieve while you are practising at home. It is because you know that it is this very moment when you stand at the stage to communicate with a public.

Can you tell us about your Edinburgh performances : where & when & what?
We will perform at Queen’s Hall on Tuesday 8th of August 2017… The program will include works of Puccini – Crisantemi, Mozart -String Quartet in C K465 ‘Dissonance’ and Grieg- String Quartet in G minor

What will Bartosz Zachlod be doing for the rest of 2017?
I have still many festivals ahead, also recitals, solo performances with orchestras and a CD recording. So the schedule is, as usual, quite busy. In my private life, I will be a father for the second time and I am looking very much forward to this small revolution at home also.

Hello Julie, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I’m a Hebridean and Highland mix! Originally from North Uist, but now based near Inverness.

When did you first realise you were musical?
I’ve never really thought about it. I suppose looking back, my sister and I would memorise entire film scripts and countless songs then endlessly regurgitate them to anyone who would listen. I’d also regularly fib to my chanter teacher that I could read music when I couldn’t – I wasn’t found out for years because I could memorise tunes very quickly, so maybe I always had an ear for music.

What instruments do you play, & which do you consider as your forte?
Ah – this is a tricky one. I started off playing chanter (pipes) and piano, before moving onto oboe and cor anglais at University. But I have ended up spending most of my time singing. And I just made my ukulele debut on our new album. Maybe that will be the new thing….

What for you makes a good song?
Strong melody, a great story, and feeling.

How musical is the Gaelic language?
Incredibly musical. It would require an essay to answer this one fully.

You have played all across the globe, which have been your top three performances?
It’s really hard to choose. Well, three memorable shows of late – singing Joni Mitchell songs to a sold out audience at the renowned Celtic Connections Festival, getting to sing Hearts of Olden Glory with Runrig live in Denmark at Tonder festival last year, and singing a Galician song for the first time just last week in Spain. I think for me – they stand out because the audiences were so appreciative. It makes such a difference.

Where do you get your songs from?
Family, friends, contemporaries and archive recordings.

What is it about performing live that makes you tick?
The feeling of sharing something, of connecting to people through music.

What does Julie Fowlis like to do when she’s not being all musical?
Being outside! Rowing, swimming, running, cycling. In any weather. And most of all, being with my family.

Can you tell us about your Edinburgh performances : where & when & what?
August 26th, Queen’s Hall. A special preview of our brand new album material.

What will Julie Fowlis be doing for the rest of 2017?
Performing in the US, England, Scotland, and some TV work in France. And releasing a new album on November 3rd!

Julie will be gracing Edinburgh with her music

August 26th, The Queen’s Hall

Hello Angus, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I’m originally from London and I live in Edinburgh.

When did you first realise you were musical?
Probably being told off for playing the xylophone too loud and too much during a Nativity play at primary school.

You have something of a multi-faceted 4-octave vocal range that can break glass. Is this natural or has it taken some training?
A mixture of both I think. I’ve always been able to hit high notes but it’s a muscle and an instrument like any other that requires practice and proper care.

The Mumble has just got your EP, Mirror Man. Where & how was it recorded?
The band and I recorded it with Tony Doogan at Castle of Doom in Finneston, Glasgow over a couple of months.

Can you give us a brief outline as to the contents?
I wanted to write a record that explored the different ways we can deal with loss, be they productive and helpful or self-destructive.

What does Angus Munro like to do when he’s not being musical?
I’m big into fantasy books and am currently reading The Lady of The Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski. I’m also a fan of podcasts – true crime ones in particular.

What for you makes a good song?
Personally, I really go for a song that get’s to the chorus within the first 30 seconds of a track. If something is well written lyrically and melodically and you can tell that a lot of care has gone into it, that’s a winner right there.

You’re just about to play the Hug and Pint in Glasgow on Wednesday 28th June & at Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh on Thursday 29th June. It it easy to transfer the studio sound into live performance?
These songs started out live months before we took them into the studio so it’s certainly easier than working the other way around.

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store Angus Munro?
I’m playing Mugstock Festival on 28th July and am planning to go back into the studio at the end of the year. Before that happens though, I’ll be gigging a lot with the band so keep an eye out for shows later in the year!

Angus will be performing @

The Hug and Pint, Glasgow , Wednesday 28th June

Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh. Thursday 29th June.

Haddington

Various Venues

24th June

A few years ago now, about a decade, I remember seeing Riley Briggs arriving back on London Road, Edinburgh, guitar slung over his shoulders, fresh from playing South by South West festival in Austin, Texas. His band, Aberfeldy, were sugar coating country music with Celtic crystals & the final result was something both swaggeringly listenable & imminently sellable. Then the band fell by the wayside at the end of the noughties until suddenly they turned up on the bill of Haddstock 2017, a one-day music festival spread throughout ten venues in the capital market town of East Lothian, Haddington. The brainchild of Rebecca Brady, she’d leapt off the deep end into a pool of confident musical frolickry, & pulled the whole thing off with aplomb.  A resident of Haddington myself, I was rather surprised to witness Haylee G’s ‘Devils in Skirts’ (read interview here) in procession through town to their gig at Jo’s Kitchen, wearing animal masks & playing the Proclaimer’s ‘500 Miles.’ The faces on the folk at the bus stop were class. A couple of hours later, while nipping out for a Chinese, I saw Aberfeldy’s Riley & his bass-player stalking through town on what was probably some very important rock n roll business, & I’m like, this is real, this is actually happening, I’d best tell the wife to get changed, we’re going out.

By evening me & the wife were ready to rave, & arriving at the Town House, the festival’s main event was well under way. It was all taking place in the Georgian assembly rooms, built for music & dancing, where in the balcony above the polished floorboards a chamber orchestra would once play. These days the band has dropped to eye-level, & the sounds are amplified through amps & speakers, & thus the high-octane energy of ‘The Banjo Lounge 4’ was ripping into our ears & tearing a drag-strip down our spines to our feet, which were moving in perfect synchronicity to the band’s ridiculously bouncy versions of songs we moderns love to love. I Feel Love, Song 2, Viva Las Vegas, I’m Sexy & I know it… you get the picture, all of which were given an interpretive banjo twang which got us all hopping about on invisible pogo-sticks.

Me & the wife then thought, we are at a festival, supposedly, so lets check it out, & took a little amble through Haddington centre to the Railway, whose upstairs function suite was playing host to a pumpin’ band, straight from the eighties halycon rock era of Heart, Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac; whose two female vocalists tossed up a harmonious layer of snowy vocals onto the mountainous rock-craft of their band. Yes, we were happy we went along to see Thistle Hurt.

Returning to the Town House, Aberfeldy’s rolling-through-the-countryside-on-a-sunny-day, melodically ambient pop was lighting up the stage, with Riley being joined up front by Chris Bradley to deliver a classic stream of their hits. One-by-one we noticed that people were singing along to them with furious passion & lip-synch accuracy, & it slowly dawned on the wife that Riley was some kind of Biblical patriarch with all his tribe out to listen to him preach. His mother, brother, father, daughter, grandma & great-aunt were at least some of the family in the room, who mixed with the local contingent into a highly appreciative & – once the disco encores kicked into place – groovetastic audience.

‘The response from the acts & the public & the venues for this inaugural Haddstock has been amazing,’ said Rebecca, who knew her headliners personally & had instigated the coup to get them reformed for the night. Hopefully Aberfeldy have a taste for it again, & with a decade of life experience in the bank, maybe a few new cracking numbers waiting to be crafted into life.

Reviewer : Damo Beeson Bullen

Hello Rosie, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?

Hey Mumble! Well I was born and bred in the land of roundabouts (the beautiful Milton Keynes) in Buckinghamshire and I loved it so much there I decided to move Edinburgh, which is where I now live and call home.

When did you first realise you could sing?

I was a late bloomer. I’d say I didn’t realise I could sing until my early teens. It was my own little secret, I wouldn’t dare sing in front of people. I always wanted to perform from a young age but I actually wanted to be a dancer for a long time – which is HILARIOUS if you’ve ever seen me dance…

You have toured the UK and Europe as a vocalist and actress in musicals, plays, cabaret and concerts. Why have you suddenly decided to go solo?

Well, being your own boss and playing by your own rules is so much fun, if a bit stressful. It’s just me until I hit the stage when I’m joined by my lovely musical director, Douglas Price (who is so awesome I genuinely can’t believe my luck)! I just want to sing what I enjoy singing, say what I want to say, be playful and have fun. I just fancy doing my own thing for a little while. If you want to do what you truly enjoy, you have to start by making it happen on your own, right? At the moment my only choice is to do that solo. No one knows who I am yet and hopefully by the end of August I’ll meet some people who understand me, where I’m coming from and humour me in spite of it. I’m finding myself again but it’s a newer more interesting me and I’d like to share that with people.

This will be your debut show at the Fringe. What have you been led to expect what will happen during the month-long mash-up by other performers?

I’ve actually found people keeping their cards closer to their chests then I thought they would. So I’m currently expecting to see what the minions in my head are showing me and it’s colourful I’ll tell you that! I’ve ordered as many pairs of support pants and eyelashes my bank account will allow. I’m going to put my heart and soul into the experience and let the universe do the rest.

Can you tell us about your act?

I try to bring an element of different styles of music that I enjoy from Musical Theatre to Pop. I’m naturally a lyrical soprano who might sing eight bars of gangster rap, just because. As a person my outer layer is Disney Princess but the core of my onion is a massive chav and yes I’m singing ‘The Girl in 14G’ right now but at 5am you can see me bumping and grinding to old school garage in a warehouse that’s been turned into a nightclub for the night. Cabaret legend Jamie Anderson described my show as ‘The Voice of an Angel, Mouth of a Sailor’ at Cabaret Confidential back in February. So take from that what you will!

What does Rosie Houlton like to do when she’s not being all musical?

I love love love to eat cheese, and travel, preferably at the same time! Japan has had a big effect of my life, which you can find more about in my show. There’s still a lot more places I need to visit and I’m getting through them one pair of sequined sliders at a time. I also spend hours watching videos of fat cats, baby goats and chowchow puppies rolling around.

Storytelling at the piano is a classic art-form, who are your inspirations?

I like to story tell, next to, the piano (haha). There is usually someone talented and amazing sat at it, so I get to watch them safely from afar. You know I’m actually just starting to learn who my inspirations are because putting on my own show is very new to me. I trained in Musical Theatre so obviously I could name some awesome artists who sing and entertain like Christina Bianco, Kristin Chenoweth and Bette Midler, which is the tiniest tip of the iceberg.

I grew up travelling in the circus with Daddy Houlton (Cousin Timoni is his official clown name) and I think that’s where my roots lie in terms of how I set up my stories and I like to say the unexpected. I’m always learning, all the time and I watch a huge amount of stand up and many sitcoms. I love all sorts of humour from the likes of Kevin Hart, Larry David and Katherine Ryan. They’re all completely different but more importantly they all teach you to just be yourself and then find a structure within that which works well for you. I’m never trying to be a stand up. I’m a singer at heart but these people help me to understand comedic storytelling. I could give you a massive list of vocalists who I truly admire but we’d be here for hours.

I would be nowhere without the composers of the songs I use … NOWHERE! It blows my mind how these beautiful people just create these amazing songs. I’ve done a lot of work in helping composers develop new musical theatre so I try to bring in a song or two from writers who aren’t as well known to show off their talents.

Your subject matter, storywise, is a little risque, perhaps. Whyever did you choose this particular route & what do your parents think?

Well I found starting with ‘facts about me’ was a subject I already knew about and a great way to introduce myself to the festival for the first time. I have quite a blunt sassy humour. Although I’m just telling facts about myself because I’m very dry, honest and open, it can be taken as quite risqué which doesn’t really match my cute name and appearance and so people don’t exactly expect it from me. I’m a fan of innuendo but sometimes I don’t leave much to the imagination. I’ve always laughed through my hardships and when I’m telling stories about my personal life, I suppose it just comes out that way. My dad is a circus clown and my mum is a psychic so they’ve got some stories themselves to be fair. They are my best friends and they know me better than anyone else. There’s nothing I could bring up that they don’t already know…

What will Rosie Houlton be doing for the rest of 2017?

I will be doing more ‘Rosie Sings’ Cabaret shows at the Dirty Martini in the Le Monde Hotel here in Edinburgh. I’m also planning on taking my show to Milton Keynes where it all began. You can always see me bobbing about singing at various cabarets at The Ghillie Dhu in Edinburgh and the Corinthian Club in Glasgow. I’ll then be running off to Panto Land to play Princess Jill in Jack and The Beanstalk at Rotherham Civic Theatre this Christmas and New Year (the sailor mouth will be truly locked away for that I promise)! And of course eating cheese whilst travelling.

Rosie will be strutting her stuff this August

@ Fingers Piano Bar

Aug 5-6, 8-13, 15-20, 22-27 (15.10)

Hello Pete, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
Hello! I grew up in a village called Kemnay, which is near Aberdeen. Though, having lived in Glasgow now for 15 years, I probably feel more Glaswegian than Aberdonian.

When did you first realise you were musical?
I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember.  Most of my earliest memories are based around music.  Christy Moore was a particular favourite when I was very small. Apparently I used to sing my own incidental music when I was playing with toys.  To be honest though, I think most people are naturally musical. It often comes down to liking it and being around it when you’re young, then it being part of your life as you get older.

Who were your earliest influences?
I think a huge influence on me personally were The Bhundu Boys.  My dad used to play them a lot when I was young, and I’ve been a fan ever since.  The exuberant, jangly pop they played has had quite a profound effect on my tastes – I can’t resist a Major key!  I can probably trace my love of The Smiths, The Beatles and many others back to Bhundu Boys tapes when I was wee. When Graeme Black and I started the State Broadcasters, our biggest influences were probably Eels, Lambchop, Clem Snide and Sparklehorse

How did forming the State Broadcasters come about?
When I was at University, I had a part time job in the library at the campus.  Graeme worked there too, and we used to chat about music sometimes.  We kept bumping into each other at gigs, and after a while he said he had some songs he was looking to collaborate on.  He played them for me, and I tried adding a few bits and pieces to them, and it all went from there. That was in 2004!

———————-

———————-

The Mumble has just got your new album, & its good, some great tracks. Where was it recorded?
Glad you like it! Thank you.  We recorded it at my old flat in Glasgow.  I was lucky enough to have a bedroom that was large enough to record everything we needed there.  All 3 State Broadcasters albums were recorded there.  It was mixed in a different, smaller bedroom after I moved house.

Each song on the album has a certain lyrical magnitude. Who is the songwriter for the group?
The songwriting is often a bit of a collaboration, but most of the lyrics are by Graeme, with the exception of ‘Braced Against The Cold’, which I wrote.  Graeme left the band during the recording process, sadly.  He’s a great songwriter – we’ll miss him.

It it easy to transfer the studio sound into live performance?
Because we largely use acoustic instruments, it’s not too bad.  I love overdubs when recording though, so the sound is never quite as detailed as it is on the records.  We’d need many more members to recreate it perfectly.  Hopefully the live shows offer something a bit different though, and we spend a lot of time on arrangements. I think we get the balance about right most of the time.

You are also noted for your composition in film scores, etc. can you elaborate?
Writing for films is something I’ve wanted to do since I was quite young.  In recent years I’ve been lucky enough to get to know some talented film makers.  I did my first score for the animated short ‘Fixing Luka’, which was made by my friend Jessica Ashman.  It won a couple of BAFTAs, including a New Talent award for the score, and that has lead to a few other things.  I just completed a short score for a Western set in a Scottish high school about the lack of free sanitary products for young women.  That was a lot of fun and involved listening to a lot of Ennio Morricone, which is always a good time.

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for Pete Macdonald & the State Broadcasters?
We’re playing some shows in the South of England between the 9th and 11th of June, and we’re supporting Pictish Trail on the 2nd of July in Glasgow. I think there’ll probably be some more tour shows later in the year too. Hopefully some in the North of England, and the Highlands and Islands.  We’re hoping to start working on some new songs over the summer too. We’re going to try to narrow the gap a bit between album releases – 4 and a half years is a bit long!

Hello Alaine, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking

Hiya!  I’m originally from Renfrew and moved to Glasgow as a young adult.  Now I live in Paisley with my husband Chris, son Jamie and two cats called Chooky and Furry.

So when did you first feel yourself getting into music

I remember being really young, about 3 or 4 years old, and getting one of those tiny Casio keyboards as a birthday or christmas present.  I spent a lot of time figuring out how to play the demo’s that were pre-programmed into it.  Once I’d done that, I moved on to trying to play the music from certain TV adverts that got stuck in my head.  I started keyboard lessons at 8, taught myself guitar from about 9, took up clarinet at 12, bass guitar in my teens and 20’s and ukulele about 4 years ago.  I’m also a rather mean kazoo player and I mess about with piano now and then. As far as vocals go, I always loved singing but only started really working on the strength of my vocals about a decade or so ago.

Who were your inspirations then & are they still relevant to your music today.

Musically speaking, I’m all over the shop; When I was really young I was brought up on a whole host of different bands, ranging from Fleetwood Mac to the Beatles to Abba.  As a teenager I got to vent my frustrations with life through a love of heavy metal, but at the same time still had a soft spot for musicals! Today, I love everything from beats to rocknroll.  I guess I’m a sucker for a melody which shows in the music I write. As far as wondering if my inspirations are still relevant; The mind is a cool thing, it keeps hooks and riffs from songs that have inspired you throughout your life and stores them deep in the back of your brain. Sometimes the part of a song that brought you particular joy, or created a particular type of emotions all those years ago, crops up in a tune without you realising.  All of a sudden, there is is, and you’ve never noticed it before and you had no idea that you wrote it at the time.  I think you try to emulate those who have inspired you, either consciously or unconsciously, so I guess what I’m saying is I think my inspirations are relevant no matter when in my life they came along.

What do you like to do when you’re not making kick-ass music?

I run a business called Well Happy with my business partner and bandmate, Janine.  We provide health and wellbeing sessions to Businesses, Local Authorities, Schools and community groups, teaching stress reduction techniques, mind body science and awareness while increasing communication and the overall health and wellbeing of staff.  Both Janine and I studied the sciences at University so we look at issues surrounding staff recruitment and retention and help to mange them using techniques that are scientifically shown to reduce staff turnover rates, decrease sickness rates and increase productivity and sales.   I’m also a Reiki practitioner, teach ukulele lessons, and last but not least, I’m a mum.  I don’t have enough hours in the day.

So you’re one of the coolest species of musician there is – the singing female bass-player: why this role? 

It was a role that I kinda fell into.  I was in a band years ago that was doing the usual rounds on the Glasgow scene.  Unfortunately 6 weeks before a gig our bass player left and instead of trying to undertake the mammoth task of finding a decent bass player to learn all our songs in such a short time frame, I decided I’d give it a go myself.  I’d messed about with bass for a short while in my teens and figured it wouldn’t take that much effort to change from just singing on a stage to playing an instrument and singing.  I was wrong! But I continued with it anyway as I didn’t really have a choice!  The rest as they say is history.

From the punkiness of Pablo Eskimo a couple of years ago you got involved in the rather different ‘The Well Happy band’ : why the transition?

It has always been a dream of mine to have a big band.  I love the rawness of a three piece, but you can do so much more musically when there are more people involved. Another main reason was that I chilled out a lot after becoming a mum. I still love funk, punk, rocknroll, and I allow that to still be a part of my music making today, only now it has a happier twist.  I also discovered Reiki a few years ago which opened up a whole new way of living for me.  Pablo was all about the venting of angst and frustration.  I found a new way to deal with that so the songs I wrote naturally became happier, though rocknroll, beats, punk and funk still all play their part in the Well Happy Band.

You have just finished an album, can you tell us about it?

Yes!  The Little Album of Happiness was launched online on 20th April.  It’s a 6 track album with tunes that will make you smile.  I try not to keep to any one genre, so if you’re into genre hopping happy tunes that range from summer loveliness to down right rocknroll then I’m sure you’ll like this album.  It originally started off a a 4 track demo, but on the day of recording we managed to get 6 songs recorded. And thanks to Tommy Duffin at 16 ohm studios the tunes sounded too good for it to be labelled as a demo, so it became a full blown album.

What was the recording process like with such a wide array of performers

It was lots of fun!  And believe it or not, virtually stress free.  As long as everyone has a clear understanding of what is to be achieved, and you possess the tools to be able to contribute to an environment that is calm, collected, focussed and happy (not many people find recording to be this way!) you can work with any amount of performers and get the very best out of them.

The real key to making the recording a success was found in the months preceding the recording though.  People always respond well when they feel part of the vision and the best way to achieve that is to communicate that vision as clearly as possible. Once an understanding is reached and everyone gets on the same page, it allows each person to bring their own personality and charisma to that vision.  What goes on inside your head can sometimes come out in the studio as a perfect copy, other times it’s completely new and brilliant!  Keeping focussed yet open minded means you can get to your goal while letting other fantastically creative people help you along the way. The same goes for recording as rehearsing. Essentially, if you believe in yourself and the others around you, that’s when the magic happens.

What does the summer hold in store for Alaine & the Well Happy Band

For a band that’s only a year old, we’re already really busy!  We’ve been booked for lots of festivals this year, some of which are Solfest, Argyll Gathering and Mugstock.  We’ll be making an appearance or two at Eden this year as well.  Well Happy will be hosting workshops throughout the festival and we always have an acoustic gig for the band outside our tent at certain times throughout the weekend. Our lovely pals at the Melodrome will be giving us some stage time too.  Janine and I will be playing our first ever gig in Amsterdam in June too! We’re also grateful to be welcomed into the Yellow Movement so we have a few gigs booked throughout the summer with them as well.  The Well Happy Band also feature in the Yellow Movement Documentary by Chris McG which will be released over the summer too. Essentially, I think I’ll be living out of my motorhome until September!

The Dime Notes & their blues-drenched sounds of clarinet-driven 1920’s New Orleans jazz are returning to Scotland this June for an extensive tour. The Mumble managed to grab a wee chat with pianist, Andrew Oliver

————————————–

Hi Andrew, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?

I’m from Portland, Oregon in the Northwest USA. Now I live in Muswell Hill in North London. I moved to London in 2013 after my wife got a job in the UK and have been immersed in the music scene in London since then.

How did you first get into music?
I played classical piano and cello as a kid. I was always interested in music and there was a piano in the house which I used to play all the time. I started lessons when I was about 4. I played classical music until I was in my teens, when I discovered the music of Jelly Roll Morton and other early jazz and ragtime which was really inspirational. I started playing early jazz and later went to University in New Orleans and studied and played a lot of modern jazz as well. Now I do a bit of everything, a lot of old jazz and swing, some tango piano and the occasional modern jazz project as well.

What are your instruments?
I play piano pretty much exclusively now. I used to play cello when I was younger and a bit of trumpet and drums but not much anymore, there’s too much to work on just on piano! In the Dime Notes we have me on piano, Dave Kelbie on rhythm guitar, David Horniblow on clarinet and Tom Wheatley on bass.

Can you tell us about the origins of the Dime Notes?
When I moved to London, I met Dave Horniblow, our clarinetist, when I was watching a gig he was playing. He had just returned to London from a year in Australia, so we both had free time and we got together to work on some duets, discovered we shared a lot of musical tastes and felt that our styles meshed well together. We landed a weekly duo residency at a bar in east London for about a year which was great for working on a bunch of interesting tunes. I had met Dave Kelbie at another gig and was immediately struck by his powerful and swinging rhythm guitar playing, and so he was a natural addition to the duo when we felt like expanding to a larger band. We rounded it out with the exceptional slap bass playing of Tom Wheatley, who has an amazingly huge sound and has mastered the nearly lost art of 20s style slap bass, in addition to having a unique perspective from playing a lot of free improvised music as well.

How do you select suitable tunes for your repertoire?
One of the main focuses of the band is to play a wide variety of 20s and 30s repertoire outside of the most commonly played tunes. Very often in traditional jazz circles one hears the same tunes a lot of the time. With the Dime Notes we’ve made a point to delve into the 20s and 30s recordings carefully and comprehensively to find really interesting and unusual pieces, especially ones with a variety of sections and textures within the tune, rather than more standard short-form tunes. We perform a lot of Jelly Roll Morton’s music – he was one of the great pioneers of the style and a true compositional innovator as well. We have re-arranged a lot of his piano solo pieces for band which is texturally really interesting. We also have drawn from the repertoire of some of Dave’s favourite clarinetists including Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, and Omer Simeon – the New Orleans creole clarinet pioneers. We’re always listening to old records, on the lookout for new pieces to play and interesting tunes which we feel we can adapt to our instrumentation and style. We tend to subtly rearrange the compositions as well, tailoring them to the way we play individually and as a band, rather than attempting to copy the original recordings exactly.

How do you find the audience reacts to music almost a century old?
We have found that modern day audiences have a very positive reaction to our music. I believe strongly that the style has a universal appeal, with a really strong groove that people can feel and understand, harmonic forms which are still related closely to rock and pop, and generally accessible melodies. The complexities lie in the subtlety of the grooves and improvisations and in the formal structure of the compositions. We play regularly for a wide variety of audiences, from older audiences who are very familiar with the style right down to young hipsters in East London bars. I think they can all find something in what we’re playing, as the general energy level and swing seems to come across very well. Finally, I think the fact that we are presenting the repertoire in a fresh but well developed framework, rather than as a relic or recreation, has certainly helped to project an exciting image to our audiences.

What do you do when you’re not jazzin’ it up?
My wife and I love to travel and be outdoors, hiking, canoeing, etc (though canoeing is more difficult now since we left our canoe in Oregon as it was too big to ship over!). I am slowly but enthusiastically learning to play tennis and also enjoy cooking. I try to avail myself of London’s great museums theatres and concerts when I’m not gigging as well!

You are just about to take your music on a major tour of Scotland. Are you excited?
Yes definitely. We did a short tour in Scotland in 2016 and it was really great, wonderful venues and people. I have done a bit of travelling in the Highlands last year as well and really enjoyed the landscapes and vibe. We’re really looking forward to exploring many parts of the country and playing for a wide variety of audiences, as well as enjoying the scenery and hospitality!

Where will you be sleeping each night?
Hotels and B&Bs I imagine – Dave Kelbie our guitarist is the booking master so he’ll have sorted most of that out. Some of the venues will be providing accommodation themselves as well.

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for the band?
We are always playing at least a few times a month in London at bars and clubs as well as increasingly for swing dancers, which is always a blast. We’re playing in October for a swing dance festival in the Netherlands and at a number of UK jazz festivals this summer (Swanage, Upton, Ludlow Fringe). We might make it over to Ireland this year as well, if all goes well. In 2018 we’ll be touring Europe a couple of times as well as a trip to Canada!

Check out The Dime Notes Scottish itinerary here