Not ONE but TWO gigs at Nottingham's Chameleon Arts Cafe

Gecko

It's a while since I've been to Nottingham's Chameleon Arts Cafe - back in December, I think, for one of the gigs promoted by my teen - then, last week, I went twice!

Lewis Bootle

The first time was to see a guy from London who goes by the name of Gecko, on tour with Lewis Bootle - and if you'd been at Glastonbury over last weekend you could have found them playing there.

The second gig was a slimmed down version of the first gig promoted by my teen - John Allen and Patrick Craig. Folk/punk singer-songwriter John may not be well known here, but in his native Germany he's opened for Frank Turner and played for thousands! 

Patrick Craig

Both were shows that I'd have thought would bring folk in - but they didn't. Both turned out to be intimate, friendly gigs, and all the musicians put on as good a show as if the room had been packed. I enjoyed both evenings perhaps better than if the room had been packed to capacity - but it doesn't pay the musicians' travel costs, nor cover the venue's overheads.

John Allen

Now, The Chameleon is a shy, secretive sort of place - down an alleyway off Angel Row, and then up a flight of stairs to the bar, and another to the performance area. Once you're settled in the bar, with its cafe-style tables and flickering tea-lights, there's a fabulous view over Market Square. Upstairs, the gig venue is more basic but has a great sound system and the biggest speaker-stacks I've ever seen (far taller than I am!)  But the snag about a venue that's so very secret is that people rarely seem to find their way there by accident. I just hope people DO find it, because I'd hate to see it close down, but also, if they're playing to empty space, musicians won't be coming back to Nottingham.

A True Story about Patrick Craig

Last autumn my teen decided she'd move from reviewing music to promoting it. So one night in October I headed to Nottingham to help out with taking money at the door and such.
Originally, two guys had been expected to perform but an extra one had been added at the last minute  As I got there, taking my jacket off and setting my little table up, the guys were just finishing sound-checking and that "late addition", Patrick Craig, was starting to play. Something in his voice or what he was singing made me stop what I was doing and listen - and I was mesmerised.
He's not the only singer/songwriter I've discovered over the past few months, through either my teen's gigs or places I'm been on my own, but most of them I've checked out through music streaming sites before hearing them live; Patrick was totally unexpected - and more memorable for it.

Since then I've followed him and his plans over social media, demanded his EPs for Christmas presents, gone to see him whenever he's been performing locally - and hopefully not come over as a weird stalker! Today his debut album, True Story, is released - hopefully the first step to bigger things. Have a listen via the link below -

Music and Cake at The Maypole - my new favourite venue

This is my new favourite place to go out for the evening - The Maypole Inn in Derby. It's cute and quirky, decorated with old photos and bric-a-brac, and a cross somewhere between a country pub and a tearoom. 

So, with that in mind, it's probably fitting that the first event I went to, last week, was an Acousticake evening. There was live music from three local artists (including my teen) and there was free cake; hence acousti-cake.

How civilised is that?

There'll be more of these evenings - and I'll be back!

Patrick Craig

Then, this Thursday evening we were back to see Tim OT and Patrick Craig reaching the end of a short tour they've been on before the launch of Patrick's debut album.

If you're a regular reader of this blog (are there even such people?), you'll know I've seen both of them before but on the bill with other artists. Together they work even better. Their sounds aren't the same but complement each other.
Patrick, with a voice that moves from whispering to a roar, sings more of personal angst; Tim mixes a bit of social commentary in with his romantic mishaps, a bit like a young Billy Bragg.

Tim OT

No free cake this time, but there was lots on the menu - and tea and coffee being served all night (something to console the designated drivers)


Sadly, there wasn't much of a crowd, but I'm hoping that hasn't put them off Derby completely and that they'll be back soon. Meanwhile I'm off to listen to their cds....



Find The Maypole here

and on Bandcamp Tim OT
and Patrick Craig

The Only Way Is Indie - Books And Music

Do you ever find that sometimes you don't go out for weeks and then several things come along at the same time that you'd like to catch? It happened to me on Friday.
I'd already planned in a vague way to catch an independent publishing event at Nottingham Writers' Studio, then realised that a pair of singer/songwriters that I'd really like to see were performing locally the same night. Time to panic!
Then time to check venues and timings ..... almost unbelievably, the two events were taking place on the same street, literally opposite each other, and, with a bit of leaving early here and missing the opening act there, I could pull both in!

panel photo courtesy of Mud Press

First over to, and underneath, Nottingham Writer's Studio for The Only Way Is Indie; Dr Teika Bellamy of Mother's Milk Books, and Sara Jayne Slack of Inspired Quill had brought together a panel of twelve, representing independent presses publishing anything from graphic novels to literary fiction, short stories to poetry. Picking up a book from an 'indie' you're not going to find something destined for the 'bestseller' list or a celebrity memoir - it's going to be quirky, maybe a little avant garde, possibly a debut novel from an unknown author who could turn out to be the year's big discovery (and then get snapped up by a larger publisher for their next book).  Besides hearing about what independent publishers have to offer authors, things that maybe the large publishers can't, it was a great opportunity to meet up with authors and publishers - some I've met before, some I'd only so far talked to over social media. There's a proper write up of the event on OurBookReviewsOnline but for me it was time to nip across the road ... to Bunkers Hill.

If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago what or where Bunkers Hill was, I'd have had no idea. But then I heard on the social media grapevine that two of the guys I'd met through my daughter's music promotions  - Patrick Craig and Joe McCorriston - were going to be playing there, and I thought it was a great chance to see them again. The venue turned out to be, as I said above, just across the road from the book event, one of those pubs that advertise 'live music' on certain nights, and the 'stage' was a small area in one corner of the bar (No dartboard this time though)

I always expected to miss the opening act, local singer George Gadd, but I was disappointed to have got my timings a bit out and missed the beginning of Patrick Craig's set ..... still it's a good excuse to go see him next time he's up from London, and I at least managed to catch the whole of Joe McCorriston's set. Both are singer/songwriters with a folk/punk vibe and were as good, if not better, than I'd remembered (though it helps that this time I hadn't been left in charge of collecting entrance money!). It was a really fun end to the evening and I'm glad I went along.

,
 What struck me afterwards was the way in which both of the evening's events had been about going down an 'independent' route. In the same way that the independent publishers are investing in work that isn't mainstream, so are these musicians. Their music is their own, played and sung from the heart; not something shaped by management to fit what's deemed popular. Although both the bestseller lists and music charts have something to offer (though, please, not the latest formulaic thriller or boy-band song), there's a lot more variety to be found by looking a little beyond the obvious.









* photo of The Only Way is Indie panel comes courtesy of Mud Press

Rock'n'roll is here to stay - on my living room floor!

Over the years as our daughter has grown up, we've had quite a few nights with extra folk staying over - from girlie sleepovers to friends crashing after parties or a night out down town - so when she asked me last summer if I'd put up a musician from London coming to play at her birthday 'bash', I said "Sure. Fine." And then, when she announced the start-up of a promotions company and said "Would I mind putting up some bands?", I said 'Sure. Fine" ......and then began to wonder quite what I'd let myself in for.....
After all, we're talking rock bands. They're, like, drunk all the time, partying all night, and smashing guitars and furniture, aren't they? and they're going to be sleeping on my living room floor.....  Should I move all the ornaments? Cover the pale carpet with something easy to clean down? And then there's the normal problems of sleepovers - for slumber parties everyone brings a sleeping bag, for crashing-out they slump on the sofa and get an old blanket thrown over them, but what does a rock star expect? I was starting to get a bit nervy about all this.....
Anyway, we picked up a free-cycled folding bed, bought some more pillows, and crossed our fingers. The first 'sleepover' was to be just two guys ....till the day before, when I discovered there would actually be three. Fine - the sofa's a bit short but line the seat cushions up on the floor and it'll be great. Second time, we were expecting four overnight guests . Fine - we'd coped with three, four wouldn't be much more trouble... get a double blow up bed, sleep them head to toe....then we found out they had a driver .....but we muddled through again.

But what about that rock'n'roll lifestyle? The drink, the drugs, the partying?
It's a myth!
By the time these guys get here, they've driven all day, played a gig, and just want to crash out. Next morning, they're heading off for another day of travelling, ending with another gig, and another night on a stranger's floor.
And, at the risk of making them blush, they've all been such lovely guys -  they've washed their breakfast pots, complimented me on my jam; we've talked about anything and everything - attitudes to on-line music streaming, the (sometimes intrusive) expectations of fans, the shock of going from street-busking one day to nationwide tour the next after being 'discovered', books, favourite parts of Scotland, having to use a family hatchback as 'tour bus', ...and, of course, our dog who refuses to be left out of anything!

So far, despite a few last minute panics, I've loved having them all to stay ....... and I've hoping one day I'll see one (or more) of them on TV or plastered across a gossip mag front page, and I can say "I know him! He's slept on my floor!"