Nope! Not together! Just a selection of the artists in the region tonight.
Angela Brown and the Mighty 45s at The Met, Bury
Wilko Johnson at Pacific Road, Birkenhead
Also playing tonight but not featured
Little Toby Walker - Grand, Blackpool
Tag Archive for 'manchester'
ANGELA BROWN & THE MIGHTY 45s
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THE NEW LIVE CD ‘IN A DANGEROUS MOOD’ OUT NOW
“Definitely my favourite CD this year” Ashwyn Smyth Digital Blues/ Blues Matters
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Email : Themighty45s@hotmail.co.uk Tel : -44 (0)77 0364 7187.
SEPTEMBER.
FRI 5 THE MET ARTS CENTRE MARKET STREET BURY LANCS
SAT 6 PRIVATE FUNCTION MUMBLEYS LANE KINGTON THORNBURY BRISTOL
SUN 7 THE WEY FEST THE RURAL LIFE CENTRE REEDS ROAD TILFORD SURREY
MON 8 MONDAY BLUES AT THE BULLINGDON COWLEY ROAD OXFORD
TUE 9 THE CELLARS 56 CROMWELL ROAD EASTNEY SOUTHSEA HANTS
WED 10 VONNIES @ THE CLUB CHURCH STREET CHARLTON KINGS CHELTENHAM
THU 11 TIVOLI THEATRE WEST BOROUGH WIMBOURNE DORSET
FRI 12 WEST END ARTS CENTRE QUEENS ROAD ALDERSHOT HANTS
SAT 13 THE KINGS BARN FERNHURST SUSSEX
ANGELA BROWN
Angela Brown is certainly a blues diva - “raucous, raunchy and rumbustious” are just some of the words used to describe this great singer.
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Born in Chicago, Illinois. Angela began her musical career by singing gospel music in church and although she was aware of the blues she didn’t sing them until around 1980, when she played the role of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey in a stage musical. Inspired by the music, she worked, honing her craft, in numerous Chicago blues clubs, often accompanied by pianists Little Brother Montgomery or Erwin Helfer. Her debut recordings were released by the Red Beans label in 1983, and the first album under her own name was made in 1987 for the German label Schubert.
She was dubbed “the Bessie Smith of the 80s’, a deserved title given her strong renditions of vaudeville blues material. Her powerful voice is also well-suited to more modern blues styles, becoming a popular attraction at blues festivals all over the world not only vocally, but for her onstage presence and oomph!
Past years have seen Angela voted Overseas Female Artist of the Year and her album Thinking out Loud with her English band The Mighty 45s was runner up as the UK album of the Year.
With her favourite four piece band The Mighty 45s, Angela developed her act into one of the ‘hottest live blues, soul and gospel shows seen outside Chicago’ (Time Out) - touring in the UK with GTA on their successful American Festival of The Blues.
Angela Brown is a classy, powerful fusion of musical talent, performing a seamless mix of blues, soul, rock and jazz in her subtle but hard-hitting style. Angela has the ‘.. sort of voice that, fully unleashed, could strip the Ronseal off your floorboards!” (The Sunday Times).
This year sees the release of the band’s new album with Angela In a dangerous mood. Warm, mellow, jazz ballads are mixed in with gospel and raunchy blues tracks. She has a great voice and a really expressive one. “…. All of it pretty close to sensational.” (Surrey Advertiser) She’s a larger than life character who knows how to get an audience eating out of her hand.?
PRESS QUOTES :
‘..Angela Brown has the sort of voice that, fully unleashed, could strip the Ronseal
off your floorboards!” The Sunday Times
“…. the hottest blues, soul, jazz, gospel show seen outside of Chicago” Time Out
“… with a voice as deep and hot as the earth’s core, Angela Brown proves beyond doubt
that her ranking alongside Etta James and Koko Taylor is fully justified” Blues & Rhythm
“… they are a classy and powerful live experience. Marks out of ten? Eleven” Time Out
“.. it’s hard to isolate one member from the incredibly tight fusion of musical talent that
makes up The Mighty 45s. They make the hairs on the back of your next stand up” Mail on Sunday
“… raucous, raunchy and rumbustious, the earthy Chicago diva Angela Brown and
the excellent Mighty 45s established an immediate rapport with the capacity crowd” Southern Daily Echo
William ‘Watermelon Slim’ Homans was born in Boston and raised in North Carolina. On returning from Vietnam a fervent anti-war activist, he first appeared on the music scene in 1973 with the release of a protest-tinged album. Since then, he has undertaken a range of jobs including truck driver, saw-miller and funeral official. He ended up farming watermelons in Oklahoma where he is now resident.
It is only in recent years that Slim’s considerable musical talents have been fully acknowledged. In 2006, his self-titled album was ranked number one in MOJO magazine’s Top Blues CDs, won the Independent Music Award for Blues Album of the Year, hit number one on the Living Blues Radio Chart, debuted at number 13 on the Billboard Blues Radio Chart and won the Blues Critic Award for Album of the Year. The following year, he achieved six Blues Music Awards nominations, equalling a record shared only by the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray.
In light of those achievements, the size of the crowd at the Manchester Academy was disappointing, but those in attendance were duly rewarded by a master class. Following a full-volume, energetic, rock-drenched set from The Scott McKeon Band, Slim and The Workers delivered a delightful and varied blues programme. Admirably supported by Ronnie ‘Mack’ McMullen on guitar, Michael Newberry on drums and Cliff Belcher on bass guitar, Slim led from the front on vocals, harp and horizontal slide guitar, interspersing a fund of stories and observations among the splendid musical offerings.
The set mainly comprised original numbers such as the rumba-rhythmed ‘Truck Driving Mama’, the excellent slow blues, ‘Newspaper Reporter’ and the upbeat shuffle, ‘I’ve Got News’. The slow and bluesy ‘Dad In The Distance’ described the heartache of that circumstance while the whimsical ‘Call My Job’ portrayed the after-effects of over-indulgence. Covers included ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ and, by way of an encore, Slim Harpo’s ‘Got Love if You Want It’. It was a superb performance from a consummate entertainer, who deserves much greater exposure in the UK. A real treat.
www.watermelonslim.com
Lionel Ross
The Monton Music Festival
Manchester’s newest music festival is running over the weekend 4/5/6 Jul.
The festival features more than a handful of classy blues acts and a heap of other interesting events. The main music events are at the Monton House Hotel.
Fri 4 Jul Ian PARKER, OV8, Compass Roses.
Sat 5 Jul Blues n’ Trouble, The Harpbreakers
Sun 6 Jul The Animals and Friends, The Roach Twins Band
Monton is near Eccles. There are many fringe gigs and other activities. For more information please take a look at the website.
Matt Taylor has two shows in the bluesinthenorthwest.com region as an acoustic duo with Jonny Dyke. Both dates are in The Living Room bars of the cities.
Tues 8th July - The Living Room, Manchester
Weds 9th July - The Living Room, Liverpool
For a full size poster click here.
Back from Canada, Matt Schofield is on the road in the UK during the latter part of June, which includes a visit to Manchester, his birthplace, for a show at the Manchester Academy on June 27. Schofield left Manchester as a
child and has never played in the city having previously only got as close as Warrington and Bury.
Watermelon Slim
Manchester Academy
16 July
£12
Mojo - Best Blues Album 2007
North American Blues Foundation - Best Blues Album & Best Band Award winners 2008.
American blues musician William Watermelon Slim Homans has been performing since the early seventies and has been linked to several notable blues musicians including John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Champion Jack Dupree, Bonnie Raitt, ‘Country’ Joe McDonald and Henry Vestine of Canned Heat.
He plays his guitar in the style of the Mississippi Delta Blues, playing his Dobro guitar lap-style with a slide. Homans usually performs acoustically, but has also been known to play electric. Recently, Homans has been performing live alongside a supporting band named The Workers.
2005 saw Homans receive a nomination for the prestigious W C Handy Award for ‘Best New Artist Debut’. He and his band have also been nominated for a further six Handy Awards in a variety of categories and also for a Maple Blues Award from the Toronto Blues Society for the 2006 release ‘Watermelon Slim and The Workers’.
Homans’ latest release is 2007’s ‘The Wheel Man’, which is the fourth album by Watermelon Slim and the second with The Workers. In this particular album (as is the case for all of Homans albums) Homan single handed-ly revives the blues scene with a little help from his authentic old school blues musicians.
Watermelon Slim will be performing live at Manchester Academy 3 on Wednesday 16th July.
bluesinthenorthwest.com believe that the supporting band will be the Harpbreakers.
Dave Arcari dropped me a line to let us know of his forthcoming dates in the region.
He has a good few in the bluesinthenorthwest.com region. See below…
Sun 8 June – Meridian, Leith Fest, Edinburgh
Sat 14 June – NXNE: The Dakota Tavern, Toronto, Canada
Fri 20 June – The Vine, Sowerby Bridge
Tue 24 June – The Country Club @ Ruby Lounge, Manchester
Thur 26 June - Running Horse, Nottingham
Fri 27 June – Blues Water Festival, Morecambe
Sat 28 June – Going Up the Country Festival, Worthenbury
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Sat 5 July – Danny Kyle Tribute Concert, Paisley Town Hall, Paisley, Glasgow
Fri 25 July – Maryport Blues Festival: The Wave (7pm)
Sat 26 July – Maryport Blues Festival: Herciti (2pm)
Sat 26 July – Maryport Blues Festival: The Wave (5pm)
Sun 27 July – Maryport Blues Festival: The Top Tap (3pm)
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Thur 2 Sept – The Zephyr Bar, Huddersfield
Wed 3 Sept – The Bath Hotel, Sheffield
Thur 4 Sept – The Grove, Leeds (plus Mat Partner)
Sat 6 Sept – The Green Note, London
Sun 7 Sept – The Ranelagh, Brighton
Sat 13 Sept – Rose & Crown, Charlbury
Sun 14 Sept – Sawyers Venue, Kettering
Wed 17 Sept – Man of Kent Alehouse, Rochester
Thur 18 Sept – South Street Arts Centre, Reading
Mon 22 Sept – The Fat Fox, Portsmouth
Thur 25 Sept – The Platform Tavern, Southampton
Fri 26 Sept – The Neptune, Hove
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