My beautiful OPEN MIC
Having travelled all around the UK playing different open mics and also completing my book 'Open Mic Travels' I thought it was high time I started my own. And this is a blog all about my experiences on the other side of the tracks. My beautiful Open Mic will take place on the last Thursday of every month in the delightful small town of Holmfirth.
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
Escape the RELS (Boxing Day Open Mic)
Escape the RELS open mic with Old Man Pie
Boxing Day may be named after the
tendency for arguments and fights to break out among family relatives who
have outstayed their welcome through Christmas.
So I made my final open mic an opportunity to ‘escape the
RELS with Old Man Pie’. And if the
relatives all got along, they could come too!
After the excesses of Christmas there were
doubts whether people would want to venture out on this wet and windy night in
Holmfirth. But it seemed people were up
for a good night out and Cellar 88 filled up with post Christmas cheer. Old Man Pie kicked off with a couple of gypsy
tinged pieces including a current favourite of mine (ahem) called ‘I Was Odd’.
Then the pie guys made way for Mike from Brighouse, and a slimmed down version of the excellent Anarchy in the Ukelele who brought us .. well it had to be done .. Santa is a punk rocker. Dee Dee Ramone may turn in his grave!
Then the pie guys made way for Mike from Brighouse, and a slimmed down version of the excellent Anarchy in the Ukelele who brought us .. well it had to be done .. Santa is a punk rocker. Dee Dee Ramone may turn in his grave!
The young band Folkus (above) also made a welcome
return to my night and played a wonderful set of reels and songs. Folkus hail from Barnsley and were a tough act
to follow. That job fell to Jimmy Andrex
from Wakefield who recited poems over a looped sample. You might think that sounds pretty naff
reading it here, but the neat mix of humor and beats went down a treat. Malcolm and Jacob followed with a couple of self penned items and a cover of Wild Wood by Paul Weller.
Old Man Pie played a half hour set and
I got over excited, like it was Christmas or something. It was difficult to hear my guitar above the
full drum kit, but we belted out some pie classics and got the placerocking,
finishing with an eclectic piece all about prescription drugs.
Greg Paul provided some blues, Petra
provided the poetry, Terry provided some banjolele and Jacob Fullalove made a welcome return with a very poignant
song which touched everyone’s hearts.
Twelve months worth of open mics was almost done and came to a lovely
chaotic end with every musician in the place jamming along to Bad Moon Rising
and me giving a big shout out to everyone who had supported these nights, the
audience, the musicians and performers and the management/staff at Cellar 88. Thank you so much and have a wonderful 2014!
The End
[Managed to get a rare picture of Kayti (below) from Cellar 88 who has also worked hard to make these nights something special .. long may they continue]
The End
[Managed to get a rare picture of Kayti (below) from Cellar 88 who has also worked hard to make these nights something special .. long may they continue]
Friday, 27 December 2013
Anarchy in the Holme Valley (Open Mic 11)
In November a merry band of sixteen ukulele
players descended upon Cellar 88 and made it a night to remember. They are called Anarchy in the Ukulele and played a fine rendition of punk classics such as Sheena is a Punk Rocker and Ever Fallen in Love? Much to the delight of an audience who were up for a good night's entertainment.
We were also joined by local composer Barry Russell
who gave us an abstract composition made up entirely of sounds from animations
and cartoons .. wizz .. bang .. woof .. meeeowww!
The wonders of improvised collaboration
brought us Sam on harmonica, Cadderz on MC and Dan on guitar – and a little
later a similar combo that consisted of an MC and Spoken Word battle against a
back drop of kaossilator, bass and harmonica.
There was also poetry from published
poet Chris Preddle and local author Tim Taylor.
Original song writing from Rebecca and a fabulous start from local choir
Singing for Fun.
All in all this was among the most eclectic and wide ranging of all my nights at Cellar 88 and so much so I’ve been struggling to try and find the words .. hence this late
post. Let the pictures speak for
themselves.
Saturday, 9 November 2013
Trick or Treat? Open Mic #10
The Halloween special brought its fair
share of horrors! Well there was me for
a start, ranting on about spiders, flat worms and slugs, against a back drop of
looped electronics - intending to slowly
turn into a vampire as the night went on, but failing at the blood lust.
There was the lead singer of awesome band The Yum (right) looking
wonderfully horrific made up like Chucky’s Bride. And there were friends of the band (pictured below) supporting this whole trick or treat thing with big smiles.
I’m increasingly amazed how massive Halloween has
become and maybe if it continues its rise it will replace Christmas and we’ll
all be buying each other presents for Halloween and getting together with the
family for a trick or treat party of some kind.
I guess the shops and supermarkets would love this, but I for one hope it doesn't get any bigger.
The night started slowly and I was wondering if there were going to be many people in. But an hour later the place was nicely
filled with a perfect balance of performers and audience. Whereas previous nights had sometimes
been mostly performers, this night was mostly audience, with around six
performances in total.
Music ranged from the beautiful
ballads of Jess and Eloise to the original and quirky combination of
ukelele, melodica, korg keyboard and stylophone with Jimmy Andrex. There was poetry from Tim, who has also
recently published a novel called Zeus of Ithome on Crooked Cat (pictured right) and song from Jim, then an almighty set from The Yum, featuring (all the
way from Italy) Giordano Girotto on
keyboards.
I liked the
simplicity of this night. I liked the
fact that I didn’t have to pressurise and keep the performers to
a specific time, there was ample time. The only thing there didn’t seem to be time
for was changing into the vampire outfit I’d brought along and all in all that was probably
a good thing.
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Critics, broken strings and yodeling (open mic #9)
Let me say from the outset that there’s
nothing for music critics on this night, because to criticise and complain is to
completely miss the point. Open mics
should not form part of that overly serious take on music, they should be
celebratory and fun, rather than competitive and fame obsessed.
However, the music critic was with us
on this night, hiding in a bitter corner, watching the proceedings - assessing,
obsessing, judging and evaluating from his own experiences in the music
business .. that everything is shit.
I beg to differ, and believe there was much in the way of great music and performance on
this eclectic night, which was also in support of the Holmfirth Art Week. In fact, there were so many good people wanting to
play, I had to limit everyone to two songs or ten minutes max.
Julian Socha (pictured left) kicked off the night with some incredible guitar picking that was so energetic it came
to an abrupt end five minutes in with a broken string – well, to be fair, it was being tested to the max.
Imagine That, Lucy Roberts and Lawrence Guntert represented the next generation
of musicians playing covers and their own original material.
Tim Taylor gave us looped acoustics,
Petra read her poetry and Dave Cowan brought us comedy. The legend that is Steve Chapman Smith played
hard rocking guitar with gritty vocals, and I was so pleased he’d ventured over
from Wakefield to play for us. Also from
Wakefield we had the upbeat and political poems of Jimmy Andrex, whilst the
return of the vinyl turntable pumped out Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Sonic Youth and many others.
Steve Augarde played some smooth jazz
guitar and vocals. Steve is also a
published author of children’s books and according to his website has also
provided the music for Bump the Elephant.
By the way Steve is running an open mic as part Marsden Jazz Festival
on Friday 11th October at the Liberal Club.
And the place fell into silence, possibly
the most silence there has ever been in Cellar 88, when Satteli (pictured right) filled
the room with haunting yodeling and alpine songs. These chanting melodies, ambient by
their very nature, reverberated through the Holme valleys in a manner akin to how they might work back in Switzerlad and this much appreciated.
Of course, none of the music was good enough for the
critic, who on leaving the night told me that there was nothing for him here and
I wanted to say – open your heart and let it go, the elitism, the always knowing
best, just let it go. No-one here is
chasing the same thing as you have been chasing all your life.
He looked at me and shrugged, then
walked away because critics only ever see the frame game, the endless placing of music into categories and desires.
However, for the none critics among you there
is a great chance to find out more about Swiss Folk Music and yodeling at a
workshop run by the marvelous Satteli on Saturday 16 November at Banana
Music in Holmfirth (see below).
Thursday, 5 September 2013
Echoes in the Cellar (Open Mic #8)
Overhead the albatross
Hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
An echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine.
Deep beneath Cellar 88 is a hidden gem
of a keeping cellar which lends itself superbly to acoustic music. So this month I took the decision to use this
setting for my open mic and provide nothing more than a space in which to enjoy
music among the company of others – not so much an open mic, more an open space. I was knocked out by the result, with a range
of quality performances that entertained and enthralled. This is something we will do again before my
tenure is up at the cellar.
But first of all that reference above,
the lyrics from Echoes by 70’s prog rockers Pink Floyd, and those words
appeared on this night tattooed to the back of a lovely audience member who came along
to listen with friends. It made me
appreciate that the acoustic angle brings in a whole new crowd, people who have
never been to my night before and are switched on to listening or playing
without the aid of ‘electrification’.
There was Jess (pictured right), who played some of her
own songs that had the audience melting in the August warmth. There was Martin (pictured below - people say he looks like
Jesus) who played a song about looking like Jesus in the style of the Bee Gees
(because he also looks like a Bee Gee). This
random excellence went down a storm. And
there was Rich, on his way to work in Spain via New Mill, who played jazz
tinged pieces from the heart.
Fishing for Compliments also made a
welcome return with three country tinged pieces including the very awesome
Murky Waters. Eileen from Fishing for
Compliments has a lovely voice. Mick
and Alan (also in a country vein) provided harmonica, guitar and some fine
harmonies on Constant Sorrow. And there
was heartfelt song writing from Lucy Roberts.
I also have to give a shout out to some
of my wonderful regulars including James, Linda and Andy, Tim, Jim and
Terry. In fact, Tim played a challenging
piece by Steve Howe which takes us back to that 70’s prog rock theme. Steve Howe used to be in the 70’s band
Yes and played intricate and complex pieces because that was what the world was
into in the land before punk rock coming along and sweeping it all away.
The good thing about an acoustic night
is that the audience will generally give the performers the attention they
deserve and the audience here did just that.
In these settings, seasoned performers can enjoy themselves and new
performers can also have a go in a safe environment. Liam joined us to play a song and this was
the first time he’d ever played in public and I very much hoped it wouldn't be
his last because people genuinely enjoyed his contribution.
The next open mic will see a return to ‘electrification’ at Cellar 88 and a
night of collaboration with the Holmfirth Arts Festival on 26 September 2013. There will be music, comedy, theatre spoken
word and art all under one roof - please come down and take part in my ninth
beautiful open mic.
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
The good, the bad and the lyre (Open Mic #7)
When nothing goes to plan, though
everything turns out right, you know the night has gone as it should. Terry from Hemel Hempstead, now living in
Huddersfield, knows the score; he arrived for this special duo and bands night
with an experimental outfit he called The Good, The Bad and the Bastard. I wasn’t sure which one of them was the
bastard, but having acquired the drummer from My Mate Dave (Russell) they
knocked out some Left! Right! Left! Right! and finished with an improvised set on
lyre and bass guitar.
The lyre is a six string instrument stretching
back to Greek classical antiquity and was often used to accompany story
telling. Fast forward to the present and
it was being fed through high end reverb and hit with small sticks to create an
ambient tone. This was another first for
my night and the whole point of these gatherings – expect the unexpected.
The featured act this month being The Chokes (above), a recently formed duo of local lads Dan Gallo and Tom Swales. They play loud, uncompromising and passionate punk rock in a down to earth style. Lad’s Army fills the bar with the stop-start-stop-start of lead guitar and drums as Dan sweats and rocks with an outstanding performance more fitting of a festival main stage than our humble proceedings in humble town. Half way through the set the hot summer night gets too much and Tom throws off his shirt as Dan is dripping with sweat at a pace and volume which may have lost a few people who don’t like their music this loud, but gained plenty of new fans in the process. Let me tell you now, here is the new punk rock and music has a future.
This night was also graced by the
return of the band My Mate Dave from Leeds, playing a mix of their own songs
and covers. Amy the lead singer has a powerful
voice and presence and the drummer is second to none. If any of you pub owners are reading this
blog I thoroughly recommend these guys.
My mate Greg also came down to perform
with his mate Lance, performing as Wing and Prayer, a name I rather like. And we also got a wonderful introduction to
the night from local choir Singing for Fun, organised by Louise from the newly
opened Holmfirth music shop Hot Banana, as well as some superb punk folk tinged
tunes from her partner in crime Steven Whiplash (pictured left).
It was also good to put real faces to
the names of hardworking Wakefield duo Peculiar Blue as I’d heard so many good
things about this pair from my travels around the Northern open mic scene. They didn’t disappoint and played some
wonderful original songs including We All Go Down Together and How Could You
Leave.
There was poetry from Jim, Petra and
Victoria leading us nicely into a random finish and a bit of a jam that
combined kaossilator, lyre and spoken word – a collision of ancient and modern
technologies that probably didn't sound as good as we thought it might at the time,
but that’s what it’s all about after all and if you don’t try these things
you’ll never know. On this theme the
next open mic will be on 29 August 2013 and will be an all acoustic affair
downstairs at Cellar 88 – music without the aid of a PA. So please bring
instruments and performances to suit.
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