In his gentle, self-deprecating way, Alton Wahlberg says his songs are seldom happy and frequently depressing. I would argue that he simply tells real-life stories and doesn’t sugar coat them. I came across his music some years ago and have been a fan ever since. An opportunity to cover not one but two back-to-back gigs …
Having mentioned Joe Bonamassa glibly in my review of the debut album by When Rivers Meet (see here) it would be unkind not to mention ‘Royal Tea’, his latest album which he recorded at Abbey Road Studios, a place well known to me such that my phone automatically connects to their WiFi when I’m there …
There is something smugly satisfying about discovering music that you like and then discovering that you are not alone, that other people like it too. In the case of When River Meet, it turns out that quite a lot of people like the sound created by husband and wife duo Aaron and Grace Bond. As …
I went to photograph a gig last night! A real, live, indoor gig with a band, a stage, a lighting rig, a sound desk and a toe tapping, applauding audience. I cannot begin to explain how happy this made me feel. Such was the significance of this gig that the BBC sent an outside broadcast unit …
Norwich based Malaya Blue has a new album out on tomorrow. Its been a long time coming. It has been well worth the wait. ‘Still’ is the result of a collaboration with Dennis Walker – American blues producer, songwriter and bass player extraordinaire, best known for his work with Robert Cray and BB King. This …
Not Quite But Nearly… There are a small group of Eastfolkers who, on Sunday gained unique FolkEast bragging rights. Over pints in the Cobbold Arms or the Halfway House in years to come they will sit and tell tales of FolkEast 2020. Yes, they will say, we were there in 2020, on the Sunday, when …
Grapevine reviewing a movie? Oh how the times are changing. In truth, this is less about the antics of Ms Newton-John and Mr Travolta, and more about the entertainment experience and how the last six months has changed everything we took for granted about having a night out. The organisers of The Drive-In Experience: Out …
Without doubt Snape Maltings is one of Suffolk’s jewels. The buildings, built in the 1840s to malt barley, no longer house maltsters and drying grain, but instead they are home to one of the finest concert halls in the country thanks to the foresight of composer Benjamin Britten. For me however, The Maltings at Snape …
Theatre in the Forest at Home Red Rose Chain Can there be more appropriate opening lines to any play now than “If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it, that surfeiting…” We are bereft of live music at the moment, indeed live entertainment of any sort, which is why Theatre in …
Mercury at Abbey Fields On TV last night it was wall to wall politics so what better place to go for a bit of escapism than a tent in a very wet field in Colchester. For here was told the story of Ella, a young girl hoping for a life, and maybe even love, beyond …
