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Music PREVIEWS The Civil Wars Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thursday 8 <strong>Nov</strong>ember Spellbinding singer-songwriters Joy Williams and John Paul White are fairly new to the game of being, er, spellbinding singer-songwriters, but they’ve wasted no time in creating a great big splash in the rough, tough world of the music industry. The talented USborn pair have bagged not only one but two coveted Grammy Awards, picking up the <strong>2012</strong> gongs for Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Debut album Barton Hollow has garnered plenty of praise, and with Joy and John’s stated interest being in writing and performing songs about ‘the good, the bad and the ugly of relationships’, it looks like the duo have got more than enough left in their locker to ensure that they’ll continue to cause a significant stir in the months and years ahead. Steel Panther Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, Tues 6 <strong>Nov</strong>ember Profane and humorous lyrics are the name of the game as far as Steel Panther are concerned, although they’re pretty heavily into presenting exaggerated on-stage personas too, reimagining and parodying the glam metal music and lifestyle of the 1980s. The band hails from Los Angeles and, at the time of writing, have released three albums. Megson The Hive, Shrewsbury, Sun 11 <strong>Nov</strong>ember Since releasing first album <strong>On</strong> The Side in 2004, husband-and-wife team Stu and Debbie Hanna have gone on to develop an enviable reputation on the English folk music circuit. The duo have been hailed as both fresh and innovative (a description which is hardly surprising given that Debbie is classically trained and Stu’s a former punk!) and specialise in self-composed melodies which bring together intimate harmony singing and multi-instrumental acoustic playing. Marilyn Manson National Indoor Arena, Thurs 29 <strong>Nov</strong>ember A double dose of shock rock is on the menu when the self-proclaimed God Of F*** joins forces with Rob Zombie for this Midlands gig. Christened with the far-from-shock-rock name of Brian, Marilyn Manson’s name-change saw him juxtaposing the names of 1960s American cultural icons Marilyn Monroe and serial killer Charles Manson. He also decided to juxtapose outrageous visual and vocal styles, his celebrity then being further enhanced by his penchant for controversial lyrics (not to mention by the aforementioned decision to dub himself the God Of F***, a title that’s always likely to cause a bit of a stir!). Trampled By Turtles Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Sunday 18 <strong>Nov</strong>ember Hailing from Duluth, Minnesota, this indie folk band is most famous for both their fast-paced songs and plaintive ballads. Notorious for playing high-energy concerts, they’ve cited Townes Van Zant, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Ralph Stanley as inspirations. The multi-instrumentalists’ genre-defying songs explore love, life and the everyday, and feature both old-time and orchestral harmonies, as well as plenty of banjo frolics. Following on from a summer show at Lollapalooza, they appear in Birmingham as part of their first ever UK and Ireland tour. Spector The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent, Sat 3 <strong>Nov</strong>ember; HMV Institute, Birmingham, Wed 7 <strong>Nov</strong>ember; Kasbah, Coventry, Sat 15 December London-formed five-piece indie rock band Spector have been described as "somewhere between Roxy Music and the Strokes, The Killers and Kanye West, Pulp and Frank Sinatra". It’s also been said that they’re "reminiscent of The Walkmen mainlined into The Killers’ chugga-train drive". The band's debut album, Enjoy It While It Lasts, reached number twelve in the UK albums chart, going to number one on the Official Record Store Chart during the week of its release. Yashin The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton, Thurs 15 <strong>Nov</strong>ember When school friends Paul Travers (guitarist) and Andrew McShane (bassist) discovered that they had similar music tastes to Andrew’s university pal Michael Rice (vocalist), it seemed sensible for the three of them to think about forming a band. Drummer David Beaton was added to the musical mix and Glaswegian post-hardcore band Yashin was formed. The boys quickly built up a considerable following, thanks in the main to their time on tour with fellow Scottish band Flood Of Red, and followed up with two EPs in 2008 - Pay To Play and Miles Away But Getting Closer. Rice opted out in the autumn of that year, and was replaced by Harry Radford and Kevin Miles, after which the group released its debut album Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them. Dreadzone The Robin, Bilston, Fri 23 <strong>Nov</strong>ember Presenting an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, techno, folk and rock music, Dreadzone formed in 1993, during their early years employing backing vocalists who included Melanie Blatt, Denise van Outen and Alison Goldfrapp. Their second album, 1994’s Second Light, was championed by the legendary John Peel, who cited it as one of his favourite albums of all time. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 17