ofhm47t

PREVIEW
A Blues Taster at The Fold
The Fold, Bransford|Sat March 7th
The Fold has been hosting a 1 day Blues Festival for 7 years
now and this has become a firmly established favourite for
music lovers. With attendance numbers swelling to 500 in
recent years, the site has the added bonus of being covered
should the weather turn bad. This year’s line up is impressive,
with a mix of styles plucked from the capacious blues basket.
Jack Blackman brings the country side of blues, whilst King
Biscuit Boys bring harmonica and guitar together in Chicago
Blues fashion. A US import in foot stomping raw edged roots
blues; Swampcandy bring their double bass and kick drum to
drive along the rhythm, as their steel resonator gives voice to
slide. More stupendous harp playing will come from Will
'Harmonica' Wilde, who has featured in UK Blues Awards for
the last 2 years, and back from the '70's Slack Alice will be at
their entertaining best. Chris Hall and The Louisiana Swamp
Band are planning a hoedown and more stomping, with their
Cajun-New Orleans blues.
And so on March 7th, there is an opportunity to sample an
evening of blues, as a foretaste of the main fest, in the
company of The Blues Duo, with their distinctive take on
Chicago, Maxwell Street Blues. A great night is guaranteed
with Tommy Allen and Johnny Hewitt shaking the ageing
timbers of the hop barn: Johnny will be blowing a storming
harp, as Tommy plays his battered Fender, with a kick drum at
his feet. Tickets are £7 in advance or £9 on the night, with the
added bonus of a special price for the Blues Festival advance
tickets, at only £10 a head.
All this and the delightful food, wines and ales always
available at The Fold, make this a must go event.
Artrix in March
Three Slap Mag picks from the ever excellent Artrix in
Bromsgrove March events calendar:-
Firstly on Sat 14th March is a rare chance to see multiinstrumental
wizard Phil Beer and his band. As one half of
Show of Hands, Phil has a well earned reputation for his
impressive musical skills which has led him to famously
guesting on The Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels album and also
the Poetic Justice album alongside Steve Harley.
Phil’s hectic schedule has prevented him from getting his
band back together until now, so make sure you take this
opportunity to catch Phil and cohorts who will be showcasing
their new live album. The show starts at 8pm and tickets cost
£16 (£15)
Our 2nd choice is Eddi Reader who plays Artrix on Sun
22nd March and is of course best known for being in the
short-lived but fondly remembered Fairground Attraction,
who enjoyed a number one hit with ‘Perfect’.
40 SLAP MARCH
Since then Eddi has
forged a successful solo
career, demonstrating
her incredible ability to
assimilate different
music styles and
making them very much
her own. Every song
whether traditional or
contemporary is
brought to life with a
unique depth and
quality of emotional
performance, which is
Eddi’s hallmark.
Tickets for this special artist are £22.50 and doors open at
7.30pm.
Next up we want to give a shout-out and some love to a
continuing local event close to our Slap hearts; namely BBC
Introducing in Hereford and Worcester. Andrew Marston
and co have been taking their show on the road since 2011 to
showcase the very best of upcoming musical talent in the two
counties.
Their mission is and has been to support unsigned,
undiscovered and under-the-radar artists, so be assured you
will be entertained by some of the hottest acts in town as this
free session captures it all live on tape.
Did we mention it was FREE entry?? Definitely an event
which deserves every music lovers support. BBC Introducing
in Hereford and Worcester is at Artrix on Sunday 29th March