THE X FACTOR: LITTLE MIX Vs DAMIEN RICE

So last night Little Mix won the coveted X Factor trophy gaining themselves a record deal and single released in time for the Christmas number one spot. The last few years the singles have been covers which have been, mediocre at best...this year is no different really. DON'T GET ME WRONG I love little mix, and I really wanted them to win, but Damien Rice is one of my favorite artists and you just can't turn a folk song into generic pop, especially when the lyrics are so emotional. That said, I just hope little mix do more pop/rnb songs in the future because I think they could be really fantastic as they can all sing amazingly well!! Come on Little Mix, put your stamp on the business!!

I'll leave you with a video of me and my brother performing Cannonball Live nearly a year ago. Hope you like it! And dont forget to leave your comments on the X factor, little mix, and the cover?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJ6ohWR6Qk

FROM SMALL ACORNS...

Good Evening!

Its kinda late to be posting a new blog post really, but i tend to work better at night (i think its a student thing), so im gunna post it anyway while in bed watching re-runs of jersey shore!

Me and my brother recently formed a band, so i thought for my band of the month, id do a peice on my own band instead of promoting other peoples :)

The band is called 'From Small Acorns,' and there is just the two of us ...

Me (Becky) ... 19 (nearly 20) Law student at Nottingham Law School....plays acoustic guitar Martin DX1, clarinet, and learning piano...reads music to a high standard...interesting fact - i used to windsurf competitively !? :)

Callum ...16, student/apprentice joiner...plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar... competitive canoer on the UK circuit... interesting fact - built his own acoustic guitar (see video below)

How were 'From Small Acorns' formed? I was asked by a friend of our mums to perform at a charity fundrasier in aid of Ashgate hospice/Kimberly Trickett Fund, and i thought, as Cal is better at guitar than me, that it would be a good idea to get him involved to play guitar so i could just concentrate on singing, and so thats what we did. We played a 4 song set list consisting of songs by Guns N Roses, Damien Rice, Oasis and Coldplay, and the set went down fantastically...since then weve been doing more music related projects together!

Your probably also wondering about the name...we were struggling for a name but one morning after one of my first open mics, my mum quoted the old saying 'from small acorns, big trees grow...' and something clicked in my head, and its stuck ever since...it also sounds quite acoustic-y dont you think!?

Im currently doing a lot of gigs in nottingham/derbyshire at the moment so if you live locally pop down...check out our facebook page for more info on the gigs front ( From Small Acorns (Becky Lovatt)) or follow us on twitter : @fromsmallacorn  @beckylovatt @callumlovatt

So yer, theres a little insight into the acorns, i hope you enjoyed it, please feel free to check out the video link to see cals guitar and hear our cover...

Thanks,

Becky (From Small Acorns)

GIG - KIMMYS CHARITY NIGHT, CHESTERFIELD

So, my brother and I teamed up for the night to entertain about 350 people for a charity night in chesterfield. We had a 15min slot in between the full monty (well done guys, takes a lot to do that!), another singer named Danny who was great with his Micheal Buble set, and Donna Ramsdale, who as always, was great!

Its the first time me and my brother have teamed up to do a gig, but i dont think it will be the last! The night went really well, infact i think it was the best it ever went. I remembered all my lyrics, Cal remembered all his intricate solos on guitar, jobs a good 'un as they say.

We performed 4 songs in total, and picked well known songs so people could sing along (we were on at 10.15 so most were drunk enough to join in - youll hear on the videos). The first song we did was Oasis' - Little By Little, which seemed to go down a treat, plenty of people at the bar singing along, made us feel a lot more comfortable that people either appreciated the song, or just wanted to drown us out, not too sure...
The second song was the mighty Coldplays classic 'Yellow,' again, that went down a treat, and it was the first time id got all the words in order!!! Phew! What a time to get it right, when youve got 50 or so people also singing along, who know the words themselves...
The third song was an abolute classic, 'Sweet Child O Mine' by Guns N Roses...the men in the room loved that, as did everyone else, sat or stood around singing along nearly all the way through. You can even hear some of the guys singing along with their own backing vocals...they loved it!
And to finish off we took the tempo down a bit, and performed 'Cannonball' by Damien Rice...Cal learnt this after i pestered him into wanting to sing the song as im a MASSIVE Damien Rice fan, and he did :) so thanks Cal!! The song again, went down a treat and was the perfect mellowed song to end with, one of my favourite songs ever.

Once we'd finished we were greated with applause and handshakes (the drunkeness had kicked in), but people apparently loved it. My mum  was making sure she told everyone whod listen we were her kids, whilst similtaniously pointing out she had no talent apart from making cupcakes.

So thankyous... Thankyou to Tracie Holocuk and Becki Trickett for organising a fantastic night and letting us play, Thankyou to Cal who agreed to help me out, we make a good team! Thankyou to Liam & Claire Britton for recording/taking photos, Thanks to the full monty boys for putting on a great show! Thanks to Donna and Danny for also making it a great night, oh and to my mum for baking cupcakes!

Finally thanks to everyone who came, it was a great night and raised loads and loads of money for ashgate hospice!

www.youtube.com/BEX9637 for the rest of the videos :)