I haven't done a music related blog recently, so here goes. I just wanted to broaden some horizons and show you just how many amazing unsigned bands and artists their are in a cities scene; I'm concentrating on Nottingham for today... Usually you can get into these gigs for as little as £3-£5, and there's always 3-5 acts playing, firstly, that's value for money!! I know a lot of people will say 'yes but, you never know what your going to get' but that's just it. You have to speculate to accumulate right? So just give it a go. It's much better than just having the same night down Ocean or something every Wednesday. Why not just one Wednesday of the month go to a local gig at the pub instead? You're supporting the local music scene AND will have a guaranteed good night out. I've never spoke to anyone who's been to a boring gig in Nottingham, even if it's bad, at least it's a laugh! You'll also find a lot of these musicians could also be comedians!
Enough of a lecture, I'll give you a little run down on some of the amazing acts to check out in Nottingham, if you see these people advertised on a poster, GO DOWN:
1. Nina Smith. Beautiful lady, beautiful voice, beautiful songs. Always has upcoming gigs, I think she's playing later this week at Bodega actually, so go to her facebook and have a look please!
2. The Money. Energetic, fun, catchy, popular with the ladies, you have to see these guys live it's a great atmosphere. Making the move into more dance inspired tracks I believe, check out their song below, and find them on facebook!
3. Harleighblu. Now, 'hands up' I haven't actually been to one of her sets yet, but that will change shortly! One of the Nottingham stars she's absolutely lovely, fun, full of life and into her jazz soul... and now it's coming up to summer, what other music could you need?
4. Richard Howell and his band (they're currently deciding on a name!) I'm awful at stating genres, literally awful, but my brother said they reminded him a bit of Travis, I said they reminded me a bit of Goo Goo Dolls, so, if you like that sort of music, you'll love these guys. Lovely, talented, and heartfelt songs, ones to watch ;) Oh ps, watch out for his song 'sail the sun' ... TDF
5. Cheshire and the Cat. Having only stumbled across these guys a couple of weeks ago after a friend suggested I listen to them, I saw them live last night when they played at the same time as me, and they were just so refreshing. With rap and jazz influences, I knew it would be different, but it just worked. Have a listen to their video below:
6. From Small Acorns - thought I'd do a cheeky plug of my band, ha, shameless! I'll not big us up, just watch the video below and find us on facebook ;)
I will do a few more blogs in the near future just highlighting some more Nottingham talent to look out for. In the mean time, go find these people on facebook, check out their youtube videos, and go and watch some live music. I promise you won't be disappointed!
Well im packing them in now...last night i played a 30 minute set @ the maze in Nottingham as part of the Acoustickle night organised by Parisa Eliyon. If youve ever been to the maze, youll know its fully kitted out for any band and can hold quite a few people. It is available to hire out for gigs etc so if your interested you should check out their website - http://www.themazerocks.com/
Anyway back to the night in hand...Parisa did a fantastic job of turning the Maze (which is a bit like an underground rock venue) into a cute, chilled out venue with her little box of tricks! Fairy lights, flowers and candles all round...so we had the venue, now all we needed was the music...
I was first up (about 8.30pm), and played about 25mins of covers and originals. I started with P!nk - Perfect. This is one of my favourite songs at the moment, and its very recent so i try and get in one which isnt an old classic, i suppose to show im not a one trick pony!! I then went on to do my own track - Runaway, which is pretty self explanatory (you can check it out on my youtube channel BEX9637). I then did a new one - a cover of teenage kicks by the undertones but with a very acoustic twist on it, just to bring the tone down a bit as the first two songs were quite upbeat. I enjoyed doing that one but i dont know if il be doing it again, it wasnt my favourite.
My next two songs were both originals - Alive and November (again both on my youtube channel). Alive is pretty rocky, whereas November is a bit more pop folk in style. November is probably one of my strongest songs, and since Johnny Wright (manager of the Jonas Brothers, Britney, Justin Timberlake, etc) even saw the song on youtube and complimented me on it, iv tended to do that one!! Hey, he knows right!?!
I ended the night with my favourite cover - Feeling Good by Muse. Again i recorded this song recently for youtube :) Its one of my favourite covers to do as the guitar part is so simple, yet i can show off my vocals...
(There will be videos of my last 3 songs in next couple of days when the guy who recorded them puts them up, so i will put those up in a few days).
I only got to see one other act as i had to rush off, but he was definitely worth seeing...Richard Howell. A singer-songwriter with quite a David Grey style of songwriting, but with a bit more upbeat guitar. I'd say a cross between David Grey and the Goo Goo Dolls...both of whom i love so he ticked my boxes. If you ever get a chance to check out this guys set, seriously do, his songs are definitely worth the listen, and he makes the audience feel really comfortable and at ease while your watching him... His songs are brilliant as well, and hes a great guitarist, so if you like good music, youll like this guy!! He has a few songs on youtube that i found so check him out!!
So yer, all in all a great night! I will be going back soon i enjoyed it that much! :)
Thanks to Parisa for letting me play...and the maze team also for holding a great night...
Bex x
<<< PS, do you like the converse!?! my beautiful shoes!
