Upcoming live music gigs I'm looking forward to

Since my last gigs post we heard truly amazing music from Rebecca Loebe and Luke Jackson at Starcross, and from Charlie Dore (with choir!) at Kingskerswell. Don't forget Rachel Ries is performing as Her Crooked Heart in Devon This Saturday (the 27th of May). We will be venturing to Kingsbridge to see her. It's essentially a house concert. Contact wheelwrightmark@gmail.com for more details and to reserve your seat!

June 2nd is our next live music gig and this one will definitely be fab as it is Carrie Elkin, a musician we've known for years, together with her husband, Danny Schmidt, whom we have known even longer. Carrie is touring Europe to promote her new album, The Penny Collector, and we will catch her at The Bellows at The Wheelwright Inn which is in Colyford, East Devon. Carrie has an amazing voice and I am keen to hear her new songs. Tickets for this gig are available directly from the venue.

We have a slightly longer gap before two back-to-back gigs in the east of the country. First we are booked to see Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin at Billericay Library - of all places! Gigs in unusual venues seems to be becoming 'a thing' and this Devon folk duo have five (I think) library gigs coming up across Essex. The Billericay date of The Libraries Tour is in the 16th of June and tickets are available through We Got Tickets. Other dates in the same week are at Maldon, Rayleigh, Harwich and Loughton and those four town name links take you to their respective We Got Tickets pages.

Back to Americana music and I don't know much about Jonathan Byrd, but Dave is keen to see him and that is a good enough recommendation for me! But if you want a second opinion, Rich Warren of WFMT in the Chicago Tribune says that Jonathan is “one of the top 50 songwriters of the last 50 years". The UK tour is from the 12th until the 23rd of June and we are going to the Eye gig on June the 17th at a Community Arts Centre venue called The Bank. Tickets for this gig are available directly from the venue and if you struggled to make the checkout work before, it has now been fixed!

So that's our live entertainment for May and June so far. Let me know if you're coming to any of these too and in the meantime, have a scroll through these South West gig listings from WeGotTickets and see if anything else catches your eye!

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Superb live music at Starcross Church - Rebecca Loebe & Luke Jackson

I love that live music gigs around here are performed in churches, active ones at that. Is it a particularly South Devon thing? The only comparable space I remember from Sussex was All Saints in Lewes, but it doesn't have quite the same vibe. As of Saturday night we have a new venue to add to our music roster, St Paul's in Starcross which is near to Exeter. It's about 40 minutes from Torquay (or closer to 45 if you get turned around in the Starcross one way system when leaving!).

Our gig was a co-hosted event with Alison and Tim of St Paul's running a well-stocked and very reasonably priced bar that, I happily noticed, had a good selection of soft drinks as well as wine and beers. There wasn't any cake - we've been spoilt by Kingskerswell! - but I did spot and buy a half dozen of Charlotte's Eggs for £1. I assume Charlotte is the name of a chicken? The music itself was organised by Greg Hancock of Exeter Secret Gigs. A musician himself, he is also a great Luke Jackson fan and had apparently leapt at the chance to be a part of Luke's current short tour with Austin singer-songwriter, Rebecca Loebe. There's still another six opportunities to see the tour this week and you can find venues and ticket links towards the end of this post, just before the YouTube of their stunning finale to the Starcross gig.

The 'stage' at Starcross 

Both Rebecca and Luke are accomplished singer-songwriters independently and, had we simply heard each of them do their sets we would have gone away happy. However, the four songs they sang together took the gig into a whole other dimension. Those harmonies! Outstanding and particularly gorgeous with the church acoustics. We semi-joked with Rebecca after the gig that they need to record their own Raising Sand-type album together although perhaps their music could be described as closer to that of Civil Wars. Both Dave and I felt very lucky to have stumbled across such talent in such a beautiful intimate venue.

You can catch Rebecca Loebe and Luke Jackson at:
May 2, St Margaret's Hall, Bradford-on-Avon, BUY TICKETS
May 3, Cecil Sharp House, London, BUY TICKETS
May 4, The Hopyard, Forest Row, BUY TICKETS
May 5, The Stables, Milton Keynes, BUY TICKETS
May 6, Tower Of Song, Birmingham, BUY TICKETS
May 7, The Wee Gig, Abington, Lanarkshire, BUY TICKETS

Upcoming gigs and theatre trips

In a complete change of plan, we are now not going to see Ocotillo in Glastonbury on Wednesday although the gig is still happening so if you find yourself nearby, step into the Hawthorns in the evening! Having driven to Bristol and back this weekend, we just couldn't face another four hours in the car! Instead we will be staying very local and strolling to T.O.A.D.S. production of Death In High Heels at The Little Theatre on St Mark's Road in Torquay. We were last there for the excellent comedy One Man Two Guvnors last summer. Now we will see a thriller set in 1930s London. Behind the glamour and gossip of a small Regent Street couture fashion house, secrets and lies are rife, and when a murder happens this fuels more gossip and lies! The play begins tonight, the 24th April and runs all week. Tickets are available online or via the theatre Box Office and we're going on Thursday!

Rebecca Loebe 

Saturday night will find us at Starcross near Exeter to see Austin, Texas, musician Rebecca Loebe alongside young singer-songwriter Luke Jackson who is from Canterbury in Kent. We saw Luke play once before, back in 2012 supporting Paul Brady at Lewes Town Hall (of all places!). Rebecca's music is pretty new to us although we know Austin friends of hers well so we are looking forward to discovering her songs. The Devon gig is at St Paul's Church in Starcross from 7.30pm on Saturday the 29th of April. Tickets are available for £11 online or will be £12 on the door.

You already know from last month's roundup that we're going to see the Hot House Four at Wellies Wine Bar in Torquay on the 4th of May and Charlie Dore at Kingskerswell Parish Church on the 20th of May (more details of these two here). I was also excited to see a Rachel Ries gig briefly advertised for the Crown And Sceptre in Torquay, however sadly due to illness all gigs at this venue are cancelled for the foreseeable future. Rachel Ries, performing as Her Crooked Heart, does have another Devon gig though so we will be venturing to Kingsbridge on the 27th of May to see her. The venue is essentially a house concert and will be held at a barn called The Hatch. Contact wheelwrightmark@gmail.com for more details and to reserve your seat!

So that's our live entertainment for April and May so far. Let me know if you're coming to any of these too and in the meantime, have a scroll through these South West gig listings from WeGotTickets and see if anything else catches your eye!

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Upcoming music gigs I'm eagerly anticipating!

Julian Littman and Charlie Dore 

I've just received my brand new Peter Mulvey album, Are You Listening, which I helped Kickstart back in February. It's fab and you should get yourself a download via Amazon US / Amazon UK!
We've only got another week on mainland Europe before we head back to Devon so are planning our entertainment once we return. Fortunately we've already spotted a half dozen or so appealing gigs during the next three months, some in Devon and some further afield, and I am going to tell you about the April/May trio here.

Charlie Dore is playing at Kingskerswell on the 20th of May. We discovered and I blogged about Kingskerwell Parish Church as a South Devon music venue last summer and I love the space for its wonderful acoustics. It's a bring-your-own-cushion venue with a lovely atmosphere and don't forget your cake money for half time. Having previously heard Charlie play at Hailsham Pavilion, I believe her music will perfectly suit Kingskerswell so this gig should be a real treat.
Charlie will be joined by Julian Littman and supported by Peter James Millson and Totnes Pop Up Choir. Tickets are £13.75 including booking fee and you can Buy Online Here. Check out the rest of the Kingskerswell season too.

I first discovered Kirsty McGee several years ago when I blogged for Theatrical Eastbourne. I love her voice and style. I supported her Those Old Demons Kickstarter too and now we plan to finally actually see her play live! Together with Robert Garson as the duo Ocotillo, Kirsty will be at the Hawthorns Hotel in Glastonbury on the 26th of April. I've tweeted the Hotel to find out how to buy tickets and hope they answer soon!

Thirdly is a band we don't know much about, The Hothouse Four, but they have a regular engagement at a very local-to-us venue, Wellies Of Wellswood. Their next gig is on the 4th May - the night after my birthday. They play Western Swing and American roots music which we both enjoy so we're planning to book a table and enjoy a good meal whilst tapping our toes.

So I have got these three gigs to look forward to when we get home, plus another three in June which I will tell you about closer to the time. In the meantime, have a scroll through these South West listings from WeGotTickets and see what catches your eye!

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Two amazing new music Kickstarter campaigns - Peter Mulvey & Carrie Elkin

Two of my favourite singer-songwriters, Peter Mulvey and Carrie Elkin, emailed a couple of days apart this week to let me know they have launched Kickstarter campaigns for their new albums. Their music is different, but I love them both! I have (hopefully) embedded their Kickstarter videos into this post although they might be a little slow to load. Click through to the campaign pages for more information and to pledge...

Peter Mulvey is raising $17,000 for Are You Listening which he recorded at Ani di Franco's studio in New Orleans. He says "2016 was tough, people. And 2017 is turning out to be tougher. I have been launching little paper boats of whatever art, wit, beauty and tenderness I can muster onto the waters of this life for a long time, and I work to keep the faith that they make a difference. I'm doing my best and I thank you deeply for supporting my efforts."

Are You Listening?

Carrie Elkin has a target of $30,000 for The Penny Collector. This album is named for her father's hobby and it promises to be an emotional work. Carrie says "This year has been a profound one. As some of you may know, I lost my sweet papa 18 months ago. And then I had a baby four months ago. So it’s been a year book-ended by the most intense of human experiences. I wrote most of the songs on this record soon after my dad died, and right when I found out I was pregnant. At this intersection of joy and grief, I locked myself in a cabin in the mountains of New Mexico and wrote these tunes. The coming together of these emotions brought about a visual landscape in the songs that I would not have otherwise been able to write about. It was one of the most beautiful and telling times of my life."

Carrie Elkin | New Solo Record


If you haven't heard Peter's or Carrie's music before I hope these little Kickstarter videos tempt you to listen further. If you're already a fan, please get pledging!

A festival weekend - Broadstock Saturday at Crowhurst

Continuing our run of busy weekends, we are cramming two festivals into this one! Yesterday we were fortunate to have been invited to join our friends Steve and Frances at a fabulous little festival local to their village of Crowhurst, near Hastings in East Sussex. Broadstock Music Festival has been running for several years now, with a brief hiatus last year, and takes place in the beautiful grounds of Broadwood. Limited to just 300 adult tickets, it's a perfect size of music festival for me and its proceeds are reinvested back into the village. There is a camping field, children's activities including a very good face painter, one music stage and two food options - pizza or cupcakes!

Before I mention the music, I will say thank you to

The Pizza Laundry 

everyone who baked cakes and womanned the refreshments stall. I should have taken a photo of the selection early in the day because it was certainly an enticing display! I thought the pizzas were tasty too and was glad to see the van doing a steady trade. If you spot this Pizza Laundry van anywhere, do give them a try! They really do have a wood fired oven in there and I was impressed with our very thin crust red onion, pine nut, mozzarella and basil pizza. I did mean to find out why the Pizza Laundry name, but forgot to go back and read the sign. If anyone knows, please Comment!

The main event for me was, of course, the music and,

Sharpe And Larsson at Broadstock 

although we only stayed until about half past seven rather than until the death at ten, we got talented musicians and a well-thought through variety. I was pleased to finally meet and hear local guitarist Hratch. He and Dave played together in pre-me days and we both loved his set. Entirely new to us were bluesy trio Sharpe And Larsson and this was perfect laid-back music for a sunny festival afternoon! If you liked their sound as much as I did, further dates are on Helen Sharpe's Facebook page and they are playing at a jazz breakfast in Crowhurst sometime in October. I'm not sure if we will be back this way again then or not.

Brief mentions also to two other sets that particularly caught my ear: we only got to hear Son Of Kirk as a duo instead of their usual four piece, but I loved their sound and lyrics and we tracked them down online when we got home to experience the full sound with cello. Love cello! My other favourites were Tunbridge Wells-based Island Cassettes with their fun indie/worldbeat music which reminded me a little of Graceland-era Paul Simon.

Huge thanks to everyone who made this festival happen. I'll finish with a few YouTubes so you can hear the great music too!

Closing the musical circle

Blues skies again after the rain

Dave played guitar regularly at the Six Bells Folk and Blues Club and at White Horse Folk amongst others up until a couple of years ago and it was due to these Sussex folk club gatherings that we initially found each other. At the beginning, I was nervously singing a cappella and Dave is an amazing guitarist so a mutual friend suggested we make sweet music together! I gave up on the singing fairly soon afterwards – too scary! – but some eleven-and-a-half years later, our relationship is still going strong. Awww!

I mention this because were invited to an unusual party yesterday which was also attended by several friends who have been around since ‘the beginning’. The party was unusual for two reasons: firstly because the hosts, our friends Simon and Lesley, rarely give big parties; and secondly because the venue was a dramatic Moroccan-style marquee erected in their paddock. (The ponies were relegated to a corner of their normal space, but didn't seem to mind too much!) For me, the event seemed particularly apt as the closing of a circle, this part of our lives being marked by similar music and company to its inception. We weren’t sure who would be there but as it turned out, we were given the chance to say our goodbyes to people we might not otherwise have seen before we departed. Dave hardly left the stage for the first couple of hours. He was in demand to accompany others and I was so proud seeing and hearing him play.

Dave Greene and Simon Watt playing the marquee