January 22nd at The Yardbird

I'm performing at The Yardbird on Sunday the 22nd of January as part of an event organised by Birmingham Promoters. Also on the bill are;

Bowen & The Tide

Regal

Velvet Riot

Jack The Biscuit

Louise Petit

The gig is free entry and starts at 6.30pm. My stage time is 7.15pm

Paradise Place
Birmingham
B3 3HJ

Cattle and Cane

On Wednesday the 5th of October I was thrilled to support Cattle and Cane at The Yardbird. Since offered the gig about a month ago I had been listening to tracks from their début EP Sold My Soul and previews of tunes from the new, self titled record. Hearing the band live only served to highlight how excellent these songs are and what a fabulous band they are. Great musicianship, gorgeous harmonies and very moving songs, what else could you ask for?

They were also a lovely group of people and very kindly joined me for this photograph...


Find Cattle and Cane here
https://www.facebook.com/cattleandcane
or here
http://cattleandcanemusic.tumblr.com/

Cattle and Cane support show

On Wednesday the 5th of October I will be supporting Cattle and Cane at The Yardbird. Here's the band's bio,

Cattle & Cane are a real family affair, with several members of the prodigious Hammill brood at the helm...Their local success was compounded by a storming appearance at Scotland's biggest music festival, T In The Park, performing on the BBC Introducing Stage which is nationally renowned as the music industry's forefront of exposing the best emerging music from all four corners of the United Kingdom...their music is indelibly marked by a sepia-tinted, timeless quality - that could just as easily have emerged from pre-war America as post-millenium Teesside

You can see videos of them performing at T in the Park on this BBC website

Here's the excellent promo video for Sold My Soul

As if playing along side such a great band wasn't enough, I'll also have chance to catch up with my old friend Simon Davies when he plays as part of the wonderful Chris Tye Band and Matty Pinfield is doing a DJ set.

The show is free entry and starts at about 7pm. Why not add yourself to guestlist of this Facebook event

The Yardbird, Birmingham's wonderful Jazz Club, is becoming something of a home from home. I'm playing pretty often on the Sunday evening event, Free Love Club, hosted by the rather lovely David Timothy. On the 14th of August I performed solo in an early evening slot which was good fun due to a nice crowd, including a family of tourists soaking up a bit of Brummie Culture. It was following this gig that I took a look at the recently damaged shops in New Street.

The following week, the 21st, David invited The Robert Lane Band to play a later slot. I was joined by Mick Jeynes on Bass, Matty Pinfield on Drums and for a couple of songs the Violin of Lucy Phillips. We went on around 9.30pm and were thrilled to play to a large and enthusiastic crowd. It was particularly exciting to play all the tunes from the upcoming EP, the first time some of them had been performed at a gig. There is always a great ambience at the Yardbird and this gig seemed to have a particularly good feel. It was a busy night and I met a few cool people before and after our set. Genuine music fans and great characters.

In the coming weeks I will be back at the Yardbird both solo and with the band. I'm also playing a Wednesday night gig in October supporting the excellent Cattle and Cane. There will be more details about these gigs on the blog soon.

Culture in Brum

My exploration of cultural things in my home city started on the afternoon of Sunday the 8th of August when I visited the Ikon Gallery. I was rather taken with the exhibition currently on at the Ikon, This Could Happen To You: Ikon in the 1970s, a collection of art work from the decade that the Ikon grew from a glass kiosk in the bullring to a shop front in the Palisades.

I've never been to the Ikon before, in fact my only association with the place in the past is limited to an unsuccessful job application as a student. I liked the gallery a lot, it was a good size for some laid back art looking at. On the way to the Ikon I also popped my head inside the gallery at the ICC which currently has some paintings by Bob Dylan. This gallery is a lot of fun because the paintings are for sale, and so you can see how much people spend on this sort of thing .

Next up I strolled through the city centre and was surprised and impressed to see three great busking acts, including a lovely jazz guitarist and a gypsy jazz Django Reinhardt type trio. I noticed that The Staffordshire Hoard was once again on display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The large crowds that flocked to the hoard when it was on temporary display shortly after it was found have happily gone and I was able to enjoy the unbelievably delicate and beautiful pieces in relative solitude. Like everyone I was very impressed with the intricate work that had gone into the hoard, and it made me smile to see some pieces had little signs by them explaining cheerfully that no one is really sure what they are.


I finished off my cultural Sunday with a visit to the Yardbird Jazz Club, where my friend Brains for Breakfast was playing a set at The Free Love Club. Mr Breakfast played a great set and the two of us had a good time enjoying the many wonderful acts that played and meeting some cool people.

So Brum impressed me on this occasion, and I recommend each of the places I visited. I'll be back to each of them because one of the great things about all of them is that they constantly have new exhibits and work to share.

The Yardbird

This Sunday, March 28th, I'm performing at The Yardbird in Birmingham city centre.

This lovely little venue is a one of the best around, right in the middle of Birmingham (Paradise Place, by Centenary Square, Broad Street, Hall of memory, the Library and The Rep etc)

The gig is free in, and if this Facebook Event page is any indication it's looking like its going to be a very busy gig indeed...

I Should be on around 4.15pm

More info on the Live page.