Marnie's Stern's UK tour kicks off 30th May

New York guitar goddess, Marnie Stern will be heading to the UK at the end of May

UK Dates:
Thursday 30th May - Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
Friday 31st May - Sheffield, Queens Social Club
Saturday 1st June - Manchester, Ruby Lounge
Sunday 2nd June - Glasgow, Broadcast
Monday 3rd June - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Tuesday 4th June - Bristol, Louisiana
Wednesday 5th June - London, The Garage
Saturday 29th June - London, Corsica Studios

And you can listen to Marnie in session on Marc Riley's BBC6 Music show on Wednesday 29th May.

The Chronicles of Marnia is out now on Kill Rock Stars.

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Review: AcoustiHOO – S/T

AcoustiHOO – S/T (Red Cedar Records)

Wisconsin four-piece AcoustiHOO (Sue Orfield on saxophone, Lucas Fischer plays guitar and sings, Olaf Lind contributes violin and mandolin and Randy Sinz holds the rhythm together on double bass and sings, too) play a mix of old-school jazz, blues, Klezmer and Americana on their new, self-titled debut record. They’ve been performing together since 2010, playing both covers and original material.

They’ve a talent for both joyous dance music and melancholy material, and it’s the latter that launches the record; “I Can't Shake This Sadness” is beautifully languid, with Orfield’s saxophone leading the way. By contrast, their take on the ‘20s jazz standard “Sweet Georgia Brown” will surely get the most leaden of feet moving and back-ends a-shaking – if you get my drift.

The gentle “Lullaby” relies on Fischer’s acoustic guitar for mellow propulsion and on “Two Fifteen” the combination of Lind’s violin and Orfield’s saxophone is beautifully unhurried. “5am Blues” is perhaps their most conventional song – it’s folk-rock influences and jazz flourishes bring to mind the West Coast boho scene of the early to mid ‘70s, and artists like Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones.

In and around her Chippewa Valley hometown, Orfield is a musician of some repute, and has played with a diverse range of talents, from Bo Diddley and Dizzy Gillespie to Ivan Neville and the Indigo Girls. Although AcoustiHOO aren’t quite as prominent as those artists, these eleven recordings will only add to her reputation.

www.facebook.com/AcoustiHOO

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Tony S.

Elton John to headline new Hyde Park festival

Elton John is to headline a new summer festival celebrating British songwriters in London's Hyde Park.

Former Kinks frontman Ray Davies and Elvis Costello will also perform full sets with their own bands at the 12 July show.

Three other stages will showcase established and younger songwriting talent from the UK and the US.

They include Nick Lowe, founding member of Del Amitri Justin Currie and Lucy Rose.

American singer-songwriter Tift Merrit will play on The Village Hall stage, alongside British band To Kill A King.

Thea Gilmore, Grammy and Golden Globe nominee Scott McFarnon and Olivia Sebastianelli will perform on The Bandstand stage.

Tickets for the festival go on sale on Thursday 23 May.

Sir Elton will also headline this year's Bestival on the Isle of Wight at the start of September.

He will also be the first act to play at the new Leeds Arena on 4 September - his only UK indoor date for the year.

The 65-year-old star has live dates booked across Europe from June 15 until December.

Sir Elton will also be performing a 13-night run in Las Vegas in the autumn.

Source: BBC

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Rachael Sage announces UK tour

Rachael Sage UK Dates:

6/23 Kendal, UK 
Kendal Town Hall, 7:30PM

6/27 Telford, UK 
Oakengates Theatre, 7:30PM

6/28 Cheshire, UK 
Cranage Hall, 7:00PM

6/30 Potters Bar, UK 
Wyllyotts Theatre, 7:00PM

7/1 Cheshire, UK 
Red Lion Disley, 7:00PM

7/3 South Shields, UK 
The Customs House, 7:45PM

7/4 Birmingham, UK 
New Alexandra Theatre, 7:30PM

7/6 Oxfordshire, UK 
Cornbury Festival, 11:00AM

7/9 London, UK 
The Troubadour, 8:00PM

7/1 Lancaster, UK 
Grand Theatre, 7:30PM

7/12 Stamford, UK 
Stamford Corn Exchange, 8:00PM

7/13 Hull, UK 
Hull New Theatre, 7:30PM

7/14 Blackpool, UK 
Viva, 7:30PM

7/18 London, UK 
London FolkFest, (time TBD)

7/19 Croydon, UK 
Fairfield Halls, 8:00PM

7/21 Staffordshire, UK 
L-Fest, 3:30PM

7/25 Bournemouth, UK 
Pier Theatre, 7:30PM

7/26 Harlow, UK 
Harlow Playhouse, 7:30PM

7/27 Harlow, UK 
Harlow Playhouse, 7:30PM

www.sageandsequins.com

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Review: Mike P. Ryan – American Tales

Mike P. Ryan – American Tales (Independent)

Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter Mike P. Ryan is something of a find. His blue-collar narratives are touching and heartfelt, and whether he’s accompanying himself on acoustic guitar or employing various country-roots instruments (pedal steel, fiddle, etc.) to fill out the sound, his songs are always placed centre-stage – which is just where they belong. He’s a consummate storyteller, with arrangements to match, and he delivers his songs in a voice that will remind many of James Taylor. That’s an impressive list of positives, and listening to “American Tales”, it’s just as good in reality as it is on paper.

Ryan’s been playing guitar and writing songs for as long as he can remember, although “American Tales” is his debut recording. I suspect the reason it’s taken him so long to find his way into a studio is that real life has a habit of getting in the way of artistic endeavour. Work and raising his family were priorities, but all his life experiences make him the writer he is today, and throughout this 13-track collection, there’s a feeling that Ryan’s telling stories that he’s witnessed firsthand or heard passed down from friends and relations. It adds considerably to the listening experience, and on songs like the homesick trucker’s lament “Morning Glories” or “A Girl's Gotta Do” he nails his subject matter with subtlety and a warm understanding. My favourite is “Oklahoma Sky”, which features some wonderful playing from Ryan, and is a cleverly constructed paean aimed squarely at his home state.

www.mikepryanmusic.com

www.reverbnation.com/mikepryan

Mike P. Ryan CD Baby Page

Tony S.

David Bowie bassist Trevor Bolder dies

Trevor Bolder, the bassist in David Bowie's legendary 1970s backing band Spiders From Mars, has died from cancer at the age of 62.

Rock band Uriah Heep, whom Bolder joined in 1976, announced the death of "a world-class bass player" and "world-class friend" on their website.

He stopped playing with the band a few months ago because of poor health.

Bolder appeared on classic Bowie albums including The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

"Trevor was an all-time great, one of the outstanding musicians of his generation and one of the finest and most influential bass players that Britain ever produced," Uriah Heep said in a statement.

The death comes a few weeks after the 20th anniversary of the death of guitarist Mick Ronson, another of the Spiders From Mars.

Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, who presented a BBC Radio 2 documentary about Ronson, paid tribute to Bolder on Twitter, writing: "RIP another Spider from Mars, a kind and decent man, Trevor Bolder. Love and peace to his family."

Source: BBC

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Russia: Azerbaijan's Eurovision snub 'outrageous'

Russia's Dina Garipova finished fifth overall

Russia's foreign minister has called Azerbaijan's failure to award any points to Russia's entry in the Eurovision song contest "outrageous".

Sergei Lavrov said the points had been "stolen" from Russia's Dina Garipova and "this outrageous action will not remain without a response".

Azerbaijan says it cannot explain how it awarded no points to Russia, when Garipova came second in its phone poll.

Russian voters awarded the maximum 12 points to Azerbaijan's Farid Mammadov.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has ordered an inquiry into how its votes for Russia apparently went missing.

And the country's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, sitting next to Mr Lavrov at a press conference in Moscow, called it a "detective story".

He said records from all three of Azerbaijan's mobile phone operators show that Azeris awarded Ukraine's entry the most votes, followed by Russia's.

"Where did the votes go? How did they disappear? This, of course, is a question for our public television," he said.

National jury

Mr Lavrov said he and his counterpart had agreed they should take a "unified course of action" once the reasons for the discrepancy became clear.

A spokesman for the European Broadcasting Union, which runs the competition, said the phone vote was not definitive. A national jury in each country also contributes 50% of the final decision, the Associated Press reports.

Despite the high-level political interest, 10 points for second place from Azerbaijan would not have made any difference to Garipova's fifth place, since she finished 17 points behind Norway.

Azerbaijan, which hosted last year's contest, has traditionally tried to maintain good relations with Moscow though there have been tensions over energy in the past.

Meanwhile, the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has weighed in with his own accusations. Suspicious that the Belarusian singer did not receive a single point from Russia, he has claimed that the final was falsified.

Source: BBC

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Review: Humphrey–McKeown – On My Way Home

Humphrey–McKeown – On My Way Home (HM-Music)

Humphrey–McKeown is the singer-songwriter duo of Heather Humphrey and Tom McKeown. Both artists are multi-instrumentalists and they’ve been performing together since 2006. Humphrey is a first-rate vocalist with roots in musical theatre, and McKeown played in hard rock band Haze and prog-rockers Damascus, as well as obtaining a wealth of studio experience as a session musician and singer.

It’s an interesting blend of sounds and styles, and it’s to their credit that not only do they pull it off, they actually combine to do something new and quite intriguing. They set out their stall straight away with “Oh, What Kind of Love”; McKeown’s acoustic guitar is perfectly weighted, driving the song along (within a full band setting), whilst simultaneously leaving lots of room for the song. For the most part they sing in sync, and both have distinctive styles that come together beautifully, Equally, when one or the other takes lead, they’re just as imposing.

At nearly an hour, it’s a lengthy album, but one that’s easy to live with. Great tunes appear to come naturally to them, and their songs invariably come loaded with plentiful hooks and the kind of choruses that stick around. There’s variety too, from the classic folk-rock of “Chandler's Crossing”, the retro Brill Building poptones of “Page One” to the timeless country picking that underpins “A Misfit”. Yet, thanks to their excellent vocals, the album remains resolutely and consistently their own, and does all that’s required to potentially earn a considerable audience and much radio play. Fingers crossed it happens for them.

www.hm-music.com

www.facebook.com/HumphreyMcKeown

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Phil S.

Tonight at The Musician: Widowspeak

Magic Teapot presents...

Widowspeak

Tuesday 21^st May

£9adv £11door

plus Nadine Shah and Jason Smith

www.facebook.com/widowspeakband

www.magic-teapot.co.uk

Widowspeak is an American band comprised of Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas, known for its dreamy, western-tinged take on rock and roll. The outfit formed in 2010 and released two singles in 2011 (Harsh Realm, Gun Shy) followed by a debut album (self-titled) in the summer of that year, all on Brooklyn label Captured Tracks.

Widowspeak have been praised for their reverential spaciousness, Hamilton’s haunting voice, and Thomas’s spindly, Morricone-esque guitar lines; both drawing on 1950's pop ballads and 1970's psych, creating languid call-and-response melodies. The band have toured extensively, wearing in their warm, nostalgic sound.

Remember; always check with the venue before travelling:

www.themusicianpub.co.uk

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Justin Rowe book art opens British Academy Literature Week

 Mr. Rowe uses a small scalpel to create his sculptures

Unwanted books consigned to the shelves of charity shops have been rescued by a Cambridge bookseller and turned into works of art for a literature festival.

Justin Rowe started carving up the pages of old books as a hobby in 2010, using a small rotating-bladed scalpel.

Some of his art is now taking centre stage at the British Academy's free literature week celebrations in London.

Mr. Rowe "lifts" illustrations from "junk books" to create scenes and illuminated installations.

His intricate hobby began when he wanted to create a Christmas window display for the Cambridge University Press bookshop where he works as a senior bookseller.

'Bizarre imagination'

"My wife saw something about books being turned into art, and I thought, 'That looks a bit difficult, but I'll give it a go.'"

Mr. Rowe uses everyday craft shop implements and scours second-hand shops for the books.

"I never use anything that has any kind of value. This really is art made out of other people's junk," he said.

Although Mr. Rowe attended art college, he studied video art and said he had never tried sculpting before.

The inspiration comes either from illustrations within the books - where Mr. Rowe cuts and lifts them into 3D scenes - or "from my own sometimes bizarre imagination", he said.

They take anywhere from a few hours to a month to create, and he admitted his wife was now beginning to comment on the numbers of books and pages littering the house.

Some of his artwork is now on show as part of the London Academy's celebrations of literature.

Mr. Rowe's Turning the Page exhibition includes a one-off installation created for the academy from the pages of one book, with 3D characters at the foot and birds flying out of the top.

The British Academy's literature events are taking place until 24 May.

Source: BBC

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Oxford's Ashmolean museum acquires Millais John Ruskin portrait

A celebrated Pre-Raphaelite painting that led to the marriage breakdown of its famous Victorian sitter has been acquired by an Oxford museum.

The portrait of art critic and poet John Ruskin by John Everett Millais has been allocated to the Ashmolean.

Ruskin and Millais were friends but the painter fell in love with Ruskin's wife when he began the portrait in 1853.

The museum said it was "one of the most important Pre-Raphaelite paintings" that had remained in private ownership.

'Most hateful task'

The portrait was started during a group holiday in Glen Finglas, a remote area of The Trossachs, north of Glasgow.

A museum spokesman said: "It was during this holiday that Millais fell in love with Effie Ruskin, setting in motion the events which would break the Ruskins' marriage."

According to the museum Millais had declared finishing the picture had become "the most hateful task I have ever had to perform".

The Ruskins' marriage was annulled in July 1854 and a year later Millais married Effie.

In 1871, Ruskin gave the portrait to his friend Henry Wentworth Acland.

It hung in his house in Oxford and remained in the family until sold by his descendants at Christie's in 1965, when it was bought by the late owner.

Professor Christopher Brown, Ashmolean director, called the painting "extraordinary".

He added: "The portrait is of supreme importance for the study of 19th Century British art and it will be shown with the museum's world-renowned Pre-Raphaelite collection."

The picture has been on loan to the Ashmolean since January 2012 but was allocated to the museum by Arts Council England under the Acceptance in Lieu of Inheritance scheme.

John Everett Millais

Born in 1829, Millais was a pioneering British painter

A child prodigy, at 11 he was the youngest ever student to enter the prestigious Royal Academy Schools

He met William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti here, and formed the Pre-Raphaelites

They rejected High Renaissance artists such as Raphael, preferring earlier artists like Botticelli

Millais' most famous works include Christ In The House Of His Parents, The Princes In The Tower, and Ophelia

Source: BBC

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