Siobhan Wilson's 'There are No Saints'

Rolling Stone review – ‘One of the most stunning collections of songs to be released in a long time.’

Siobhan releases her second album 2017, 'There are No Saints' to top reviews.

I’ve heard Siobhan Wilson at two vastly different – but equally perfect and apt settings – the first at the Speigel tent at EIBF (Edinburgh book festival) and the second under colourful and hippy-like décor at Mugstock festival.

She appears a child of nature with a captivating and engrossing magical voice. Her songs on this album area address issues such as loss, morality and faith. While producer McGory gives space and lightness to the overall sound. Highly recommended. 

Siobhan Wilson is from Moray, spent five years busking at open mics in Paris and is now studying composition at the RSC. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/siobhanwilson
https://www.amazon.co.uk/There-Are-Saints-Siobhan-Wilson/dp/B071DR94D4

Rab Noakes performs a home gig!

This was a relaxed and informal gathering for Rab to perform in and it was fun to have a chat.  The conservatory was set with chairs for the 30 or so people invited for this special evening.

We had time to chat with Rab before his set and he clearly enjoyed the more social setting. He said he sang song interpretations , rather than cover version.. I asked him about his musical influences and how he mixes both a Scottish and American sound. He said, like Dylan he grew up listening to the radio and to musicians such as Buddy Holly, Billy Fury and to 20^th century skiffle.

He said his SONGWRITING was an organic process and that no two songs came in the same way. He said sometimes the melody and idea came first, or playing a guitar riff.

*For his first set he sang songs from his new album and some of his most popular songs.

 SONGS: Moving On, out of Sight, I’m Walking here. No More Time, Moonlight and Gold, When one dog barks at the shadow, Most dogs bark at the sound, Branch, It happened All the Same, Mississippi.

*For the second half Rab performed some Americana songs

 SONGS: Don’t say money doesn’t matter, Roll on Saturday, Lonely by Twilight, Jackson Greyhound, Where Dead Voices Gather, Waters my Friend, One More Shavin Haircut, Travelling Light, Slippin Away

One song spoke of the opportunities come your way – grab them.

Rab’s partner told me about his submitting songs for the project ‘SCOTLAND SINGS’.

Blue Rose Code at Milngavie folk club

A Restless torn soul

Scottish singer songwriter, Ross Wilson known as Blue rose Code, performed to a packed sold out 2 nights at Milngavie folk club.

Wilson launched full on into his set with an impressive folk /blues voice and guitar.

His songs included Westeros, Kiss You goodbye, Fear of Freedom along the west coast, Lord I am Grateful, In the Morning (intense and powerful), Rebecca O, Whitechapel, Edina.
And for an encore with Wilson on piano, a tear jerker of a song with Jill Jackson on backing vocals, Nashville Blue, ‘I don’t know how to be in love .‘

He plays folk and old style blues - driven by those moving rhythms and inspired by the likes of blues guitarist John Martyn. Tellingly Wilson has recorded and toured with renowned bassist and also Martyn’s double bass player, Danny Thompson.

His third album 'THE BIRD IS ON THE WING' was released 2016, to praise from both the industry and from fans.

Vulnerable and open-hearted, he sings with a broken heart and one that fights back. Following in the footsteps of greats such as Van Morrison who fused to great affect folk roots and American blues and jazz.

And yes, when I leave the concert his songs are implanted in my head. BIG FAN!

Shades of John Martyn certainly.  I hope he takes a well earned break too from his busy tour, to recharge those batteries.

The Ballads Of Peckham Rye, Blue Rose Code’s second record was nominated for the Scottish Album Of The Year Awards (SAY) in 2014  - musicians Danny Thompson, Karine Polwart, John Wetton, Aidan O’Rourke and Kathryn Williams. 

'GRATEFUL', the first single from the album was released 2015 and was playlisted on BBC Radio Scotland for a full five weeks. http://www.bluerosecode.com/

Praise has come from A-lister Scottish actor Ewan McGregor. Ewan explained, “My uncle Denis Lawson, (star of Local Hero) gave me a copy of The Ballads Of Peckham Rye, it’s beautiful and I can’t stop listening to it.”

This was a 'two for the price of one' concert with the personable, country voice of Jill Jackson supporting, with excellent songs and a top cover of Carole King's "Will You Still Love me Tomorrow".  She was formerly with the band the Chaplins. 

Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse rocked the SECC

His father was a writer and he told Neil – ‘Write every day, you never know what will come out.’
Young is a kicks ass, no holes barred, tells it like it is singer songwriter. He has travelled along many long highways, sometimes in vintage cars, and he remembers which car he was driving to record each of his albums. Neil left Canada in his early twenties to find that LA sound. He had already met Steven Stills.   

The opening salvo for the SECC concert was full of colour and drama and set a scene that forecast a quality concert; when men in white coats assembled the stage with very large speakers and a solo microphone and finished with pipers playing Flower of Scotland. Young enjoys staging and film and for each of his tours chooses a theatrical scene.
From the start Young, guitarist Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro and bassist Billy Talbot were hunched together in a communal heavy guitar rock. The Crazy Horse players sound is strongly guitar based and they performed some overly long tracks on this Alchemy Tour. 

Young performed new material such as ‘Walk Like a Giant’ from his latest album Psychedelic Pill - which was 20 minutes long and was played like a storm cloud full of charged disturbed energy, along with the added drama of special effects and the song finished with a releasing rain. .
Well received songs were Cinnamon Girl (1969) and long time favourite Heart of Gold, when Young took to the stage with only an acoustic guitar. This went down particularly well with the large SECC audience but was really the first opportunity to sing along or to relive memories. Then he sang a sensitive version of Dylan’s Blowin in the Wind. Young enjoys older instruments of character and he took to a honky tonk piano to sing his lovely new song Singer Without A Song. After this too short interlude it was back to the Crazy Horse rock. The band closed the set with the thunderous guitars of ‘Hey Hey My My’. 

There was a lot of synergy and energy in the bands playing. I read that when Neil was playing guitar with his band Buffalo Springfield, a reviewer noted his guitar playing had a special charge and flow to it. He took this to heart with his future music and live playing. 

American icon Young has a distinctive tenor voice and his back catalogue of songs includes some of the most memorable songs from the early 70s. I was disappointed not to hear After the Gold Rush and Helpless. For me it is always about the song. When Young has an array of songs to choose from, I’m not sure I understand the one token classic. I guess it depends what we expect of our musicals heroes.
Set List: Love and Only Love, Powderfinger, Walk Like a Giant, Ramada Inn, Hole in the Sky, Heart of Gold, Blowin In the Wind, Singer Without a Song, Mr Soul, Cinnamon Girl, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Fuckin Up, Hey Hey my My.

It is good he is still rocking in the free world, and I understand Neil wants to keep things fresh and moving on, but concerts by other living legend veterans of the 70s have their back catalogue of songs as the back bone of the gig, with newer material interspersed over them. Some of the band’s material was limited and repetitive. Sorry Neil!

Young on his band Crazy Horse – “We want to show our audience who we are. It is a very special thing we have, the way we play off of one another, the real deal. But it all comes from the songs, the images in our minds and hearts, the lyrics and the way they resonate. That is the fuel in the band. That is what will make the music relevant.”  

Some of his best loved songs – Heart of Gold, Helpless, After the Goldrush, Living in the Free World, Old Man.

I have recently been reading Neil Young’s autobiography Waging Heavy Peace which is a great read and he is an engaging and colourful character. 
Some Quotes – ‘In my life I've had various health threats, polio, seizures, a brain aneurism. None of these things has really changed me much, although it is hard to say for sure. These are vents that are part of my life, they make me who I am. I am thankful for them. They are scary.’ 

‘It is lonely job out there performing. I like it when the sound is right and the audience is into it and the music is relevant. If one of those elements is missing you are screwed. You are killing yourself slowly.  You need all three elements.’

 

Young is known for his clawhammer acoustic guitar playing and for music that is sometimes ragged and sometimes melodic.  Best known for folk and country rock and electric hard rock with his band Crazy Horse.  Young is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and the welfare of small farmers, having co-founded Farm Aid in 1985.

*I was excited for taking photos at the gig – but these days many American artists are severely limiting access for the photographers. The concert was being filmed also but not with cameras on a moving track. We were limited to the side of the pit behind a red line. On top of this Neil’s face was half shaded with his hat and surprisingly the light was poor quality too. A concern for photography is that filming is taking over and stills are being used yet how creative is the filming. If I look at the best quality photography they far outshine grab stills.
 

Emeli Sande Oran Mor 2007

I first took images of Emeli (then Adele) at her EP launch gig at Glasgow's Oran Mor venue. Emily was in the same medical course as my daughter then and she usually won the talent show at her uni course each year. 

She had an accomplished energetic rock soul band with her and performed a few upbeat songs. Then she took to the piano on the left of the stage and sang some Nina Simone songs. She had big hair back then!  She showed even then her unique passion in her voice. She had three backing singers too which surely showed how seriously she was being taken in 2007 by the industry.

I started this blog in 2007 while I wasn’t taking the blog as seriously then. Little did I know!. and if I might have imagined big things lay ahead. We all thought her voice was strong but it is impossible to be sure about anything in this fickle music business. What I hadn’t figured on was her drive and commitment which are certainly key ingredients.

I posted the photos from the gig and her PR contacted me about photos for her Aberdeen gig flyers and posters. I met her PR guy at a few events he had me along to shoot at.

Her manager phoned me about photos from London, which was really very exciting.  I started to pursue my music photography seriously in 2007 after I got some fun shots at a few gigs in 2006 with a small digital, and I purchased a SLR camera.  

Over this time she was very busy working on her uni course during the week and travelling to London on weekends to write songs and work on her music. She had a few hit songs – one with Chipmunk and another with Wiley.

Then in 2011 she played King Tuts…everything was being carefully planned. I met Emeli at her sound check there and she kindly signed some prints for me. 

At King Tuts she said she wanted to do "soul with a rocky edge." She is genuine and sincere and she appeared incredibly motivated. She sings of the wonder and beauty within all of us. I love the positive and true vibes of her music. She is excellent live and her voice has a moving resonance.

I believe that the successful artist have a purpose in their art – a message they need to convey and that they believe is important.

In July 2012 Sande performed at the London opening and closing ceremonies.This May 2013 Emeli won two prizes at this year's Ivor Novello songwriting awards for her hit song Next To Me as best song music and lyrics, and also most performed work. Her album Our Version of Events beat a record set by The Beatles for the most consecutive weeks spent in the UK's Top 10 by a debut album. I’m so happy for all her successes. 

We all left the Oran Mor (and the Albert Hall all those years later!) full of that feel good energy she exudes on stage.  

I look forward to the next chapter!

Viking Galaxy rocked Bannermans

On March 30^th VG played their first gig this year for Dougie's birthday. Bannermans is a cloistered stone venue directly down in the Cowgate from Edinburgh’s High Street and proved a intense venue for new bands. 

Lead by the tall and charismatic William Hill on lead vocals, energetic Matt Brown on keys, full of character Mike Parkin on guitar, Ross Keightley providing strong bass lines, and new drummer Alasdair Gunn playing tight thundering drums.

In the summer they recorded their debut album First Contact. They performed songs form the album – Raid & Pillage; Sickle of Hate; Galactic Plunder; Lost Forever’ Shaft of Agony’ Hall the Slain; Space Chariots.

On 20th April Viking Galaxy play their debut Album launch gig at Love Music Glasgow.  http://www.lovemusicglasgow.com/

While Viking Galaxy list themselves as a metal music band they are also influenced by 70s soul and by bands such as Mastodon and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.  https://www.facebook.com/vikinggalaxy

NME Awards tour Glasgow O2

 

The tour was headlined by Mercury nominated Django Django, who met at Edinburgh Art college and whose debut album has received good reviews. The band had an energetic electronic keyboard player who played creatively and the band offer a new sound. 

Palma Violets had charisma and are being hyped extensively in NME. Miles Kane proved a stage veteran and clad in buttoned up leather he had good banter with the crowd were well up for his set! Kanes songs have catchy bass rhythms.    

Emeli Sande at Royal Albert Hall

Some days are ordinary grey days, but yesterday was an extraordinary day.

There was a glorious blue sky and those small fluffy white clouds as I headed to South Kensington via bus and tube and for a late lunch at the V & A café, where the pianist played under the ornate Victorian rooftops. 

2012 has been a big year for Sande, not only did she get married, her debut album Our Version of Events was the top selling album and went triple platinum in the UK. She has a glowing warm stage presence with her large smile and her sincerity. I have seen her perform at several of Glasgow's top venues - the Oran Mor, King Tuts and the Old Fruitmarket. 

It felt very strange to be in such an iconic venue. I entered the hall via its Stage Door entrance for my Pass, where we waited. Professor Green came in shortly after!  I shook his hand and said how much I enjoyed his big hit song with Emeli - Read All About It. Green had a beautiful girl with him who looked  like a model. I took in the images on the walls – in particular one memorable image of Frank Sinatra as he waved to his enthralled audience taken from the stage by photographer David Redfern, I was in awe!. I thought how hard it is now to get those kind of images with all the restrictions imposed on photographers these days – only the first three songs, no moving about etc. etc.  I wished to savour every moment knowing these were moments I would never forget.    

I will never forget ascending the narrow steps that entered the arena the theatre’s red and gold lights shimmered above us, where there were the shadow outlines of people on the tiered circle galleries as spotlights hovered and I feel I have now entered a realm of fantasy, folklore, mystique and hidden memories.

Another Emily, from New York – an Emily King played as the support.

When Emeli appeared in the shadows at the top of the dark steps we know she is a star in the making. She savoured the experience, as she paused to take in the atmosphere and those moments as she arrived on the iconic stage.  The halls doomed arena offer perfect acoustics for voices to reverberate and bounce into the air. 

Sande began with her distinctive song Daddy, which was followed by Tiger and Where I Sleep. Then the backing singers and band got a chance to shine with the refrain I Left My Heart in Pluto.

In the middle of her set Emeli sat at the piano centre stage and said, 'This is where I know myself and where I am raw.’ She started with the emotional Clown and she said sometimes we all need to show the Clown in us.  Next she sang her well loved song River. She said she’d had emotional responses to this song and that one young girl who’d never been to a music concert before had said to her that Emeli was 'her river of music.'  Then she sang a song by one of her main musical influences, Nina Simone, ‘I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free’ which drew positive audience reactions.

‘We should all speak up and use our voices.’ Emeli said when she sang Read All About It: and the audience was delighted when Professor Green came on stage to perform for this number one hit song. Emeli returned to the stage in a red dress and with her song Wonder: a song full of light when she got the audience on their feet

Anything can be achieved if you have love, when she spoke of the support of her parents. Then she sang her hit song Heaven that has that danceable drum beat and soaring vocal. Labrinth then appeared to sing their chart song Underneath Your Beautiful. And for her encore she sang her touching Maybe, followed by her rousing Next To Me.

Emeli makes the dream her own, but she also takes us with her. This was one of my best days too.

Having followed Emeli's career for five years since 2007, it is both strange and wonderful to see her now on the Big Stage and called the Voice of 2012. I remember the intimacy of her Oran Mor gig and how moving her voice was there.

THE SET:  Daddy, Tiger, This is Where I Sleep, Breaking the Law, ( two new songs)  My Kind of Love, Abide With Me, Clown, River, Nina Simone’s How It feels to be Free, Read all About It, Wonder, Mountains, Heaven, Maybe, Next to Me,

Proceeds to the Princes Trust. The concert was being filmed for a DVD, photography was restricted, but the colours and vibe were awesome.