Loudhailer Acoustic July 2015

Thanks to everyone who came to Loudhailer Acoustic this month, it was brilliant! Really lovely to welcome new people in the audience for the first time as well as a host of fantastic performers. Rich & I opened the show with a couple of new songs inspired by Rich’s not-for-the-faint-hearted cowboy shirt – yet to be seen in public, but meticulously described. With no further ado, Jim Orwin’s trio of fantastic originals included two new songs, great to hear. Jim was followed by Lisa (The Wedge) Wedgner and Claire-de Laire Brennan who entertained us with a theatrical introduction and a wicked operatic jazz set. Claire’s keys were cool and Lisa’s sassy performance and amazing voice mesmerised the audience as she prowled even beyond the stage this time.

Next it was a real treat to welcome Tom Kay back to Loudhailer Acoustic. Tom was one of the first people who came to play when we first started a few years ago and was always cool and accomplished. He was even more so today – new songs but the same stylish songwriting, superb guitar playing, soulful rich voice, and a new confidence – even performing a brand new song only hours old. Awesome!

Time for a drink and a chat – Paul’s cask and bottle beers from East Yorkshire’s hidden gem Great Newsome Brewery go down well – before the second half. And what an opener! When you spot a musician with a selection of head gear setting up a Mad Scientist’s table of festival flags & glowsticks (Glastonbury eat your heart out) chocolates, a test tube of red liquid and a vial of white powder (Glastonbury eat your heart out) it can only be one person. Yes, Graham Graham Beck is always one of a kind and hugely entertaining. How he manages to pull something new out of the hat every time I don’t know, but this month it was an enormous rabbit. What an experience! It was always going to be a case of ‘follow that?!’ but Graham Wilkinson did it perfectly with some gentle humour and three lovely cool bluesy songs, taking us on a nostalgic countryside fishing trip, a lovely antidote. Next up on the Back Room stage was Tony Doc Foster whose blues set ranged from the deep south to South American jazz blues. Finally we asked Tom to close the show for us which he did perfectly with terrific renditions of a pair of favourite songs from Tom Waits and Damien Rice.

Thanks again to Paul Sutton at The Back Room in Cottingham, a really lovely music venue. Make a date for next time, first Thursday of the month, so August 6th – full details here, be great to see you there!

Here are Richard’s photos, click on an image and scroll on…