Blues rock, psychedelic fusion group The Freddy James Band formed in August 2013, fronted by vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, Freddy James. The band have gigged at London’s top venues and now release their first single She Don’t Like Rock n Roll. The band contains Freddy James on vocals and guitar, Neil Cox on drums and Jim Harrison on bass. Aged 5, inspired by his father’s music collection, Freddy James stood on some old boards in the garden pretending to be on stage and playing a guitar. Surrounded by the music of Duane Eddy, Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters, Harvey Mandell and Jimi Hendrix, it was no surprise Freddy got into music, especially when his parents gave him a guitar for his eighth birthday. Neil Cox started playing drums at 14 and took up lessons from Bob Armstrong, whose own drumming and tuition career make him one of the best. Inspired by his favourites such as Weather Report, Parliament, The Police, Led Zepplin and Jamiroquai, Neil took up the drums after watching Stuart Copeland in The Police and drummer Buddy Rich, who toured with his orchestra in the 70s and 80s. Jim Harrison started playing music at school when he took up […]
The Datsuns launch sixth album this October
Published on 3 Aug 2014 The Datsuns new song from the forthcoming album “Deep Sleep” out this October. Available as a free download from their Bandcamp page Here’s the story from Music News The Datsuns will return with their sixth album ‘Deep Sleep’ in October. ‘Deep Sleep’ was recorded during a 10 day plunge into Roundhead Studios in Auckland over summer. The album will run 34 minutes from start to finish. ‘We’re not fucking around,’ said singer Dolf de Borst. ‘We’re all conscious of the fact that we don’t live close to each other and we’re getting older and people have families, so if we’re together, we’re going to make records.’ The Datsuns are: Dolf De Borst ‘ vocals / bass Christian Livingstone ‘ guitar Phil Somervell ‘ guitar Ben Cole ‘ drums The Datsuns were the ‘next big thing’ of 2002 when they released their debut record ‘The Datsuns’. Their derivative rock sound predated the latter international successes from Jet and Wolfmother. On the new record The Datsuns continue to source from the past with sounds of Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult and Deep Purple evident throughout this record. Listen to Caught In The Silver from ‘Deep Sleep’. The […]
Glastonbury 2014 – independent weekend review
2014 festival shows how diverse cultural roots are inspiring pop mainstream With 200,000 people, or a veritable city, airdropped into a huge farm in Somerset, promising performers of all persuasions were going to attract a crowd. Acknowledged As acknowledged by Sophie Ellis Bextor, pop and disco have once again found their places at Glastonbury, allowing audiences and acts to bond over some classics to sing along and dance to. Eager faces of all ages could be seen lip-synching to every word along with Ellie Goulding, Bryan Ferry, Caro Emerald and Dolly Parton. It was wonderful to see the return of lighter mainstream genres, popular for good reason that they are great to let your hair down to, singing and dancing along, rekindling happy memories. Fans can be themselves Compared to some harder dance genres that have dominated the charts, pop and disco say “I like this whatever you think” and are free of the occasional self-consciousness of rap or hip-hop while leaving fans to be themselves without prescription dress, moves and lingo. Evident this year was the rise of the DJ to rock star stats, as Sasha, DJ Pierre, David Morales, Shy FX, Above and Beyond and many more entertained […]
Virtuoso Iranian Hand Drummer visits Cornwall in April
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi live in Berlin in 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWSnlj-Lhjs More about Mohammad An international award-winning Iranian musician and composer is performing in Falmouth on April 26th as part of his world tour, with 25 concerts from last year’s WOMAD via Shanghai, Germany, Peking, Sweden and Cornwall. Support Mohammad Reza Mortazavi is a traditional Persian hand drum player (Tombak & Daf) who performed at the Film Festival in Hamburg in support of Iranian film director Jafar Panahi. This Is Not a Film is a documentary by Panahi made in 2011 about his ban from working and subsequent imprisonment. Hollywood names including Steven Spielberg, Juliette Binoche and Michael Moore have also joined the cause of Project 20 to campaign for his release. In Project 20, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi plays for 20 minutes, the number reflecting the years that Panahi has been banned from working. The rhythm replays Panahi’s heartbeat recorded while he is locked away in prison, Mortazavi projects the director’s “anguish, anger and determination to break through constraints and limitations,” says the project-20.org website. Acoustics The event taking place at the Performance Centre, Falmouth University, Penryn Campus, is organised by Christina Kyle as her final project for the Creative Events Management […]