Protest music is back

Radical protest bands have been a bit thin on the ground since the demise of Red Wedge, the movement that Billy Bragg and Paul Weller famously created in the eighties.

But... now we have Headsticks, a Stoke-on-Trent band that don't pull their punches demonstrating their disillusion and anger with 'modern Thatcherism'.
I wonder if they will be the first of many.  In this age of unemployment and low wages, it seems likely.

Headsticks was one of the bands at a small roots festival, Cloggerfest, in Draycott-in-the-Moors.

Heidi - tipped for stardom

Heidi Browne is a rising star locally...not only is she a fine musician (as also are the members of her backing band), but she can write observational, catchy songs in the 'sweet-pop' vein (alongside Kate Nash). She's not limited to that genre though - and a John Martyn fan or even a Bjork-lover might enjoy what she does.

Her big song right now is one called G.I.R.L.F.R.I.E.N.D.  It's all over YouTube.

Tiny rock festivals rock

The smallest rock festivals are the best (IMHO).
For example, the 'Night Of The Dog' festival in the tiny village of Tean only attracts five hundred peple or so, but the young (mostly local) bands play there with real enthusiasm in front of their own fans - and neighbours!
This photo, from last year's festival, is one of my favourites, as it expresses the feeling of a local rock fest pretty well. The young lad clearly finds the noise from the stage a little cacophonous...

NOD is not on this year, but the next best is the Milwich Village Rock Festival, which takes place next weekend. Don't miss it.

Taskers play STT

The Taskers are a garage-rock band from Stafford. Sophie here plays drums, while Jack (out of picture) plays guitar. They’ve been compared (rather lazily) to the White Stripes – because both bands are a brother-sister combination.

I was astounded to see that The Taskers, who have a very edgy sound, have entered Stoke’s Top Talent, a local version of the famous BGT competition. I’m not sure how well they will fit alongside the jugglers and crooners.
Still, should be an interesting occasion when they do appear…

Links: Taskers  /  Taskers enter STT

Hollie Vee, rockabilly gal!

Rockabilly music seems to keep coming back, even after you think it's gone forever. The eighties 'psychobilly' reincarnation was just one of the rockabilly revivals that I loved (still love).

Anyway, Hollie Vee & The Hubkaps are a north Staffordshire group that have gone back to the roots with a simple line-up and a fantastic-fifties woody-guitar sound from Hollie herself. They stray a little sometimes down odd avenues (such as Amy Winehouse covers...  don't get that really) but, altogether, it's a very cool exeperience indeed.

The Place - forgotten

The Place Discotheque in Hanley was one of the great nightclubs of the past. Opening in the 1960s, it had a run of many years as a smoky blues club – with the likes of a young Rod Stewart appearing there – then as one of the first ‘discos’ in the UK.
It was so famed there were a couple of books written about it.

And now? The building is still there, and has had lives (under other names) as a cheesy bar and then a lap-dancing and swingers club - but the name and history itself is largely forgotten...
…except for this miserable little street-sign, which marks the undistinguished alleyway that runs down the side of the building. Perhaps the local authority put it up as a piece of heritage-remembrance.

But, how the mighty are fallen, eh?

Link:  The Place – memories

Cherry Lightning seek ... passion

Cherry Lightning are a teenage indie band from Leek, and they’ve appeared at a few venues, and really have a lot of potential.
Like a lot of young bands now, they have instruments which really are top range, and the three lads are all very skilled players. (I guess that’s the reward of 21st century middle-class affluence - all that money and all that training.)  So they are worth checking out - and have some great ideas.

But I just wished … oh, what? … that they had some passion. 
In place of passion, Cherry L just seemed to have a lot of rather annoying self-deprecating jokes in between their songs.

Night of The Dog postponed

The ‘Night of The Dog’ rock festival will not happen this year as the organisers are having a break. It’s a shame though. This terrific little one day festival, which takes place in the small village of Tean, is as friendly as you like.

I took this photo at last year’s event. The wording on this t-shirt made me laugh, as it’s a spoof of the ‘world tour dates’ type t-shirts.
The fact is that Tean probably isn’t more than a mile from one end to the other, so a ‘tour’ by all these bands would not have taken long!

Link: Night of The Dog

Legendary Lonnie - Stoke legend

'Legendary Lonnie' is one of the great characters of the Potteries. One of the earliest rock ‘n rollers, starting a band in 1959, he’s been playing rock guitar ever since.
Despite his advancing age, he recently re-issued one of his CDs for the American market!

He had a record shop in Stoke town for a long while in the seventies and eighties. This dilapidated sign – a cartoon image of the great man himself - was all that remained of the shop when he left it, but even this is gone now. I managed to snap a photo of it before it was ripped down.

Link: Legendary Lonnie Band