All photos in this blog entry by Gary Barwell
Sam Jones (link)
I hadn't previously been to the annual gig Cover From Another Brother, an event organised by Under The Tree and held (this year, I don't think it has been staged there before) at Jam Cafe. The pitch is simple - a load of local musicians sing two of their own songs and a cover version of a song by a fellow Nottingham artiste. There was a gig in another venue that I wanted to go to, but the band I wanted to see wasn't on stage until eleven so despite not really wanting to go to Jam Cafe I was persuaded to by Gary who was already there with Rosey. Although I know and get along with most of the performers at CFAB I don't feel part of things when they're all together so I wasn't sure if this gig was going to be for me or not. To be honest I have those feelings before going anywhere because I am just not a confident person and right up to the moment I get to the door for any gig I don't want to be there. If I gave in to my feelings of self-doubt and shyness I would never go to a gig again and might therefore be invited to dine at the Nottingham music champions table, which is where they might be hiding when there's a gig on.
Alexa Hawksworth (link)
Anwyn Williams (link)
My fears about turning up to what on the surface might look like an inclusive love-in between a bunch of musicians actually turned out to be a brilliant idea and a great show. I'm not sure how much sense the concept would make to regular members of the public who played no part in the Nottingham music scene, perhaps it would serve as a good introduction to everyone as it was quite a full bill. I managed to catch Sam Jones, Anwyn Williams (both of whom I have had the pleasure of working with on the radio) and Alexa Hawksworth (I haven't worked with her nor do I know her really except by sight as I don't think we've ever spoken properly) at Jam Cafe and was pleased to see that they weren't just blindly making a carbon copy of a known song. As listeners to The Sunday Alternative radio show will no doubt remember, I do enjoy a well crafted cover version restyled to suit the performer. Anwyn did a great job of taking 'Top Shop' by The Breakfast Club and turning it down a notch or two into a virtually unrecognisable song, and Alexa sprinkled magic over 'Dig A Hole' by 94 Gunships - a band I them left Jam Cafe to see perform at Wax.
94 Gunships (link)
Having never been to Wax before I had to prepare for it by looking it up to see where it was. When I saw that it was on Broad Street I realised that it would be a rolled up trousers type of place where the bar staff have sleeve tattoos and bushy beards (the men were the same, thank you very much I'm here all week) and they didn't sell any proper beer. It was exactly that with the added bonus of the musicians playing right by the door so you had to walk past them to get in. I will not become a regular patron of this establishment so I might be missing out on my chance to grow to love it, but if it proves one thing it is that someone should inform Hockley that not everywhere necessarily has to be a live music venue. One more point was that a lot of people were talking, have I mentioned that I am against that?
I have been a fan of Will Jeffery for a long time and again have worked with him on radio and have always enjoyed his company, and I've seen his band 94 Gunships before in its full blown line up. However, this was half the band (Will and Rob) playing a stripped down acoustic set giving a different slant to their familiar sound. This made me think that someone (not me, I can't be arsed as organising Nottingham musicians isn't an easy job) should organise a Nottingham take on the old MTV Unplugged format (please credit me whoever goes with this idea, not like Broadway Cinema who just ripped me off). 94 Gunships should think about recording an acoustic EP/album if they haven't already. Wax and Jam Cafe are within a hop skip and jump of each other so I went back to Jam thinking I had missed everything. Although I unfortunately missed Josh Kemp and Ryan Thomas (I might have missed more, I'm not sure) I was back in time for The Breakfast Club who covered Anwyn's 'Going Gone Away' mixed with 'Forgive Us We're British' and 'Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You' by Captain Dangerous. To end the show, Alexa and Anwyn joined the band on stage for a chaotic version of 'Tram Conductor', a song that could become a live anthem, for Nottingham at least.
The Breakfast Club (link) with guest backing singers
The idea of Nottingham musicians covering each other would be a great idea for an album, perhaps for a local charity to prevent any difficulty over copyright and royalties - there is an idea that someone can take and run with. Kim, Will, Sam, it's over to you.
This week's edition of The Sunday Alternative can be heard here.
===
April housekeeping
Please consider making either a one-off or regular donation using the PayPal button above this blog. Every penny will be used to fund creative projects that will be made available for free.
Saturday Breakfast: We are making a pilot episode of this music and cookery show and we need your help. Your donations will help to get this made.
The Sunday Alternative is a free weekly podcast. I am aiming to start making this podcast in a studio with live bands in session. This will cost at least £50 per episode so please give whatever you can.
52 podcasts and 365 blogs a year must be worth something to you?
steveEoliver@gmail.com
