Paddy McCullough/Lucy Bemridge/John Fryer/Izzy Seville

PADDY McCULLOUGH/LUCY BREMRIDGE/JOHN FRYER/IZZY SEVILLE
Orso 28th July 2024

Last Sunday of the month brings another "Music in the Street" event at Orso, organised and hosted as always by Paddy McCullough

Another lovely afternoon in the sun outside the cafe listening to some fine local musicians doing their thing.

Opening the show this week was Lucy Brembridge who delivered a fine set, starting with her own songs, all of which are extremely good and i think quite personal.. before moving on to a few covers... including "The Best/Tina Turner" which in my view was improved by the stripped back acoustic setting

Lucy has a fine voice and sings well, accompanying herself on guitar... an excellent set to open proceedings.

Next up was John Fryer, a singer/songwriter with a fine track record. He also mixed in his own songs and some covers, including a rousing "That's Entertainment/The Jam" to end. You know what you are going to get with John... solid guitar and vocals, a clutch of fine original songs and well chosen covers and a highly enjoyable performance

Paddy McCullough was up next to deliver his customary selection of original songs in his soft warm voice accompanied by his own guitar. To end his set Paddy introduced the unique Autumn Leader to duet on one of Paddy's songs and then deliver an outstanding performance of her song "Devour"

Last, but by no means least, was IZZY SEVILLE, a new name to me and a real talent. Izzy plays guitar and sings beautifully her own songs, and performs with a twinkle and smile. Her set was interrupted by an unscheduled outburst of samba drumming from round the corner... happily they were encouraged to move on before too long, but Izzy deserves huge credit for maintaining her composure through this interruption to deliver a really fine set

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue.

Chris Murphy

CHRIS MURPHY

Musician Pub 25th July 2024

A huge feeling of anticipation building during the day... a return to the The Musician Pub to see the return of the maestro, Chris Murphy... and wondering could he be as outstanding as on his previous visit... no question... of course he was... this was another truly superb performance.

Chris had the audience totally in his hands from the moment he walked on stage and announced, with a mischievous twinkle, "I'm just going to take a short break".

From there he explained that he was armed simply with a violin, a guitar pedal, a looper and his own songs... he then dedicated his opening piece to a minority group without a voice... those in LA who don't drive...

Throughout the performance he used the looper to add glorious layers and depth to his music... yet never overpowering his exceptionally brilliant violin playing.

The first half took us through a number of pieces from his superb new "Red Road" EP and touched on a whole range of genres.

The second half was, in his words a Chris Murphy Deep Cuts set, covering songs he hadn't been playing lately... each one a total gem... and including one of the best song titles i've heard... "Jumping off the Last Bridge I Burned"

I've seen many artists encouraging the audience to sing choruses in many ways... Chris has such charisma that he simply walks to the edge of the stage and leans towards the audience to get people singing along.

Towards the end he asked if we fancied a bit of ragtime... yes!!.. and he stepped off the stage and sat at a table in the audience to play a totally acoustic "Lemon Rag".

This was a totally brilliant performance... Chris is an exceptionally talented musician, a great raconteur and his between song banter was always entertaining and informative... and it is always great to see a brilliant musician clearly loving his work and playing throughout with a twinkle in his eye and a smile...

This was a phenomenal performance by a brilliant performer... one of the most charismatic and engaging entertainers you could wish to see.. .and indeed an extremely warm and lovely man

I loved every moment of this night

On a personal note.. huge thanks Chris not only for a wonderful performance but for the kind words and encouragement Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Alan Fletcher/Riley Catherall

ALAN FLETCHER/RILEY CATHERALL

Musician Pub 24th July 2024

Last night at The Musician Pub was a total joy... the fabulous Alan Fletcher brought his superb band to entertain for the evening... and they provided a wonderful evening.

I have never seen an episode of Neighbours, but love americana and anyone who cites John Prine as a major influence and love is fine by me!!

The show was opened by Riley Catherall, who had excelled here only a couple of weeks before.

Riley is a superb guitarist ad singer... his voice warm and clear delivering his own high quality songs. He is one of the best singer/songwriters around, between his songs his stories are fun and entertaining and his whole performance is totally engaging... his warmth and charm, as well as talent, had the audience fully with him from the first second.

Outstanding performance.

Headlining was Allan Fletcher with his hugely talented band... The focus is obviously Allan with his guitar paying and great voice...

Riley Catherall was back on stage playing electric guitar with the band... his playing at all times fluent and superb, and the sounds he creates, especially with the slide, simply beautiful and mesmerizing. On bass was brilliant multi-instrumentalist Lachlan Bryan, who also took a turn playing the piano. Allans wife Jen played keyboards and joined Allan up front to sing on several pieces. The drummer (emabarrassingly i cant remember his name) was a perfect complement to the band, playing with subtlety and flair throughout and underpinning the music.

The whole performance was a real joy... Allans songs are all either humorous or gentle and all delivered with warmth and charm and a great deal quality, and his huge personality shines clear through the songs and banter between songs

There are many standout songs in the set, and to pick out highlights i would need to copy the set list!. I must mention though, Allans superb performance of John Prine's "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" (an absolute favourite of mine) but his own songs really merit the same attention

Although the essence of the show is the great amaricana of Allan's songs and delivery, Jen added some lovely polished vocals and the whole band was exceptional... it is always great to see such a high quality band having such a ball on stage... and the audience rightly loving every second.

Five hugely talented musicians and singers delivering a truly outstanding set of americana... up there with the finest gigs ever... loved every second... richly entertaining show and a bunch of really lovely people... doesnt get much better!!

keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue

Tomorrow Bird/Lynz Crichton

TOMORROW BIRD/LYNZ CRICHTON

Musician Pub: 17th July 2024

Interesting night at The Musician Pub last night.

Opening up was a new name to me, LYNZ CRICHTON. Lynz is a fiercely independent Indie singer/songwriter. She is building a following by uploading a song a week for her follows and then allowing them to vote for the songs to go on her next EP.

Lynz has a lovely voice and sings wonderfully accompanied by her own excellent guitar work. Her set of self penned songs took us on a journey through her career with informative and entertaining stories to explain the origins of the excellent songs.

My one criticism would be the use of loopers, of which i am not a fan.... however in this case the looper was used sparingly and did not detract from the lovely voice and guitar work... indeed the use of a looper to add harmony in one piece was really beautiful. Excellent set from a really fine singer/songwriter... loved it

Headlining were a duo who came with a great reputation, TOMORROW BIRD.... Jen Bird and Simon Driscoll. A hugely talented duo, two wonderful singers, Jen in particular having a really standout voice, and accompanied by some excellent guitar playing by Simon.

Primarily singing their own songs, which are all of the highest quality, they drop in an occasional cover, notably a fine Neil Young song which i had never heard before! Throughout the harmonies were really beautiful, the voices blending perfectly.

Although Jen has a magnificent voice, the highlight for me was the piece Simon sang solo and without the help of microphones from the room floor... a really beautiful song and beautifully performed.

I find it difficult at the best of times to allocate a genre to any artist, but in this case it is impossible... not for me folk or americana... maybe singer/songwriter is closer... i dont know!!.

A very talented duo who were hugely appreciated in the room... i just wish i could have enjoyed them as much as their quality merited, but i found them just a bit too slick and “showbizzy” and overall sadly it just didnt do it for me

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue