Gig Preview: The Great Shakes take over Norwich Puppet Theatre!

The Great Shakes, who are undoubtedly one of Norwich’s best indie pop rock offerings, are taking over The Puppet Theatre with a very special gig on Saturday 3rd April in just a couple of weeks time.

It’s been a busy year for The Great Shakes so far, with lots of high profile support slots around the city, and some great shows in London too. Their brilliant and infectious sounds are rightfully seeing them gain new fans and more and more recognition, locally and beyond.

Join them at Norwich Puppet Theatre on Saturday 3rd April – tickets available here. Support comes from The Loyal Few and James Eliot Taylor, and you’ll find all the information you could ever possibly want to know via this Facebook Event.

Introducing Sarah Class and ‘A New Dawn’

The folk pop genre has thrown up some great artists in recent years, and as more of them emerge, the genre changes. Sarah Class is an example of a hybrid version of folk pop – more folk-inspired acoustic pop music than anything relating to folk in its traditional form, her tunes are perfectly nice, and seem like the sort of thing you’d expect to hear on Radio 2 any day of the week.

Prior to beginning her career in mainstream music, Sarah established herself as a successful classical musician, being nominated for BRIT and EMMY awards, and working with Sir George Martin – the renowned producer behind The Beatles. A pretty impressive musical CV!

Her debut EP ‘A New Dawn’ is released on March 15th through Glorious Technicolour Records and can be ordered/pre-ordered via her official website http://www.sarahclass.com/ – and she’s even donating £1 from every single CD sale to the World Land Trust charity. Listen to her songs before you buy via MySpace, and download a free track not included on the EP here.

Introducing Johnny Flynn

Beautiful nu-folk darling Johnny Flynn is an artist I first encountered at Norwich Arts Centre back in September 2008 – a brilliant gig, and one that made me a longterm fan of Johnny’s after just one show. His debut album ‘A Larum’ was a big hit, and he’ll be releasing its follow up this year.

Between the two albums, Johnny recently released a short EP of four tracks to coincide with an ultra-intimate solo tour of 100-capacity venues before Christmas. All the dates sold out, of course, and every review – of both the EP and live performances – was beaming.

This week, Johnny has announced a UK tour to happen in May, a European tour supporting Mumford & Sons and appearances at the prestigious SXSW event in the USA. Full details of all of the above are available on his MySpace page.

All is go, and I can’t wait to hear the new album. You can hear ‘Been Listening’, a song expected to be on the new release, by clicking here.

Introducing: Vagabond

I first encountered Vagabond in the middle of Thetford Forest last summer, when they supported James Morrison on his Forestry Commission Tour. I was totally captivated, which led me to see the band again – just two months later, this time headline, in the far more intimate confines of Norwich Arts Centre. Again, they were utterly astounding.

One of my favourite tracks, and indeed the title track of the promo CD that landed on my desk recently, was ‘Sweat (Until The Morning)’. It’s an excellent, energetic and naughty little pop song that serves as the perfect introduction to these talented gents. You can listen to an acoustic version of the song and see the guys performing below.

The Guardian has said that Vagabond “could be the world’s biggest new band”, and indeed the energy about these guys – both on stage and recorded – makes me inclined to agree in full.

You can buy their debut album ‘You Don’t Know The Half Of It’ from all good retailers, including Amazon.co.uk via this link.

Introducing: Alessi’s Ark

This next Thursday 18th February sees the lovely Alessi’s Ark visit Norwich for the first time for an ultra-intimate gig at The Birdcage. In celebration, both of the upcoming gig and her latest EP ‘Soul Proprietor’ which is out in April, we thought we’d bring you a little more information about Alessi along with an MP3 track for your listening pleasure…

Alessi’s Ark became an outlet for Alessi Laurent-Marke in 2007 when she was just 16 years old. She signed to Virgin Records on the eve of her 17th Birthday and was instantly whisked away to Nebraska, USA to work with Bright Eyes producer Mike Mogis on her debut album. The album was finally released in April 2009.

Since its release, Alessi has played live in the UK, Europe and the USA with everyone from Mumford & Sons to Jake Bellows (of Neva Dinova fame) to Emiliana Torrini. She has been championed by allsorts of notable publications – from For Folk’s Sake through to The Guardian.

The MP3 track below, ‘The Horse’ was featured on Alessi’s early ‘The Horse EP’ and is also on her debut album, ‘Notes From The Treehouse’. Tickets for the Norwich gig this Thursday are available for £5 (advance) here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/70118.

MP3: Alessi’s Ark – The Horse