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: 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