Singer. Songwriter. Activist. Bloke. Billy Bragg has been a recurring presence in my listening history since the day, more years ago than I care to remember, that my brother brought copies of Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy and Brewing Up with Billy Bragg home.
The vinyl intrigued me; with sleeve designs reminiscent of paperback classics, albums that played at the speed as a single, these were odd platters. And that was before I stole a listen on my own turntable. But listen I did and, on encountering the sound of one man and his guitar, I soon realised that you don't need to affect an American accent to show you have soul.
This Billy Bragg fella crafted songs that were poignant, political, and lyrically beautiful; I am the milkman of human kindness, I will leave an extra pint, she ran away from home on her mother's best coat, she was married before she was even entitled to vote, the Polaroids that keep us together will surely fade away. A joyous array of words, delivered with a rawness of heart and a powerful belief, all from this guy with a guitar. Albums followed, hits from over artists covering his material, but no compromise.
After more than 35 years of walking his own path, singing his own way, this unlikely troubadour is still delivering songs of power and truth. This year he's bringing it to the people via a marathon touring residency. The One Step Forward, Two Steps Back tour will offer fans the chance to hear different sets over three nights in the same venue.
The tour crosses the pond, with dates in the US and UK over the next twelve months, pitching up at The Wedgewood Rooms from the 5th to the 7th of July, with tickets for this novel tour available either individually or combined in a "season pass". If three nights of Billy Bragg playing on your doorstep tempt your fancy tickets for the Portsmouth residency go on sale here from 10am tomorrow morning priced at £25 per gig, with combined three night packages available via MusicGlue (update: three night packages for the Wedgewood Rooms gig have now sold out).
Brighton lo-fi jangle merchants Porridge Radio have, since being feted by The Guardian as one of the 40 Best New Acts of 2018, supported the likes of Florist, Speedy Ortiz and, more recently, the excellent Wave Pictures (which isn't bad for what began as a solo project based out of lead singer Dana Margolin's bedroom).
Moving
out of the bedroom and into the garden shed, the four-piece (or
five-piece, depending on what band bio you read) recorded and released their debut
album Rice, Pasta and Other Fillers in 2016,
a refreshingly DIY collection of quirkiness that covers love, life and
the boredom in-between.
With new material recorded for their forthcoming second release Porridge Radio will be hitting the road in April, touring the UK and sauntering into Portsmouth on Friday 12th for a gig hosted by Southsea's own Calamity Cratediggers. Legendary sweat-box The Birdcage (above The Festing pub) is the venue and London's Hussy have been announced as the first support act (further artists TBA), with advance tickets available now for a bargain £5.
Singer-songwriter Lauran Hibberd has a talent for blending a catchy tune with a fantastically snarky lyric, case in point new single Sugardaddy. Opening with an intro that Rivers Cuomo would be proud of, the song bounces along to a rolling riff which underpins the outrageously dark libretto. The chorus that joyfully infects your brain is one that could, quite easily, cause concerned glances from fellow travellers if sung aloud on the morning commute.
The Isle of Wight artist will soon be out touring with Minnesotan indie outfit Hippo Campus, supporting them at dates across the UK and Europe, with stops at the Shepherd's Bush Empire (Thursday 21st February), Bristol's SWX (Saturday 23rd February) and the Concorde 2 in Brighton (Sunday 24th February) along the way. I can definitely recommend her live set; I was fortunate enough to see her perform at Dials last year, a polished performance of foot-tapping sarcasm and wry observation, interspersed with tales of travelling to Glasgow and song writing in a Citroen Berlingo. Fantastic.
One Saturday in 2015 I found myself emerging from the dark basement of Brighton's Sticky Mike's (RIP), ears ringing from Kassassin Street's morning set, and stumbled across Jerry Williams playing a courtyard gig a few yards away. Barely a song in I was already aware that I was in the presence of a rare talent.
Since then Jerry has continued to perfect her craft, releasing new material, touring far and wide, building up an ever growing legion of fans in the process.
Having recently returned from New York, taking over Tidal's Instagram feed for a session whilst there, Jerry has since travelled to Germany for a string of live dates with her band before a return to the UK for further shows (including a gig at the Camden Assembly, the Barfly as was, on Wednesday 30th January and a visit to Southampton's Joiners the following night).
Current release David At The Bar is a reflective ode, a tale of a bar-side conversation the artist had with a young alcoholic she encountered; a soon-to-be new father, David promised Jerry that he'd stop drinking if she wrote a song about him, this affecting tune being the result. The lyrics reflect the drinker's fears for the future, whether they'll be able to put down the last glass, before toasting the artist with a plea not to follow the same path.
It's a delicate song which progresses in tone over its two and a half minutes, powerfully building to an anthemic crescendo that, yes, I could picture a drunken crowd sing-a-long aloud. Irony is a wonderful thing. It's unknown what the titular character makes of the song he made his bargain for as David appears to have vanished into the crowd after the conversation. I'm hoping that he's seized the opportunity life has presented for him, made good on his promise, and is building on the future with his young family. Yes, I've always been a sucker for a happy ending.
Before relocating to London a few years back, dream-pop merchants Wyldest were a frequent presence on the Portsmouth music scene, gigging at some of the city's fine venues and building a dedicated fan-base along the way. Heck, one of the band members used to work in Southsea's excellent Pie & Vinyl (and I'm fairly sure it was they who served me when I bought a Battery Hens' EP there).
Wyldest, originally Wildest Dreams, began as duo. The addition of a drummer has definitely help to fill out their sound, though the band has undergone a line-up change following the departure of original guitarist Holly Mullineaux. A move to the Big Smoke has
allowed the band to take advantage of the benefits, such as more venues
where they can hone their craft and dedicated studio space at their
disposal, that living in a thriving metropolis offers.
After spending 2018 writing and recording new material the three-piece, now consisting of Zoe Mead (guitar and vocals), Mariin Kallikorm (Bass) and Jack Gooderham (Drums), have announced details of their debut long player. Dream Chaos is scheduled for release on Friday 1st March via Hand in Hive and, to celebrate its launch, the band are heading out on the road.
The Dream Chaos tour starts in London on March 5th, swings through Liverpool, Milton Keyens and Norwich, wrapping up on March 20th at Southampton's Heartbreakers, and tickets can be purchased via Songkick.
For a taster of new material check out their October 2018 single, Headrush, via the embed below:
Gosport trio Hooli get
their show on the road next month, taking their mellifluous blend of
indie-blues to four venues across the south. The three-piece have got good word of mouth on the live outings, scoring a good review of their Winchestival set from the excellent Mix It All Up blog. You can catch Hooli at the
following venues in September..
Latest Music Bar, Brighton - 10th September CANCELLED
The Jolly Sailor, Portsmouth - 11th September
BBC Introducing LIVE @ The Purple Turtle, Reading - 12th September
Madding Crowd, Bournemouth - 13th September
..and be sure to check out their latest release, Cider Sue, via the Spotify embed:
