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To an artist without the creative energy and laser-focused
determination of Elles Bailey, it could all have been very
different. But when you're the hardest-working woman in blues,
rock and roots music, not even the tumultuous world events
of the past two years were going to stop you from writing
several new chapters in a remarkable story.
The
Bristol-based singer, songwriter and bandleader, who has powered
her way to the forefront of the British blues and roots
scene in recent years, is excited to unveil her eagerly-awaited
third album Shining in the Half Light. Crammed with vibrant
originals brought to life with her A-list band, it's yet
another significant step forward in a career already feted with
awards and acclaim generated by her two previous studio
sets, 2017's Wildfire and 2019's Road I Call Home. Shining
in the Half Light arrives on the heels of Bailey's typically
extensive autumn tour of the UK and such preview tracks as
'Cheats and Liars' and 'Sunshine City.' For anyone who loves
their combination of thought-provoking bluesiness and sassy
rock, there is so much more where they come from. These are
ten new tracks by an artist who, as she sings in 'The Game,'
always dances to the beat of her own blues. She co-wrote the
entire album with a variety of collaborators and recorded it
in Devon, with her band and producer Dan Weller. Tracking was
completed just weeks before Elles gave birth to her first
child and she sat in the hospital waiting room listening to
mixes on the big day!
The height of the pandemic also
gave rise to her series of cover version livestreams, Ain't
Nothing But. The ensuing record was nominated as Blues Album
of the Year at the UKBlues Awards 2021, where Elles was
named UK Blues Artist of the Year for the 2nd year running.
Let's also remember that Road I Call Home, recorded in
Nashville, had been crowned Album of the Year at those
awards, and its song 'Little Piece of Heaven' (written with
American greats Bobby Wood and Dan Auerbach) was UK Song of
the Year at the UK Americana Awards 2020. For the new
listeners that Elles attracts with every play, that voice was
the silver lining of a potentially grave illness, when at
just three years old, she contracted viral and bacterial
pneumonia, and had to breathe through a tube for 17 days. “Only
with the real heavy touring did I start to really understand
that it's such a big part of me,” she reflects. “I know how
fortunate I am that I walked away with a husky voice. And my
life.”
After residencies on the Bristol scene, her first
EP Who I Am To Me came out in 2015, followed two years later
by that full Wildfire debut. It was an exhilarating confirmation
of a unique talent already marking her card with passionate,
visceral live shows. Two more years of touring and writing
later, Road I Call Home arrived as a remarkable companion
with all the fire of the first set, plus maturity,
perspective and downright soulfulness.
Now back to the
future, and the title of the new album. “It's called Shining in
the Half Light because there we all were, in this time of
complete uncertainty, worry and isolation, and yet artists
were still putting themselves on a screen, warts and all, and
that brought people together,” says Elles. “I was so
inspired by all the musicians, poets, artists and everyone who
were like, 'I don't quite know how to do me in this time,
but I'm going to try anyway.' That to me is what the album is
about. It is a record inspired by those who spread love in a
time of heartbreak, happiness in a time of fear & connection
in a time of loneliness.
Lyrically, Bailey has never
pulled punches, and this time she's delivering knockout blows.
Take 'Cheats and Liars.' “It's about the people in their
ivory towers who made us feel like the arts don't really
matter, and to go and retrain,” she says. “Thirty-eight percent
of musicians, including myself, didn't get any kind of
government funding, and some people lost everything. It's been
so hard watching how arts has been undervalued at a time
when that was what was bringing people together.”
For
an artist who lives for live performance, lockdown brought its
share of challenges, of course. Suddenly and unavoidably,
after gigging her way to prominence over several years, the road
she called home was home. But as ever, she turned it into a
positive.
“It's the first full album I've made here in
the UK, I was 6 months pregnant when I made it, and it was
made right in the middle of lockdown,” she exclaims. “It still
sounds like an Elles Bailey record, but it does feel like
it's expanded and been given a new perspective.”
The
record was made throughout December 2020, doing a week of
pre-production followed by nine days in Middle Farm in
Devon. “It was a very different, yet exceedingly fulfilling
experience,” she admits. “I've made records in Nashville and
I was going to make this album there in May 2020, but
obviously that couldn't happen. But I knew I had an amazing band
here that could do an incredible job on this record, I just
needed to find the right producer.
The search for a
like-minded collaborator led her to rock producer Dan Weller,
best known for his long working relationship with Enter
Shikari. “He's not in my musical world at all, so that in itself
was a huge step into the unknown” she confides. “But we
chatted on the phone a lot through the summer, and just
clicked. We both seemed to be on the same page with what we
wanted to achieve from the album, and how best to go about
it. I had about 40 songs, probably, and it was a case of
really shaking the tree until we got these ten tracks. Then we
just got in a room, played live and let the musicians do
their thing, and built it that way.”
The musicians that
feature are Joe Wilkins on guitar, Jonny Henderson on ivories,
Matthew Waer on bass duties and Matthew Jones on drums. The
finishing touches were then added by artist Izo Fitzroy who
brought Andrusilla Mosely and Jade Elliot on board to immerse
the album in their stunning, gospel-inspired backing vocals.
An exciting team of co-writers came on board, too, with
three credits for Ash Tucker & Will Edmunds, who also wrote
with Elles for Road I Call Home. She teamed with longtime
guitarist Joe Wilkins to write the slow-flowing,
philosophical 'Riding Out The Storm.' Other kindred spirits
include guitar maestro Martin Harley, for the gentle and
romantic 'Different Kind Of Love,' and Matt Owens,
co-founder of the hugely successful indie-folk outfit Noah and
the Whale, on the aforementioned 'Sunshine City'. Alex
Maile, Tamara Stewart and Brett Boyett also have one each.
The album comes to a striking conclusion with its title track,
co-written with Nashvilles, Craig Lackey, over zoom in May
2020. Its message, and its description of the time in which it
was made, are delivered with restrained power. “Feel like
we’re living where we can’t be seen,” sings Elles. “Here we
are lost in the in-between, reaching out to each other through a
cold glass screen, losing our grip on a dystopian dream.” As
she says: “That's probably the only time that I was as direct as
that. It's an album inspired and made in ‘lockdowns’, but
I'm quite glad that it doesn't give that away too much.”
Shining In The Half Light is an album of self-realisation,
but one that lets everyone share in its sense of realism
and, ultimately, positivity. “It's a new perspective for me,”
says Elles. “I have no idea what it would have taken to get
me off the road. I think I would have found it really tough,
taking time off to have a baby and watching everyone else still
doing their thing. So the fact that there was this forced
stop, gave me the time to shift my perspective, and that’s what
this record is all about.
“This album has been about
getting to know who I am without the show, the stage and the
splendour,” she concludes. “unraveling the layers and being ok
with them, and learning to love each and every version of
myself, and of course getting to know this new version, being a
mum! This whole record has been about finding a new way to
do things, and seeing the blessings I have right in front of
me. That's been really weight-lifting and refreshing.”
We
are two brothers, Alessandro and Marco Cinelli, and we come from
Latina, Italy. Musically we grew up together, on the trail of
all the artists that our father Domenico, a true music lover,
used to show us. He would spin records all day long, and just
from a very early age we used to dance to Stevie Ray Vaughan not
even knowing what his face looked like. Dad used to play guitar
in church, and used to drum for fun. Marco picked up the guitar
at the age of eleven, Ale started the drums when he was seven.
We have a four year gap between us so let’s say we started
together. We used to spin records and play along, sing and fool
around swapping instruments all our youth. Marco left to live
abroad and four years later so did Ale. We finally reunited in
London in from 2015 to play every now and then, since Marco was
still living in Paris, and steadily from 2017. We didn’t have a
band then, nor an intention whatsoever to form one. Ale, who was
the one who knew more the scene in the city, soon got well
esteemed as a session player and became a steady house drummer
in most of blues jams. Marco would come occasionally to play and
got introduced to the bluesmen ring, so that soon we could host
our own show under the name of the Cinelli Brothers. We met this
fantastic bass player Enzo Strano, a Sicilian guy settled in UK
since teenage. He impressed us right away for his massive stage
presence, his magical touch on the bass as well for his
simplicity. The kind of bass player you know how great he is
when you play with someone else. Enzo joined the band
immediately as he previously jammed with Ale and got to know him
better. We started as a trio at the Ain’t Nothing but Blues bar,
like most of the blues bands in London. We used to play songs
from Muddy Waters, BB King, Bo Didley, Willie Dixon, Elmore
James, but also Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway,
everything that made sense to us. We loved to shuffle jazz,
blues and soul in the same night, feeding people with different
sonorities. The sound was unique and the crowd truly went crazy
each time we performed. Marco has got an Arline Tuxedo as “axe”
that he bought second hand in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He plays
with thick strings dropping the tuning in D, and he never plays
plectrum, solely fingers. His voice is soulful, but he can
phrases the right blues notes. Ale plays smooth, but groovy, and
the pocket is there. Most of the time we are indisciplined and
lousy as the show presses, but the machine works like a
clockwork. People go nuts dancing on the table. One day Marco
came up with this Muddy’s tune, “Forty Days and Forty Nights”
and he said he was never going to play it anymore without an
harmonica, because what makes the song special is just the
messing-around chops of Little Walter over Muddy’s lead. We
decided to call Rollo Markee on Harmonica for our next show. He
is a wizard, he can bend notes like we’ve never heard before.
He’s got this weird sound coming from his amp that sometimes can
buzz like a fly or snort like a buffalo. He brought us to an
higher level, and boy did we sounded bluesy! To expand the sound
beyond we would call a guitar player or a keyboard player, among
which our favourite was Alberto Manuzzi, an other fellow
countryman. With this quintet formula we had a couple of
successful shows as the crowd started really to be pissed that
we didn’t have any record to sell, any website, nothing. We
decided to write some songs and record an album. Marco had
written already a bunch of blues songs so the writing task was
rather easy. He’s got skill in producing and organising
recording session, and with his brother decided to make an album
the old fashion way, all analog and live-in-the-studio. We
wanted to have something that sounded like the records that dad
used to spin. A great blues record! We went with the quintet
featuring Strano, Markee and Manuzzi at the Soup Studio, London.
Everything was finalised, rehearsed, recorded and mixed on the
spot, tape and plate reverb included. We recorded seventeen
songs in three days, between covers and originals, but in the
end we decided to release twelve tracks, due to the limited
vinyl capacity. Ever since the record went out, we had the
feeling that the response was quite good. People started to
buying it at our shows and we would find our songs played at the
radio as well as in album-reviewing blogs. Bar owners, festival
programmers, bookers and music lovers from great part of Europe
started contacting us to come play here and there. We toured in
UK, France, Spain, Holland, Italy, Portugal and Germany not
fully realising how powerful the impact of the band was. For us
it’s all about having fun on stage, rock the necks and play some
dirty gritty blues and rhythm ’n’ blues. The performance may
sometimes start in a way and end in a completely different one.
We might end up in some thirty minutes long medleys, as well as
some psychedelic rock moments. We can also go funky sometimes.
All that matters is that truth and honesty are there, without
pretensions. We love to step on the footprints of our heroes,
but we love to be ourselves doing it, without thinking we have
to do this or that. Music is also freedom and above that we feel
the connection of our brotherhood. The result is always unique,
fresh, and true.
Brave
new world, brave new band. The WILSON BROTHERS beamed in from
another dimension with explosive contemporary rock and roll
flirting with psychedelic blues culminating in an emotional
experience that tantalises the senses. This is the sound of the
future arriving as heartfelt, expansive, inspirational,
delicate, exciting, perplexing and sometimes divergent
philosophical journey. Ash& Phil Wilson have considerable
musical experience playing alongside Sari Schorr, Scott Mckeon,
Sean Webster, Jesse Davey and Well Hung Heart. They have
been joined on this exciting new venture by their musical
brother Roger Wilson Inniss whose background includes artists
such as Chaka Khan, Mike Taylor, Errol Brown and Joanne Shaw
Taylor: adding a sonic chemistry that has to be heard to be
believed.
“Our musical careers have been dominated by
playing for other artists and collaborations, we came together
in 2017 to make ASH WILSON’S critically acclaimed debut album
“Broken Machine”. What people don’t know is the album was
actually intended to be the debut WILSON BROTHERS record. When
the covid-19 pandemic struck and stopped everything, everyone
had to re-evaluate their lives. Trying to find some perspective
and get a positive from a negative we started getting together
to play the songs from “Broken Machine”. Before you knew it we
started writing and recording together again. The electrifying
musical force shared between the 3 of us was there from the
first note played. The songs are our very lifeblood, we feel
very passionate about what we achieved with “Broken
Machine” regretably we never got chance to grow it on stage at
that time.
We have now formed the WILSON BROTHERS to
bring that lifeblood and passion alive for you with “Broken
Machine Live & Re-paired.
Brothers
Keith and Stu Xander were discovered on YouTube by Gibson Brands
CEO Henry Juszkiewicz and during their subsequent performances
for the company at numerous international events from LA to
Dubai the band caught the attention of not just an ever-growing
collective of fans but also industry legends such as Eddie
Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Rolling Stones) and
Rick Allen (Def Leppard).
Defying all expectations, lead
singer and guitarist Keith Xander was born without a right arm
below the elbow and plays guitar using a prosthesis and hook
with a pick attached at the end. Although many who have seen
Keith play believe him to be an extraordinary guitarist despite
of his perceived ‘disability’ he is a virtuoso musician in his
own right and his playing rivals the best in the industry.
In 2014 the band ended their 5-year tenure as the resident
band at Liverpool’s iconic Cavern Club pub and went on to
support the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Joe Satriani, Manfred Mann’s
Earth Band, The Temperance Movement, ex-Whitesnake’s Bernie
Marsden and even Bon Jovi at Old Trafford Stadium to name a few.
2016 saw the band release their debut album, titled ‘11:11’,
on V2 Benelux Records, recorded at the world-famous Wisseloord
studios in Hilversum, outside of Amsterdam. The album went on to
receive critical acclaim from the likes of Classic Rock, Planet
Rock Radio and from BBC Radio’s Bob Harris. With
haunting riffs, genius melodies and a uniquely infectious
charisma, Xander and the Peace Pirates continue to share their
musical passion to standing ovations, while spreading a
universal message of peace, love and harmony.
An
International touring band with a 10 year portfolio of festival,
theatre and
club gigs throughout Europe, Scandinavia and the UK.
Gerry Jablonski & the Electric Band are a standout act with an
energetic, noholds-
barred stageshow. They have a unique, trademark Heavy Blues Rock
sound and style producing gutsy music with hooks, melodies and
an intense
presence that wins over any audience, anywhere, anytime.
Guaranteed.
• 2018 Blues Awards - UK Blues Act of
the Year nominee
• Live UK TV performances on STV and
radio play on BBC Radio 2 & Planet
Rock
• 10 years road experience throughout
Europe, UK and Scandinavia
• Sell out headline shows 2 years running
at Vienna and Edinburgh jazz and blues
festivals
• 6 albums to date, all reviewed and
recommended by Classic Rock
magazine
• Double A side single recorded with
Robert Plant’s Grammy award winning
producer
• Latest album, Live at the Blue Note on Classic Rocks’ most
recommended list
• Festival, theatre and club gigs in Austria, Czechia, France,
Germany, Poland and all over
the UK in 2020
• Sell out appearances at Sheffield O2 HRH Blues festival and
Rory Gallagher Festival
• Latest video / single release, Goddam, sponsored by Dan
Aykroyd’s Crystal Head vodka
"What
happens when you take a drummer tighter than Ron Jeremy’s
boxers, a bassist with more low-end than the Grand Canyon, a
guitarist who shreds faster than Simon Cowell’s accountant and
two singers whose voices seem to make the world that much
sweeter? You get Brave Rival, the South East’s brand new
rip-roaring blues-rock and soul machine."
Charlie
Knowles is a singer and acoustic guitarist from East
London. With the backing of top UK lap steel player (Frank
Cooke) and other occasional musicians, he writes and performs
country music that overlaps Western swing, honky-tonk, rock &
roll and blues. His set encompasses music styled from Nashville
to Bakersfield over a eighty-year period (1940s through to
today).
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