Grace Petrie is a fine and distinctive Leicester folk singer. She opened her set with a cover by Billy Bragg, who noticed her work and arranged for her to perform at Glastonbury. She has also appeared at a variety of festivals including Summer Sundae, The Big Session and Nottingham Pride.
A singer/songwriter with an agenda, her work often contains songs that have challenging lyrics and reflections on life and love that are both moving and stimulating. She has a new album coming out soon which will be greeted with considerable interest.
Her set tonight presented engaging songs sung with vitality and resonance. She articulates her lyrics beautifully, given that the lyrics really are worth listening to, it is great that every word could be heard. She stands out as a song writer, her lyrics being laden with evokative images and inspiring ideas.
Her Farewell to Welfare is an excoriating commentary on the political homophobia of the Thatcher era, the plight of single mums and the fight for gay rights. She sings with an engergy and fire that is as uncommon as it is engaging.
She can move from soft, gentle passages to those that reverberate with passsion and intensity. Often her songs tell a spell-binding story or offer compelling reflections on life, coming from the heart and personal experience.
Songs full of character and often a sense of humour, she comes across as an appealing vocalist, musician and performer. Her voice had range and colour and she executes some deft and delicate work on the guitar. A remarkable singer songwriter with presence and style.
Gracie Petrie performing Farewell to Welfare at Glastonbury festival, 2010
Also appearing tonight were singer Elizabeth Cornish and the delightful acoustic band Butterfly Polite. Hopefully we will be covering their work soon.
Sam Hutchinson at the Barley Mow, 6th August
Loughborough based singer Sam Hutchinson gave us a really good set of his acoustic folksy songs. For one or two songs he also played harmonica, Dylan style. As a singer-songwriter, he mainly sings his own material but also puts in a couple of well known covers. His cover of Norwegian Wood by the Beatles certainly won me over - one of my favourite tunes from the fab four. Not an easy song to sing but Sam cracked it.
Sam's own songs are evocative and full of moody colours, sweet melodies and ear-pleasing sounds and the lyrics are delicate and poetical. But he showed another side to his artistry, one with some bite and vibrancy, as he got into some banter with the audience, and pumped out a couple of stomping covers to keep them happy. A fine entertainer and accomplished soloist with a fine voice, Sam Hutchinson is well worth seeing again.
Following Sam was George San, a singer with a lot of panache and style that reminded me in some ways of the young Dylan. Interesting lyrics and colourful songs including a Robert Johnson cover, a set with a flavour and character clearly delighted the audience.
Russell Coltrane at Natterjacks, Braunstone Gate, Sunday 18th July, 2010
by Kevin Gaughan
It was my first visit to the new Natterjacks, I've walked past it several times and it's always looked popular, with people relaxing after a busy day in the office with a drink out the front.
It's got quite a nice feel with a wine bar type atmosphere inside and a few nice comfortable settees. Very nice contemporary decor with a fairly good selection of beers including a few european ones. Although, as is usual with these trendier places, no read ale on tap.
It was actually quite busy, especially considering it was Sunday.
Tonight's music was to be provided by Russell Coltrane and an acoustic set by Ashdowne.
Russell Coltrane consisted of just himself and his rather nice, shiny, metal guitar. He played a selection of American sounding Blues music. Although the Blues can tend to sound rather negative and dwell on the things we'd rather forget about in life, Russell's brand of Blues was much more upbeat and jovial.
He can certainly sing and play the guitar exceptionally well. He also looked the part and his silver guitar was very impressive. Having introduced myself to him afterwards he came across as a very nice person too, and asked me if I thought he sounded ok, which I said he did. I think the acoustics in the room were well suited to his guitar. All in all a good show.
Nick Thornton plays Walkabout on 11th August
Nick Thornton is the lead singer for Leicester band The Eaves but also has a distinguished career as a solo artist. Nick demonstrated his phenomenal singing abilities when he performed a legendary gig at Walkabout on Tuesday 11th August 2009. Being the only act booked for that night, Nick took to the stage at 9 p.m. and sang non-stop till after 11.30 p.m. His reppertoir was amazing, spanning many top artists, well known and much loved songs and musical styles. Nick is also a talented song writer and has given us a large number of quality rock songs, most of which he has performed with his band, if not on the acoustic stage.
The Eaves formed in 2006 and are still going strong, even though they have had a number of lineup changes. Like Nick, the band has a massive collection of songs to add to their own originals. A group of dedicated and skilled musicians, they love playing live music and have established a solid reputation as one of our strong local bands.
Nick's love of singing and performing was ably in evidence at his marathon set at Walkabout, where he held the audience's attention and single-handedly presented an amazing night of live music, picking up some new fans along the way. I say single-handedly although he did get a bit of help towards the end of the show from his band mates in the audience and even a couple of lively girls who took to the stage to karaoke a couple of songs with him and do a bit of go-go on the podium. All great fun and testimony to Nick's charisma as an entertainer.
James Lewis at Superfly on 3rd May.
James Lewis singing at Superfly
A young Leicester singer/songwriter who is making his mark. He played at Superfly on Sunday 3rd May and gained considerable appreciation from the large audience for his strong performance and engaging songs.
James has been playing live for just over a year and played at the Summer Sundae Festival in 2008.
He has formed a band to play with him as an alternative to solo acoustic sets. A voice with solid character, he ably portrays the emotion of his songs and has good articulation.
James is a talented artist with lots of potential , he is well worth seeing.
