Live music listings: February 2008Roll over the dates on the calendar to see who's playing, then click for the full listing and ticket info.Click on the mailing list link to enter your email address and we'll let you know, at the start of every week, what's going on around here. Roll over dates on the calendar above to show event details.
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Mon 25th Mean Fiddler presents FOY VANCE + Thom Stone
Doors 7.30
'An unbelievable voice...in the premier league of British songwriters' - The Sunday Times Usual tags such as ‘singer-songwriter’, ‘folk-soul’, ‘troubadour’ are perceived with a considerable amount of cynicism these days, especially since the music scene has been saturated with middle of the road artists, marketed as such by traditional record label formulae. Someone with a discerning ear and trust in their own taste should be able to spot who’s the real deal and who’s not. Leaving tags aside, Foy Vance operates in his own parallel universe. His music is an evolving journey, a constant search for artistic expression captured in the moment, operating well away from industry standards. Surely you’ll hear echoes of Otis Redding, Richie Havens, Tom Waits and Van Morrison in Foy’s music, legends he’s already being compared to and definite influences. An ever so modest Foy will laugh at these comparisons, but then again that’s what makes him so special. With his distinctive, cracked, soulful voice and a skill to write profound storytelling songs, Foy Vance belongs to a calibre of artists that stand the test of time, irrespective of trends or fads, delivering heartfelt songs about the human condition that everyone can relate to. Foy Vance arrived into the public consciousness in the summer of '05 with the release of his widely acclaimed debut EP 'Live Sessions and the Birth Of The Toilet Tour'. A series of gigs that saw him support such diverse artists as KT Tunstall, Pete Townshend, Joss Stone, The Spinto Band, Tegan & Sara and Taj Mahal, led to two sell out nights at Ronnie Scott's, and these amassed a dedicated fanbase and gained the Bangor born Foy support and admiration from his peers, including nine times Grammy Award winning Bonnie Raitt, who invited him to support her on her UK/European tour in 2006. An overwhelming response from US and Canadian audiences, due to the airing of two of Foy's songs ('Homebird' and 'Gabriel And The Vagabond') on the cult networked TV drama series Grey's Anatomy and a showcase at SXSW, led to a huge demand for the release of 'Gabriel And The Vagabond' in the US, and the inclusion of 'Homebird' on the Grey's Anatomy 2 Original Soundtrack album. Foy’s debut album ‘Hope’ was released in August 2007 to wide critical acclaim. The album was written, performed, recorded, produced and mixed by Foy himself. ‘Hope’ musically flows like a live session and it brings out Foy’s soul, blues, gospel and jazz influences soaked up while growing up in Oklahoma but also from spending time in Alabama and New Orleans with his preacher father who played an intrinsic part in the way Foy observes the world. Lyrically, Foy has an amazing talent for telling great stories in a song, as is so poignantly demonstrated in ‘Indiscriminate Act of Kindness’ and ‘Gabriel and the Vagabond’. The album has many highlights including the southern-fried funk of album opener ‘Be with Me’, the Led Zeppelin meets Donna Summer groove of ‘Hope, Peace & Love’ and the rhythm & blues of ‘Shed a little light’. Heartfelt songs such as ‘Treading Water’, ‘I Was Made’ and ‘First of July’ complete an eclectic package of beautifully crafted songs. More on Thom Stone soon. |
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