Frigg, The Mysterines, Nick Mason, Red Guitars, Justin Mauro & Mauro Durante and more – and it’s only June!

 Well, we’re practically halfway through the year and I haven’t told you the half of what I’ve been up to. So, here goes... I won’t mention all the downers – dentist appointments and funerals, podiatrists and plantar fasciitis etc. Let’s just focus on the fun stuff. So, in January, I had the privilege of interviewing Esko and Petri – two members of Finnish folk band Frigg - for an article which appeared in the May issue of the wonderful Songlines magazine.

Throughout February and March I was still contending with electricians, plasterers, painters and carpet fitters coming back and forth to repair and renovate my attic bedroom (see preceding blog post if you’re really interested!) but I did manage to catch some live music in the form of The Mysterines at Birmingham’s Castle and Falcon (where I’d seen This Is the Kit in November.) The Mysterines were very loud and powerful and their single ‘Life's a Bitch (But I Like it So Much)’ has been regularly disturbing my early morning snoozes, thanks to lots of airplay on BBC6 Music.

In April, I saw the American singer-songwriter Christopher Paul Stelling at a lovely venue - the Kitchen Garden - in Birmingham. Support was provided by my mate, the terrific Son of John. The following week I headed north to Newcastle for a ‘Spring Fling.’ This is much less romantic than it sounds – the Spring Fling is a gathering of dulcimer players organised by my mate Steve Gray on behalf of the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club. I’ve contributed an article to the club’s newsletter and – if you’re good – I’ll reprint it here on my blog. 

After Newcastle, it was time for some more live music – this time in the guise of former Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and his Saucerful of Secrets at Birmingham Symphony Hall. Saucerful of Secrets perform the early music of Pink Floyd and the band also includes former Floyd bassist Guy Pratt and former Spandau Ballet singer/guitarist Gary Kemp (the two are evidently best mates, judging by the highly recommended Rockonteurs podcast which they produce together.)

April ended with yet another gig in Birmingham and this was the best I’ve been to in many a long year. Birmingham’s O2 Institute played host to a reformed Red Guitars – one of my favourite indie bands of the 1980s. In the early eighties, while the aforementioned Spandau Ballet were topping the charts with hits like True and Gold, Hull-based Red Guitars were crafting a unique blend of indie rock and African jit-jive and releasing a classic gem of an album called Slow to Fade. Seeing Red Guitars play songs like ‘Remote Control,’ ‘Crocodile Tears’ and ‘Good Technology’ more than 30 years after this short-lived band split up seemed nothing short of miraculous and I was completely overwhelmed with a combination of joy and nostalgia for my youth. It was a pleasure to shake hands with bassist Lou Loudhailer, (who has featured elsewhere on this blog as part of Agent Starling.)

May meant more dulcimer playing. This time, a return visit to Halsway Manor in Somerset. It was a delight to meet mountain dulcimer teachers Doug Berch and Susan Trump and to reconnect with old friends and fellow dulcimerists. This was third visit to Halsway Manor and it’s always musically inspiring and spiritually refreshing. 

But no sooner was I back in Worcestershire, than it was off to Bewdley to see another remarkable gig – Justin Mauro and Mauro Durante. Justin and Mauro are the winners of this year’s Songlines Fusion Award Winner and they were amazing live – with their trance-like fiddle and electric guitar duets and the deceptively big sound of Durante’s frame drum.

Which brings us more or less up to date. Phew.