Northern Rocks That You Can Rely On - The Nine Standards
Charles Paxton November 23rd, 2007
Paul Harrison, ‘in the Zone’Cumbrian music at its best. The weather’s Cumbrian too, starting fair and then giving us a touch of rain, then brightening up again. Don’t like the weather? Stick around and it’ll change. It’s Saturday September 1, 2008 and we are comfortably hunkered down in front of the Mostly Acoustic Cumbria stage at Kirkby Stephen’s The Nine Standards music festival. I’ve heard that there’s some great musical talent lined up, but I’m still taken by surprise by the acoustic avalanche that ensues. I’m still coming to terms with the scope of the talent, I think. Simply stated, the acoustic tent’s a proper festival in itself. The sounds abound. We heard Rob Heron, Paul Harrison, Fiona Clayton, John Byrne, Jack Hartley, Matt Woosey and Tongue Tide. All acoustic, but each act was a distinctive treat for the ear.Where to start? Well, it would have been at the begining if we’d arrived on time, but sadly we missed Paddy Rogan’s and almost all of Rob Heron’s performances and we’ll just have to take the word of a guy who I spoke to there, who said they were great. I have no reason to doubt it, as I’ve seen them perform very well before and since.
Rob Heron plays his distinctive indie blues at The Nine StandardsIt was a great show. Kimmie and I took turns on video and stills and I nipped to and fro periodically to interview folk.
Acoustic tent at Nine StandardsPaul Harrison has an awesome talent on guitar and stunned us with his expertise, exquisite picking and foot tapping rhythms. Watch his video for a taste of some musical genius. If there was to be a musical olympics, and I think there should be something of that sort, I’d want this man on the UK team. I like the way he periodically leans back, seemingly relaxed and thinking of something else entirely whilst his fingers work their own mysteries on the strings - the message is clear “I’ve just popped in to the Zone, I’ll be back in a bit!” Just in case anybody confuses confidence in one’s talent with arrogance, I should say that in conversation he turns out to be a very nice, unassuming and gentle man. A bit more connection with the audience would make his act monumental. See his Myspace for more great sounds.
Paul Harrison, awesome guitarist
Paul demonstrating some of his awesome talent at The Nine Standards
Fiona Clayton at Nine StandardsFiona Clayton’s act was also a doozy. She’s a pretty lass with a sizeable local following and has gallons of song writing talent to go with her elfin charm. Her material is rich, her voice clear, firm and tuneful and her guitar work polished. I really like her song ‘Alice’. We’re looking forward to a possible release from Eden’s jewel in 2008. If the quality of her live show is anything to go by, then her EP will be red hot! Watch her Myspace or her new website for news.
Jon Byrne at The Nine StandardsJon Byrne is a fine-voiced and very interesting young musician from Barrow way. He’s touring widely, including London, Manchester etc., and has played with some established names such as Vinny Peculiar and The Inspiral Carpets. He strikes me as a powerful lyricist and accomplished guitarist, he’s signed to ‘A Different Friction Entertainment Limited’ and his songs have a strong narrative element on some important and ubiquitous social themes. As King of the dandies, Jon cuts a striking figure, questioning social injustice in a variety of contexts - ranging from the archetypical ‘neighbours from Hell’ in his song Scumbags to the kind of exploitative chisellers who would claim sick benefits whilst traveling abroad on their hols three times a year. Much of his music is underpinned by the message not to take things too seriously though, his social commentary is gilded with pythonesque black humour and touches on salvation and redemption. I think we could well see Jon become socially important nationwide - I can easily envision him stamping a powerful impression as he stamps the stage, my favorite from his set Don’t let life get you down could very effectively spearhead a MENCAP campaign for instance, or even just cheer everybody up!! See him and see. For more on Jon see his Myspace.
Jack Hartley playing for piece of mind at The Nine Standards strong>Jack Hartley was playing his home turf and he performed a lively and unconventional set in which he set his strings singing with some very interesting and complex looking finger work. Influenced by Rodrigo and Gabriela and educated in music at Kendal, Jack’s getting as much live experience as he can, about 20 gigs this year. Performing his personal material, Jack’s music is all about seeking inner peace by losing yourself in the music.Jack Hartley showing his spanish style at The Nine Standards
Matt Woosey at The Nine StandardsMatt Woosey wowed us with outstanding vocals and guitar, his performance powerful, voice and guitar rich and immaculate. He’s a good song-writer too.
Matt Woosey Singing Full BlastSee Matt’s profile for more on this amazing performer.
Tongue Tied specialize in great harmoniesWrapping up the afternoon on a high note, Tongue Tide provided nice choral conclusion with an uplifting set of their own material. Ali Rigg’s a choral tutor from Barrow-in-Furness and Jodi is a Production Manager from Broadstairs in Kent - together they harmonize to bring us a very distinctive folk/choral performance. Tongue Tide has been going since March and amongst other events they’ve enjoyed playing Solfest, Brampton, Carlisle Folk Festival and Penrith’s No.15 café. Both singers are from tidal towns and the band’s name encapsulates both the flow of emotions within their music and the difficulties in expressing feelings through mere words. Their voices complement each other really well and they clearly enjoyed performing, they especially like festivals and folk audiences. See their Myspace for more details.
Their set formed a nice conclusion to a very good afternoon of music. Thanks and congratulations are due to all who performed this afternoon and to all those who organized the event.
Des Basterfield, Director of Songsmith Solar Sound SystemDes explained that with solar powered amplification you can gig far from an electrical socket!Mostly Acoustic Cumbria