A Three Course Acoustic Feast - at Penrith’s No.15
Charles Paxton November 4th, 2007
Rob Heron opened … 
Paddy Rogan followed …
… and Matt Woosey finished, in fine style.On Thursday October 18, 2007 we enjoyed an acoustic evening par excellence at Penrith’s No.15. The line-up comprised Rob Heron, Paddy Rogan and Matt Woosey, and the lads filled the capacious venue with a large crowd and some very fine sound. To all appearances a very good time was had by all; at cozy candle-lit tables, diners ate and drank, chatted and drank-in the ambiance and song. I greatly enjoyed this event and it was particularly good to see such a large crowd gathered and so clearly enjoying the evening’s entertainments.The verdict of Pete, one of Orton’s Mad Monks? “Tonight really worked. The first of many special evenings.”I concur. Offering three performers of this calibre, this evening at Cafe No.15 was an absolute bargain. It was a well-balanced offering too, Rob launching us with his punchy, feisty, high energy hors d’euvres, then Paddy taking over with the romantic flair of a bard - his rhythmical, rolling melodies somewhat hypnotic, mellow and persuasive bringing us to the finale act of awesome power from Matt Woosey. It was a course of distinct and complementary flavours, most satisfactory to my palate.
Rob Heron is locally renowned for his punchy blues and spirited vocalsArriving rather late, to our embarrassment we just caught the denouement of Rob Heron’s performance, but we could see from the unrestrained applause that he’d opened in style and he’d warmed up the crowd well and truly. Rob, the event’s organizer and M.C. is a well known local acoustic performer renowned for his punchy blues and spirited vocals.
Paddy Rogan showing us what he can do Paddy Rogan followed Rob with a great set characterized by his fine guitar work and romantic melodies. Paddy’s a British Folk Revivalist performing an alchemical fusion of folk and blues with a hint of jazz. Two of my favorites are shown here:Paddy Rogan performing ‘All around you girl, roses grow’Paddy’s ballads went down very well. His performance was very polished and he is emerging as a singer-songwriter of talent and significant potential. The second half of Paddy’s show benefited considerably from improved lighting and I enjoyed this performance a lot. I think it was a great set and performed with panache. The mellow rhythms are typical of Paddy’s style.
Paddy sharing his ballads at No.15.Paddy Rogan performs ‘Is this what love is?’While the first two performers are Cumbrian and have played at No.15 venue before, tonight was a debut for the third and final performer, Matt Woosey who came up to Penrith from Stoke.
Matt Woosey is a skillful guitarist and conveys a great depth of passion through rich, forceful vocals. Through a set of 15 songs Matt demonstrated his excellent vocal range and powerful, quite operatic richness of voice. I feel that though this man gives a lot, he has more in reserve. The volume of his music really appeals to me. Woosey has a big sound, but always maintains his musicality.Inspired by “the music of others”, notable influences being Led Zepellin, The Doors, Peter Green of fleetwood mac, Rory Gallagher, Sun House, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Paul Kossoff, Matt likes strong vocalists and he is one himself.
Matt’s music is grounded in the blues He describes his music as “The result of a combination between old school blues artists, a lot of blues since, and Rock and roll, from Buddy holly and Gene Pitney to Canned Heat etc. This combined with my own personal take on life, and experiences in love and the world in general give my music a feel of its own. I would broadly describe my music as covering a large array of acoustic temperaments, but always grounded in the blues in one way or another.”Matt performs ‘On a Roll’ at No.15I enjoyed the whole show. Though I can’t show them here, I particularly enjoyed the songs in which Matt used The Door’s Lyrics plus ‘On a Roll’ , ‘For You’ and ‘Neon to Wood’. See the forthcoming artist’s profile on Matt Woosey for an interview and more photos and videos.Matt performs ‘For You’ at No.15Please see the websites below and watch this space for the forthcoming artist’s profile for more information about Matt.New Website www.mattwoosey.co.uknew Myspace www.myspace.com/mattwooseyandthestrangerain