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SCOTT  MATTHEWS       ......   

images by    .....    Lewis J Brockway

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JASMINE  RODGERS     ...   supporting   Scott Matthews.

images   ....   Lewis J Brockway

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Artist in the Hotseat: Jonny Hepbir

Jonny Hepbir took time out of his busy schedule to chat about his fascinating life. From his venture into Gypsy jazz, a one-off performance on a roundabout (yes, we said roundabout) and meeting Paul McCartney at a Christmas party, there’s plenty to learn about our favourite jazz guitarist.

1)       Throughout your career you’ve released so many albums. What is the favourite album you have released and why?

My originals album (Grand Bizarre UK/Turkish Blend USA) which I recorded over a few months late 1999/2000, I wrote everything and did all the arrangements on a small £12 cassette recorder from Argos. I had some top muso friends come and play on it and although playing-wise, now I'm a better musician, it was a real labour of love. I made 100 copies and randomly sent 20 off into the world. A year later I received a phone call at 4am from the USA. It was the head of a record company offering me an advance of $5000 to release it on his label in the states, which obviously, I took up. It was my second record deal and came as a massive surprise. Still proud of that one.

2)       You’re obviously hugely influenced by Django Reinhardt and the gypsy jazz tradition, how did you discover this genre and why did it make such a big impression on you ?

I heard Django in my teens but the music didn't speak to me at the time. Years later when I came out of the Flamenco jazz scene (lots of tours, few albums etc) I was a bit lost musically and as a guitarist. I went over to the Samois Festival in France in 1995 (where he lived and died) and saw how the Gypsies play guitar. It made such an impact on me that I switched style and never looked back. So inspiring and so much to absorb and learn, I think I practice now more than I ever did. It's great, on a basic level, just two players, two acoustic guitars and you're off! I've spent a lot of time over the years playing with awesome Gypsy players, they're the best on all levels with this music, I learn so much playing with those guys, always inspiring.

3)       What’s your fave song to perform and why?

That's a really tricky question! Any of the repertoire tunes in the style, even some of the more banal ones can be transformed if the other player has proper swing in the rhythm and the vibe is good.

4)       Tell us about the most memorable gig of your career- good or bad ?

Too many! too many stories! haha. One that springs to mind, a few years back when Jason and I found ourselves on a rooftop in Morocco playing Gypsy jazz to rich young Moroccans for an hour or so after gigs and a party the night before in Brighton. Two hours sleep, get on the plane, get off the plane, go play in suits in searing hot temperatures straight away. After, I relaxed in a cold bath in the hotel while Jason went swimming in the sea and almost became shark-food. In the evening before we went back we fancied a drink which proved problematic being in a Muslim country but we eventually found hidden in a side street, a TGI Fridays! Selling cocktails! All very surreal but great fun!

5)       Where’s the strangest place you’ve performed?

Off the top of my head, I've played in a supposed haunted tower, under a car in a garage, on a wobbly raft in the middle of a lake, on a roundabout, a train, plenty more weird and wonderful locations too. Love them all!

6)       What are the best bits of working as a solo artist and as part of larger ensembles, such as your duo with Jason?

Just playing, I really love just playing my guitar in this style. It's always fab playing with other players and I consider myself very lucky that I've had the opportunity of sitting alongside some truly fantastic musicians.

7)       The proudest moment in your career?

Maybe the USA deal, playing/hanging/learning with Bireli Lagrene and Lulu Reinhardt, getting to play with awesome players in awesome locations and still doing it. Also quite proud of my band Youtube Channel, a lot of people like our stuff it seems.

8)       What was it like performing for Sir Paul McCartney? It must have been so surreal!

Yes indeed! It was a private Christmas party in London, He came and was instantly checking the band out despite being swamped by friends etc. He came over just at the point when I was nodded the first solo on a tune, stood about a foot away right in my face looking at my fretboard. I had a split second to suss out my opening phrase/approach. Normally I might have done some mental Gypsy style sweep arpeggio thingy but I opted for an old school blues style phrase. He beamed at me and winked. As he walked off I think I then went for the mental stuff haha. He was good fun and came across as a nice fella.

9)       Who or what is your ‘guilty pleasure’ musically?

Lieutenant Pigeon - 'Mouldy Old Dough', Roger Glover - 'Butterfly Ball', Pantera -'Strength Beyond Strength', Frankie Valli- 'Rag doll', loads of other random stuff.

10)   Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians seeking to pursue music as a career?

In 1992 Katia Labeque the famous classical pianist told me to 'work well' which was good advice. Other than that, I'd say be determined and learn to avoid time-wasters, exposure - bucks gigs and sharks(business ones and the bitey fish beasts).

Book tickets to Jonny Hepbir at Revelation here 

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Revelation review! Contact Music rates Tom McRae's "magnificent performance"

We are delighted that Andrew Lockwood from Contact Music stopped by to listen to Tom McRae's fantastic gig on 9 March. Lockwood described McRae’s supporting act, Astrid Williamson, as playing "note-perfect to the captivated audience". When Tom finally appeared on stage, his "pure and heartfelt" voice "was filled with an impassioned melancholy as he bathed the venue in achingly beautiful vocals" and a "measured drama that held his audience captivated". Read the full review here

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TOM  McRAE  at  Revelation   ...  9th March - 20118

images by   ..   Lewis J Brockway

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ASTRID  WILLIAMSON    ...    supporting  Tom McRae at Revelation

9th March  ..  2018

images   ..  Lewis J Brockway.

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Up Close and Personal with Tom McRae

 The amazing Tom McRae performs this evening  9 March 7.45 at Revelation on the first of only two UK dates this year. So don’t miss out and book now. In the meantime, we took the chance to get up close and personal  and ask a few questions in our latest Artist in the Hotseat Interview........

1. You’re an artist who really seems to be plugged into the world around you. Do these ever challenging times have an effect on your new music?

It's a difficult time for everyone right now,  it's hard to stay engaged without becoming ever more cynical and despairing. And of course that effects how and what I write. But I always have to have a personal angle in the songs, otherwise they don't really seem to connect with me, so even if my new songs are set against the back drop of a world on fire, at the heart of them are relationships, love, fear, growing old, with the odd dash of hope thrown in. In truth, I only write about the subject I'm best qualified to, and that's me. 

 2. Your cover of Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ was our track of the week over the festive period. What was it like getting to put your very unique stamp on this upbeat Christmas Classic?

I recorded it when I was living in LA for a christmas covers album, all the real classics were spoken for by bigger acts, which I thought was a blessing as it's easier to put your spin on a really cheesy song than a well-loved classic. Now, not to say McCartney isn't a genius, but I thought I'd go for a tongue-in-cheek, depressed and downbeat, anti-christmas song version. I thought it was funny, and an antidote to the permanent sunshine around me. Needless to say my label hated it, but it went on to be used in ad campaigns, and movies, and find a little place in the world of christmas. Dear Sir Paul, I apologize.

 3. A little while back you gave a TedEx talk about the ‘Seven Truths of Songwriting’, if you could give an aspiring artist only one of those truths to carry forward in their career which one would it be?

Yes, it could have been any number of truths really, and of course everyone will have their own so my versions aren't prescriptive in any way. For me, the biggest thing with doing anything creative is just struggling to start. We have all of history pressing down on us, everything has been done before usually by someone more talented, with better hair. Every permutation of life has been lived already so what's the point of adding to an overcrowded art world? Who's going to care about what you have to say? But begin anyway. Play a note, make a mark, without worrying how it will turn out, or how history will remember you. History doesn't care. Just do what's next, and do it for you. It's a cliche but art is only ever the process, not the outcome.

 4. It’s said you began singing in church choirs as a child. What’s it like singing at this type of venue than any other?

I first fell in love with music in churches, the power of singing in a choir, the sound of it in a cavernous space. Although I was raised in a very religious household it never took, and I can easily separate spirituality from religion, and just the buildings alone can inspire different thoughts to normal venues. It's not such a big leap to imagine the church as a big cave, where people would have gathered and sung and told stories long before the bible was even written. I like that idea.

 5. From Scandi Dramas to Buffy the Vampire Slayer your music seems to go perfectly on screen. What makes a great piece of film music?

 The best film music is the sort that doesn't get in the way, doesn't tell you what to feel, creates a tone or mood that allows the film to tell the story, and acts as a sort of emotional scaffold to certain scenes. And then knocks you dead with a killer opening and closing theme.  My favourites are Maurice Jarre's score for Lawrence of Arabia, and currently I'm a big fan of Hans Zimmer. A lot of it conveys emotion without being so bloody full of notes. Less is always more. I'm scoring more for picture now, which involves writing for orchestra, but my own songs have ended up on tv shows because I try to make them atmospheric and movie-like in the way the sound of them aspires to conjure a particular world. Or "universe" as the French would poetically say.

 6. You’ve had a fantastic career with Mercury and Brit nominations and a plethora of albums. Is there anything more you hope to achieve before you hang up your guitar for good?

 I try quitting every year, I think perhaps there will be a time soon when I finally have the courage to quit touring, but what has kept me doing music all these years is the fact that music is the hardest thing for me to do. To write a song, then learn how to sing it, then record a version I don't hate, then figure out how to make it work in a gig, then how to keep all the variations of my live shows working. These are obsessions. I think over all I've been pretty lucky and some things I'm happy with and some I hate, but a bit of me will always feel I've failed though, as I never had a hit and never got on Top of The Pops. It's all anyone ever asks. Were you on TOTP? So I lie and say I was, but that they never repeat that particular episode these days because it was hosted by Jimmy Saville. Just my luck.

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KNIGHT & SPIERS  at Revelation   ...   3/3/2018

images    ..   Lewis J Brockway

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ANNE SUMNER at Revelation   supporting  Knight & Spiers

images     ...   Lewis J. Brockway

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Abigail Cardwell: Artist in the Hotseat

We spent some time catching up with our wonderful Fireside Sparks performer Abigail Cardwell. She chatted Abigail Cardwell and Chris Kennedy Duo's beginnings, the most memorable experience of her career and her favourite song to perform to at her concerts.

Check out the interview:

Q1: How did you first start working together?

Chris invited me to play at a jazz evening at the Sands Hotel. We found working together so natural that we decided to form a permanent band

Q2: What’s your fave song to perform?

What A wonderful Word

Q3: What has been your most memorable experience of your career- good or bad?

Releasing our first single together for a Christmas advert in December

Q4: If you could work with any artist (dead or alive), who would it be?

Ella Fitzgerald

 Q5: You’ve performed at Revelation before and we are so happy to have you back! How did you find performing at Revelation the last time?

Wonderfully intimate! The audience appreciated every song and we had a great time with them.  We look forward to playing you our new song!

 Q6: What’s next for the Abigail Cardwell and Chris Kennedy duo?

We are currently writing an album together :)

So don’t miss out on a fabulous show- book tickets to Fireside Sparks: Abigail Cardwell and Chris Kennedy here now!

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ELIZA  CARTHY  and the  WAYWARD BAND

At Revelation   ...   9th December  ..  2017

images by  Lewis J. Brockway

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DUOTONE  at  REVELATION    ...   supporting  Eliza Carthy        .....     9th December  -  2017

images  ......    Lewis J. Brockway

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LAU  at Revelation  -  2nd December - 2017

images   ..   Lewis J Brockway

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LAU ARTIST IN THE HOTSEAT

Christmas is just around the corner, but in the meantime, we are getting excited about Lau’s performance here at Revelation Saturday 2 December 7.45pm. The Scottish boys formed in Edinburgh in 2005 and have singed worked their way up the folk ladder, winning awards including BBC Radio 2 Folk Award and Album of the Year 2015 by The Herald.

So if you have a spare second between stocking up on Christmas presents, buying decorations and secretly listening to festive music before December 1st, check out our Artist in the Hotseat with Lau, giving us an insight into their beginnings, their most memorable experiences and what’s next for our folk favourites.

1)       It’s been over ten years since the band formed back in Edinburgh. Tell us how you got together. 

I had done a tour with Kris in Canada, we were being a backing band for a Canadian musician and had a great time haning out and playing music together, and when we got back we made a demo together. Kris and Aidan had also made a demo together and at the point where Aidan and I also did a gig together it seemed silly to have three duos and we became a trio. One of the tracks Aidan and Kris first recorded we are playing on this Decade tour in fact. 

2)      What inspired the name ‘Lau’?

It is a word from the north isles meaning fire or light, Kris bought it in, it is usually spelled Lowe I think. It is still in use in Shetland and Orkney. 

3)      What’s your fave song from Decade: The Best of Lau and why?

Ghosts, because music is music and all very well, but I feel that song says something important, more important than music, at least right now. I (Martin) take no credit for any of that song, Kris turned up with it all finished.

4)        What has been your most memorable experience of your career- good or bad?

Playing a festival in Canada and a tree right by the stage was struck by lightning, just as we were finishing our gig, like a proper BANG, burnt tree affair. I still have a piece of charred bark I took home. I wish that happened every night. 

5)       How do you spend your free time when you’re not working?

I like walking down hills. The is the unfortunate precursor of walking up, which seems to be a necessity so I do that too. 

6)       You’ve performed all over the world and in so many different venues and festivals.  Are there any places you’d love to perform in, but haven’t had the chance to yet?

I would love to go to Cuba.

7)       As a band, you are unafraid to experiment and stretch the boundaries of music- it’s what makes you so unique. Do you have any favourite musical genres you like to explore?

Pragmatism plays a big part, and so we spend a lot of time messing about with electronics, it is relatively cheap now if you have a computer and portable and you can do it with sleeping children in the house, so increasingly I spend time down glorious sonic rabbit holes of electronics. 

8)     What are you working on at the moment?

We are rehearsing for the ‘Decade” tour, which starts next week, we do two halves, an acoustic half stripped back to how it was at the start, round one mic, very close, very focused. and a second half of newer stuff, some actually new stuff and all the exciting pieces of equipment we have found/made/stolen over the last 10 years. It’s the most enjoyable show for us that we’ve ever done, because we get to play a lot of music, which is the fun bit. 

9)      You’ve collaborated with so many big names. if you could work with any artist (dead or alive), who would it be?

Bowie and Eno in Berlin, they didn’t know how much they were missing without that accordion...

10)   What’s next for Lau?

We are putting together tracks for what will be the next record, it’s important not to get stuck looking back, so having these new things to work on and jam in sound checks on the Decade tour is a great antidote to any possible nostalgia. 

Lau are performing at Revelation on 2nd December. Tickets available here

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BLAIR  DUNLOP  at  Revelation   ....   3rd  November,  2017.

images   ...   Lewis J. Brockway

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BROOKE   SHARKEY    supporting  Blair  Dunlop  at Revelation - 3rd Nov, 2017

images   ...   Lewis J. Brockway

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BLAIR DUNLOP ARTIST IN THE HOTSEAT

Blair Dunlop is no stranger to the Revelation stage. He has performed at Revelation twice already, playing alongside Jon Boden and Thea Gilmore. He’s already released 3 albums and 2 EPs, performed on the prestigious Glastonbury Stage and won the Horizon Award at the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Now Blair will be entertaining audiences at Revelation again on 3rd November, alongside special guest Brooke Sharkey. 

Blair took some time off his busy schedule to tell us about his love of Italy, his new music and the worst experiences of his music tour. 

1)      I really love the style of your music, especially ‘The Egoist’ We find ourselves singing along in the office. What inspired its lyrics?

Thanks for the office spins! The lyrics for The Egoist were inspired by my crippling guilt complex haha. Something many people can relate to.

2)      I notice you write a lot about Italy. What is it about Italy that you love? Would you perform there if you had the chance?

I've just got back from Italy actually; I was playing in Emilio Romagna with my old man. We both share a love of Italy, we've got many friends over there and we avidly support Fiorentina, the team of Florence. It's always such a pleasure to gig there.

3)      We really enjoyed your performance at Thea Gilmore’s concert in June. You toured with her for the whole of her UK tour, I believe. What was your experience of touring with her?

Thea's ace. Brilliant songwriter and brilliant person. I love her family too; we get on very well! I'd not seen them for years - we toured together back in 2012 or something - so it was a lovely tour to be a part of. The band were great too!

4)      Are you working on new music? What direction is it going in?

Yes, I'm halfway through recording album 4! Same band as the last record, with producer Ed Harcourt laying the bass. It's sounding vibey, I'm very excited about this record for a number of reasons. It should be out by next summer if all goes to plan!

5)      It’s not surprising that you are so talented, what with two musician parents! What did you learn from your parents that helped you become who you are today?

It's hard to say really, because I've known no different! Beyond any genetic traits I may have inherited, the main thing is the support. They could have very easily told me to get a proper job, and I may never had considered it as a way of earning a living. Having instruments around the house from a young age will have played a big part n my interest. Also, the fact that mum always used to sing to me.

6)      If you could perform anywhere, where would it be?

Oooo good question, it's impossible to pick just one. I'm going to go with either the Troubadour Club in LA (for the history), or the Park Stage at Glastonbury. We played the Acoustic Stage at Glasto last year and it was amazing, but The Park is my favourite stage... But if you ask me the question again in half an hour, I'd probably have a completely different answer. It depends on my mood!

7)      For all those guitarists out there, what’s your favourite guitar?

Well the best acoustic I ever played was a sunburst Santa Cruz H13. That was a magical instrument! I couldn't single out an electric, but I'm really enjoying the Filtertron pickups in my Gretsch at the moment! They chime but they can also get quite throaty!

8)      I found out that you played the young Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- very cool. What is your ‘filming highlight’ from it?

Well it was so long ago, I don't remember a great deal. Working closely with Tim Burton on set was probably the highlight, he's a great mentor and a very kind man.

9)      The worst experience of your music career so far?

Any time I've had sound troubles at festivals... And then people start heckling you as if it's your fault there's no sound!

10)   An artist you think should be on the Revelation playlist?

Aoife O'Donovan, Olivia Chaney, Rory Butler, Punch Brothers, Frank Ocean! If you like any of them, come back for more high quality suggestions.

Blaire and Brooke are performing at Revelation on 3rd November. Tickets available now: http://bit.ly/2xC5usI

Quote BLAIR4 for £4 off advance general admission tickets