Rose Redd - Yardbird Jazz Club Birmingham Sunday 16 September 2012

Rose Redd performs at the Yardbird

Imagine the scene. You’re enjoying a well deserved drink in a lively bar after a busy day perusing an abundance of artists invited to participate in a city centre arts festival. Amongst the constant hum of this bar, a young acoustic singer-songwriter takes to the stage to deliver her short set. Over the next half hour, your ear gets increasingly drawn to the sounds emanating from this performer as they rise to the challenge of the environment and leave a lasting impression of wanting you to explore further. Fast forward eight days to another bar where the young performer returns to the stage, this time, with your undivided attention, you have all your first thoughts confirmed and you realise that you’ve just discovered a special talent.

This is an honest appraisal of the introduction to Rose Redd, an eighteen year old young artist from just outside Wolverhampton who is embarking on a musical career that has the potential to turn many a head and borrow many an ear in a similar manner to the account recalled above. Her powerful awe inspiring vocals, supplemented by proficient guitar playing are the perfect tools to indulge her passion of interpreting both existing song and that which she composes from tapping into her creative soul. The captivating and alluring result from her musical delivery demonstrates an ability to cross genre boundaries and showcase the enchanting power of song.

This half hour set in Birmingham’s Yardbird Club was part of a evening of versatile music headlined by an act called Artmagic and Redd used the opportunity to promote a number of her own compositions alongside a couple of covers that demonstrate one angle of her musical influences which are to say the least diverse from one such young in years. The maturity of her lyrical output has evolved by delving into her inner sanctuary from what has been self-described in parts as a tortured past and she will not be the first artisan to seek solace and rejuvenation from the art of song. The depth of self-penned songs performed on the evening, such as ‘Girl With A Broken Heart’ with the heart warming story of her feelings for the subject , the highly philosophical ‘Curtain Call’ and the account of failed relationships in ‘Perfectly Useless’, are all the hallmark of a highly promising singer-songwriter. The latter is set to become her signature tune with an imminent single release following significant input from established producer Gavin Monaghan of which the much anticipated finished version will signal an ambitious attempt to infiltrate the playlists of the radio medium.

At the moment the online exposure of Redd’s music is confined to a series of well produced ‘You Tube’ videos including an impressive rendition of the Rolling Stones ‘Wild Horses’, which compares well alongside other versions of this much covered song such as that of highly acclaimed American artist Gretchen Peters, a regular visitor to the Midlands. The two covers chosen for this evening’s performance were the highly popular ‘Numb’ by Linkin Park and Skunk Anansie’s  ‘Weak’, both representing the rock side of her influences. There are a number of other inspirations from the world of rock and pop name-checked in her online profile amongst who are Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. It would certainly do no harm in further exploring these artists and their influences to get greater exposure of the great American songbook and the positive effect it would have on her craft.

The two other songs that completed the seven-number set were also originals and it’s anticipated that these two, ‘The Storm’ and ‘Feeding the Need’ can hopefully join the others on some format of recorded release in the future to expand her music from the live circuit to a far wider audience. Yet the great appeal of Rose Redd’s music is the intimate surrounding of an acoustic set and that which was performed at the Yardbird is another example of a talent beginning to flourish.

‘A girl, a guitar and a passion for live music’ is a wonderful succinct self-evaluation of Rose Redd and a keen eye is recommended to be kept on the burgeoning career of this talented young lady.

www.roseredd.co.uk