Three Chords and the Truth UK

www.merryhell.co.uk From the cotton mills of Wigan to the glassworks of Stourbridge, Merry Hell cherish a distinguished English heritage wrapped in a progressive blanket of unity, while expunging differences at every opportune moment. Blending a fiery fervour with wry humour, this seven-piece band deliver an amenable basket of relatable folk-rock inviting people of all persuasions to join the affray. The key to the appeal is that no previous experience is required to bask in their crafted humility. Accessible lyrics are heartily sung from the floor with minimal instruction and being part of a crusade for justice is an immediate fix. All was in place as they closed a gig year in several quarters with a debut Stourbridge performance that raised the roof of Katie Fitzgerald's cellar venue. For many years my hometown of Stourbridge has been been the departing point for a gig journey, but far too infrequently the destination. Shows that pierce the core of a musical odyssey crop up from ...

www.mydarlingclementinemusic.co.uk 'Tis the season for indulgence, so why not slap on plenty of the self variety as another gig year winds down. In some guise or another, the work of Michael Weston King and My Darling Clementine has featured on these pages consistently for twelve years. In other words the entire existence of this blog. If December 10th is leaving it late for 2023, it was December 22nd in 2019. Now that night was one for the personal memory bank as it was tagged with the epitaph 'our race is run'. Borrowing a My Darling Clementine song title was a little presumptuous as six moths after closing the blog it was magically resuscitated into what has become a supercharged extended second life. What else were you supposed to do in the midst of a global pandemic with loads of good music lapping up onto your shore and plenty of time at hand.  Let's continue this self indulgent run before turning to the Kitchen Garden Cafe 2023. A quick scan over the blog's h...

  www.thefurrowcollective.co.uk Cosy, warm and affectionate. A simplistic take on listening to live music, then sometimes the basics just hit the spot. Of course, there are a multiple layers to The Furrow Collectives's approach drawing on a sophisticated skill base that emanates in an ease of style and craft. Three was the optimum number soothing the path as the Collective slimmed down to a trio while honing the triple effect of sing, song and sound. This third folk presentation by the MAC in little over a month raised the bar in terms of contextual appeal as The Furrow Collective showed why they are one of their genre's most durable 'part-time' collaborations.  Emily Portman, Alasdair Roberts and Lucy Farrell took the helm this evening. The cello and assorted presence of the maternity-occupied Rachel Newton was confined to the imagination on an evening where what was on offer erased a void. The combined talents of this Anglo-Scottish ensemble explored a theme, shared p...