Tom Kerswill

Really enjoyed playing the Winelight Club in Bury. Here’s a link to a review from Manchester Music (please click link to read full review - here’s a small excerpt - really chuffed to get such a good review:

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Probably the star of the evening is TOM KERSWILL, a familiar face on the city circuit and very much a one man band. Tom’s energetic approach to his music finds him on cue with work boots, well worn jeans and maybe his favourite t-shirt. He’s casual in image but so absolutely meticulous when it comes to songwriting. His guitar style eschews finger picking for the best part, with his dynamic strums sometimes feverishly staggering between big chord crashes. The songs are perfectly trim and crammed with infectious, serious melodies. There’s not just one or two gems here but a whole string of tunes that hook you in to the observational lyrics as the set is interspersed with tales from the road and anecdotes about missed trains. “My Mind’s Eye” is one of Tom’s signature tunes and I for one hope that more people get to hear and see him play.
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Ryan has put up some really good pictures of our Sweetwater Brewery gig…

Meanwhile I have some of the Georgia Trip including pics of CJ’s Landing and Sweetwater Brewery and pics of MahoneyFest 2007 festival.

When I first heard about Birmingham University’s BEAST project in 2004, the prospect of going to see a “live” performance didn’t seem instantly appealing – high-fidelity sound played from laptops to an auditorium…. I thought it would be a bit like going to a hifi store and listening to some high-end sound systems.

I was pretty wrong about that. The BEAST performance in Birmingham on Saturday 3th May was impressive and, at times, breathtaking. 96 high-quality studio monitors of all shapes and sizes are used to create a massive sound field. Sound, originating from some computers running MaxDSP, is “diffused” around the room using a large number of mixing desks. The music ranged from sublime watery sounds to impressive electronic booms and whines that whizzed over your head and almost under your feet. It was a bit like listening to fireworks, except with sound, rather than vision.

The evening comprised a collection of pieces by various composers. We were there to see a new performance by electroacoustic composer Alexander J Harker, Orbits for piano and Max/MSP featuring Melissa Morris on piano. The piece relied heavily on improvisation, with a microphone which sampled the piano, and generate counter melodies and phrases. It was an unusual and beautiful performance - and as you’d imagine from BEAST’s high-end equipment, the quality of sound was absolutely fantastic. It was the first time I’d seen any of Harker’s pieces performed live – and was certainly a great introduction. I’m looking forward to hearing more!

Other pieces included an interpretation of Claude Lelouch’s C’etait un Rendezvous (click for YouTube video. The composer, Pete Stollery, undertook the same journey – this time on foot – and sampled audio from various locations along the way. scenes/rendez-vous was an incredibly detailed journey, and really enjoyable to listen to… the sounds of Paris flashed by in multiple directions, as if we’d all been picked up in a cage and carried through the city on foot.

Birmingham University’s BEAST project performs one or two large concerts a year, and can be found here.

Finally got round to putting up some photos of the New York Tour!

I enjoyed the gig down at Exmouth today… thanks, Kris, for asking me to play. It was good to see the sea again as well….

Went to a slightly shambolic reggae festival in Platt Fields park, Manchester, on Saturday. With the festival staring over 3 hours late, most performers ended up only being on stage for a couple of songs. And quality was variable… I also almost narowly escape food-poising from a piece of jerk-chicken, but counter-acted it by drinking an evil-tasting concoction of Jamaican spinach… hmmmm…

Thanks so much to everyone who came along to the Late Room gig on Tuesday. It was lovely to see so many of you, and that made it a really good night! Really enjoyed meeting some of the other bands that played too. Looking forward to the next Manchester gig - Jabez Clegg, 27th February.

Thanks a lot!

Tomx

Hello! It’s been a good weekend. Friday I went out in the Northern Quarter of Manchester with my house mate Pete. On Saturday I just played some quiet music in the living rooms of friends and then headed off to a few parties in Withington.

On Sunday I went to Night and Day, to see the Breaks. A great gig - and very good support from *The Seal Cub Clubbing Club* (what a name!) and *Chris T-T* — whose blend of protest songs is truely great. A bit like Billy Brag but more up-to-date and in tune….

The Breaks themselves were full of infectious 10-second songs. In fact, the longest tune of the set was probably not more than 3 minutes. First time I’d seen them live and it was good

I’m beginning to recognise the regulars in Night and Day, actually - it’s quite a small group who go to these gigs. Night and Day is a fantastic venue for new music as well as big bands. And there’s a lot of good music coming up in the next few weeks.

After the gig we headed further into the Northern Quarter and had a few drinks until closing time, before heading back to Withington on the bus…

At the beginning of each October, thousands of A&R types descend on the city of Manchester to talk about all things music-related. In the evening, it becomes a great place to see music - as pretty much every possible venue becomes host to local and international bands.

Choosing which to go and see is always a tricky business. Things kicked off on Friday the 30th. My top choice was to see up-coming band Fleeing New York, followed by Eighties Matchbox… but as is often the case in Manchester, it had started bucketting with rain.

A queue formed outside Dry Bar in the Northern Quarter, and it soon became clear that the event would sell out, with us not making it inside. So we went to nearby Night and Day - which is a well-respected venue for new music.

In there we caught sets from Tricky Nixon, Children, and 3rd Dan. There were some good, tight performances. But something about a room full of record company types, and a pressurised atmosphere, took a bit of getting used to. And though the bands were good, there were no really memorable tunes to speak of. It’s hard to put your finger on what makes a good atmosphere, but in Night and Day there was certainly something a bit tense or hectic which didn’t add to the night.

The next afternoon we returned to Night and Day to gatecrash an industry party to celebrate the launch of a new Manchester XFM. It had a free bar. Much fun indeed!

But in the evening I decided to try somewhere a bit different. The Font Bar - which was free to get into - played host to the best acts from local Indie label Fat Northerner. There was some really good stuff, and the atmosphere was superb. Also met quite a few people I’d talked to the night before… turns out it’s a surprisingly small community of people who enjoy discovering good music.

There was also the chance to natter briefly to some of the guys behind Fat Northerner - and it restored my faith in the music scene here to know that there are people actively pushing new or innovative music.

There was a huge amount of other good music happening - and my own experience was probably a bit atypical. On Sunday I headed to Jabez Clegg for an indie-style festival. It was pretty empty to start with - no A&R types out here - but the atmosphere soon built up. It’s a surprisingly large venue - and I reckon it would be pretty good if filled with some large headline acts. A lot of fun watching some of the acts on here.

Finally, Bedlam that evening played host to some fantastic acoustic acts - including Emmy the Great, Man from Cov and lastly “Son of Dave”. This last was an incredible performance. The guy beatboxes, plays harmonica, rattles a shaker, and sings - all at the same time. With the help of a couple of delay pedals he’d set the place on fire. Sounded like a full deck and a drum machine to me - but no, all those beats had really come from his mouth. Has to be seen to be believed really.

A good end to the festival for me. Monday’s technically the last day… but instead I chose to wonder around Manchester, discovering random venues. Ended up going to Temple Bar and finally “Big Hands” with some mates. Both venues have supplies of interesting beers and - interestingly - are half-owned by the guys from Elbow.

Roll on next year!

tomgroupphoenix9small

Originally uploaded by tomkerswill.

Here’s a picture of our Exeter Phoenix gig on Thursday. Next chance to catch us is at the Actress and Bishop, Birmingham on Wednesday 15th June.

Click on the photo to the right to gain access to other photos from the night.

This photo is copyright Alison Edwards, 2005.