What’s On

Keeping up traditions of years gone by The Ouse Valley Singles Club return to the Portland Arms Cambridge on Friday 18th April.

If you are not familiar with The Ouse Valley Singles Club or have yet to catch their live show then you are in for a treat. They are one of, if not the, most original outfits currently playing the live circuit.

Fully self-promoted with the aid of their online videos and huge social media presence, the Ouse Valley Singles Club are one of the hardest working bands around, having gigged almost every weekend over the last 10 years honing their craft and building a massive following of loyal Fans as they go.

Influenced by the long forgotten sounds & traditions of 1950’s Skiffle (Google it) they combine this sound with the energy of Punk and the swing of Rock and Roll, whilst occasionally dropping some Reggae flavour into the mix. Then layering this with hilarious Folk-like story-telling, often crossing the parameters of what is deemed to be politically correct but keeping it very tongue in cheek. In doing this, they have created a truly original & highly entertaining sound that has been dubbed “New Wave Skiffle” and they have been described as ‘George Formby meets The Clash’ where Vaudeville music Hall meets Working Men’s club.

The scourge of the Metropolitan Liberal Elite’ The OVSC put on a show that gives a hysterical observational account of everyday tales of woe with a razor-sharp observational narrative whilst rocking the crowds with their infectious ear-worms.

Having packed out the main arena’s to capacity, they have headlined Peterborough Beer Festival and opened to several thousand revellers on the main stage at Bedford’s River Festival (second largest free festival in the UK) as well as being a regular feature at events such as Cambridge’s Strawberry Fair, The OVSC are no strangers to the Festival Circuit. Festivals they have performed at are; Boomtown, Bestival, Rhythmtree, Nozstock, Mosley Folk and Lunar Festival, Truckfest, Rhythms of The World festival, Lodestar, Henry’s Little Big Gig, Harlequin Festival, Maui Waui, Green Meadows and Glastonbudget among many others.

Highlights of their musical journey came when they supported luminaries Chas and Dave on their 2014 tour, warmed up for Sir Bob Geldolf and The Boomtown Rats in the main arena at the Great British Alternative Music Weekender at Butlin’s Skegness as well as providing warm up for the likes of Pete Docherty, The Wonderstuff and the poetical musical comedy genius KATG. Clearly illustrating their flexibility and appeal to audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds going down a storm and building their following at every gig they play.

The Deadlians – The Deadlians are a Dublin based band with a cult following
playing folk songs, punk rock, psychedelic segues. With thumping drums, a
humming synth, evocative guitars and inventive vocal ornamentation, The
Deadlians come together in catchy arrangements. They are looking to create their
own identity in the alternative folk music scene. Their music is phenomenal. With
melodic and rhythmic tunes, their sound evokes a faintly darker edge to a new
generation of Irish alternative trad/folk groups performing today. Dublin man Sean
Fitzgerald, singer, balladeer, songwriter, poet, storyteller and musician fronts The
Deadlians started in 2017 as a four piece are now an Irish trad rock five-piece. One
of Ireland’s best kept secrets.

https://youtu.be/vbXAZ6t0oG0?feature=shared

Bandcamp – https://thedeadlians.bandcamp.com/album/rid-the-land-ofgreedy-
toads

“His music is simple but joyous, and totally infectious” – Songlines Magazine
“His songs are moving to hear and a spectacle to watch” – Evening Standard

Gasper Nali is a not-so-traditional babatoni player from the small town of Nkhata Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi. The babatoni is an African one-string home-made 3-metre long bass guitar, and with a stick and an empty beer bottle, together with a cow skin kick drum and catchy melodies, he creates the most amazing and danceable original Afro Beats possible!

Gasper’s unique style of Kwela music has received an extraordinary amount of online attention after a video of him playing by the lake shore went viral with over 20 million views. He has been featured by CNN and in the documentary “Deep Roots Malawi”, jammed with Joss Stone, appeared on Wired for Sound – Malawi, remixed by Aroop Roy for Sol Power Sounds and been played by Iggy Pop on BBC 6! His debut album, “Abale Ndikuwuzeni”, roughly translates to ‘People, I want to tell you’. It is a fitting title as Gasper’s songs, all sung in the Malawi national language of Chichewa, talk about life and strife in the country, often including social issues such as the rich and the poor, child marriages etc.

Green Mind presents… acts TBA

Concert / Folk Day

80s parody spandex band back to the Portland for the first time in 3 years.

Arthur Brown is synonymous with his 1968 hit “Fire” and the Hammond-driven “Crazy World” line-up which spawned it. However, his ‘God of Hellfire’ burned out fast and, in 1970, he returned with a new project: the prog-festival freak-show Kingdom Come followed by a varied solo career. Those initial four band albums, by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and by Kingdom Come are thrilling, as tend to be Brown’s cameos on other peoples’ projects.

Best known for his flamboyant theatrical performances and his powerful, wide- ranging operatic voice. He has been a major influence on a wide range of musicians due to his outstanding vocal ability and wild stage persona and concepts. He is considered a pioneer of shock rock and progressive rock and influential on heavy metal music.
He associated with Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Frank Zappa, Hawkwind, Klaus Schultze and Alice Cooper and made a cameo appearance in the cult film “The Committee” and also “Tommy”. His countless collaborations include The Alan Parsons Project, The Stranglers and The Prodigy.
His best-known single “Fire” hit number 1 in the UK singles chart and Canada, and a number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album “The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown” had top ten success on both sides of the Atlantic. Following “Fire”, the press would often refer to Brown as “The God of Hellfire”, in reference to the opening shouted line of the song.
Arthur shows no signs of stopping or slowing down and continues to record and release hugely inspiring music, including his most recent release “Long, Long Road” (2022) and the launch of his new multi-media show “A Human Perspective”.

https://www.thegodofhellfire.com

https://www.facebook.com/arthurbrownmusic

ProgRock/Metal night

Following the release of his tenth studio album, Waiting For Wisdom, Gaz Brookfield takes to the road once more.

Folk/Punk festival favourite, Brookfield has been at this for a while now. Since winning Acoustic Magazine Singer/Songwriter of the year way back in 2010 he has continued to tirelessly tour the length and breadth of the country, building a strong and loyal following where he goes.

His last album, Morning Walking Club, saw Gaz achieve his first top 40 record, and it even got number 1 in the UK Official Folk Charts. Not a bad result for this fiercely independent musician, with no record label, no manager, and no agent – just a guitar, a van, and a steadfastly belligerent refusal to give in.

The queens of banjopunk, three Swedish sisters by the name of Baskery, who’ve played music since they were old enough to hold an instrument. Baskery play a combination of classic ‘roots music and Americana’ with a twist of rule breaking punk turn this much loved style of music on it’s head. Their sound oozes style and playfulness and has helped them accrue a number of plaudits and accolades.

The first album, “Fall Among Thieves” (2008) was recorded in Stockholm, co-produced by Lasse Mårtén (Pink; Peter, Bjorn and John; Kelly Clarkson; Lykke Li; Primal Scream ). It quickly established them as an act that people took seriously. In the years that followed they’ve released several albums and EPs working with the likes of Blackpete (Depeche Mode; Joe Jackson; Peter Fox), Matt Wignall (Cold War Kids; J. Roddy Walston; Wargirl) and were also signed by Dan McCarroll (President and A&R) to Warner Music. “Coyote & Sirens” was released in October 2018, produced and engineered by Andrew Dawson (Kanye West; Rolling Stones; f.u.n; The Revivalists).

On the live scene Baskery are experienced in putting on a show have played over 400 of their own in 2015 the sisters were invited to join legendary artist Robbie Williams as opener and special guests on his arena-tour throughout Europe. Later the same year they also toured the US with Gary Clark Jr and Brandi Carlile and the festival requests roll in; Colours of Ostrava, Bonnaroo, Utopiafest, Newport Folk Festival, Arroyo Seco and Bottlerock.