Caroline Trettine At The Waiting Room, And More

After a long, slow bounce from north to south and back again (wonderful children's collaborative song writing session in the afternoon!), I was glad to see The Waiting Room waiting for its evening concert. Katy Carr was doing her soundcheck as I arrived, with Tamara the superstar sound engineer who can get a sound out of a carrot and make it beautiful. 

The idea of shouldering two guitars had beaten me and the nylon-strung guitar was multitasking. Alas, its internal amplifier failed and Tamara had to mike it up instead. Musicians always inadvertently look for signs of irritation when sound engineers are challenged by things like this but all was calm and smooth, not only for me but also for Caroline's motley crew of musicians (there was to be a line-up change halfway through).

Soon we were all ready, and John Hegley kicked off the evening with a very apt song about two bus conductors who fell in love with each other. Men. Years ago, he came in to talk to the University of Westminster students and he has lost none of energy and wit in the intervening years. 

Katy had been invited by Caroline to concentrate on some of her earlier material and it was actually lovely to hear those songs again; John joined her for Turpin, the duelling mandolin and uke sounding spot-on. 

The venue had filled up with a lot of people, many of them friends. James and Bettina were there, Valerie, a lot of the Scaledown crowd. There was a warm atmosphere to play to and although I'd used up a pile of energy being a song writing facilitator in the afternoon, the audience replenished all that and it was a really nice experience. I do love The Waiting Room.

Next on was James Hutchins Daniels, a solo artist who told us that he loved David Bowie. But in his songs, I heard Anthony Newley, Scott Walker and a snifter of Jacques Brel. He was a real chordsmith, and despite denying the fact, a storyteller also.

Then it was time for Caroline's songs with her first set of musicians. She had an acoustic bass guitar player, which was an unusual and very apt addition to her music. It's hard to describe her persona on stage: she seems to tap into a flow of strength and stillness that makes her quite mesmerising to watch and listen to. Her musicians are clearly alongside her; there was no 'sessioning' going on. In the second line-up, Dave Chapman (a fellow Blue Aeroplane and a fellow colleague at UEL, where he taught film) and Mark Braby (Scaledowner-in-Chief) joined on bass guitar and electric guitar respectively, and the texture of the music changed. The cello player was fabulous, as were the backing vocals. Nobody overpowered the overall sound and there was space for Caroline to carve her vocal melodies into the flow of music quite perfectly.

The day had had its hectic moments, but by the end of the evening it felt like it had been rather  a beautiful and hopeful day. Caroline's latest album Hymn to the Light Universe is well worth a listen.

Karina had offered me one of Lorraine Bowen's spare tickets to see The Would-Be-Goods and Railcard in Brighton on Sunday. Lorraine had suddenly been asked to be the half-time entertainment at The Alternative Miss World in Regent's Park. How could I resist a day out in Brighton with Karina? We met at London Bridge at the everybody-play organ where she was creating all sorts of interesting tones, much to the interest of fellow travellers. After chips on the pier (none for you, seagull!) we wandered up to the Railway Club, which is one of those venues that lives in a bubble of its own time and place regardless of the miseries of the world. 

Just in time for the Would-Be-Goods! Their songs are short, crisp and perfect and always a joy to listen to. Railcard were also on form and the adventures of Alison locked in the toilet were an added bonus. What great vocal arrangements they have. I like the judicious use of unison singing, where the textures of their voices do the work. This is very much on my radar, with the stuff I'm mixing at the moment.

Speaking of which, I've just tried out three separate bass lines for a song that I thought needed bass on it, and I've now decided it doesn't. I'm not even convinced that I need to replace as many vocals as I'd thought. One guitar part, perhaps, and some of the songs have mixed themselves while I wasn't watching (or listening). Funny how they do that. Just a bass part from Ruth Tidmarsh to come and then I can start shuffling it all about, tying up loose ends, a bit of vocalising and playing, but chiefly learning the words for the gig on the 11th October!