The TuppennyAs of the time of writing, we have no idea how long this Cornonavirus / Covid-19 Pandemic is going to last. But, because of it and all the social distancing rules put in place, as well as losing general trade, we have lost some fantastic live events.
We will do what we can to reschedule these, but, in the meantime, this is what we have all missed out on so far…
We are squeezing an extra bonus Thursday Night Music Club into March, as frankly, we couldn’t turn down a tour date from the brilliant Jake Martin. As an added bonus, he is bringing along for a ride Jess Silk, an artist who is new to us, but sounds like just our cup of tea! Magic!
Jake is an energetic and charismatic folk punk singer/songwriter from the UK. Jake intelligently blends the art of story telling; depicting tales of life, love, and the road, with dark wit, politics, and his own cheeky brand of cider fuelled humour. Add Jake’s witty ability to captivate and animate any room of strangers, his memorable sing along anthems, and the occasional bit of furniture climbing, and the result is an electrifying “every show like it’s the last” performance.
Jess Silk is a guitarist, singer and songwriter from the Black Country. Her shouty but melodic brand of folk/punk music often has her being likened to a female Frank Turner or Billy Bragg, and it gets people sitting up and listening. Armed only with an increasingly sticker-covered acoustic guitar and a distinctive, gravely voice that many don’t expect, Jess plays to audiences up and down the country and has shared stages with many well known names among the folk/punk scene.
You know you are doing something right when promotors and venues of the scale of SoP and The Tuppenny are attracting artists of the calibre of Matt Owens, artists with 2 top 10 albums (plus 2 top 20 ones) to their name….
Matt is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who came to prominence as one of the founder members of indie-folk band Noah and the Whale, and for fronting Rock’n’Roll band Little Mammoths.
Releasing four albums, Noah and the Whale achieved huge success in the UK and overseas, selling over one million albums in the UK alone. The band toured the world between 2006 and 2015, playing hundreds of festivals, including Austin City Limits, Fuji Rocks and Lollapalooza, as well as touring with the likes of Arcade Fire, Bahamas, and Laura Marling.
February 2019 saw the release of Matt’s debut solo album, “Whiskey and Orchids” to widespread critical acclaim including a 5 star review in Maverick Magazine. It is an album that sits closest to “Americana” with its rich, lyrical storytelling, shot through with gallow’s humour, combined with Matt’s return to his beloved acoustic guitar, betraying hints of favourite artists Neil Young and Warren Zevon. Nigel Stonier produced the album which featured Tom Waits’ drummer Michael Blair, Thea Gilmore, Carleigh Aikins from Bahamas, and Robert Vincent.
Local support comes in the fine shape of NASH, aka Gary Nash, who is known more for playing drums and percussion with Richard Wileman & Amy Fry, guitar and vocals with AT-IT and The three of Us. NASH has embarked on his own songwriting and performing adventure. The RUN and RUN Acoustic albums are a culmination of almost 3 years of work and feature skilled and impassioned folk and americana songs
WE are pleased to welcome back Larkham & Hall, an Alt-folk/alt-country duo writing artistic, attractive songs with a lyrical intensity rarely seen these days. Think Leonard Cohen with Marianne Faithful, at dawn after all night out at sea with a lot of tequila.
The Americana flavour comes from the influence of the great sixties folk artists and storytellers such as Bob Dylan, Tim Buckley, John Prine, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell.
Throw in quiet influences from a little punk and a little rock and you have the idea…Guns N Roses, Pink Floyd, Nick Cave, Patti Smith.
Lately World music influences have been creeping in via Elliot’s exploration into Flamenco and modern Spanish music from the likes of Joaquin Sabina.
John Oakes is a singer/songwriter who grew up listening to American folk singer/songwriters of the 1960s and tells stories about life, loss and legend. A vereran of the local scene John is known for originally recording and performing under the name of J.C. Leonard and with his former bands Grubby Jack and Albion.
Once again we persuade ex-Raze-Rebuild brothers Si and Matt Halls to swap the familiar wall of distortion for a more laid-back approach. Stripping back the songs and lending a little alt-county twang to proceedings.
New Bedlam Asylum is one of the many facets of Swindon auteur Charlie Miles. This version of him sees socio-political ranting to the fore over some serious acoustic guitar bashing…
Our first show of the year is a welcome return to The Tuppenny for two of the South Wests finest troubadours. Phil and Jamie are no strangers to playing the same bills, and frequently perform, write and record together so expect the two sets to be more collaborative than solo…
Phil is a contemporary singer/songwriter who has earned excellent reviews from the national press, with his thought provoking songwriting and energetic live performances drawing comparisons to Neil Finn, Glenn Tilbrook and Ben Folds.
During his live shows, he makes a real connection with the crowd, whether it’s handing out dozens of egg shakers, or passing around his “doodle book” for the audience to draw in. Every now and then you’ll catch him unplugging his guitar and shunning the stage to stand right in among the captivated audience.
Jamie R Hawkins is an Award Winning Singer Songwriter whose songs have won him critical acclaim in the UK and around the world – he has been described as “a powerful mixture of storyteller, philosopher and poet”, his lyrics as “poignant and witty” and his performances, “emotive and captivating”.
His song ‘Bloody Good Xmas’ won the acoustic/folk category in the 2011 UK Songwriting Contest and went on to achieve a #2 position in the Amazon download charts. He has since gone from strength to strength, forging for himself a dedicated and growing fan-base in the U.K, particularly in the Southwest of England.…
For our Christmas Thursday Night Music Club edition this year we have gone big. Very big. Yes, we have secured a very special, stripped back, acoustic show from two of the best and most exciting and progressive bands in town – Flour Babies and Illustrations.
Some bands are easy to pigeon-hole but if we said that Flour Babies make music that is an intricate weave of mercurial art-indie-prog-alternative-avant garde, that is only half the story. If you are a fan of post-punk sonic explorers such as Talking Heads or the strange proggy-jazz stance taken by King Crimson then you will find a lot to like here. It’s great when bands are both creative and confusing, right?
Illustrations have been described as “The Beach Boys on acid” due to thier blend of dreamy, 60s infused psych-pop with a more modern indie vibe via such cult classics as Neutral Milk Hotel. The music is jaunty, jangling, occasionally jarring but always joyous but above all it’s …err…great. (Can’t think of another j word.)
We all remember Tamsin as the areas favourite rootsy pop pixie, a wonderful blend of cheek and charm, of dulcet ballads and energetic acoustica. Well, she is still all of those things but now she has some friends with her.
Support come from the enigmatic Jol Rose, a man who tips his hat to American roots and folk styles. There is a raw honesty and everyday charm to Jol’s songs; imagine a shattered Americana sound that exists somewhere between Dylan’s observational balladry and Lou Reed’s solo soul-searching, and vice versa, topped off with Springsteen’s solo efforts and you are half way to understanding just how darkly majestic his songs are.
It’s great to see Atari Pilot back on the local scene again – we take real pride in being a part of their story as the venue to host their first two return shows after their enforced break.
They walk fine lines between rock and pop, indie and dance via songs that soar and sooth in equal measure. Dance songs in an indie-pop package…whatever will they think of next?
Grasslands is a singer songwriter who usually builds strange, electronic soundscapes around his trusty acoustic guitar and who often veers off into a sort of Q&A ecological TED talk and occasionally alternative theatre..no really. This night will be more acoustic guitar and less noisy electronics. However, no two gigs are the sameso we assume this will be the case, Whatever it is, you are guaranteed that it will be a memorable experience. Keep Swindon weird!
It is a more than welcome return to The Tuppenny for the Astral Ponies, whose show last year has gone down in Old Town Lore as one of THE special events.
These splendid fellows make a wonderful blend of Victorian music hall, Americana, psychedelia and folky tunes. But it is their quintessentially English eccentricities which mark them out from the crowd, their often strange sartorial choices and their biscuit fixations. Cravats are encouraged but not mandatory. Free entry if you bring custard cremes, or similar.