HOVE: The Brunswick

Saturday 19th March, 2016

8:00pm

Event information

****** Keith Christmas ******

A popular figure on the British folk circuit, Christmas emerged with a rock-orientated style on his 1969 debut, Stimulus. Reminiscent, in places, of Al Stewart, the album featured support from Mighty Baby as well as Matthews Southern Comfort’s pedal-steel guitarist, Gordon Huntley. Fable Of The Wings and Pigmy continued this direction, during which time Christmas toured as support act for many of the top bands of the day, including the Who, Ten Years After, King Crimson and Roxy Music. A brief liaison as vocalist with the Esperanto Rock Orchestra led to an appearance on their 1974 album, Danse Macabre. That same year, a return to solo work produced Brighter Day, which was issued on Emerson, Lake And Palmer’s Manticore label. This release offered a tougher perspective than previous albums while Stories From The Human Zoo, recorded in Los Angeles, featured assistance from several stellar American musicians, including Steve Cropper and Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn.

Christmas was unable to transform his obvious potential into commercial success, and subsequently spent the last years of the 70s performing low-key concerts in London and at summer festivals. Disenchanted with the music business, he retired from the scene in 1981 to run his own business in London renovating Victorian houses. He re-emerged in the late 80s with a fresh outlook, playing on the folk club circuit with renewed enthusiasm and recording new material. He formed the blues band Weatherman in 1991, issuing an album’s worth of recordings with this unit the following year. In 1996, Christmas released the excellent acoustic set Love Beyond Deals on the HTD Records label. During the late 90s he performed in a duo with his wife Julia, while continuing to work as an ICT and Design Technology teacher.

In January 2003 Keith released an instrumental CD, ‘Acoustica’. It got excellent worldwide reviews - ‘absolutely brilliant’, ‘this is a quite exceptional piece of work’, ‘lavish and overwhelming’, ‘a beautiful album’, and the opening track was used on the BBC documentary 'Hidden Gardens'.

In 2006 he recorded and produced his first ever solo CD called 'Light of the Dawn'. The magazine fRoots reviewed it “…the sound is fantastic and grabs the attention: the confident, gutsy guitar, picked or slide, has immediacy and intimacy in equal measure; and Christmas's urgent, hoarse vocals can't help but involve the listener in the moods and stories of the songs…a fine timeless album”. An EP in 2011 and a live CD 'Live at the Pump' followed in 2012.

This year, he is bringing out his latest album, and this eagerly awaited release will be available at the gig!

www.keithchristmas.com

****** The Bonfire Radicals ******

Birmingham based Bonfire Radicals have emerged from the folk/world scene with a fresh approach to traditional tunes and a host of creative original material. Drawing on their eclectic backgrounds, they weave together raucous woodwind, delicate vocals and traditional Scottish fiddle with hard hitting bass, electric guitar and percussive beats. Known for their highly-spirited stage presence, the Bonfire Radicals' own enthusiasm for their music is undeniable.

Bonfire Radicals are: Ruth Lindsay (Fiddle), Katie Stevens (Clarinet), Michelle Holloway (Recorders & Voice), Andy Bole (Guitar & Bouzouki), Trevor Lines (Bass), Liam Halloran (Drums)

The Bonfire Radicals unleash their uniquely liberated musical styles in contrasting sweet nuances with a carefully crafted raucousness. Their six individual personalities unite with spirit and zeal to create a harmonious hotchpotch of sound. They are also releasing their next album which will also be available at the gig!

"Fresh faced and buzzing with excitement" - B13
"There’s nothing high-falutin’ about the glorious mess of noise they make together!" - Birmingham Post
"Their musical complicity and obvious enjoyment of each other’s company suggests there’s something raucous smouldering away beneath that wholesome facade" - B13

www.thebonfireradicals.com
www.facebook.com/bonfireradicals

****** Mishkin Fitzgerald (Birdeatsbaby) ******

Mishkin returns to the Real Music Club at The Brunswick and it's beautiful piano to play songs from her new upcoming solo record for an intimate performance.

Mishkin is best known for her role as lead singer and pianist in the British 'orchestral rock' band, Birdeatsbaby. Solo she plays darkly tinged pianos ballads and weird alt-pop tunes. After two albums under her belt with the birds, she launched her solo career with her first record 'Present Company', in May 2013 and was produced by multi-instrumentalist Forbes Coleman (Stereophonics, Claire Maguire). It has been played on BBC Introducing London/Sussex and hailed by Simon Price (Independent, Guardian, Q) as 'stunning... frighteningly talented'.

mishkinfitzgerald.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/mishkinfitzgerald

£7/£5conc