Earworms 22 January

Pat Fulgoni from Huddersfield, vocalist, blues, rock, jazz, drum and bass, soul, keyboards, trumpet…

Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs from local bands / acts that you might see in a pub near you. As severin says, I suppose a “local band” for most people would be one that is from your home town (or even village) but when you live in a large city it’s not so simple. And when the city is Greater London it’s definitely a question of how local is local? Well, pub, bar, local festival, village hall, library, Devon – near enough is good enough.

If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be demons and angels, you can interpret this to include devils and saints, or whatever you can justify as a shoehorn. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 28 January.

I haven’t heard from shoegazer this week, which is unusual. No pressure, but hope you’re OK shoey!

Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm, and carry on!

Monako – I Forget – DebbyM: Hamburg band with Canadian singer. When I got my first Covid jab – at the end of a very long queue on a very long Saturday where patience was getting thinner by the minute – the friendly young man charged with setting up my next appointment read my name, looked up and asked me if I have a son who sings. Turned out he was the drummer in this band. How to become my favourite of all the indie bands on offer? Love my children and I’ll sign up for your mailing list ASAP! P.S. This song was on the shortlist for my Festive ‘Spill.

Big Joanie – Fall Asleep – severin: They were formed in Brixton, South London and they still play mostly smaller venues. Although they have released two albums and they played at Grace Jones’ Meltdown Festival in 2022, I first heard of them from a free gig they played at Brixton Library a few years ago. I hope that’s close enough to the remit to count!

Gallops! – Miami Spider – Suzi: Another band local to me, this time of the experimental rock and electronica kind. Instrumental.

Bobby Lee – Hevvy Friendz – AliM: Billed as ‘psych-folk’, Bobby Lee is from Sheffield, and we saw him last year at a local bar. This instrumental is from his CD ‘Shakedown in Slabtown’.

LA ILA – Nymph’s Web – DebbyM: La Ila is half of Poems for Jamiro, who often deliver songs for my earworms. She also plays hot swing and klezmer in another band, but this is her first solo project. I think these songs are just beautiful (there are only four, currently available on bandcamp). I’m going to see her on Wednesday, where she’ll be playing with Analogue Swing, then presenting some new songs of her own. I am really excited!

The Gathering – Heal the Last Stand – Suzi: A cheerful, singalong song from a band local to me. ‘Keep singing, keep hearing, keep moving, keep dancing.’

Robbie McIntosh Band – Emotional Bends – severin: Rob is from south west London, went to the same school as me and, despite having been a Pretender and a member of Paul McCartney’s touring band is still available to see (this February) playing a solo gig at the Sound Lounge in Sutton.

Scout Mountain – She’s Not By My Side – tincanman: Bandleader and banjoist Bill Smith wrote this about his dog. His semi-pro bluegrass band is a local institution that sells out the Legion so fast you pretty much have to know somebody to get a ticket. (Luckily, in a close-knit town of 14,000 someone always knows someone).

Tom Klose – Divine (Mayes cover) – DebbyM: Tom Klose is a very popular singer-songwriter round these parts, does lots of weddings and sofa concerts and puts a ton of free stuff (mainly covers) online. This is his cover of one of TheBoyWonder’s songs from a couple of years ago.

WordPress playlist, blurbs above:

YouTube playlist, blurbs below, and the link if you want to add songs: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxz-zGCy09oOXz4zjRoQRzha73PmkXVj&si=wGHZ6-mXPit3DzD8

The Humanitarians – Look Within – Suzi: This is a bit of a cheat, as the band isn’t immediately local to me, and I’ve never seen them, although I visit Devon quite often. They’re based in Torbay, and are a favourite of a friend of mine who lives there.

Heavy Salad – Psilocyberman – LongTallSilly: Seen many times in the pub, and the garden next door. Played South by South West in Texas as well.

Run Out The Guns – Drunken Sailor – LongTallSilly: Another local band, although they do say they’re from the USA (Uther Side of Ashton, local joke!!) P.S. The Bank Top Tavern is a pub in Oldham.

Dog Shark Blues Band – Purple Haze – LongTallSilly: Saw these guys at various pubs around Kirklees. We must have shared a record collection in our youth, except they can reproduce the music beautifully.

The John Angus Blues Band – Would I Lie To You – LongTallSilly: Another local(ish) band who we saw in Oldham this week. Luckily Andy is a better drummer than sailor otherwise he’d have been upside down under his kit!

Kyla Brox- Beautiful Day – AliM: We’ve seen Kyla Brox and Dan Blomeley at the village hall in nearby Brockholes, as part of last year’s Holmfirth Arts Festival. Here she is at The Vale in Mossley, which is fairly local and where we’ve seen Heavy Salad. She is the daughter of blues legend Victor Brox.

Terri Shaltiel – I’m Still In Love With You – AliM: Great blues singer from Leeds, we’ve seen her perform at The Railway in Marsden where they used to feature blues on Sundays. The video doesn’t do her justice, but her CD ‘Sweet Thing’ does, if you can get hold of it.

Druce and Jones – Own Sweet Time – AliM: Emily D and Steve J live and play locally. Emily teaches music therapy, is a multi-instrumentalist and writes and performs her own material, as well as covers. Steve builds guitars. They play at a local bar in Huddersfield, but are open to other gigs too, when they have time. Very accomplished.

Holly Macve – 1995 – AliM: Holly is Emily’s daughter, I have mentioned her many times on The ‘Spill and shared her single ‘Suburban House’ (with Lana Del Rey) on the Festive ‘Spill. This is her latest single, ‘1995’. And when she’s not doing SXSW or gigging in the States, I’ve seen her play locally several times.

Paddy Steer – Unorthodox Paradox – AliM: Last seen at The Vale, in Mossley. Interesting. Mancunian. There is an entertaining interview with him HERE.

Kasabian – Underdog – MaggieB: A couple of my neighbour’s kids went to school with some of these young men. We’re seven miles or so from Leicester but could still hear snatches of this concert. I saw them live when they played at the party for Leicester City winning the EPL, that was a happy day 😀😀

Jools Holland and Friends – ABC of Boogie-Woogie – glassarfemptee: Boogie-woogie king Ben Waters has played with the Stones, Dr John and many others. He and his band are regulars in pubs and clubs near me. Here he is with the ABC of boogie-woogie – Axel Zwingenberger, Ben Waters and Charle Watts.

7 Seconds – Young Until I Die – Fintan28: Formed in 1980, 7 Seconds was probably the most successful of Reno’s Hardcore Punk scene bands. They still perform some with two original members and last toured in 2022. Saw them at a local venue around 1982. We were there to see a friend’s band who were trying on their New Wave personas. A very mixed crowd that got along somehow.

The Atomiks – Hypochondria – Fintan28: If you like Rockabilly Surf guitar sounds (hand raised) The Atomiks are a Reno band that’s been around for 30 years or so and are still playing local venues. 60 years of this sound hasn’t grown old for me.

Had To – Out of Magic – Fintan28: Haven’t seen these guys but my niece (great niece, ouch) assures me they’re fun and can be seen locally.