Bookshop Unplugged
It has been said that for a bookshop, we go the extra mile. Live poetry, philosophy over breakfast, woolly wednesdays, Britain’s smallest art gallery, and possibly it’s largest dining reading group are just a few of the delights we offer our readers.
Could we do more? Well, incredible though it may seem, yes, actually. In Jan 2011, in an inspired move, we brought you “Bookshop – Unplugged’, acoustic sessions in an intimate setting, and we’ve been bringing you closer to beautiful music ever since. Come along and experience a ‘Bookshop Unplugged’ gig and you’ll be hooked…
Adrian May’s Comedy of Masculinity
From 7pm Friday 12th July
Wivenhoe Bookshop
Tickets £6
A wry look at men and masculinity in songs and poems, from ‘all men are bastards’ to ‘sometimes it’s hard to be a bloke’ to the plea to ‘tenderise not genderise’ and beyond.
Brand new songs and poems performed by Adrian May (vocals, uke, guitar), with Murray Griffin (double bass) duo aka facefurniture
Adrian May and Murray Griffin may look like a before and after ad for hair-restorer, but they have an embarrassment of decades of musical experience between them – in folk bands, reggae bands, soul bands, pop bands, pub bands, duos and solos: in concerts, poetry gigs, festivals, clubs, conferences, sheds, housegigs, weddings, funerals and universities …
As a writer, Adrian has published two collections of poems and lyrics with Wivenbooks and made several albums, both solo and with bands. Songs of his have been recorded by such artists as June Tabor and Adele Anderson of Fascinating Aida.
Comedy of Masculinity is a preview of a forthcoming book/ CD from Wivenbooks.
Tickets £6, early booking advisable. To reserve your ticket, phone the bookshop on 01206 824050, or email.
Check out Adrian May’s book titles.
Fri 15th Feb from 7pm
Wivenhoe Bookshop
Tickets £6
Join us and experience the earthy roots vibe of ‘Unplugged’ regulars the amazing DЯUM, with Fiona ‘Red Roots’ Harmon on vocals and acoustic guitar, Ophelia Mills on violin, Nathan on bass, mandolin and acoustic guitar, and Nick Munt on electric guitar and bass.
Tickets £6, early booking advisable. To reserve your ticket, phone the bookshop on 01206 824050, or email.
Enjoy a sneak preview of DRUM
Mike Trim and Josh Doughty
Fri 26th Oct 6.30pm
Wivenhoe Bookshop
Tickets £6
Mike and Josh play a haunting combination of songs and instrumentals on guitar and kora (African harp). Together they create a very unique, passionate and vibrant sound.
Josh’s superb kora playing has taken him to many international festivals and gigs, and recently to Ronnie Scott’s.
Mike is a composer and singer/songwriter well known for his work with The Fingersmiths, and his CD ‘Songs from the Crucible’.
Tickets are now on sale! To reserve yours, call us on 01206 824050, or book by email.
UNPLUGGED – REVIEWED….
October, and another great Unplugged gig, this time reviewed by musician, baker, and general splendid chap about town Chris Ellis.
“Wivenhoe Bookshop’s mission to showcase the diverse array of musical talent in Wivenhoe in the intimate surroundings of the shop continued with its October ‘Unplugged’ night featuring Josh Doughty and Mike Trim.
Josh plays Kora, a beautiful stringed instrument of West African origin, part-harp and part-lute. The 21 strings are attached to an upright neck at the back of the instrument, and are plucked with the thumb and index finger of each hand. The further three fingers grasp two bars rising from a resonating chamber, fashioned from a calabash stretched over with leather.
The Kora sounds remarkable, both bright and plaintive. It’s sound was given added poignancy for me by the news that the Islamist militants who have taken control in parts of Mali, one of the countries from which the Kora originates, have banned musical performances. Josh has been playing Kora from the age of 5 (his father makes them) and honed his skill in Africa, which shows in his mastery of the instrument.
He was sensitively accompanied by Mike on vocal and guitar. Mike’s guitar technique – a combination of fingerpicking and percussive downstrokes – resembles that of John Martyn, and the duo opened with ‘May You Never’, the first of three Martyn tracks in the set, ‘Head and Heart’ and ‘I’d Rather be The Devil’ coming later. The Kora complements the Martyn tracks perfectly. Three traditional songs were sandwiched in between the Martyn songs, the stand out for me being the American folk song ‘The Wayfaring Stranger’, wonderfully sung by Mike.
Each performer had a solo outing, Josh with a further beautifully rendered traditional tune, and Mike with his jazzy ‘Celebrity Schmooze’. The night ended with more of Mike’s compositions, and ‘Never Known (So Much Love)’ the stunning ‘Black River’.
The excellent hospitality of the Wivenhoe Bookshop staff and a glass of wine or two made for a very enjoyable evening. How lucky we are in Wivenhoe to be able to hear such unusual music so expertly performed in such a delightful setting.”
Chris Ellis
CHECK OUT ‘UNPLUGGED’ PHOTOS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE
PREVIOUSLY AT UNPLUGGED….
Lou Terry
Fri 21st Sept 6.30pm
Wivenhoe Bookshop
Tickets £6
“Sensational!” was punk poet John Cooper-Clarke’s reaction to Lou Terry’s first performance of his songs at The Greyhound, Wivenhoe.
He picked up the guitar aged 9, and now at 17 is inspired to write his own raw and emotional songs. They are stripped down with no frills, giving the perfect platform to the strong lyrics and inventive tunes.
Tickets for Lou Terry are now on sale at the Bookshop!
To book your tickets, drop in, call us on 01206 824050, or reserve by email.
Hurricane
with Martin Newell, Dave Allen, and Alec Selley
Fri 24th Aug 6.30pm
Tickets £6
Hurricane are an acoustic trio – occasionally a quartet – who specialise in vintage Bob Dylan songs and ‘other pop curios’.
Capable of playing electric gigs, the band are essentially an un-plugged acoustic rock band — including bass and percussion. They are therefore ideally suited to small performance spaces and ‘living room concerts.’ Hurricane frequently cover material which is much-loved and yet now rarely performed by anyone else.
In 2008, guitarist / vocalists, Dave Allen and Alec Selley, both of them Dylan fans and regulars at the Wivenhoe Greyhound Tuesday busking nights, were joined by Martin Newell on acoustic bass and mandolin. Although they weren’t actually ‘a band’ at this point, within months the three of them began to be offered gigs, locally and farther afield - and so Hurricane were formed.
Nowadays, the outfit also sometimes features Mark Lees on percussion, vocals and guitars.
The band play for the sheer enjoyment of playing and have no further ambitions than to continue to play small events – in Martin Newell’s words, “Nice country boozers where they don’t throw anything at you.” No one has been more surprised by the growing popularity of Hurricane than the band members themselves — or as Dave Allen once said: “We’ve lost very few, so far.
PREVIOUS UNPLUGGEDS:
October 2011 – ‘Out in the Blue’
‘Out in the Blue’ are guitarist Tim Whitnell, and Jay Nicholls on vocal and harmonica.
For the past ten years Tim has been writing and recording guitar music for film and television. Via his publisher in Germany, his music is used in productions around the world.
Tim released two CDs prior to becoming involved with a publisher: ‘Rex’s Day’ and ‘In a Mind To’, both available from the bookshop, which are now included in his works and licensed for use in film and TV.
Tim writes spontaneously, as an event or situation arises, grasping the moment and fixing it into musical form.
Jay was lead singer of NuBlues who sold over 15,000 albums of their debut CD ‘Dreams of a Blues Man’ and became the first UK blues band to sign with an American label since John Mayall.
He has supported the likes of ‘Blind Boys of Alabama’ and Eric Burdon on European tours.
Although Tim and Jay have been friends for many years, it is only recently that their musical paths have crossed, with Jay coming from a mainly blues background and Tim from where the day takes him. The result is an interesting mix of song and atmosphere.
Space is limited, and so are tickets. To book yours for only £5, call 01206 824050, or email the Bookshop.
Bring A Little Manouche Into Your Life
May 27th 2011 7pm
Get close to more beautiful music on May 27th, when we bring you the next gig in our ‘Unplugged ‘series, and do we have a treat for you….
The extraordinary ‘Hot Club Gitane’ are purveyors of Manouche Jazz (Gypsy Jazz), and play an intriguing melange of Hot Club de Paris swing (Django / Grappelli) and French / German ‘cafe standards’ of the 1930s/1940s (Edith Piaf / Marlene Dietrich).
Line up:
Violin – Cris Yarker
Guitar 1 – Robert Ford
Guitar 2 – Russell Smart
Accordion – Terry St. George
Double Bass – Dennis Chilvers.
Space is limited, and so are tickets. To book yours for only £5, call 01206 824050, or email the Bookshop. All proceeds to the May Fair charities.
First ‘Bookshop – Unplugged’ sells out!!!!
The shop was crammed to the rafters on Friday evening for our first acoustic gig, featuring Fiona ‘Ginger ‘Harmon and the fabulous DЯUM.
Music fans eager to experience the earthy roots vibe in an intimate bookish setting bagged a cushion and settled down for a rare musical treat……and what a night it was! The back room proved perfect for DRUM’s mellow repertoire – in their own words ‘music with an earthy edge like a tin can’.
Fiona’s intense smoky vocals, Ophelia Mills’ haunting violin, and the subtle guitar and bass backing from Nick Munt and Ethan Morgan resonated beautifully around the shelves, with mesmeric effect. The combination of the unique acoustic and up-close setting was truly magical, and has inspired us to plan further gigs.
We would like to thank the amazing DRUM for their brilliant ‘Unplugged’ session, and to music lovers out there – if you missed this one, watch out for our next gig….
Bookshop Unplugged – bringing you closer to beautiful music
