Dear all,
Sorry to say, but SCE is no more.
It was a brave attempt to establish something slightly different which didn't reach its goals.
Nothing ventured, etc.
Who knows, I may try something new!
Thanks to the supporters.
S.
Wednesday 27 April 2016
Sunday 17 April 2016
A Kitty, a Kirsty and a Konfused host
Our guests at SCE #8 were notable for their differences and remarkable for their similarities (one of which, alliterative names, confused the host - sorry!).
An imbalance of male over female SCE guests was partially redressed this evening with the visit of Kitty Day and Kirsty Merryn, two highly accomplished singer-songwriters from different but complementary traditions of the genre.
Kitty's writing betrays her love of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and, to these ears at least, the influence of Americana and transatlantic writers generally. She confessed to an affection for Jackson C Frank, the near-mythical singer-songwriter (hero to Bert Jansch, amongst others) whose one album, produced by an as yet unknown Paul Simon in the 1960's, is still a reference point for many of her ilk. The iconic folk-music derived chord-changes her writing is couched in speaks of a noble tradition stretching back to British folk music via poor, white immigrants to the US, Appalachia and Woody Guthrie.
In Kitty's hands they are the setting for the tender and honest songs which are a very apt vehicle for her beautiful singing. Her economy of arrangement is an object lesson for many performers who don't understand, as she does, that less is more.
Classically-trained and jazz-influenced, Kirsty is as much a teller of other people's stories as a confessional writer. Songs imbued with jazz rhythms and changes are underpinned with a far-more-than-competent keyboard technique that offers a rich and compelling backdrop for her tales. Her velvety vocal delivery is likewise coloured by her training, making for a very rewarding evening of contrast with her stage-mate.
She has no break-up songs, she told us, but she has no need of them, speaking of love, her forebears and urban life with great lyrical control.
The host (me) sang a few of his own, doing his best to keep up and asked occasionally penetrative questions about the art and craft for the greater edification of the audience.
Americana and jazz; guitar and keyboards; confessional and narrative: a song-writing evening to treasure. These two writer/singers are to be sought out. They come SCE-recommended.
Join us on 12th May at SCE #9 with Catherine Ashby and Fabian Holland.
An imbalance of male over female SCE guests was partially redressed this evening with the visit of Kitty Day and Kirsty Merryn, two highly accomplished singer-songwriters from different but complementary traditions of the genre.
Kitty's writing betrays her love of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and, to these ears at least, the influence of Americana and transatlantic writers generally. She confessed to an affection for Jackson C Frank, the near-mythical singer-songwriter (hero to Bert Jansch, amongst others) whose one album, produced by an as yet unknown Paul Simon in the 1960's, is still a reference point for many of her ilk. The iconic folk-music derived chord-changes her writing is couched in speaks of a noble tradition stretching back to British folk music via poor, white immigrants to the US, Appalachia and Woody Guthrie.
In Kitty's hands they are the setting for the tender and honest songs which are a very apt vehicle for her beautiful singing. Her economy of arrangement is an object lesson for many performers who don't understand, as she does, that less is more.
Classically-trained and jazz-influenced, Kirsty is as much a teller of other people's stories as a confessional writer. Songs imbued with jazz rhythms and changes are underpinned with a far-more-than-competent keyboard technique that offers a rich and compelling backdrop for her tales. Her velvety vocal delivery is likewise coloured by her training, making for a very rewarding evening of contrast with her stage-mate.
She has no break-up songs, she told us, but she has no need of them, speaking of love, her forebears and urban life with great lyrical control.
The host (me) sang a few of his own, doing his best to keep up and asked occasionally penetrative questions about the art and craft for the greater edification of the audience.
Americana and jazz; guitar and keyboards; confessional and narrative: a song-writing evening to treasure. These two writer/singers are to be sought out. They come SCE-recommended.
Join us on 12th May at SCE #9 with Catherine Ashby and Fabian Holland.
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