11th November 2016 (SCE #3)

The Details

Date: Wednesday, 11th November, 2015

Venue: St Margaret's House, Bethnal Green E2 9PL

Time: 7.30pm

Entry: £5.00

Travel: Bethnal Green Tube, 254, 388 and others

The Performers

Theo Bard is a man on a mission. Whether rocking late-night shows with his band, spellbinding listening audiences with his beautiful, heartfelt songs and storytelling to match, or singing his unique urban folk songs as a vagabond one-man-band busker, Theo always brings a music and a vibe that feels just right.

Website

 

Harry Harris has been writing songs for 10 years, influenced as much by English and American folk music as by indie-rock bands like Eels, Counting Crows, and The Hold Steady. Signed to Wild Sound Recordings, his latest album, Songs About Other People, is listed as one of the Telegraph's best folk albums of 2015, and is exactly what it says it is - 10 story songs about other people, some real, some made-up, some somewhere in between

Website

 

Simon Hopper is the founder and host of Song Club East. See earlier posts in this blog.

Website

The bar's been raised...

It was a night of lovely contrasts, beautiful songs and outstanding playing. Our guests Michael Garrett and Louis Brennan were both magnificent last Wednesday at our second SCE concert.

Michael Garrett

Michael's voice is light and  mellifluous; Louis' can make Tom Waits sound sweet. Michael draws us in with intriguing stories of historical characters and their devious deeds; Louis dares to tell the truth of his own heavyweight life experiences and challenges us not to look away. Both are consummate songwriters. Michael crafts his songs of others very finely, betraying a precise skill. Louis has an ear for a heart-skipping, 'did-he-really-sing-that?' line which demands a different kind of attention. They're both great artists and we were treated royally by their performances of the songs they've written.

Louis Brennan

We also found out a little about the what, why, when, how, where and who of their writing as they patiently responded to the host's (my) prompting. We learned that Louis likes to create in the prone position, that he listens to Leonard Cohen and that alcohol may play some part in the process. Michael is a fan of country music and loves writing as much as performing.

The host (me) played, too; a mixture of new and old, stories of London and California and sad songs with happy tunes (or 'Stealth Misery' as they're now known).

Our second evening was a top-quality affair. The bar's been set high.

Now for SCE#3: November 11th, 7.30 featuring Theo Bard - complete with recently released EP - a second guest TBC and yours truly.

If it's as good as SCE#2, it's going to be great.

14th October 2015 (SCE #2)

The Details

Date: Wednesday, 14th October, 2015

Venue: St Margaret's House, Bethnal Green E2 9PL

Time: 7.30pm

Entry: £5.00

Travel: Bethnal Green Tube, 254, 388 and others

The Performers

Louis Brennan is a Singer Songwriter from Dublin, Ireland based in London. His songs deal with anxiety on public transport, dissatisfaction in the workplace and the minutiae of modern despair. He enjoys a cool drink on a warm evening as much as any man and his dulcet tones and mellifluous plucking have graced the stages of many notable watering holes. A long player record of his sad ballads has been mooted for 2016.

Website

Michael Garrett is new to the folk circuit, pairing soft, powerful melodies with a distinctly narrative songwriting style. With  influences from traditional Irish folk, and occasional hints at Americana, Michael is quickly gaining popularity in London's growing folk music scene. 

Website

Simon Hopper is your host.

Website

It was all about the songs

Congratulations, and celebrations - as someone once sang - to all who attended and performed at the inaugural Song Club East concert last night. It was a warm, intimate occasion, fitting for the playing and appreciating of original songs about people and the things they do. Three artists occupied the stage together for the evening, taking turns to sing and sometimes accompanying each other.

Black*Scarr sang their songs of life, strife and all its vicissitudes, and told us insightful tales of how they write together and why being a songwriter means 'you're not ordinary'.

Gabriel Moreno brought his poetic soul to the evening, singing and accompanying himself on Spanish guitar, explaining his choice of chord progressions and presenting to us a rarely sung song about his father.

Your host, Simon Hopper, spoke of how Bob Dylan uses rhyme to underpin the power of his songs ('Once upon a time / You dressed so fine / Threw the bums a dime / In your prime') and how he steals Dylan's ideas to incorporate them into his own songwriting and sung a song about Bethnal Green and its inhabitants.

The audience arrived curious and left having been royally entertained by artists who care about their stories and educated, just a little, about what songwriters think about and the tricks of the trade they employ to communicate more effectively through their songs.

It's the first of a series of monthly concerts - every second Wednesday. The next is on 14th October.

Your host as always will be Simon Hopper, the guests are:

Michael Garrett @mikegarrettfolk

Louis Joseph Brennan @loubrennanmusic

Join us!

The stage is set...

... only the audience is missing.

Songwriting masterclass with Gabriel Moreno, Black*Scarr and Simon Hopper (see older posts).

It's gonna be cool, it's gonna be songwriterly, it's gonna be a great evening of songs and song-craft.

You coming?

Date: Wednesday, 9th September, 2015

Venue: St Margaret's House, Bethnal Green E2 9PL

Time: 8.00pm

Entry: £5.00

Travel: Bethnal Green Tube, 254, 388 and others

9th September 2015 (SCE #1)

The Performers

Black*Scarr are Johnny Black and Emma Scarr, an East London duo formed by two singer songwriters with different styles and influences, but whose co-writing has collided to produce a collection of songs that move audiences to laughter and tears. Honest and gritty, this urban folk/country duo produce songs full of stories and themes that are modern but classic-sounding and timeless, personal and everyday, still universal.

Website

Gabriel Moreno. A published poet and singer songwriter from Gibraltar. His songs fuse Mediterranean rhythms with Indie/folk arpeggios performed with a classical guitar. Based on his literary publications, Gabriel versifies lyrics of love, loss and desire, which are transmitted in sheer emotional nakedness. Gabriel runs The Lantern Society.

Website

Simon Hopper is the founder and host of Song Club East. See earlier posts in this blog.

Website

Date: Wednesday, 9th September, 2015

Venue: St Margaret's House, Bethnal Green E2 9PL

Time: 8.00pm

Entry: £5.00

Travel: Bethnal Green Tube, 254, 388 and others

Everyone needs a banner

Banner #1

Things are progressing satisfyingly here at SCE HQ. The banners have arrived. We always think that a stage needs a presence - don't you agree?

First gig Wednesday 9th September, 8.00pm.

See you!