The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Wednesday 31st August 2011
This is a past event.
Headline Act: Alfie Noakes from Sevenscore
Alfie is a short-notice replacement for Jo Hook. Following up his impromptu appearance at Local & Live, probably with another half-hour epic performance of Paint It Black. And maybe some other songs. If there's time.
With a sound described as 'Thom Yorke meets John Lennon', Tunbridge Wells based Sevenscore deliver a dynamic rock/pop sound brimming with edginess and thought provoking lyrics and melodies. Alfie Noakes, Mark Cooper and Martin Lucas formed the band in 2002. Following the recording of their album, 'Safe and Dry' in 2003, performances have included the Tunbridge Wells Forum, the 'Gazastock' festival, 'Music on the Meadow', and two consecutive nights at the 'Hop Farm Fireworks Extravaganza' (attended by over 10,000 each night!) In mid 2006 Sevenscore was joined by Ollie Nicholls and shortly afterwards the band won a place in the final of the kmfm battle of the bands. Following this, the song 'Smile' topped KMFM's local music chart and recieved airplay. Sevenscore gave a memorable headline performance at this year's 'Local & Live' festival and 2009 has seen the band expand to a 5 piece line up with Steve McCormack joining on Guitar/vocals and Paul Dunton on keys. Sevenscore are directing their focus on performing and recording new material which is due for release in the coming months.
Nick Stephens
Nick Stephens invented the Octave Guitar to create a very full sound for his Funky Blues Gospel songs. You can hear how good it sounds by watching the videos at Nick’s website.
Nick opened the Local & Live Music Festival Mainstage in 2018. Jake Boyle’s response to Nick's live work was: “F***ing incredible!” and Geno Washington said of his Octave Guitar sound: “Don’t change sh**!”.
Louise Orfila
Louise is only 17 years old and lives in Folkestone, Kent. She is still in full time education and attends St Edmunds School in Dover, a specialist college for the Performing Arts. Louise started writing songs in 2005 at the age of 13. Louise had to produce a project for school based on the First World War - The project specified that she should produce something different. Louise decided to have a go at writing a song. The song was recorded at the school studio and she submitted it as part of her course work. The feedback for the song was so strong that it was sent off to the Royal Marines Band Service for their views. As result, Louise was invited to perform in concert with the Royal Marines Band and the song was subsequently recorded by the Royal British Legion for their 2008 Remembrance CD. Following this, Louise became a very keen songwriter and decided that she would like to write a song for a charity. She decided that if she could record it, she might be able to sell it at school and raise a few pounds for the BBC charity Children in Need. The song sold like 'hot cakes' and the proceeds went to the BBC Children in Need appeal. The CD was on sale in a music shops but they sold out several times. The sales were eventually withdrawn from the shop because the CD could not be produced to meet the demand. Sales exceeded 500 copies.
Two years ago Louise started learning about studio work and she decided to put together a mini album just to test things out. It was released on a local independent record label ‘Somebody's Music'. The album was sold locally and has sold over 400 copies. There was a lot of media interest and she gave live interviews to BBC Radio Kent and KMFM during which her music was aired. Her music has also been played on Radio Caroline - The director of the station has become a fan and is always asking for more songs to play. Following the album release Louise performed a Concert in Dover. The concert was totally sold out. Her album is on itunes and has sold in USA, Japan, China, Finland, Norway, Germany, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Gibraltar.
Louise has just returned from a mini tour of Italy performing three concerts near Lake Garda.
In September Louise has been invited to perform on tour with Top UK Comedian and TV Quiz show (Countdown) presenter Richard Digance.
Josh Davies
Leeds based singer songwriter, originally cut his teeth on the Tunbridge Wells and Kent live circuit also with a string of gigs in Hong Kong on a year abroad. Josh has been writing songs influenced by songwriters such as Justin Vernon, Conor Oberst, Marcus Foster and Peter Liddle. Josh is now working on recording some good quality demos with mind to increase exposure and play more gigs. Recent live performances on LSTV and Leeds Student Radio aswell as a filmed session with Leeds Live Lounge have helped to achieve this. More recent success has come in the form of a winning performance in Talent at Uni, the prize money from which will fund Josh's first foray into the studio to put down an EP.
"The smooth husky tones in his voice and the beautiful acoustics, it’s all packaged and made his own to create simply stunning music. It’s powerful enough to melt your heart, or powerful enough to make you cry..." Beat2aChord
"His music has a very strong yet relaxed feel and his rich, gravelly voice gives an undertone of passion to his performance" Amy Adejokun, HerCampus
"Josh is an incredibly modest and genuine artist, with undeniable talent I believe he has the potential to become a fitting success." William Harratt, Talent At Uni
"Josh Davies has paved the way for young male musicians with his unmistakeably unique voice and soulful lyrics. His acoustic vibe is a breath of fresh air to the electronic generation." Kimberly Dickson, Support Young Talent
Website by Depth of Focus Ltd. Other photos © Michael Houghton and respective owners.
The rest © 2009-2013 Paul Dunton.
