The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Sunday 12th February 2012

Laveer, (vrb) - to beat against the wind.

“That’s what the dictionary says it means”, explains the band, “it's like we see ourselves as sailors, sailing into the wind and riding the waves against all adversity.... that or something like that. Would you like another biscuit?”

Laveer are four tea-spilling musicians who favour acoustic instruments and like playing songs together. Their music has been called, among other things, compelling and melodic. They like to play live and have recorded one album called “Fingermouth” (available cdbaby, amazon, itunes etc). They are working on some new recordings which will be available later in the year.

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Local to Tunbridge Wells but originally from the West country, Mairi Neeves brings her own brand of melodic rootsy folk to the stage. She enjoys close musical collaboration with her husband Tim, whom she describes as a "real deal" creative force. Their songs focus on issues close to the human heart, weaving together hope and resilience, love, and redemption with close harmonies, piano and guitar. Enchanting vocals, great tunes, and a warm vibe make this a show not to be missed.

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Lauren is a self-taught, singer/songwriter and guitarist from Hastings. She got given her first guitar for her 15th birthday and her main influences are from musicians such as John Martyn, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Damien Rice...just to name a few. Her style can be described as a mixture of up-beat rythmical tunes with finger-picking calming melodies which create a new encapsulating style of music. She is currently studying at Leeds University but back down South she plays in a duo called 'The Lollies'. She has played on University radio and Eastbourne Youth radio. Lauren is due to release her 6 song EP called 'Breathe' and all upcoming gigs and up-to-date news can be found on her myspace page.

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Quietly Spoken Gentleman is a blending of music and influences and are made up of Ian Prior and Ralph Martyn. Ian has been playing, performing and recording music for many years now and has an ear and a liking for the acoustic side of music. His extensive collection of instruments include guitars, mandolins, a dobro, banjo, cigarbox slide, the list goes on! He has also spent many a year recording and producing music both for personal projects and also in a professional capacity.

Ralph's first musical love was playing the drums but his talents spread way beyond that now. Always fascinated by electronic sounds, samples and loops Ralph has spent a lifetime experimenting and pushing the boundaries. During our live sets Ralph plays cahon and mandolin and sings the lead vocals. On the recordings a variety of weird keyboards, guitars and percussion have found their way onto Ian's apple mac and subsequently our album.

Ian and Ralph started playing music together around 3 years ago and found instantly that their disparate styles fitted like a key in a lock. Ideas came very easily since our collaboration and we have written well over 100 songs in this short period. Our sound takes elements from the traditional deep roots of English and Irish Folk, Delta blues, rock and space age electronic sounds with a smattering of natural harmonies. Put simply we like to call it Folktronica.

Quietly Spoken Gentleman are: not shouting, singing to themselves, feeling excited, so moody, your new favourite thing, have synesthesia, a walk in the dark, lost the map, found themselves, lost the plot, forgot where the treasure's hidden, dance 'round the fire, blue and orange, folky and angry, a gift horse.

Quietly Spoken Gentleman (QSG - for those in a hurry) are currently performing live with the help of our good friend Andy Brunt (acoustic & electric guitars) who has been playing music with Ralph on and off for decades. Andy is a welcome and talented addition to any performance and takes us to new heights. We are playing songs from our latest QSG release called: "Ghost Song" along with other live material, both original and a few carefully chosen covers played with a QSG slant on them of course.

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