The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Wednesday 13th June 2012

Liverpool born songwriter Mark Chase was the leader of the notorious 90's band World of Leather, who released 2 albums and 7 EPs through Sony. They toured extensively in the UK and Europe and sold respectably in Japan & Scandinavia, whilst skilfully avoiding the UK charts.

Prior to this, Mark had been a successful session musician & session singer, working with numerous artists including Belinda Carlisle, T'Pau, Taylor Dayne and Julian Lennon. He also worked as a commercial session vocalist, recording ‘sound-alike' tracks for TV shows and adverts.

After seeing Beck perform a solo gig a few years ago, Mark altered his approach to music, favouring the ‘stripped down' acoustic style of Neil Young, Damien Rice and Rickie Lee Jones. He continues to perform live regularly, both with his band and as a solo performer. Four of his songs have been used in movie soundtracks.

In tandem with his music career, Mark has also been a TV Presenter on a variety of shows, including; The Survivors Guide, Sextalk (both C4), Breakfast Time, Going Live! (BBC1), Wideangle, Country File (ITV) and Toyah & Chase (VH-1).

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Frances Yonge is a songwriter, pianist and musical director. She loves being involved with many musical projects, but her heart is rooted in the art of writing songs. For Frances, songwriting is an escapism that provides a sanctuary of free expression.  

Frances’ work takes you on an unpredictable musical journey which has been described as ‘ageless’ and ‘evocative’. 

Despite a saturated music market, Frances remains committed to producing albums, telling her life story in her songs. Her last two albums ‘My Garden’ (2011) and ‘Stonewaller’ (2016) are the result of a fulfilling collaboration and friendship with Miriam Cox (cello) and James Cox (percussion/drums). 

Frances is looking forward to sharing her new album, ‘All you can see is sky’ which will be released in 2018.

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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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Music has always been an integral part of Leandri’s life. She got hooked on songwriting listening to artists and some songwriters like Gretchen Peters, Joni Mitchell, Mark Knopfler, Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, Alison Moorer - just to name but a few. Her musical influences are extremely varied and her songwriting draws inspiration from many different genres. She writes songs about life which share feelings and experiences whether they are her own or that of others close to her. These songs cover themes of love lost, nostalgia and moments of weakness – ranging from mid tempo ballads to contemporary and up tempo arrangements.

Leandri started performing whilst at uni in South Africa and became a regular - performing at popular local venues and events. She now calls Tunbrigde Wells a home away from home and performs at every available opportunity. On various occasions she has received air play on Voice of America radio for earlier works. Her performance style is warm, contemporary and soulful. Every minute on stage delivers a distinctive vocal which reflects her love and passion for every song she performs.

Leandri makes regular trips to Nashville and take every opportunity to collaborate with friends to perform at well-known venues like the Bluebird Café, Layla’s Bluegrass Inn and the 5 Spot. She is currently working with the likes of Jason Corsaro (Grammy Award winning engineer and producer) to further her music career as a singer songwriter.

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