The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Tuesday 19th November 2013

Ben Jones and The Rifle Volunteers formed in 2011 out of the embers of Kent band, The Lovedays. Ben found himself with a plethora of new songs, but no band with which to execute these new pop nuggets, so went ahead and recorded two solo albums, "Echobox" and "Kaleidoscope". Though rich in arrangements, with no gunslingers to play the songs live with, the head scratching and pacing up and down began. A chance meeting with Jonathan Llewellyn-Hurst changed everything for the better. With a mandate from him to go forth and form a band with him on drums was the catalyst needed to put into place the new outfit.

Completed by Josh Roots on Piano, John Bowles on guitar, Craig Ferguson on bass and Maxine Kerr on second vocal and guitar, The Rifle Volunteers, so named after a pub in Maidstone, are coming to electrify your soul with their own quirky brand of power pop and Rock 'n' Roll. Taking influence from sources as lauded as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Who and less obvious as Gilbert O' Sullivan, Weather Report and Bruce Hornsby, The Rifle Volunteers aim to create a musical melting pot to have you tapping your feet and feeling the sentiment.

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ORFILA are a UK country band consisting of siblings Abi, Louise and Matt Orfila from Folkestone in Kent. They have regularly appeared in local newspapers and magazines since forming in 2012 and they have been featured several times on BBC Radio Kent’s Saturday Morning Show with James Whale and also on BBC Radio Kent’s Country Hour with Dave Cash. In late 2013 they supported Dodgy and Sharon Shannon and began 2014 by supporting Beverley Craven and legendary singer songwriter Albert Hammond. They released their debut album “Writing on the Wall” later that year which received positive reviews and played the main stage at the Gibraltar Music Festival (one of Europe’s biggest music events) alongside acts such as The Script, Rita Ora, Roger Hodgson (Supertramp), Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), John Newman, James Arthur, Maxi Priest, Scouting For Girls, Reef, Ella Eyre and Newton Faulkner.

2016 saw the band gain major success by being chosen by the world famous Yamaha Music London to play the Big Entrance Stage at the prestigious Country To Country music festival at The O2 Arena in London. The international festival is devoted to country music with many top artists from the USA appearing in the line up including Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves and Eric Church. The band is now officially recognised as Yamaha Music supported artists.

Following on from the success of their debut album the band began working on their second album “Never Slowin’ Down” and teamed up with renowned producer Sean Genockey (engineer for The Who), the legendary drummer Liam Genockey (from Steeleye Span), Lee Pomeroy (currently playing bass guitar in Jeff Lynne’s ELO), the award winning BJ Cole on pedal steel, Jessie May Smart on fiddle (another member from the Steeleye camp and also a band member for Katie Melua), Rascal Flatts guitarist/banjo player Travis Toy and Tommy Yankton (also a guitarist with Rascal Flatts). The first single from the album reached the top 10 of the UK Country Chart and was premiered on BBC Radio Kent. In September ORFILA opened for The Stereophonics, Heather Small, The Fratellis and Jess Glynne at the Gibraltar Music Festival and then toured Nashville, playing at venues that country music legends Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton and Alan Jackson had all previously played.

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Kay Hazelden is an acoustic artist from Crowborough, writing songs of: Love, loss, hate, fear, sickness and hope. Kay captures what can quite be simply the harsh realities of life with a contemporary twist but it’s not all doom and gloom! Self taught guitarist Kay steadily built her audience on YouTube with her iconic tongue and cheek song ‘Crowborough Sucks’ which was featured in The Courier. Since then Kay has built her audience by  expanding her repertoire and playing  gigs locally at places such as: The Forum, The Strangers Arms, Sevenoaks Festival, The Bus Stop Festival, The Hub, Rotherfest and so on.

Her vocal style — which is influenced by artists such as Kate Bush, Florence and The Machine and The Cranberries — is distinctive and matchless in comparison to other female artists in the same field.

So, what does the future hold? Although Kay’s musical journey is only beginning she to plans to start recording an EP and eventually an album in the near future.

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Ethereal quirkiness, broody and melancholic, a truly enjoyable debut album'. Singer-Songwriter Sophie Janes performs songs from her stunning debut album 'The Fog'  together with some brand new material from her next release. Cinematic pop meets orchestral grandeur; concert piano meets in-your-face voice; Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Lana del Rey meet Einaudi, Howard Shore and Ramin Djawadi.

Sophie Janes is  a home-educated singer-songwriter from East Sussex whose first London gig was opening the MBS show at Earls Court after she was spotted by the former Master of Voice at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Since then she has spent a couple of year crafting her first album, refining her sound and set with gigs in the UK and Germany. The title track from the album was used globally in the SKY Formula 1 coverage of both the Italian and USA Grand Prix, and Sophie has been offered her own official artist showcases 2 years running at the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Sophie is deep into writing and recording for her second album so be ready to hear one or two exclusives. 

This is a rare opportunity to see Sophie Janes live in 2016 so book your seat early!' 

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