The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Wednesday 17th March 2010

Originally formed in 1990, The Varlies are a renowned fully fledged 5 piece rock band based in Tunbridge Wells who have written and produced three outstanding albums to date with a fourth on the way and continue to perform extensively throughout the UK and abroad. However they have also made a name for themselves with their intimate acoustic shows whereby they perform without bass and drums. Members include John Whitehorn (vocal and guitar), Kevin Amos (guitar and vocals), Gillian Arthur (vocals), Steve Mealing (bass) and Paul May Drums. The strength of the band certainly lies within their ability to deliver an amazing live performance in any situation, whether it is the full band or in the acoustic guise. With outstanding musicianship and vocal quality, their dynamic and versatile pop/rock style has a distinct quality that appeals to a wide audience and variety of tastes.

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Jennifer Ridley established her passion for writing and composing music at the age of thirteen. Filmic, folky and ethereal, her music is a reflection of listening to many poetic and musical influences of both “Romantic” lyrical composition such as Shakespeare, Keats and Blake to more modern folk artists such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tori Amos and Damien Rice. Her dark warm vocals combined with her individual folk sound mirrors the poetic lyrics which explore the many facets and emotions of the human soul. Jennifer has more recently formed a group with the instrumental ensemble “The Dead Poets Society” who bring a new expressive depth to her music and other poets work. They hope to be playing more locally as the year develops.

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With no love for the traditional trappings and clichés that pollute the world of acoustic music, Mechanical Sunrise is a two-piece band from the Southeast who deliver a raw, uncompromising sound. Musically, their influences range from Nick Cave and early New Model Army to Israeli trance act Infected Mushroom. Lyrically inspired by everything from universal entropy to the works of avant-garde occult writer Grant Morrison, the duo deliver an acerbic, yet playful commentary on the counterfeit culture that pervades Britain in the 21st Century. Between them, bassist Craig Burton and guitarist Ed Hammond had burnt through a flurry of bands before forming their current project, including local goth-rock legends Purity of Decadence and Stable award winning indie band Zoë From London. However, it is with the Mechanical Sunrise that the two have at last found their voice -and with an almost fetish-like obsession with the apocalypse, the only thing burning this time will be the world as it prepares for the dawn of the Mechanical Sun.

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Tom McHugh was born in the early sixties in a house on a road near a canal in the midlands black country. After school he went to London. Then he got work in the steel industry. Tom started to write songs about twenty years after Lowell George died (in 1979) and then played some of them live about five years after that. He was in a band for a while. Tom has a way of saying things, like most people do, and spends time in whimsy, folksy alt and thrash soft rock. He says he likes the Beatles, Mark Hollis, Donald Fagan and Gustaffer Yellowgold, but mainly local artists and friends who play their own instruments and write their own songs.

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