The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Sunday 28th March 2010

The Danny Kyle duo are Kent-based singer/songwriter Danny Kyle accompanied by Pete Shaw on double bass. Danny plays finger-picked acoustic guitar and sings from the heart. His clean-picking guitar style mixes great bluesy melodies with touches of folk, county and jazz. Danny has several televison and radio apperances to is name and is currently working on his second solo album.

His discography to date includes his debut album entitled ‘Easy Street’. Other releases include collaboration with The Nicky Moore’s Blues Corporation entitled ‘Hog on a Log’. Danny’s varied influences include J.S. Bach, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, H-Villa Lobos, Paco Pena, Julien Bream, Bill Withers, Robert Johnson, BB King, Tom Waites and many more…

With influences such as modern day artists; Ben Folds, Anthony & The Johnsons, Burt Bacharach and composers such as Barber and Rachmaninov, Kent based singer-songwriter Paul Dunton offers something unique! Paul’s music is best described as a captivating fusion of popular contemporary and classical. He composes and performs both instrumental pieces and songs. He is due to provide the soundtrack for an upcoming international film release. For smaller intimate shows Paul (piano/vocals) performs with along side his quartet know as the ‘Crew’. The atmospheric and ethereal live sound features Cello, violins and Flute. Paul is due to release his third album at the beautiful King Charles Martyr Church near The Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells on Friday June 11th. That concert will see both Paul giving away a free signed copy of his new album entitled ‘Escapism; to all who come and paul will be performing alongside his ‘full’ crew known as The Paul Dunton Orchestra which comprises a line up of 10 violins, 5 cellos, Flute, Guitar, Percussion and vocalist Fiona Keeler.

Ollie is an acoustic singer/songwriter from Tonbridge, Kent. After growing up playing in local alt-rock bands, he decided to go it alone in the summer of 2008, playing his first solo show at the Tunbridge Wells Forum in September 08. Since then he has played towns across Kent and showcases in London and Brighton too. He is also involved with the BBC Kent Introducing, having played a live session with Phil Harrison back in January of 09. Livi Middlemiss joined forces with Ollie earlier this year adding her distinct etheral tones to the live sound. Livi’s musical interest is focused around jazz, blues, reggae and soul with Bob Marley, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin proving to be inspiring influences. Livi also has a wide interest in Folk/rock, Metal and progressive rock. Additional influences include artists such as Reuben and Frank Turner. Taking the simplistic arrangements of folk, mixing it with the direct lyrical style of alt-rock and throwing in some good ol' fashioned catchy melodies is what the music is all about!

WakeUpTom is the stage name of local singer-songwriter Tom Joseph Walker. Over the last year Tom has been busy writing and recording, and has recently been joined by fellow local musicians Henry Willard, on double-bass, and Tom Heasman, on drums and percussion. Says Walker of the new trio: 'I'd just finished recording some demos in London, and was introduced to Tom and Henry by mutual friends. None of us had met before so I invited the guys round to my place for a jam and we instantly hit it off. It's great to have two wonderfully talented guys as your mates to bounce ideas off and bring your songs to life, whereas before I just had to imagine what the other instruments might sound like! It really opens up a whole new world of possibilities to how you write and how you perform your songs live. Having the opportunity to rework some of your earlier material with a band and try out some new songs is really exciting. We can't wait to start gigging together!'

Tom picked up his first guitar aged ten and hasn't put it down since (or stopped buying them). 'I started off playing acoustic and then bought my first electric when I was fifteen. I'd love to say that I grew up listening to all the old classics but actually my dad mostly played 80's soft rock like Journey and Bon Jovi, which was great, but I've only recently started listening to Clapton, Stevie Wonder, SRV, Nick Drake, etc. I also don't think there's anything wrong in being influenced by contemporary artists like James Morrison, Newton Faulkner, or Mr Blobby…I love modern acoustic players like Andy McKee, and folk singers like Kate Rusby. With the electric guitar I'm more interested in musicians like Clapton, who can actually write good songs and not just shred solos.'

Tom sums up his approach to music: 'Of course, like all singer-songwriters, you want your music to connect with people. But my main aim is that you feel better after listening to one of our songs than you did beforehand, or, simply to put a smile on your face.'