April is here at last, bringing with it glorious sunshine, daffodils galore, and (hopefully) no snow. There’s lots to look forward to as we move into the second quarter of the year, with plenty of exciting gigs, events, and music taking place.
The GIT Awards are back for a second time with the awards taking place on 19th April. It’s great to see a couple of acoustic artists nominated, and we’ll certainly cheering for Nadine Carina and Dan Croll on the night.
20th April 2013 sees the 5th anniversary of the Liverpool Acoustic website, and we’ve been asking for your feedback via a short survey. If you missed the news item about it you can read it here. We want to know what we’re doing well, what we’re doing not so well, and how we could make things better moving forward. We’ve already had some nice comments and some interesting ideas, so keep them coming. And everyone who leaves a name will be entered into a draw to win two tickets to a future Liverpool Acoustic Live event.
The Liverpool Acoustic website covers the Greater Merseyside area and although we tend to focus on Liverpool (for obvious reasons) it’s always nice to be able to support events further afield. We’ve added our first event in the diary for Newton-le-Willows (see Diary News below), and if you live in Sefton, St Helens, Wirral, Cheshire West, Chester, Halton, or Warrington and know of any cool, local acoustic events that aren’t in our online diary, let us know and we’ll gladly add them.
LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC AFTERNOON
Last year we enjoyed our two Liverpool Acoustic Afternoon events at the View Two Gallery so much that we’ve decided to throw in an extra one for you on Saturday 13th April. From 1.00pm to 4.00pm we’ll be showcasing some special guests alongside open mic slots. A couple of our young open mic performers from last year (George Lawless and Milly Pye) impressed us so much that they got a booking at our main Liverpool Acoustic Live event. The open mic slots are 10 minutes each, and are on a first come, first served basis.
Our booked acts are:-
- Jessica West
- Luke Cusato
- Special guests: Lilly and Meg [Falmouth]
The gallery will be open from 12.00pm through to 5.00pm, and the bar on the top floor will be open serving tea, coffee, or anything stronger! This is an all age event and you’re all welcome.
LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC LIVE
Liverpool Acoustic Live this month is at the View Two Gallery, and takes place on Friday 26th April 2013. We’re really excited about this one as our headline act, Only Child, will be performing with the Liva String Quartet. Complimenting this will be Liverpool songwriter Rob Clarke, plus the return of Berlin-born, London-based Roxanne de Bastion who impressed us all last year.
- Only Child, with the Liva String Quartet
- Roxanne de Bastion
- Rob Clarke
Tickets are available in advance for £5 from wegottickets.com/liverpoolacoustic or for £6 on the night.
Doors open at 8.00pm. The event starts at 8.30pm and goes through to 11.00pm.
You can join the facebook event at facebook.com/liverpoolacoustic/events
All of our future live events can be found at liverpoolacoustic.co.uk/live and if you want to receive information about tickets before they go on general sale then sign up to our events publicity mailing list here.
DIARY NEWS
Our diary cleanup continues with three more events deleted this month. If you can help us out by bringing us up to date, drop us a line using the ‘Contact‘ page. And if you have anything to add to the diary, just visit the ‘Diary‘ page and click the ‘Add Event’ button.
All change…
- Move along the page now…
You say goodbye…
- Diary cleanup – Irish and Folk, every Wednesday @ Mojo’s (Wirral). No reply – removed from diary.
- Diary cleanup – Live Lounge, every Thursday @ Mojo’s (Wirral). No reply – removed from diary.
- Diary cleanup – Live at the Raz, every Thursday @ The Blue Angel. No reply – removed from diary.
And I say hello…!
- The Mixtape Social takes place at Maguires Pizza Bar on Hardman Street once a month. It features booked acts, plus a playlist of songs suggested by the punters.
- Revolucion Acoustic Night takes place every other Thursday at Revolucion Coffee Shop in Newton-le-Willows. It runs from 7.30pm to 10.30pm and is free. There’s no format, just come along and play or jam.
APRIL DIARY SELECTION BOX
Here’s a selection of some of the acoustic events taking place this month. Click on the event in the diary for full details and links.
- Wednesday 3rd – Birds of Chicago / Peter Mulvey @ Grateful Freds – a fantastic double-header from the Formby-based music event. 8pm start, £8 tickets here, facebook event here, more details from
- Thursday 4th – Gideon Conn @ House – Free gig from 8pm, with support from Bunty Looping, Three Minute Hero, and Helen Maher. Facebook event here.
- Saturday 6th – Perri and Neil @ View Two Gallery – Perri and Neil will be performing an extended duo set of music for voice and classical guitar, featuring obscure classics from artists they love such as Scott Walker, Randy Newman and Jill Scott. 8pm door, £5 in. Facebook event here.
- Sunday 7th – Mary Epworth, Fuzzy Lights, Paul Straws @ Leaf – Mellowtone join forces with Harvest Sun to bring you a cracking lineup with the wonderful Mary Epworth headlining. Tickets £7.50, facebook event (and ticket link) here.
- Friday 12th – Acoustic Dustbowl @ View Two Gallery – headliner John Butler (Diesel Park West) with support from the Southbound Attic Band, and more TBC – tickets £5 advance here, facebook event here.
- Friday 12th – Grass Roots Music Concert @ OC Club Bromborough – raising money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, this concert starts at 8pm, and is only £5 per ticket. Buy two tickets in advance before 4th April and get a free copy of the CD. On the bill are Chris Moreton, Jaywalkers, The Phil Chisnall Band, The Harbour Moon Men, The Port Sunlight Sea Dogs, and host Steve Barker. Details from grassrootsmusic.org
- Saturday 13th – Liverpool Acoustic Afternoon @ View Two Gallery – 1pm to 4pm – see above for more details.
- Saturday 20th – [WAM] Saturday Acoustic Session 2 @ Warrington Bus Interchange, 12-6pm, featuring 12 acts from town. Facebook page here.
- Saturday 20th – Lau @ St George’s Hall – It’s folk supergroup Lau, enough said! Tickets £16.50 here.
- Saturday 20th – Edwyn Collins @ Liverpool Philharmonic Hall – 8pm, tickets from £17.50.
- Sunday 21st – Merry Hell @ Wallasey Folk and Acoustic Club – St Helens’ finest folk-rockers return following their big spot last Christmas, but this time for a full show. Tickets £5 on the door at 8pm.
- Thursday 25th – Mellowtone @ Camp and Furnace – Doors for this free event open at 7.30pm, and the night features Richie Syrett, Emilio Pinchi, Ian Dunn, and resident Beaten Tracks DJs. Facebook event here.
- Friday 26th – Liverpool Acoustic Live @ View Two Gallery – Only Child with Liva String Quartet, Roxanne de Bastion, Rob Clarke. Tickets £5 advance, £6 on the door. Facebook event here.
- Saturday 27th – Gilmore & Roberts @ The Brindley (Studio) – Nominated for best duo at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2013, Katriona Gimore and Jamie Roberts combine astounding lap-tapping guitar, fiery fiddle, and their trademark harmonies. 8pm start, £12 tickets from thebrindley.org.uk
- Saturday 27th – Acoustic Marquee Festival @ The Ferry Tavern – sitting pretty on the banks of the Mersey between Widnes and Warrington, The Ferry Tavern plays host to a one day festival featuring Tricia McTeague, Steve Zdrenka, In Blue Skies, Pete Price, Ste Mak, Les Hunt, Lou Harper, and Lucy Rhiannon. Facebook event and ticket info here.
- Thursday 2nd MAY – Lost Voices @ View Two Gallery – the regular ‘last Thursday of the month’ event shifts back a week for one time only. This date at the start of May replaces the one from 25th April. Lineup is to be confirmed, and you can find out more at lostvoices.co.uk
AND FINALLY…
Although the Liverpool Acoustic Survey 2013 is still open, the results we’ve had so far show quite a few people asking for more interviews, live reviews, and opinion pieces. So, if anyone feels like becoming a budding music journalist and joining our reviewing team then drop us a line using the contact form and we’ll get back to you with more details.
Graham – on behalf of the Liverpool Acoustic Team
Liverpool Acoustic Newsletter – April 2013