Sounds Around Town with Dave Franklin (From This Is Wiltshire)

Sounds Around Town with Dave Franklin

11:54am Thursday 12th January 2012 in Music

Although the excesses of the festive season now seem like a distant memory, the new musical year seems to still be finding its feet.

The 12 Bar is yet to move into a higher gear and the MECA seems to have settled on a more family-orientated roster of retro-orientated tribute shows.

However if you spread your sights wider in both geographical and generic terms, then there is still some good music to be found.

Starting in one of our usual haunts, The Victoria, they will be playing host to the dustbowl blues and southern vibes of Pignose this very evening. Their music evokes images of lost highways, silent bayous, screen doors slamming in the breeze and a vocal pairing that combines soulful, often angelic gospel harmonies with a voice that sounds like it was soaked in a vat of Bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car.

The Beehive meanwhile has the smoother sound of The Wildtones, a band who channel the sound of sixties soul, cool funk and Motown and manage to inject a contemporary edge to the proceedings. Soulful jazz can also be found at Baker Street in the form of vocalist Caitlin Bowles.

Something a bit different happens at The Central Library when poetry and music merge. Open mic slots are available for readers and performers plus music from Jamocracy, readings from guest poet Mark Stopforth and a tribute to the late Simon Howat.

Like I said, looking a bit further afield this week pays dividends. A trek out to Marlborough on Friday, more specifically to St Mary’s Church Hall will enable you to catch the brilliant and woefully underrated Steve Tilston. Following a folk-baroque style similar to Davy Graham or more famously the late Bert Jansch, Tilston combines exquisite musicianship with the song craftsmanship of a master.

Back nearer town, Riffs Bar to be precise, a pile of younger acts will be lining up to entertain you. Due to conflicting information between the venue and the bands themselves, I may be wrong but I think that those purveyors of melodic metalcore, Wreckoning, are the main draw, a band who are “hoping to rise from the crap hole that is Swindon and go on a quest to journey near and far in the search of enlightenment”. Don’t they sound charming? I do recommend that you catch Sasquatch Walk though; a band that mixes funky breaks with laidback indie vibes. The John Does and Matthew Mordak start the night off.

The Rolleston have Stonepig who state that they deliver a highly original set yet play covers (is it just me that sees the wording as more than a bit ironic?) and Interlight play The Victoria, also a covers band but as highly proficient as they are amusing, trust me.

Saturday continues the cover band odyssey, with The Rolleston opting for Chicago, Texas and Delta Blues courtesy of Dickie Reed, Metalhead playing classic rock and metal covers at Riffs Bar and The Victoria unleashing a tribute to Steve Marriott’s cockney-pop meets psychedelic soul brothers, the Small Faces.

The Sunday afternoon session at The Beehive is all about acoustic rhythm and blues courtesy of Keith Thompson, ably assisted by saxophonist Patsy Gamble.

The later part of the week heads into slightly more culturally highbrow pastures. The first step up comes on Tuesday at Baker Street courtesy of Art Theman’s Jazzhaus trio, Sonny Rollins-style jazz from a man who has played alongside such greats as Clapton, Berry, Cocker, Jagger as well as one of my all time heroes, Alexis Corner.

Wednesday sees The Wyvern Theatre draw in the culture vultures for a Lunchtime Recital with saxophonist Hayley Lambert and pianist Paul Turner all of which warms you up nicely for the big one that evening, the people’s tenor, Alfie Boe at The Oasis.

And just a reminder that this column is only as accurate as the information that I can lay my hands on. Bands, venues and promoters who feel that they are not represented here and would like to be only have to get in touch with your gig details and I will try to include as much as I have room for.