Im Chloe, a young singer/songwriter from the midlands. I have been writing and performing from a young age and recently settled in London to attend the prestigious BRIT school to study music.
KARL WILSON
ON STAGE: 9.20
Karl Wilson’s as English as John Steed drinking Earl Grey at a village cricket match, and so is his music, but the driving force behind his ambition lay thousands of miles to the West. One random, reckless trip to New York changed everything.
All set for a comfortable career arguing for a living – not as a traffic warden, but as a lawyer – Karl realized this wasn’t the life he wanted to live. Fuelled by an irresponsible dream and the knowledge this moment could pass him by, he packed a backpack, grabbed his guitar, and headed for the airport. He acted out every bored worker’s daydream of tearing off their tie, telling their boss where to go and walking out into the sunset.
As he adapted to the rhythms of his new home, he spent more and more time honing his guitar and piano playing, which involved hanging out in the small acoustic and folk clubs of the East Village and Lower East Side, drinking coffee and jamming with strangers. But he didn’t just perform in cafes. He played on the subway. He played on the streets. In fact, he’d play anywhere just to experience a live audience, whether it had paid to hear him or not.
He soon became a fixture in that part of New York, and the songs that feature on his debut album, Eleven Songs, started to take shape. The risk had begun to pay off – Karl had been determined not to return home until he had a plan. Now, one year on and with a body of work ready to be sculpted into an album, the next step was clear.
Arriving back in the UK, he hooked up with producer Jack Ruston (Tom McRae, Kubb, Jill Jackson) and began to work on the debut LP. It’s full of raw, intimate and fragile songs borne of an uncertain time, which perfectly reflect the circumstances of their birth. They remind the listener that sometimes, just sometimes, when you gamble, your numbers can come up. Something Karl knows only too well.
BEN EARLE
ON STAGE: 8.40
If you have not realised already, Ben is one of the best kept secrets on the UK singer-songwriter scene although that won’t be the case for much longer.
Management: The Cool Hand Group (luke@coolhandgroup.com)
SIMON HARDEMAN
ON STAGE: 8.00
LATEST NEWS:
The first four tracks of my debut solo album, 'Tell the Truth', are now on the player - you should be hearing them now. Preview copies are available to buy NOW both on iTunes and at www.simonhardeman.com. It is released on the Inshore Madman label.
It features songs The Independent described as “original, intelligent music”, and made a Critic’s Choice Download. It includes epic pop (like the anti-God opener, “Songs of Praise”) and heartfelt, acoustic-centred numbers (such as “Comes a Time”) alongside feisty louder tracks (like the killer riff of “Bakku Shan”). All are based around Simon’s voice and guitar, with bass and drums, but no keyboard or synthesiser – except for a battered Sixties-vintage Stylophone. The tracks are all written, played, and produced by Simon, with the exception of bass on "If You Ever Change" (Simon Littlefield) and additional drums on the same song (Nigel Summerley).
Simon Hardeman arrives as a singer-songwriter after a parallel career as a stand-up comedian, having played stages all over the country, including Hackney Empire, the Comedy Store, Jongleurs, and many university and college venues. He has also appeared on BBC Radio and Live TV. He once regaled audiences with songs likened by fellow comedian Alistair McGowan to The Kinks, and praised by reviewers, and still engages audiences with an easy interplay, but his music has moved on: it is by turns harder, more heartwarming, more intense. Born in Rugby, in the UK’s Midlands, he now lives in Hackney, London.
18 May (Monday) - CHLOE BLACKWELL, KARL WILSON, BEN EARLE, SIMON
