Alice writes and sings magnificent, soulful pop, tinged with blues and folk, evoking the fierce and the fragile and crossing mainstream appeal with leftfield spirit. Passion and spontaneity are at the heart of her lyrics and music.
Like many an adventurer with wanderlust, Alice spent some of her early twenties traveling South East Asia with her trusty battered guitar, continually gathering inspiration and song ideas, before finding herself in Edinburgh where she experimented and developed her ideas. She then moved to London to pursue her ambitions and signed a development deal with Warner Chappell Publishing. Within a year Alice co-produced and self-financed a mini-album, The Eastcote Sessions, with help from double-bass maestro Ali Friend (Clayhill, Red Snapper), guitarist Ted Barnes (Beth Orton, Clayhill), and producer Will Worsley. It's a beautiful testament to her folk and soul influenced roots.
Needing to escape the grind of city life, Alice took a trip to America in 2005. She ambled around the Deep South, en route to San Francisco, with little more than her wits, instruments and laptop recording songs in a 1979 Dodge Winnebago. The van's toilet became the vocal booth and the clock on the wall had lost it's hour hand, which, she admits, accurately summates her time in the States.
On her return, Alice soon found a spiritual home in Rob da Bank's Sunday Best label in 2007 and released her first single Dolly Figured, followed by I Could Love You in Feb 2008. With a wealth of material and strong vision, Alice is now looking for the right label home in 2009.
And what of her sound? Alice has been described variously as ‘a female Hunky Dory-era Bowie’ and ‘a modern Janis Joplin’. Alice’s “stunning voice”, writes Nigel Williamson, combines “the English purity of early Marianne Faithfull with something of the otherworldliness of Bjork.” “I've always listened to quite rocky bands and admired great singer-songwriters. I guess I awkwardly fit in with Ricky Lee Jones, with hints of Billy Holiday, some say Kate Bush, Laura Nyro and influenced by The Velvets and gritty pop acts like the Kinks...but I much prefer being Alice. Most of my treasured records date way back although I've been loving Vampire Weekend and MGMT this year,” she reveals.
NICOL
ON STAGE: 9.20
Nicol is truly a rare gem amongst the current crop of female artists. Behind the beauty and innocence of her bedroom eyes, lies the emotive and complex mind of a gifted songwriter and classically trained pianist, with stunning vocals to match. Nicol spent the early part of her childhood in LA, so it wasnt until she relocated to London that she first discovered her calling. Inspired by the likes of Suzanne Vega, Carol King, Fleetwood Mac and Sheryl Crow, Nicol soon composed her first song at the tender age of thirteen. She never looked back. Neither a scholarship offer from Saint Martins College of Art, nor an invitation to study at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, could tempt Nicol away from her music.
Maybe its just in the blood. After all, Nicols uncle (formerly the guitarist in Johnny Kid and The Pirates) has toured with the likes of Van Morrison, Brian Ferry and Sir Paul McCartney. Nicols journey has taken some interesting turns so far. Not everyone gets hand picked by Janet Jackson to appear in a music video, especially when that certain person cant dance and fails to mention it.
Fortunately for all concerned the facts were revealed in time to find a replacement. Over the years, Nicol has successfully perfected her trade and developed into an artist of huge international potential, with a repertoire of timeless compositions, of the kind Joni Mitchell would surely be proud of. Despite Nicols commitment to recording her debut album, she has still managed to fit in a large number of acoustic gigs, which include performances with Seth Lakeman, Ron Sexsmith, Guy Chambers and Roachford.
Her seductive innocence, combined with a darker side, makes for an interesting show. With heart-felt lyrics of joy and pain, complimented by melodies that will endure forever, she is endearing, charming and inspiring to others. Nicol is simply pop music at its best and most sophisticated. You can see Nicol perform acoustic gigs in and around London now. For further info please email info@theartistmanagement.com
MADELAINE HART
ON STAGE: 8.40
“Madelaine Hart is going places with that voice of hers. Outstanding passion, and emotion in her voice, and she carries the lyrics with such style and finesse in her vocals. Nice acoustic guitar accompanying her that set the tracks of nicely. And so much more to this album.” Jamendo User Review
"...what a superb voice; smoky, achingly fragile and powerful - I wish her great success."Jamendo User Review
"She shirks all common knowledge of the “how to” folk music that is vastly growing in popularity… Conventional is one thing this lady is obviously not."taken from http://www.comfortcomes.com
CRAIG SHIELDS
ON STAGE: 8.00
Craig has played guitar since the age of 14, but has been singing from since he can can remember. Whilst in a school play, one of the older participants had a guitar throughout the rehearsal stage which he kept playing Beatles songs on, this was due to the fact that the music theme was 60's Liverpool. Craig became more and more drawn to the songs of the Beatles and the guitar, and as soon after the play was over, his first port of call was the local guitar store. Shortly after, Craig made his first school band, where they rehearsed Red Hot Chilli Peppers' 'Californication' every night for 3 months to play it in assembley. A few years went by, a few new bands were formed and broken. Now Craig has landed on his comfort zone...singing and songwriting. Craig has discovered his way to write good songs, songs about everyday simple life and strange complicated life, that can only be said in song. With influence from artists all over the genre scale such as The Beatles, Radiohead and Oasis to Micheal Jackson and Stevie Wonder, Craig will just keep evolving, whilst getting better and better.
25 May (Monday) - ALICE MCLAUGHLIN, NICOL, MADELAINE HART, CRAIG
