It has been organised by local photographer Paul Gregory, who is running the gruelling London Marathon in April and hoping to raise a staggering £2500 for the British Heart Foundation.

The event, named ‘Heartbeats’, is one of a number of events Paul hopes to organise during the lead up to the starting whistle.

Headlining the gig will be one of Wrexham’s most popular and sought after bands Gallops. They had an impressive 2009, with an appearance at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, airplay on numerous national radio stations, exposure on Hollyoaks and a week long tour of Europe. 2010 is theirs for the taking and with their formidable talent and a little bit of luck on the side, they could well ‘make it’.

Unseen Archives are also on the bill. They will be showing off the hard work that they have been putting in over the last few years as they’ve been honing and crafting their individual sound at various gigs across the region, including support slots with The Big Pink, Hatcham Social and Video Nasties

Billy No Fear from Chester have been booked to bring a folk/lo-fi continental flavour to the gig – their influences include France (in general), tree climbing and chipped nail polish. Originally called ‘Coat & Curtains’, Philipp, Joe and Emily like to ‘hand stitch’ their songs together to produce a sound not too dissimilar to a meeting of The Pipettes and Bright Eyes.

Stop The 64 consist of various former members of local bands and are itching to show what they bring to the table.

Don’t Die Just Yet! will kindly be providing audible pleasures during and after the bands. DDJY! has become one of the most respected indie nights in Europe and now regularly hosts the most exciting up-and-coming bands around as well as the occasional old favourite.

Paul explains how helpful people were whilst organising the event:

“When I asked the bands to play the gig they replied without any hesitation and I’m grateful to them and also Central Station for helping me to raise some funds”.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) was founded in 1961, has over 17 000 volunteers in its shops and 4 000 people helping them with community fundraising. The BHF invests over £150 per minute into research.

Paul continues:

“I decided to support the BHF as my chosen charity for the marathon as heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer and I used to volunteer at their shop in Wrexham town centre. I saw first hand how much support is needed and also how it’s appreciated”.

The Heartbeats charity gig is taking place on Friday 19th March at Central Station, Wrexham. Tickets are £5 each, with proceeds going to the British Heart Foundation and are available from the bands, www.seetickets.com or Central Station. Doors are 7:30pm and over 14s are welcome.

Links

Heartbeats Facebook event
Pauls Justgiving fundraising page
Lense Eyes
British Heart Foundation

Related posts:

1. The Holloways return to Central
2. Heartbeats – Fri 19 Mar – Central Station – Wrexham

Very occasionally a band comes along that stand for something real, speak the truth, while simultaneously creating mind-blowingly awesome music – Reverend And The Makers are such a band.

They are playing Wrexham’s Central Station on Thursday 11th March a part of their first tour of 2010.

An indie rock band based in Sheffield, fronted by Jon McClure, nicknamed “The Reverend”, the band rocketed on to our radars with their first single “Heavyweight Champion of the World” in 2007. The single reached number 38 in the UK single chart on download sales alone and their album The State of Things featured songs co-written and performed with Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Tim Hampton of Bromheads Jacket and Steve Edwards.

Reverend and the Makers enjoyed an action packed 2009 with the release of their second album ‘A French Kiss in the Chaos’ featuring the singles “Silence Is Talking” and “No Soap (in a Dirty War)”. They supported Oasis on their massive summer tour (along with Kasabian and The Enemy), and performed a free gig at the Tate Modern to celebrate the launch of new climate change. They join us as part of their 2010 tour this March!

Jon ‘The Reverend’ McClure enjoys giving the fans something extraordinary when performing. He has been known to put on an acoustic gig in the car park of most venues, invited fans to a “backing singer evening” to help record vocals on an upcoming single, and he is heavily involved in the Instigate Debate group, offering to carry out private gigs in fans homes to anyone who contributes. These activities are the type of thing that McClure is becoming synonymous with amongst his fans…

!I like to go out on the streets every night after gigs with my guitar. We stopped a bit of traffic in the middle of Belfast and it obviously caused a bit of a stir. But I like to go outside with people, because a lot of bands talk about being for the people but actually after gigs they’ll be sat in their dressing room sipping mojitos, listening to people blowing smoke up their arses, whereas, I’m on the street every time…”

Support comes in the name of No Room For Heroes and The Capitals.

Tickets: £12 adv Doors: 7.30pm Over 14’s welcome
Tickets available from: Yales Café Bar, Wxm – 01978 358780, seetickets.com, ticketline.co.uk – 0870 444 5556. I.D may be required to purchase alcohol.

Related posts:

1. Athlete to play Wrexham in July
2. The Chapman Family take on Wrexham
3. You knows it… GLC in Wrexham

It’s a dark and eerie showing; mixing live footage of the band with clever horror movie-esque clips. Anything else just wouldn’t suit the Six, take a look:

Related posts:

1. Mother of Six release debut EP
2. Mother of Six support Manchester’s finest
3. Mother of Six take on Cardiff

Their music mines the same affluent seam as some of the greatest bands to emerge from the UK – The Jam, The Who, The Clash et al. With their lyrics, they address the same themes as their geographical forefathers The Smiths. As they conveyed their designs of northern street life and general Thatcherite despair, Twisted Wheel now feel it’s their time to reflect on the equivalent matters in today’s society.

What’s ultimately good about this show is that instead of bringing a lacklustre tour support along with them, Twisted Wheel are allowing two local support acts to play. Picked from our very own rich seam of local talent to perform are Wrexham’s Mother of Six (following The Roseville Band having to pull out due to illness) and Mold’s The Lupin Thieves. It’s a 14+ gig, with doors at 7pm and tickets are £7.50 or £9.50 on the door.

Staying with The Tiv, on Friday night they have their indie night with Reign, So Called Saviour, The Bright Young People and headliners The Hutts from Liverpool. It’s £3 entry before 9:30pm and £5 thereafter, doors are 8pm.

Links

Mother of Six
Twisted Wheel
The Tiv

Related posts:

1. The Roseville Band reveal album online
2. Mother of Six release debut EP
3. Mother of Six take on Cardiff

Cerys Matthews is a Cardiff-born singer and songwriter who first achieved fame as lead singer of the group Catatonia with hit songs like ‘Mulder and Scully’ and ‘Roadrage’. She had an equally successful parallel solo career duetting with Tom Jones on the perennial classic ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’, plus two critically acclaimed solo albums Cockahoop, Never Said Goodbye. Her recent album Don’t look Down was released in two versions one in welsh and one in english.

After covering Glastonbury for both BBC TV and BBC Radio 6, she has recently started her daily 6 Music show (‘Cerys on 6’).

“Matthews has written some great pop singles…but this is her best work to date, no question”
“Matthews knocks the doubters for six, with singing that contains everything — nuance, understanding, authenticity” – The Times

7th April 8.00pm, tickets: £20.00 from 01978 292015 or www.glyndwr.ac.uk/events

Links

www.glyndwr.ac.uk/events
Cerys Matthews

Related posts:

1. Cerys Matthews Don\’t Look Down Tour – Wed 07 Apr – William Aston Hall – Wrexham
2. Idlewild singer to play Llangollen Fringe
3. Romeo and Co return for more magic

I’ve told you before that Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle are returning to the SXSW Music Festival in Texas again in March and like last year they are packing in the gigs. The SXSW Festival is the world’s largest music festival and conference; it’s renowned across the globe as being the biggest showcase of both unsigned and signed international acts with over 80 venues across the city of Austin hosting nearly 2000 acts.

So why is it such a big deal to play there? Well, the 2,500+ music industry suits who attend every year is probably something to do with it, if there is anywhere in the world where you’d want to make a buzz with your music, then here without doubt is the place to do it.

Polly and her band did extremely well last year and raised a lot of interest which led to a number of opportunities in 2009, so this year it’s on for sure. She’s managed to bag the first performance of the whole festival (last year Flight of the Conchords held this spot) at the Four Seasons hotel, which guarantees a throng of suits in attendance and Polly is also representing Wales at the British Music Embassy Party.

The bands visit coincides with the release of their first single to be taken from their debut EP release, which is in the final stages of production.

Links

Polly Mackey
Polly Mackey MySpace
SXSW Festival

Related posts:

1. Success at SXSW for Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle
2. Busy times ahead for Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle
3. Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle in Benicassim Final

A new night is starting up at L’etage Bar, Abbott St, Wrexham. Called ‘Sourmash’, it will feature the best in whisky soaked American Rock, Country, Southern Rock, Blues, Folk, Bluegrass, Swing, Cajun, Rockabilly, Rock n Roll, Bebop, Jazz and more besides.

Once a month on a Friday, the opening night, Friday February 19th, features North Wales band The Loving Cup, plus support (TBC). Free admission and with drinks promotions, means you can enjoy a glass of Knob Creek Bourbon whilst listening to the strains of a pedal steel, National Resonator, Blues Harp or Bull Fiddle.

The second night, March 19th, features Mojave Collective from Manchester (plus support) and Friday April 16th will see London band The Whybirds (plus support).

Links

Sourmash Facebook group

Related posts:

1. The T.J’s – Sun 21 Jun – L\’etage – Wrexham
2. Out of Order – Sun 28 Jun – L\’etage – Wrexham
3. Andy Williams – Sun 05 Jul – L\’etage – Wrexham

Are you a songwriter or band that performs your own material?
Is your music played on radio or TV?
Do you perform gigs large or small?

If so, you could be earning money.

Following the phenomenal success of their last visit, Britain’s performing rights society ‘PRS for Music’, is back in Wrexham to show you how.

PRS for Music is the society that collects royalties on behalf of its members wherever their songs are performed; live, on radio TV etc from artists as big as Coldplay and U2 to new bands starting out at the local pub.

PRS for Music does this by collecting licence fees from wherever your songs are performed and distributing it amongst its members. Which potentially is YOU the songwriter.

With no up-front joining fees and no annual fees, even if you are starting out and playing very small gigs it is worth your while joining PRS for Music.

So, if you think this sounds like you, or you are already a member, it’s well worth coming along.

Louise Parker, the representative for PRS for Music in Wales will be hosting a free advice clinic and presentation in Wrexham to help local bands and songwriters find out about PRS for Music services, membership and how to earn money from your songs.

The event will be held at Central Station club on Monday 22nd February, 6pm-9pm. This will be followed by an Open Mic music night at Central Station which is free to attend to everyone who books a place at the clinic.

It’s completely free to attend and there are no obligations. All who are interested should book their place with Louise using the contact details below and see what PRS for Music can do for you!

To book your place, email: membership@prsformusic.com

For more information call 07789 373 459

Links

www.prsformusic.com

Related posts:

1. Free PRS advice clinic for Wrexham musicians
2. Music Industry advice at The Foundry
3. The Redi Daze Music Festival Returns!

The Roseville Band have streamed their entire debut album ‘Little Eyes in the Universe’ on their website for everyone’s receptors to soak in. The 12 track record, which was mastered at the Giant Wafer Studios in the heart of Wales, is due for physical and online release in mid April.

Andy, Steve, James, Phill, Stu and Ali will be heading off on a jaunt around Germany for a six date mini tour in April which is followed by the album launch show which is taking place at the Seven Stars in Wrexham. Other dates to support the album are due to be announced soon.

In other Roseville related news, they’ve been announced as one of the support acts for Oldham’s Twisted Wheel at The Tiv in Buckley in March. Also supporting them are Mold’s The Lupin Thieves.

Listen to album track ‘Over Again’:

Links

The Roseville Band website

Related posts:

1. The Roseville Band preview album online
2. The Roseville Band on German radio!
3. Heal the Last Stand release debut album