Amsterdamned Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 On Tuesday October 20th at The Grapes we have another fantastic double header from Canada's Six Shooter Records. Making her second visit to the UK this year will be Melissa McClelland as she continues to promote her acclaimed new album "Victoria Day". Joining Melissa will be one of Six Shooter's latest signings Amelia Curran. Amelia's album "Hunter, Hunter" was released in September. Doors open at 8pm. Advance tickets priced at £7 are available from Seetickets.com or entry on the night will be £9. Plus support. ***MELISSA McCLELAND*** Amidst the loves we leave and seek, there are songs pointing to the stars and arms reaching through the blackout. We rest easy knowing that soon the sky will be filled with burning lights, our eyes brimming with wonder. Suddenly, from out of the past, a voice leans into the May wind with a heartful of harmony: “Today is Victoria Day.” Melissa McClelland returns with her highly anticipated third album, Victoria Day. Produced by husband Luke Doucet, her Six Shooter Records debut finds McClelland deeply in touch with a sense of melody and wordplay that rivals any of her contemporaries. Like a roadmap tracing the veins of a country one can only dream of visiting, Victoria Day is both seductive and compelling. ‘Glenrio’ invites us to a rusty locale where one can only leave with bloody knuckles. Snow falls slowly over the gentle ‘Seasoned Lovers,’ which also features a stunning vocal performance by Ron Sexsmith. McClelland’s virtuosity as a lyricist is best illustrated in ‘When the Lights Went Off In Hogtown,’ which immortalizes the Toronto blackout of 2003 with a playful and surreal command of imagery. Melissa’s song crafting skills have not gone unnoticed south of the border, where ‘Passenger 24’ from the album Thumbelina’s One Night Stand captured the title of ‘Best Americana Song’ at the Independent Music Awards. It is the timelessness and sheer beauty of McClelland’s voice that holds our hand throughout the album, courting us with the colour of its countries. Beyond the vintage guitar tones and retro feel of the album, it is Melissa’s classic, ageless, brazenly genre-flouting voice that enraptures. Her impressive on-stage backing vocal history attests to this pure talent; Melissa has been invited to sing with Jesse Cook, Sarah McLachlan, and Luke Doucet, and was the single guest vocal appearance on Blue Rodeo’s lauded Live at Massey Hall (2008). Melissa McClelland has constructed an album that closes and opens as though it were a season. Victoria Day is a work constituted of anthems and odes, of harlequins and hymnals, penned by a quiet poet in a corner of the bar. The songs rendered on this recording extend their hands and lean against the May wind as though the world were their shoulder. “Today is Victoria Day,” they say. “Enjoy yourselves.” "Victoria Day" delivers rebel-rouser guitars in 1950s Hollywood- style infused with a southern-country twang. The songs capture all of the beauty and charm of the girl next door while lacing the punch at the sock hop with home-made moonshine. "This is going to be a breakthrough record for McClelland - I can’t imagine anyone hearing it not being in some way impressed" Americana-uk.com http://www.melissamcclelland.com http://www.myspace.com/melissamcclelland ***AMELIA CURRAN*** Amelia Curran is a seeker. Nearly a decade ago she left St. John's for Halifax, but still pines for Newfoundland every single day. With a number of East Coast Music Award nominations and an extensive discography, including: War Brides (2006), Lullaby for Barflies (2002), Trip Down Little Road (2001), and Barricade (2000), Curran knew it was finally time to make a record at home. Over the past two years she recorded with Don Ellis in various caverns in St. John's, the city of legends, from the abandoned CBC building on Duckworth Street to an old farm house on the fringes of town. For Curran St. John's captures the essence of her inner huntress. A songwriter by trade, but a writer at heart, Curran believes language is everything. She describes the craft of song-writing as an act of "expressing the inexpressible, a means of describing the indescribable." "Bye, Bye Montreal" could pay homage to Leonard Cohen and the thriving arts scene of yesteryear, but that's the beauty of Curran. She never explicitly says what her songs about. She just opens the door and allows room for various interpretations and relationships. "All Hands On A Grain of Sand," speaks to Curran's ability to elevate the lyrical into the poetical. Her desire to reconcile the past and move into the future is a constant struggle. "Ah Me," manifests biblical myths into self-reflexive epiphanies, while "The Mistress," is part confession, part obsession. A narrative-driven internal contention of what it means to be the other woman. "Mad World, Outlive Me," mines for the truth and untouchable gems held deep within the soul. With splashes of folk and cabaret aesthetics, "The Company Store," wades through a lost way of life. "Julia," turns the page on a bleeding heart, while "Tiny Glass Houses," shatters expectations and rebuilds the broken places within us all. "The Dozens," is a toe-tapping rendition of harnessing one's inner lover. Retribution arrives in both "Love's Lost Regard," and "Wrecking Ball," but it's the album's closer, "Last Call," that leaves listeners thirsty for another round. http://www.ameliacurran.com/ http://www.myspace.com/ameliacurran Facebook Event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152419654005 Last.fm Event page: http://www.last.fm/event/1259359 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdamned Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 This is on Tuesday. Support comes from: ***DEAD FLOWERS*** Dead Flowers are the newest country/roots duo to come from Sheffield - known throughout the world as a hotbed of country music. Put together by two old pals - Trevor (Guitar/bottleneck/instruments) and Duncan (Guitar/vox) - after Trevor finally talked Duncan into going back 'behind the mic' after a 10 or so year hiatus. Trevor has played in a huge number of bands throughout the years, covering all genres from punk through indie via experimental and bluegrass. A couple of notable names from his past include Pig 64 and Blind Mole Rat among many many others. Duncan has played in a couple of bands throughout the years, covering genres that mostly encompassed metal and punk. There are no really notable names but we'll mention The Eternal and Numb anyway. Drawn together by a love of almost every style of music, Duncan and Trevor regularly play acoustic sessions in local pubs (Fagans especially!) playing a wide variety of music and styles. Dead Flowers brings some of this versatility together under the vague banner of country to bring you some covers, some tunes, some originals. They were recently featured in session on UK Sounds radio. http://www.myspace.com/deadflowersmyspacemusic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdamned Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 This is tonight. Live music kicks off with Dead Flowers at 8.15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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