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Stroud's got talent

4:43pm Thursday 4th March 2010

Review The Door Undiscovered Youth Talent Contest 2010 Sub Rooms STROUD'S got talent - this was proved beyond any reasonable doubt at the Door Project’s Undiscovered Youth Talent contest. Twenty six young people aged 11 to 20 took part in the ninth annual competition having been whittled down from more than 60 applicants. There were singers, dancers, bands and even a ventriloquist (Kieran Powell, who won audience favourite). Talent contests traditionally conjure up images of bad karaoke or knobbly knee contests, for me anyway. This was definitely not the case tonight; in fact I was blown away by the incredibly high standard of performance. Thirteen year old Ellie Higgs (winner of best original composition) truly stood out as a singer and songwriter with individual character and enormous potential. She’s already nailed the elusive skill of being able write and perform with an emotional honesty that almost moved me to tears (I said almost - I’m not Cheryl Cole.) There was a wealth of talented female vocalists and a few really good bands particularly indie-rockers The Envy, who won Best Band, and Inkerman Street, who performed a rousing cover of a King Blues song (all aged between 15 and 18). The Best in Show award went to 11-year-old Penny May who also won the best vocalist aged 11-14 category. By this point I’d clapped so much my hands were seriously chafed and some of the audience had taken to stamping their feet in appreciation instead. Mary Jess Leaverland, the winner from two years previously, returned to do the honours of presenting the many deserved prizes. Having just won The Chinese X Factor, she’s flying the flag high for Gloucestershire as a hothouse of international talent breeding. Some of the contestants from tonight will undoubtedly go on to bigger and better things. I left the event feeling inspired, enthused and very grateful to live in such an exciting, creative part of the world. Who needs the X Factor when you’ve got the Stroud factor? Milly Chowles

Sex Pistols svengali checks out the talent

4:40pm Thursday 4th March 2010

MALCOLM McLaren, notorious Sex Pistols svengali, and ex-husband of Vivienne Westwood, will be checking out two Stroud bands who have made it through to the regional finals of Live and Unsigned in Cheltenham on March 27.

Like Doris Day with a bullwhip

4:37pm Thursday 4th March 2010

ENGLISH Ceilidh band Steamchicken have been likened to 'Doris Day with a bullwhip'. They're harmonica and mandolin led, underpinned by bass, piano, drums, punctuated by a three piece horn section. Harmonica player Ted Crum, one of the band's founder members, is from Coventry and recalls tremendous jam sessions at Jerry Dammers' house in the early 1960s (Jerry went on to form The Specials). And elements of ska are still to be found in the musical melange that is Steamchicken. Check them out at this month's Stroud Ceilidh, at the Sub Rooms on Saturday. Ceilidh starts 8pm, tickets available from the Sub Rooms at £10/£8.50/ accompanied children £5 - 01453 760900.

Sue Brown celebrates collagraph

4:35pm Thursday 4th March 2010

‘LIBERATION, expansion and discovery’. That’s what printmaking means to artist Sue Brown, whose latest exhibition, A Celebration of Collagraph, opens at the Museum in the Park on Saturday. Sue's work is inspired by animals, birds and nature, and is rich in colour, pattern and texture. She studied etching to degree level in the late 1970s at Bristol. In 1996 she added collagraphs to her portfolio of work after discovering this printmaking technique being taught at Wynstones Steiner School near Gloucester. The process involves making a collage, sealing the surface with varnish, then inking and printing the plate with an etching press. The technique provides intaglio prints with deeply textural surfaces. It is also safe and non-toxic and stunning results can be achieved with basic everyday household materials. If you want to find out more, come and meet Sue in the gallery on Sunday, from 2pm to 4pm. She will be demonstrating her craft, sharing her passion for printmaking and answering questions about her work. Sue will also be leading taster workshops for adults on Saturday, March 27, and a drop in Mother's Day card making session for families with children aged 5 - 12 on Sunday, March 14. For further information call 01453 763394. A Celebration of Collagraph - prints by Sue Brown, at The Museum in the Park Gallery, opens Saturday and continues until April, open Tuesday to Sunday, admission free.

Brother, it's not thou

4:26pm Thursday 4th March 2010

TWENTY-one year old Jenna Witts’ latest album, released in January, is called Brother but it’s not about her brother. Her first album is called Barefoot and Eager, and it is about her brother. Her brother thinks both albums are about him, and because of this he currently has ‘a bit of a big head’. When she was 13, Jenna's family had a barbecue in the back garden, and she played a couple of songs that she had written. By some fortuitous twist of fate, her grandparents had invited one of their bowls playing friends along who, it turned out, was the mum of folk veteran Steve Knightley. She was so impressed that she brought Steve round the next day to hear Jenna for himself. Jenna repeated the songs for Steve, in her sitting room, as he sipped a cup of tea on the sofa. He too was impressed and has since been instrumental in bringing her talent to a wider audience. Barefoot and Eager was named one of the Financial Times Top 10 world albums of 2007, and songs from the current album have received airplay on Radio 2 by Aled Jones and Bob Harris. Jenna is at the Prince Albert in Rodborough on Tuesday, March 9 at 7.30pm.

Youth talent discovered at the Subs

4:26pm Wednesday 24th February 2010

Review The Door Undiscovered Youth Talent Contest 2010 Sub Rooms STROUD'S got talent - this was proved beyond any reasonable doubt at the Door Project’s Undiscovered Youth Talent contest. Twenty six young people aged 11 to 20 took part in the ninth annual competition having been whittled down from more than 60 applicants. There were singers, dancers, bands and even a ventriloquist (Kieran Powell, who won audience favourite). Talent contests traditionally conjure up images of bad karaoke or knobbly knee contests, for me anyway. This was definitely not the case tonight; in fact I was blown away by the incredibly high standard of performance. Thirteen year old Ellie Higgs (winner of best original composition) truly stood out as a singer and songwriter with individual character and enormous potential. She’s already nailed the elusive skill of being able write and perform with an emotional honesty that almost moved me to tears (I said almost - I’m not Cheryl Cole.) There was a wealth of talented female vocalists and a few really good bands particularly indie-rockers The Envy, who won Best Band, and Inkerman Street, who performed a rousing cover of a King Blues song (all aged between 15 and 18). The Best in Show award went to 11-year-old Penny May who also won the best vocalist aged 11-14 category. By this point I’d clapped so much my hands were seriously chafed and some of the audience had taken to stamping their feet in appreciation instead. Mary Jess Leaverland, the winner from two years previously, returned to do the honours of presenting the many deserved prizes. Having just won The Chinese X Factor, she’s flying the flag high for Gloucestershire as a hothouse of international talent breeding. Some of the contestants from tonight will undoubtedly go on to bigger and better things. I left the event feeling inspired, enthused and very grateful to live in such an exciting, creative part of the world. Who needs the X Factor when you’ve got the Stroud factor? Milly Chowles

Gloucester Symphony Orchestra at the Subs

4:18pm Wednesday 24th February 2010

GLOUCESTERSHIRE Symphony Orchestra introduces former leader of the Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra and Gloucestershire Young Musician finalist, Beatrice Scaldini (violin) in a thrilling performance of Prokofiev`s 1st violin concerto in D Major at the Sub Rooms on Saturday, February 27. Born in Florence, Beatrice has benefited from an eclectic range of musical experiences in both in Italy and the UK. As a violinist she is equally at home in both the modern and period performance spheres. Beatrice trained at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Florence, graduating with full marks and honours in 2006, then at Trinity College of Music, gaining a Postgraduate diploma with Distinction. She was subsequently awarded the Newby Trust Scholarship to continue her studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Lydia Mordkovich and Mateja Marinkovic. She is now specialising in Historical Performance under the guidance of Walter Reiter. Also in the programme are Ravel`s magical Mother Goose Suite and the serene Mozart Symphony no 35, the Haffner. Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra is at the Sub Rooms on Saturday, February 27 at 7.30pm, £10/£8/ - under 18s free, call 01453 760900.

Make a Bee Line for SVA

3:38pm Wednesday 24th February 2010

BEE LINES is an exhibition featuring new work by artist Alice Forward, the site09 Darbyshire Award winner, and opens at SVA on Saturday, February 27. Alice's work explores the uneasy and complex relationship between man and nature. The migration of plants, colonisation and the use of both maps and bees as symbolic tools are all significant themes within her work. Bee Lines, SVA (Stroud Valleys Artspace), 4 John Street, Stroud. Preview Saturday, February 27, 3pm-6pm. Continues until March 14, Tuesday-Saturday 10am-3pm, Sunday 11am-1pm. As well as the exhibition, there will be three Bee Line associated events. Alice has invited several beekeeping groups to mount a small public event in the courtyard of SVA on Saturday, February 27, 10am-6pm. Then on March 7 she will be 'in conversation' with Tom Trevor, director of the Arnolfini, followed by a talk by Paul Hand, beekeeping specialist, on March 14. For further details visit www.sva.org.uk

A bit of a Hoo Hah at the Duke of York

3:36pm Wednesday 24th February 2010

HOO-Hah Poetry and the Duke of York present a night of music and poetry on Thursday, February 25, featuring musician Adam Donen and poets Robert John Price and Adam Horovitz. Singer and poet Adam Donen grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, the eldest child of prominent anti-apartheid activists. He delivered his first poetry performance at age six, reciting works by William Blake and Samuel Taylor Coleridge to ANC freedom fighters inside Polsmoor Maximum Security Prison. He got his first guitar soon after. Donen moved to London at eighteen, read English and started a band. His first major project, garage artrockers Alexandria Quartet, toured the UK for much of 2006 and 2007, playing six shows a week in grotty dives. Their music was violent and political, and they channeled Old Testament-style hellfire at apathetic Blair babies. He recorded his first album, As Our Parents Slowly Turn to Clay, which was also released as a book of poetry, with producer Robert Harder (whose other credits include Herbie Hancock, Brian Eno and Pete Doherty). Virtuouso jazz sax player Pete Wareham (of Acoustic Ladyland and Mercury Prize winners Polar Bear) guested on many of the tracks. Jo Silverston (Rachel Unthank, Emily Barker) provided cello. He has also recently shared the bill at a number of gigs with jazz-inflected singer Gwyneth Herbert. Donen’s new album, Immortality, is scheduled for UK release in May 2010 and he is touring in the run up to its release. He is supported in Stroud by the poet Robert John Price, who is the former lead singer with arch progressive psychpunk combo the Alpha Males, and Adam Horovitz, who was last year’s poet in residence for the Glastonbury Festival’s official website. The event takes place at The Duke of York, Nelson Street, Stroud on Thursday, February 25 at 8 pm. Entry is free. Three open mic slots are available on the night on a first-come-first-served basis.

Slide guitar virtuoso at Star Anise

3:33pm Wednesday 24th February 2010

SLIDE guitarist and singer/song writer Martin Harley plays at Star Anise Cafe on Saturday, February 27. He was born in Cardiff, raised in Woking, and self taught from blues records. In his early twenties, disenchanted with suburban life, he went looking for adventure and music. Armed with a little money and a converted 12-string he bought from a junk shop for $30 (and still uses to this day), his travels took him to the USA, Africa, India and further. Somewhere along the line he found himself writing music and in Australia he started playing in small bars whilst living out of a car. His warm voice, earnest yet poetic lyrics, and distinctive guitar style gained him a slot on the James Morrison tour , and air play on Radio 2 on the Aled Jones, Bob Harris and Jonnie Walker shows. Martin's also a firm favourite of celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and have played several gigs at Rivercottage HQ and appeared on a charity compilation CD featuring tracks chosen by Hugh and sold to raise money for Rural Revival and Care International. Martin Harley, Star Anise Cafe, Gloucester Street, Stroud, February 27, 7.30pm, £6/£7 (01453 840021).

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