Phil King. Illustration by Courtney Lee
There seems to be something slightly off kilter about going to the legendary home of London’s jazz scene to hear folk music but on this particular evening the pinstripe suits and trilbies made way for plaid shirts and beards, as live music night TV Nights kicked off their bi-monthly folk night at the Upstairs bar at Ronnie Scott’s.
Run by up and coming live promoter Vaz Pilikian aided by musician and self confessed “Robin to Vaz’s Batman” Henry Brill, TV Nights is fast becoming a regular fixture in every devoted folkie’s calendar, with upwards of 5 nights a month pouring forth some of the best new folk music out of various underground venues across the capital. With the ethos of keeping the musicians happy above all else, Vaz has certainly managed to pull together an impressive and eclectic line up and yes, to my untrained eye, they all seemed to be pretty happy, so things are looking good.
Phil King. Illustration by Stuart Whitton
First up is Bristol based singer songwriter Phil King. Immediately captivating the crowd with his pure yet powerful vocals and his charming vulnerability, his accomplished set is a mixture of Damien Rice style heartfelt balladry, John Martyn guitar picking melancholia and the raw energy of a busker.. Reminiscent of Glen Hansard’s busker in his Oscar winning film Once, Phil sings to a spot a foot or so above the crowd’s heads and seems to immerse himself totally into his music, grinning and grimacing his way through the set – perhaps in part due to the intimate surroundings and the desire not to sing directly into the audience’s faces, but also due to the personal and tender nature of his songs. Here is a man laying his heart wide open, with nothing but his guitar and harmonica for company, to a room full of strangers and that in itself is worthy of respect. The fact his music is also so heartwarmingly good makes being in the crowd a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Tamsin Wilson. Illustration by Yelena Bryksenkova
Next on the bill is a guest appearance from the brilliant Tamsin Wilson. On a short whistle stop break back in old Blighty, Brit Wilson is currently based in Boston, studying music at the highly respected Berklee School, but has managed to spare an evening in her busy schedule to come and share her talents with us lucky lot. A diminutive figure on the stage with a simple guitar and a spotlight shining in her face, Tamsin’s tiny speaking voice barely makes it over the growing chuntering of the after work crowd who had taken over one end of the bar. The rest of us lean in to hear her introduction, but it soon becomes irrelevant as she embarks on a confident and near faultless set. Sounding immediately like an English Feist, Wilson’s voice is crystal clear and perfect, with enough edge to her alt-folk pop songs to keep it from being too commercial or saccharine. With her coquettish glances at the crowd and a knowing twinkle in her eye, she is nothing short of captivating, which is sadly tainted by the constant fight against the drunken barking of the bar crowd who all but drown her out. With the more devoted of us shhhing and scowling to little avail, what would have been a fully absorbing and satisfying set turned into a battle of wills between the devoted music fans and the devoted beer fans. A massive shame, but then again with such a huge talent, Wilson will win the battle to be heard in the end, that’s for sure.
Amber States. Illustration by Dan Gray (Little Gonzales)
Up next is a highlight of the evening, the brilliant Amber States. The North London four piece fill the stage with not only instruments, but energy and charisma. Banjo, cello, guitars and keys create a sound not unfamiliar in the burgeoning nu-folk scene, but Amber States manage to steer clear of the hackneyed fiddle and guitar style that has become so popular and instead carve their own sound and produce a short but life-affirmingly magnetic set that gets the biggest crowd and the loudest cheer of the night. Their set is laden with catchy hooks, dreamy melodies, exhilarating builds and a toe tapping rhythms without being too paint by numbers folk, with lead singer Gavin Bell’s smoky vocals adding a rawness that sits perfectly over the top. The wonderful sound of Phil Noyce’s cello takes over where the typical violin would be and lets be honest, who doesn’t love a cello solo? They’re a handsome bunch, these boys, and together with such beautiful goosebumps-inducing songs as Morning Sun and Fall From Grace, they are a very appealing package indeed. Finding myself grinning like an idiot throughout their set, there is no reason why Amber States can’t take on the Mumfords and Stornaways of this world and win.
We Used To Make Things
The night takes a bit of a turn away from folk with the appearance of Hackney eight piece (yes that’s EIGHT) We Used To Make Things. Trumpet, trombone, guitars, keys, backing vocals, maracas, loud hailers and the kitchen sink are thrown at us by what can only be described as East London’s best non-pub pub band. Hitting the crowd with a full on and shameless pop set, We Used To Make Things are what it would sound like if The Divine Comedy got pissed, dropped the cynicism and tried to remake Sergeant Peppers in a small room in East London. With a trombone. And it’s thoroughly entertaining stuff. Perhaps teetering dangerously on the edge of ‘novelty’ at times, We Used To Make Things are a party band of the highest order and certainly have the personality to carry it off.
Juan Zelada. Illustration by Alexandra Embleton
Final booking of the evening is another step further into MOR territory with Spanish pocket rocket and piano prodigy Juan Zelada. A graduate from Liverpool’s answer to The Brit School, Paul McCartney’s LIPA, it is clear from the outset that Zelada is an incredible musician. He jigs and jumps behind his piano producing track after track of shiny pop soul and pseudo blues with infectious energy and charm. Zelada is a captivating performer who seemed to be having the most fun out of anyone in the room, which proved to win over even the most stuffy of ‘folkies’ in the crowd. Sadly, being past 11pm on a school night, the crowd had somewhat thinned out by the time he took to the stage, but this didn’t seem to matter to Juan and his band who produced perhaps the most committed performance of the night. Zelada is what Radio 2 producers dream of. He is shamelessly commercial and sits comfortably in the Jamie Cullum/John Mayer/Paolo Nutini school of pop which makes the booking a rather strange one for a folk night, but taken on his own merit, Zelada deserves to be huge. He is a perfectly polished pop package just waiting to be shot straight into the mainstream and by god, does he deserve it.
And there ended TV Nights at Upstairs@Ronnie Scott’s. A brilliant platform for unsigned artists, a melting pot of serious new talent and refreshingly ego free, Vaz and chums have a seriously good thing going here, which deserves to be a regular fixture for all serious nu-folk fans.
With thanks to our wonderful and talented illustrators, Courtney Lee, Stuart Whitton, Yelena Bryksenkova, Little Gonzales and Alexandra Embleton
Tags:
Amber States, Damien Rice, Feist, folk, Glen Hansard, John Martyn, Juan Zelada, london, Mumford& Sons, Nu Folk, Paul McCartney, Phil King, Ronnie Scotts, Stornoway, Tamsin Wilson, The Brit School, The Divine Comedy, We Used To Make Things
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Phil King is the best! We almost had him at our wedding – but he was busy doing a gig at the zoo … poo
Instead I walked down the aisle to his “on my knees” …. still makes us wobble when we hear it.
This boy is going to go FAR!
Great stuff. Phil King and Amber States are amazing. Love ‘em.