CD Review: Foreverly by Billie Joe and Norah

Foreverly arrived on the review desk before Christmas 2013 and inevitably before the passing of Phil Everly, so although it was recorded as a tribute by Billy Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones it will no doubt take on an ever deeper meaning now to those who hear it.

Fans of The Everly Brothers will no doubt recognise many of the songs featured on Foreverly from the Everly’s album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us.

It’s fair to say that both Norah and Billy Joe haven’t strayed to far from the arrangements of the The Everly’s. A good or bad thing?

Undoubtedly it would have been nice to have heard a more originality from the featured artists but an Everly Brothers tribute is long overdue and can only serve to introduce another generation of fans to their music.

• This review by Andy Howells was originally featured in The South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide during January 2013

Sam Kane Talks About Dual Role In Cinderella Show

Andy Howells meets Sam Kane

Andy Howells chats to Sam Kane who is currently directing and starring in the pantomime Cinderella at The New Theatre, Cardiff.

Actor Sam Kane is having a busy pantomime season. Not only is he currently starring as an Ugly Sister in Cinderella at Cardiff New Theatre but he’s also directing the production as well. “Its the first time I'm in that dual role,” Sam tells me,“ in fact I made my directional debut at The New Theatre in the millennium year with Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs .” 

“Its weird this year. As I have to pay a bit more attention to myself than I normally do, because I'm a joker and a comic anyway. I was actually down to play Buttons this year but you know what?  I kind of fancy been next to my best mate in a frock, I love it!” 

When Sam refers to his “best mate in a frock”, he is of course talking about his wife, the actress, Linda Lusardi who plays The Fairy Godmother. The pair met in pantomime at Darlington 20 years ago and have since married and had two children. “I was the handsome prince that year and she was Snow White. Its a fairy-tale. 20 years and its still going on we are blissfully married and have two amazing kids, its just an odd job to be in for normal people!” 

Sam who hails from Liverpool has always had show-business in his blood,” I always wanted to be a performer,” he says, “I wanted to be a singer when I was a kid and I was into pop music. I suppose I was extrovert without knowing it. I had a lot of brothers,  I had to be heard so was always in front of an audience, anyway I finished school went to a college, went to a drama school and knew that’s what I wanted to be. 

On stage Sam has starred in musicals such as South Pacific and Seven Brides and Seven Brothers while on television there was a regular role as lovable hairdresser Peter Phelan on the Channel 4 soap opera, Brookside, which he played for nearly three years. 

More recently Sam has appeared in a new film Vendetta which starred Danny Dyer and also directed the new stage play Kiss Me Honey Honey at the Edinburgh Festival. This was a huge success and went on to win a Fringe First Award. “I was thrilled to bits,” says Sam of the play, “we’re going back next year with another great writer and the same actors and really looking forward to it.” 

In the meantime, Sam is currently acting and directing in Cinderella alongside his wife Linda, Gareth Thomas, Lee Mead, Andy Jones, Mike Doyle, and Holly Bluett. For Sam it’s a dream cast, "What we have right here is an old style theatre bill where there’s a lot of people who can do the job on stage whether they be celebrities from television, stage or sport. We've got the whole gamut on one bill and everyone’s got an amazing ability or personality. That is the star of the show. Cinderella’s the best pantomime I've done.”

• Cinderella runs at The New Theatre until January 18, 2015. Tickets can be bought on 029 2087 8889 or online at www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk
• A version of this interview by Andy Howells appeared in The South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide on January 2, 2015 

Review: Whitney Houston Live - 2CD Ultimate Edition

Posthumous releases tend to usually offer something new, unreleased or rare from the featured artist. 

Whitney Houston Live - Ultimate Edition is a collection of live recordings from Whitney Houston's best television appearances (recently released as half of a CD /DVD set ) and a tagged on collection of 18 of her greatest hits (which was also released a while back).

I'm not quite sure who would buy this collection, as fans will likely own both albums already, also both albums feature the same song (although different studio and live versions) more than once. 

Search out both albums individually for a better Whitney experience in either the studio or as a live performer.

• A version of this review appeared in The South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide on January 2, 2015.

Rebecca Bruni Says Never Again On New Single Release

Cardiff based singer-songwriter Rebecca Bruni, has recently released her debut single Never Again.

The lead singer with Shazoot has collaborated with guitarist and songwriter David Layton and producer Glyn Havard to present a bright and breezy slice of melodic guitar pop that is set to bring some sunshine into the colder winter days.

Listeners can check out the song on reverbnation along with a further track, the rockier Now That You’re Gone, itself a nod to the rockier elements of late 60s Beatles material.

Never Again is currently on sale for download and streaming from all on-line retailers.

• A Version of this story by Andy Howells appeared in The South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide on January 2, 2015.

Laura Wright Discusses The Sound Of Strength

Laura Wright

During July 2014, Andy Howells chatted to Mezzo Soprano Laura Wright about her EP The Sound Of Strength.

Earlier this year, 24-year-old mezzo soprano Laura Wright - one of the biggest selling classical artists in the UK combined her love of music and sport when she was taking part in the London Marathon.  

"I stopped halfway around Tower Bridge and sang Jerusalem live on the BBC which was quite daunting," she laughs. Laura completed the run in 4 hours, 20 minutes "I was pleased with my time," she continues, “I felt pretty exhausted at the end, it was the third time I'd done it and that’s why I wanted the added challenge." 

Laura is the first to have taken on this remarkable feat of music and sports fusion, and it was to coincide with the release of her stunning EP The Sound of Strength, recently released on Decca. The concept behind The Sound of Strength EP is the body as the ultimate instrument. There are plenty of similarities between athletes and classically trained singers – the need for dedication, being healthy and being prepared to challenge yourself. Laura has taken this desire to always challenge herself as an inspiration for the EP. "We love the kind of music that goes with sport which tends to be classical," Laura continues, "You look at The Three Tenors and The World Cup and I've tried to bring that (music) and my sporting passion together. I wanted something I could listen to in the gym because I see my body as an instrument and my voice as a muscle." 

Laura has taken her classical music to a new level with tracks including Puccini’s Nessun Dorma and Barber’s Adagio for Strings, arranged herself and melded to driving beats, with the help of producers Starkey (who has worked with composer Einaudi), Killahurtz and Dan Vinci (who has worked with everyone from Skream, Snoop Dogg and Jesse Ware). Doing so, she has created a new sound which melds beauty and power to startling affect. She is currently working on her forthcoming album, due for release in September. 

"It’s been quite exciting writing and arranging music with my producer," says Laura, “I can’t wait for people to hear the music and see that there’s a real story behind it." Laura fells that her approach will also help Classical music be more accessible for younger people. "We've recently done a video (Barber's Agnus Dei) for the lead track.  I think the video shows this is not just classical music, it’s a new way of listening to things. I don’t want people to write it off just because they hear the words classical music. Classical music is for everyone and it’s a matter of how you use it and produce it. I feel I want to be someone who presents it in a different way, I'm 24 years old and I listen to Coldplay, Drum and Bass and Dub step when I go to the gym, but I also love performing classical music. It’s the power that classical music has that I think people love, the feeling that you want to be a superhero!" 

Laura says the release of her forthcoming album will likely be followed by a tour. "Early next year is the idea, I don't have any involvement in the Rugby World Cup yet, but I'd love to be involved in some way!" I suggest that maybe Laura should come to Wales and sing at one of our matches. "I'd love too," she says enthusiastically, "I've never performed in the Millennium Stadium, so I'd love too!" You read it here first! 

• Visit laura-wright.co.uk for more information on Laura.
• A version of Andy Howells' interview with Laura Wright  was published in the South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide during August 2014

Rachel K Collier Gets Curious - Interview

Rachel K Collier

Andy Howells chatted to singer/songwriter Rachel K Collier during the Summer of 2014 about her collaboration with Ray Foxx, Curious.

Curious, the new single from Ray Foxx ft. Rachel K Collier, is the latest collaboration from the duo, following on from last summer’s infectious Top 20 hit Boom Boom (Heartbeat). 23 year old singer/songwriter Rachel who hails from Swansea and is a former student of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama,  has had quite a busy year since her last chart appearance. 

“I’m working on an EP now and another commercial release which will be coming quite soon after Curious,” she says, “I spent a bit of time in LA last year just song writing not only for myself but for other artists and other projects. I came back last summer and it all kicked off with the Boom Boom which was amazing because we got to play Majorca Rocks and the Radio One Live Lounge. Since then I've been working on my own stuff and getting all my solo material together.” 

Anyone who hears Rachel’s music is usually struck by her diversity, she is equally at home playing piano and singing as well as laying down beat hooks for new dance tracks.
“I love dancing and I love writing over a beat, but scrape all that back and I’m a singer/songwriter,” she continues, “I play piano and write stuff with chords, if you take away the beat there will always be a strong song there. Sometimes it’s quite hard knowing where to fit yourself in.” 

Rachel K Collier and Ray Foxx

Rachel’s musical success is a far cry for the young girl from Swansea whose initial interest was drawing. “There was a piano in the house which my mum played a bit when I was small. One day I just switched from drawing pictures to playing around on the piano every night. It was like a complete transition; I found the piano and started experimenting on there, copying tunes from the television. I never really read music until I was about 18. I had a really good group of supportive friends who would just listen to me.” 

Since studying a Music Tech course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Rachel has fronted her own band and released several recordings before signing to Island Records. Recently Rachel had to turn her skills to acting for the Curious video in which she is seen swimming with a male model. “We shot it in Ibiza during July, I was quite nervous because it was an acting role. I did a bit of acting in school at the Glamorgan County Theatre. To be honest I didn't like acting, I just used to like the singing and the dancing. There was this moment in the boiling sun when I was just about to swim in the water to do this underwater kiss scene and I thought, “Actually the West Glamorgan county theatre had its uses!”". 

Rachel K Collier

Does Rachel have a particular formula she follows when collaborating on a track with another artist? “With Ray Foxx it’s been a song beforehand and then he’s taken a song and made a wicked beat. Then Ray and I work on it to make the chorus strong. But in my next commercial release, the producer just sent me the beat. He said “can you write me a melody and lyrics over this?” In that case it can be beat first, it varies. It depends on the producer you are working with.” 

A varied approach to music ensures Rachel won’t be restrained by a specific genre, so music fans can expect to be hearing more from her in coming months as a singer. Songwriter and producer. “There’s lots of ways you can go about making music especially for me, because I can go about making banging dance music or stripped back vocal and piano. With my forthcoming EP I want to get a blend in there I make a lot of music just from my vocal sounds. I do like to have a variety of what I can do. It’s definitely a challenge.”

• A version of Andy Howells interview with Rachel K Collier was originally published in The South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide during September 2014. 
• For more information about Rachel K Collier visit her official website.

CD Review: Timeless By Dr Hook

Although they were the airplay heroes of the radio waves in the 1970s it’s astonishing to find that Dr Hook only had 5 Top 10 UK hits.

The US band successfully transferred from country music to pop with classics such as Sylvia’s Mother, Just A Little Bit More and their 1979 number one smash When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman.

Over 30 years since their last top 10 hit, lead vocalist Dennis Locorriere has compiled 40 pieces of Hook from the bands repertoire for Timeless revisiting hits, album tracks and live favourites.

Hearing the tracks on the first disc again recalls the laid back sounds the bands were so at ease at producing. The second disc features more in the same style although is probably more for the die-hards. Still, if you love country-rock, you’ll love this collection and When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman still carries great advice “When you’re in love with a beautiful woman, you watch your friend!”

• A version of this review by Andy Howells was published in The South Wales Argus entertainment supplement The Guide during 2014.