First off, people are still asking me where the old blogs are so once again I'll point you in that direction http://undergrounduncovered.blogspot.co.uk/ bookmark it if you want!
Some weekends are made for sharing, others are made for chilling out and this weekend was definitely a weekend for sharing. I saw some amazing musicians from far and wide, I tasted Cider from the farthest corners of the globe and I was propositioned by what is possibly the ugliest prostitute known to Human Kind......our conversation went along these lines "Want some Company?" .... "Fuck Off"
Added to that that this weekend I saw a Woman urinate against a wall like a Man, a Clown on a Unicycle, a bus full of bright red headed women, a man in a dress walking about town like it was normal and heard the Prince of Bel Air sung in the style of The Proclaimers, I have to say it was a very interesting weekend. One that I certainly look back on and try and work out if at any point someone slipped an acid into my drink!
First off I'm going to start by talking about Emma Mcneil, a 14 year old who just came off the back of the Wickerman Festival. Taking aside the fact that she is one of the nicest young girls you could ever meet in your life she is also a very very talented musician. I've been in the music scene for over a decade and every year I stumble across someone amazing who I am in complete awe of. Last year it was Anna Sweeney and this year it's Emma McNeil. She has the voice of an angel, and a stage presence that most experienced musicians would envy. Her stand out performance was that of her own song "Roses are Red" an anti-valentines day song, and a song which was without a doubt a mark of true genius. If you're going to give anyone of the year 10 out of 10 then it has to be Emma McNeil.
Secondly there's Shannon Slawta, a musician who's hidden in the background. There's no reason for that to be the case, if I could pick my stand out song from the weekend then it would be her version of "The Girl" by City and Colour! Anyone who knows me, know that I cover that song and as it is possibly one of my most loved songs I'm very critical about it! However, Shannon pulled the song together and gave it a performance that even Dallas Green himself would be enviable of. Her voice is unique and so strong that at one point I looked around during her set and one of the guys looked like the tears were building behind his eyes. Shannon is a favourite for the next 12 months, one to look out for without a doubt.
Mikey Reid, where do I start? The first thing I noticed about Mikey was his dulcet tones. It reminded me so much of Johnny Cash with a hint of Aaron Lewis. His technical abilities on the guitar leave everyone in absolute astonishment. For me hearing anyone pull off Johnny Cash the way Mikey did leaves me weak at the knees. Throw in him doing a cover of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme tune with my glasses, dancing like a Proclaimer and singing like a Proclaimer and you're onto a winner. Whether the audience was 7 people or 7 thousand people, I have a feeling the end result would have been the same, Mikey Reid is a performer and I hope to God that somone comes along and signs him, because it would be a crying shame if this man did not do MASSIVE things in the music industry.
Finally the last act I'm going to talk about is the Vest Wearing, Mistake Making, Hat Parading, Singing Machine that is Andy McConnell. I've saw Andy perform in Harleys on numerous occassions and everytime I've absolutely loved it. He is one of the most laid back performers I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. This time he brought with him a small music stand to set his lyrics upon, as he has a tendancy to forget lyrics, but that's what makes his set so magnificent. King of Spain by The Tallest Man on Earth is a song which he plays to it's fullest, and in all honesty I prefer Andy's version than any other. He graced the stage on both Saturday and Sunday and on Sunday he made very very few mistakes, so few that after his set I actually told him that I was disappointed with it. The thing is, Andy is one of the best Vocalists I've heard in a long long time, his range is mind blowing. His guitaring is something that at certain points makes me jealous. I want Andy to release an album, sell that album and go off and tour the world. He has the talent and the potential, he just needs to put himself out there a bit more.
I played a couple of sets at Harleys, I love that place. It wasn't where I played my first gig, it isn't a place that I spend alot of my time in and yet it's somehow my Musical Home! My highlight when I was playing was the set up I had for Beautiful Junkie! If you haven't heard Beautiful Junkie then it's basically James Blunts - Beautiful with words about a Glaswegian Junkie. A song which i pat myself on the back for because I never knew I could write comedy songs until I came up with this one. Anyway, on Saturday I was on stage and I had already played Beautiful Junkie earlier on in the day, when during my Second Set a Junkie actually walked into the bar, asked if I played requests, and then asked if I knew any James Blunt. I couldn't have asked for a better set up than that.
All in all Ciderfest was a terrific weekend, apart for there not being a bouncy castle and the Koppaberg Taster Girls not showing up, I had even worked on my best chat up line for them! I think "Haw you, pants doon" is a chat up line that will frequent the greatest self help books in years to come.
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