Why so excited? I'll tell you why... We had two superb artists coming to play live original music in our little family run bike shop. The artists who had the first Shop Session sold out in 2 days were Hayley Strangelove, a wonderful powerhouse of a voice who writes personal emotion filled songs and Jonathan Tarplee, a great guitar technician who also pens interesting and creative lyrics that draw you in and make you pay attention.
So after making sure the audience was rhythmically capable with a little foot stomp clappy action Hayley Strangelove was introduced...
You can't help but get on Hayley's side straight away, she has such a playful way with the audience and after announcing she had a new album coming out in a couple of weeks it was straight into 'Dig a little deeper' a track off the new album. Straight away we were into foot tapping, head nodding territory. I know I was enjoying it and I had a good look around and everybody seemed to have just as big a grin as me. Part way through the first half set Hayley did a tongue in cheek Kate Bush style song called 'Mummy's Little Darling' showing a great theatrical side to her performing, just brilliant.
The penultimate song of the first half for Hayley was a brand new (the ink still drying) tune which Hayley wanted to air and what a tune it was. Hayley really does have songs running through her with heartfelt personal lyrics, it was definitely a winner!! Hayley kicked off the 2nd half of the evening where she left off with everybody moving along with the music and feeling the power of her voice. I have had so much feedback since the night on how blown away everyone was by the power of Hayley's voice & I have to say I felt exactly the same the first time I saw Hayley live. Simply wonderful. My favourite song from Hayley's set was ' Stay a while' which showed all the different textures to Hayley's voice the soft and hard and you can check it out by using the link below. So I know you're gutted you missed this if you weren't here but fear not Hayley is back as half of the duo Baxter which pairs her with the equally amazing vocals of Paul Senior in July so make sure you get yourself a ticket, you'd be mad not to.
Vid Link
Jonathan Tarplee was this months featured artist and what a marvellous contrast Jonathan's style made a much softer voice with mesmerizing guitar skills. It worked perfectly. After announcing that he was just about to start work on a new album Jonathan went into a beautiful intro to a song called 'Galleries' a lovely melodic song that captivates you with the intricacies of the guitar work and heartfelt vocals. As somebody who wrestles with a guitar it was great to see a technician at work. Jonathan has great feel and dynamics throughout his songs and his relaxed conversation between tunes just makes you want to keep listening. Part way through his first half set Jonathan had everybody joining in with an infectious song that makes you want to sway & sing along called 'Big Low Copper Moon'. You can check it out with the video link below. Jonathan continued the first half on a song that judging from the response I've had since the gig blew everyone away. It was a cover of 'Romeo & Juliet' by Dire Straits and what a great cover it was. The first half came to a close with a cover of a Mamas & The Papas song called 'California Earthquake' which I had not heard before... what a tune & what a way to finish the first half with some riffy string bending awesomeness...
After threatening to start his 2nd half set by playing the whole works of Kraftwerk because we were in a bike shop he actually went into an impromptu version of 'These boots are made for walking' but changed the lyrics to 'These bikes are made for riding' which cracked everyone up..genius!! This was followed by a new song that was as yet untitled which just reinforced that this was a great night for new original music. A wonderful night was brought to an end with Hayley joining Jonathan up front to finish with a real crowd pleaser taken from an EP that Jonathan has made with his band The Blue Yellows. The song was 'No Tobacco, No Jesus' which had Hayley clapping and singing along with Jonathan while the audience were back in foot tappy, head bobbing mode, a great end to the night... After such a superb night we couldn't leave without an encore and Jonathan duly obliged. You really need to go check out Jonathan solo or with The Blue Yellows you will have a wonderful night
Vid Links
Well what can I say the first Shop Session was an unmitigated success and that was down to the two wonderful artists from the night so we would really like to thank Hayley Strangelove and the Featured artist for the night Jonathan Tarplee two absolute stars.
To find out who is playing the next Shop Session and contact details go to
For everything Hayley Strangelove
To find out where you can watch Jonathan Tarplee solo or with The Blue Yellows just follow the blue yellow brick road...
Nice blog sir! I've also gone a-blogging and put my own thoughts on the evening down here; http://jtmusic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/a-tour-de-force.html
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