Sometimes you find a band so good that you just have to share it. I've been up since 5:30 am and having just got in for the night, I figured I'd share one more awesome band before sailing off to the land of zeds.
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I've met some wonderful musicians, bands, labels and agents this month. I've been invited to be part of some incredible events and this space is undergoing the first phase of some exciting adventures - of which all will be revealed at the weekend.
One band has popped up more often then not & I've teased you all with the odd video in my playlist features, but tonight I'm super excited to share with you all...
T H E // T W I N // D R A C U L A
Four like-minded young men, playing in a band formed on an immovable foundation of intensity, aggression, and a total lack of compromise.
I'm really looking forward to bringing you guys more music this week, more bands and exciting updates, so do pop back this weekend for gigs, festivals and much much more...
Enjoy the rest of your week folks.
Keep a weather eye on the horizon for more reviews and music here at LBW.
I walked back to my place this afternoon after spending most of the day sending & responding to emails; I thought I'd feel exhausted but actually being surrounded by trees and listening to the storm as I wandered back was strangely refreshing.
There's so much going on at LBW at the moment that it's difficult not to just yell everything I'm excited about right here, but I will refrain because this weekend I have an announcement about some exciting changes that are happening at LBW, there's gigs to tell you about & a host of festivals and events that I cannot wait to share with you.
I'm going to keep quiet for now as this week is going to be hectic while everything falls into place.
The biggest reason I'm excited for the weekend's announcements is that it means that LBW will be sharing more bands & music than ever before.
The adventures will be from roads far less traveled & take you on journey's further than I ever thought possible back when I started writing about music all those years ago.
I never dreamed of the adventure that this space would take me on, I still don't dare take it for granted for even a second, but right now the adventure is becoming so interesting I can't not stare toward the horizon & feel alive.
I've seen some fantastic bands in the last month & I really think you ought to be checking out these guys like stat because one of the greatest things in life is finding awesome new music to listen to.
I saw this band at Beacon Festival and they stole my attention, I said it in my review and I'll say it again, Ruby's voice is spectacular & beyond her years. Check out this band tonight & I'll be sharing more on these guys in the coming weeks.
When I worked at the studio, I used to love listening to the bands practice, to hear their music & one band in particular were always a pleasure to chat to. I love Captain Trips & I love that their bringing skate punk back to the masses. So take some time to check out their tunes...
The internet can be a web for negativity and hatred, but I think that depends on the persons intentions using it, for me it's a way to connect with people that I otherwise wouldn't meet. It's a way for me to network for my musicians, for me to share my adventures, my words & to keep in contact with the friends I make on my adventures.
This next band I haven't had the pleasure of seeing live yet & if I'm honest they're not my cup of tea...usually.
However when they popped up on my Twitter, I listened & found myself taken by the sounds they create. I'll be featuring the boys from Landmarks on my blog more next month.
Keep an eye out for their features & always keep an open mind when checking out new music.
This next band tick all the boxes. I am not ashamed to admit that I like my music and I like it heavy. I grew up in a house of metal and surf rock, as a teen I moshed to metal, punk & skanked with the best of them to ska. I like to taste the drums, to feel the heat of the tune & while this next band cross many of those boundaries, I can't help but sorta like it quite a lot.
From songs I like sort of quite a lot, to songs that hit you and leave you wanting more after the initial buzz, this band are definitely one to check out. I went to Cornwall for my birthday this spring and upon my return I unexpectedly ended up at a gig, I drank most of middle earth at The Hobbit & I used all my change for a CD. The next day when I had no change for coffee or paracetamol, I put the CD on. Since then I've featured this band a handful of times, it turns out, I'm not the only one that's quite taken by the tunes.
I'm really looking forward to bringing you guys more music this week, more bands and exciting updates, so do pop back this weekend for gigs, festivals and much much more...
Enjoy the rest of your week folks.
Keep a weather eye on the horizon for more reviews and music here at LBW.
There's some pretty exciting things going on at LBW currently & while all can not yet be revealed, I thought I'd take some time out of the rain & storms to dry off & share some tunes with you.
I love finding awesome emerging artists and bands, getting lost in the melody of an unfamiliar tune is as exciting to me as being out on the open road.
Music is the universal language that you do not need to speak to understand, it's the calm among the chaos of men.
It's good for the soul.
The emerging music scene requires support; by going to a gig you're helping to keep the venues in business, the promoters a place to host, the musicians with a space to perform but more importantly you're helping to keep the arts alive in your local town.
I spend a lot of time at gigs & festivals, I spend a lot of time in the company of musicians, actors and dancers. From the cities in the south east of the country, to the towns in the far west and every field & theatre imbetween, there is a community for the arts.
In these times, I notice that there are just as many venues, theatre's & spaces being closed or turned into apartment blocks. If you don't take the time to support the arts and music communities while they're here, you may lose your chance.
For the cost of a couple of beers and sometimes even less you can check out the newest tunes or watch a play hundreds of years old having new life breathed into it.
I urge all of you to support these artists in their journey across the music-map & if you get the chance to see them live, most definitely do.
From awesome new tunes to beautiful places, here's a few of the most incredible spaces that I've spent time in recently. There is something so incredibly awe-inspiring about the ocean & the sky.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks.
Keep a weather eye on the horizon for more reviews and music here at LBW.
It's only been three days since I went to Beacon Festival, but it feels as though it has been a month! I've been planning upcoming adventures, checking out events and listening to lots of new bands to share with you all over summer.
Then I was told by an awesome blogger collective that I've been chosen as their blogger of the year, & named as 'The Nomad' for my adventure posts and sharing music from across the globe.
This is a massive honour!
I'm really excited to share the feature & interview with you all next month too!
It was summer solstice and this year at the same time, an event that occurs per 70 years, the strawberry moon was present.
This was the view of the last of the daytime, from near where I live.
Then I got sick, like man I've never felt as knocked out as I have the last two days.
When I haven't felt as though I'm running at 200 degrees in a misty fog, I've not had the energy to utter an inch from my bed.
Doctors order sleep, sleep is what I did. I don't like to sleep, I mean I love sleep, but my lifestyle doesn't leave a lot of time for sleep. There's normally emails to reply to, people to keep updated and music to checkout, I'm definitely not complaining, but when I am offered a chance to sleep, I will sure as hell take it.
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As you can imagine i'm now a little behind schedule with all things, so tonight I'll share my Beacon Festival features with you & then you'll have a new bands feature to check out & tomorrow an Introducing feature too!
This weekend there's no gigs as I'm heading out on the road but I'll be bringing you an extra cool feature for a band I've been talking about for the last few months and featured a while back.
So Beacon, what can I say? I mean I survived two whole days at Download (check out the highlights with Sky Arts this weekend) with the metal & rock hall of famers' and came away standing. I spent half a weekend at Beacon and came back completely broken.
Thank you to Chloe for her Friday coverage, you can read her post on her blog shortly, links to follow.
So BEACON FESTIVAL you were awesome and I had a wicked time. I saw many good bands, drank many ciders, ate tasty food & relaxed under the sunshine in the Oxfordshire countryside.
And thanks to the friends & family of Kamikaze Test Pilots who danced with me, drank with me & invited me to hang out with them.
(You can read more on the band later).
Thanks Fiona MacAulay for the photo!
So Beacon festival; well if you missed this years, you really did miss out & you should absolutely one hundred percent go next year! I find myself in a conundrum when finding awesome places because the beauty of some places is that no one knows they exist.
However that being said when it comes to festivals, the artists and organizers deserve for the world to see their spectacular event.
T H E // B A N D S
The bands were great, some real talents! My absolute favourites were Callow Saints - Ruby's vocals are way beyond her years & whatever the magic this band have captured is, I am urging them not to lose it! I wasn't sure what to expect from the bands & when I listened to Callow Saints set, I knew the bar had been set high.
You have to listen to this band, then probably join me at a show and I promise to all you that you will see more of this band on LBW.
Do go and show this Aylesbury band some love because they are awesome and you do need to listen to their music.
After Callow Saints, I switched stages to watch Rushkeeper who were great, really lovely selection of songs, well played and the band certainly captured the attention of the ever growing audience.
After the set, I moved a little further back as I decided cider definitely needed to be next on the agenda.
I had just picked up a pint of Black Panther and was about to return down the hill to the stage, when I could hear some inexplicably good flamenco cover of rock, coming from the Hilltop stage, just next to the bar.
Who on Earth were this band? The guitar sounded excellent.
I swung on my heels and edged in to the crowd in front of the stage, to find not a band, but a boy.
ONE BOY.
If you haven't been lucky enough to see this artist live, I recommend you go scrawl the internet and upcoming festival lineups, looking out for the name
Dude was like fifteen years younger than me or something and can play the guitar like I've never seen.
Classical guitar never sounded so lively.
Hume followed on from Billy and I really liked the acoustic tunes from the Hilltop stage.
I think a lot of you will like Hume and while it's different to the normal stream of Metal & Rock that I write about, I have to say I too was quite taken by Hume.
Everyone I spoke to at Beacon was friendly, there was a real community feel to this festival. Kids playing, workshops going on, the sun was shining and the rolling landscape provided the perfect backdrop to the day.
The next band I watched were one that I last saw on the south coast around a month ago. My friends and I thought they were good the first time. Those of you who read the blog regularly will have been listening to Dinosaur after the band were in my Introducing feature earlier in the month.
A definite genre change from the acoustic tent, I headed down the hill and came to watch the Kamikaze Test Pilots.
Photo belongs to Neil Wetherall
I remembered a bit of the boys set from before and knew it was going to rock, but what I did do was misjudge just how much. The energy from the band to the crowd and back was incredible.
I think the entire audience was tapping along at one point. People were up dancing, others jumping, while the rest watched on mesmerised by all the rock emanating from the stage.
The bands mixture of stop start rhythms, mind shattering riffs & rocky vocals create the perfect music cocktail for songs that should be played loud.
The boys combine their tastes in music to create a unique sound, varying each song from the one before. I like watching this band because there's no time for boredom, they are here to play and you will rock - no messing around.
It's sure something, huh?
Red Crow followed on and their tunes were a delightful capsule of summer sunshine & long weekends with friends, entwined with explosive melodies & catchy lyrics.
If you like your indie bands with a difference, this is definitely the band you need to be checking out out over the summer.
You really should be heading to Beacon Festival next year, because you truly are in for a treat. I'll be sharing more of Callow Saints & Red Crow with you on LBW in the coming weeks.
Keep a weather eye on the horizon for more reviews and music here at LBW.
Officially we're into the summer season of live music & adventure; the past two weeks I've heard more bands then I think I've had time to process. There are so many awesome bands coming out of hiding for festival season that you won't be in short supply of brilliant new tunes to check out.
Between spending time on the coast, in the countryside and camped out under the stars, I've been checking out the coolest bands to bring you the best of new bands on LBW blog.
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This weekend I was at Beacon festival, washing away my Download blues and the bands at Beacon were just as awesome as all the bands the weekend before. You can read the full review of Beacon Festival shortly right here at LBW.
Along with festivals and getting on the road, there are plenty of gigs to attend and not to mention some awesome bands to check out from these fantastic labels...
Supporting your local music scene is incredibly important, it provides a vital lifeline to the local music scene but contributes greatly to the regional, national and international music scenes too. I will always yell out to everyone surfing the web to pop to a local music show, it's the best way to discover new music.
Some of my favourite emerging bands I've discovered by accident or upon paying a fiver to a venue where I've had my breath taken away with the awesome songs.
It's not just checking out local shows, it's checking out the independent labels, of listening to the new bands from lands afar & showing support to the artists online too.
Check out these awesome bands that I'll be sharing with all of you here at LBW shortly; go give them your likes, follows & keep those Monday blues at bay with incredible new music from these emerging artists...
From the early days of LBW back in 2013 I have been mesmerised and influenced by Nahko's music & lifestyle. From the first features and my words with Nahko to the present, I stand in his tribe.
Liked those? Well I'll be bringing you plenty of music from the handful of labels featured tonight on LBW. If you just can't wait for more music, then make sure that you check out the awesome bands below, also featured on the LBW Introducing features, which if you missed, you can read here & here.
It's less than 24 hours until this wonderful little festival opens it's doors for a weekend of live music, arts, culture & entertainment.
If you missed my first preview feature you can read it here.
Nestled in the Oxfordshire countryside among the hills and the trees, stages have been rigged up, sound equipment has been hauled from trucks & tomorrow the first lot of bands will take to the stage.
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If you've not had the chance to check out this great festival then you take a moment to peruse the lineup, but then you better hop skip to the tickets page to get yours before they sell out...
& of course the reason that we're all heading to the festival, the music...
With headliners Not The Rolling Stones & the UK Foo Fighters there's going to be some serious tunes to dance - mosh - skank or make your own moves up to.
If you don't have plans or hell even if you do have plans, why not grab a couple of tickets for you & your friends & head to Beacon & watch the sun set.
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Want the chance to win some band merch? Keep a weather eye on my next blog post whereby I'm sharing a super cool collaboration with a record label & how to win some awesome merch from the LBW featured bands.
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Check out Beacon Fest & show the team some love on
