Sent To Coventry Again

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Despite the debacle of the upcoming 'Reality Series' Sent To Coventry depicting the worst of the City. I thought I'd try and redress the balance with what's positive in this fair City.  

The resulting open letter by Thomas Pritchard sums up the feelings of the vast majority of Coventrians including myslf:

 

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/clearly-youd-always-set-out-6162529

I think there is a renaissance occurring in Coventry, there are  some incredible bands across the genres.  In addition to working with Sonrisa I also had the pleasure of working with Jade Ward and Baz Eardley at the Acoustic Tent at this years' Coventry Godiva Festival Her voice captivated the audience and had them shouting for more. Baz is one of the most respected Blues/Rock guitarists in the region. His depth of playing far exceeds the genres he plys his trade in. 

Look out for a video shoot from this eclectic trio over the coming weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's Wes Finch and his 'Dirty Band' for instance a great Blue Grass type band that could rival any popular counterpart given the right exposure.

 

You can see his latest projects here:

 

http://www.unityrootsproductions.co.uk/wes-finch.htm

 

Also check out his blog:

 

http://www.wesfinch.co.uk/blog/?p=535

 

 

The same can be said of Lucy Anne Sale - a talented multi instrumentalist/singer songwriter who has several albums to her name and again could easily be heard on the radio. She was one of the first artists I worked with when I returned to Coventry.  You can check her out here:

 

http://lucyannesale.bandcamp.com/
 

Another talent is Verity Pabla who has such tenacity that has taken her to New Zealand and LA. I first heard her on Myspace some 5 to 6 years ago and said we should collaborate. Well a few days later there was a knock on my door...it was Verity! We worked on a few songs then started gigging at a much missed venue called Liquid Cafe and Winebar. Since then she has worked with ridiculously talented guitarist Si Hayden and Drummer/Producer Ben Haines. Both are long time bandmates and friends I have a tremdous amount of respect for.

Verity is now aiming to move to L.A. permanently to work with Producer and first call Gospel Saxophonist Donald Hayes. He had also worked with Michael Jackson.

For more information on Verity and how you can help her realise her dream visit her website:

 

http://veritypabla.com/

 

There are many more artists including a growing artist Roster with Influential Entertainment, the Music to Midnight talent night, Rootz Comedy nights ran by Coilin Bell
Si, Hayden, Mackson with Frontere, one quarter of the Risk is from Coventry - Charlie Healy, not to mention 91db, Bella, Tish, Emily, Fran Egan, Kerry McTigue and younger sister Cat and many more.  

 

I will finish this blog with a quote from Thomas Pritchards's letter:

 

''A lot of people including myself are proud of this city, the things we have accomplished over the years and the spirit of a lot of its residents. Yes we've had ups and downs and I'll openly admit we are far from perfect but If nothing else we don't go out with out a fight. If it isnt on a level such as the blitz, it is on smaller but admirable levels like marching through town to protest what is happening to our local football team. Or such triumphs as putting on free local music festival every year that rivals some pay to enter events around the country. A history of impressive Coventrians. Frank Whittle, Mo Mowlam, The Specials, Neil Back, Pete Waterman to name two or three. Now I know that its easy to list famous people from anywhere but all you could childishly come up with in your interview was "crazy cat bin lady".

 

In Part III, I will be fociusing on Si Hayden and another upcoming project.