This week at Acoustic Rooms was a lot busier than last week, back to normal after a quieter bonfire night the week before. There were a lot more artists signed up to play so they kept to three or four songs each this time.
First to perform were Stella and Chris- with Chris on guitar and Stella providing the vocals. Stella seemed very comfortable performing and interacting with the crowd and it was obvious this wasn’t her first performance. Next was Louis Croft, a young Jake Bugg in the making (he made the comparison himself too), but also bringing some Louis Berry sounds to his performance. He seemed nervous at first but grew into the performance and it was a shame that as he started to relax, his set came to an end.
Luke Irwin was next, a returning face to Acoustic Rooms and well known by the regular members of the crowd. He used his guitar and harmonica to create an incredibly powerful performance and the crescendo on which he ended was close to blowing the speakers, his hands turned to a blur on the guitar. On after Luke was Michaela Woods who calmed down the atmosphere with her beautiful soothing voice and melancholy lyrics. Her performance created a silence in Rescue Rooms as everybody stopped what they were doing to listen and watch her mesmerising performance.
This was followed by a brief, one song performance from Nagaiegh, a short R and B song and then he was gone.
J Webb was next up, also performing one song as this was her first ever performance and she was keen to beat her nerves and get up in front of an audience for the first time. We spoke to her before her set to find out how she ended up in Acoustic Rooms:
Interview with J Webb
J Webb, a 35-year-old South London singer declared that her performance that night was the first time she had ever sung in front of a live audience, and in our early interactions, subtle hints of nervousness did show. Despite this, J Webb was charming throughout our conversation, happy to talk about her career changes and the journey to where she is now.
Signed to Sony, J Webb expressed her desire to gain confidence from this performance and take it with her back down to London, where she’s set to perform again on November 19th at ‘I Luv Live’. Now is the “right time and right place” for her to focus on her music career, she confessed. She admitted that it’s been quite surprising how well everything is going but assured us that she has always been and always will be a humble person. In her current industry she confessed that people can be shallow, and she isn’t about that.
It is obvious that J Webb is incredibly passionate about music and she described her daily routine of getting up and listening to classical music which sets her up for the day and then if she’s going to the gym she’ll change to more aggressive powerful music before winding back down in the evening, creating a sound track to her day to day life.
J Webb has already released a few tracks that have been very popular with her well established fan base. With studio time scheduled in the near future, expect to be hearing more from the rising soul singer. In spite of her initial shyness, she slowly grew in confidence as the night went on and as she took to the stage, her talent was clear, with soaring vocals cascading over an audience transfixed by her approachable personality and rich vocal tone. She managed to impress so much that she has been asked to return on January the 28th to perform again.
Acoustic nights can often produce a typical batch of performer’s, but this week’s offering provided a unique mix of talent from a variety of styles, and J Webb led the way for R&B fans.
J Webb- photographer unknown
Continuing the acoustic session was Jonny Olley with a strong voice and impressive guitar playing. He performed a few songs including an original called “liquid luck” which got a good reception from the audience. Next was Morton Piercewright, another regular at Acoustic Rooms. He’s a very talented singer and guitarist and performed some originals as well as an acoustic version of a song by his band Good Hustles
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Dylan French was up next and performed a cover of Lily Allen’s ‘Not Fair’. You could tell he was nervous, but he performed well and with more experience I am sure he will become an impressive artist. A surprise performance came next from Notts Factor winner Remy, who has also recently supported Silver Wilson when they played at The Bodega. Remy has a strong voice and impressed the audience with his covers of Arctic Monkeys ‘Why do you only call me when you’re high’ and Britney Spears ‘Toxic’.
Jaque Seviour then performed more covers, making a bold choice opening with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, and then also covering iconic Radiohead song ‘Karma Police’. These are hard songs to cover and Jaque did well but his cover of ‘Black and Gold’ by Sam Sparrow was definitely the best of his set as he was able to make it more his own.
Finishing the night was Elias Diamantis who performed a selection of nice, calm and chilled out songs, one of which he dedicated to his wife who he married less than a month ago. It was a lovely end to the evening.
Next week Acoustic Rooms is hosting an open mic special featuring Alexandr Misko all the way from Russia. He is an incredible guitar player so if you still haven’t been to Acoustic Rooms, next week would definitely be one to start with!
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