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This is the archive of the combined Barking Spider and Andy Broad Portsmouth Blues Site mailing lists.
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Barking Spider Promotions Mailing List |
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NICK HARPER plays at South Parade Pier in Southsea on Tuesday 31st May- and
the hot news is that he's going to be joined by a very special guest - JACKIE
LEVEN!!
Nick Harper is a highly accomplished guitarist with a distinctive and soulful
voice - a rare kind of artist, one who reaffirms faith in the art of original
songwriting.
Nick's debut recording was first heard in 1983 when he appeared on his
father's `Whatever Happened To Jugula' album - a collaboration between Roy Harper
and Jimmy Page. Nick went on tour with his father and recorded regularly with
him thereafter. Nick's energy and talent entranced Roy's fans andhe soon began
touring and recording in his own right.
Nick's first solo release was released was `Light At The End of The Kennel'
(1994)followed by `Seed' (1995) - "The Independent described him as `Hugely
talented'.
The next stage of his career began when Nick supported Squeeze front man and
songwriter Glenn Tilbrook. Tilbrook was so impressed that he promptly signed
Nick to his own label
Following tours in the UK, USA and Japan, Nick recorded his second album
`Smithereens' with Glenn Tilbrook as producer. A 40 date solo tour including
devastating appearances in New York and Glastonbury confirmed Nick Harper as a
formidable talent, and his His third album, `Harperspace', confirmed his position
at the forefront of a new generation of British Acoustic Performers.
`Double Life' was Nick's first live album, and included outstanding live
versons of songs from all his previous releases, and a few unrecorded tracks.
Nick has developed a reputation for creating great audience rapport. While
his songs can be intense and emotionally charged, in concert Nick is relaxed,
spontaneous and always enthralling.
Robert Dawson Scott, The Times 13 April 2002 "Harper has so much musicianship
in him that it just leaks out all over the place."
Drew McAdam - Edinburgh Evening News - 19 June 2000 "Nick Harper has a
quality that stands head and shoulders above anything else you are likely to
encounter.... The Verse Time Forgot, from the new album 'Harperspace' is as close to
a perfect song as you are likely to get."
As if it wasnt enough, we have JACKIE LEVEN appearing too! . A formidable
singer, guitarist, songwriter and storyteller, his work falls into a category of
its own. Jackie lives in an ancestral line that includes the likes of Van
Morrison, Lightnin' Hopkins and unnamed singers of worksongs from all corners of
the earth who share a universal voice.
Jackie first made a serious impact upon the UK music scene in the late 70s
with rock band Doll By Doll, a hard-hitting classic two guitars, bass and drums
outfit that beguiled audiences when they weren't scaring the pants off them
with a rare on- stage intensity.
The band made five superb albums of warped melodic rock music, but were
perhaps fatally out of step with the punk / new wave preoccupations of those times.
In the early 1980's, Jackie was nearly murdered by strangulation in an
unprovoked attack in a London street whilst walking home from recording. The man
Paul Du Noyer called "one of the best male voices of the time" was left deeply
traumatized, inconsiderable painand unable to speak or sing for over a year,.
Jackie's return to record-making was marked by the release of the remarkable
and widely acclaimed album "THE MYSTERY OF LOVE IS GREATER THAN THE MYSTERY OF
DEATH" which included poetry readings by the great American poet Robert Bly,
and Mike Scott of The Waterboys
This album was one of Q magazine's top 20 albums of the year.
It was the first in a stream of critically acclaimed albums.
Such consistent recording excellence plus a constant gruelling touring
schedule is giving Jackie a growing worldwide audience which receives the candour,
tenderness and raw power that characterises his work on stage and on record.
Independent on Sunday 'Leven has a voice as big as his 'Sacred Heart' and
his material, in the rich vein of Celtic performers such as Van Morrison, John
Martyn and Mike Scott, confronts issues head on'
THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE HELL OF A GIG, AND TICKETS ARE JUST £8!
Either chance it on the door on the night (doors open 8 p.m.) or get your
tickets NOW (before it's too late...) from Wedgwood Rooms Box Office, Albert Rd.,
Southsea, (023) 92863911, Reflex Records Albert Rd., Southsea,South Parade
Pier General Office, (023) 92732283, or by post (enclose an s.a.e. and make
cheques payable to BARKING SPIDER MUSIC to John Roberts, Barking Spider Music,
105, Landguard Rd/., Southsa, Hants, PO4 9DR.
You can contact Barking Spider on spiderpromos@aol.com or on 07970 959793