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This is the archive of the combined Barking Spider and Andy Broad Portsmouth Blues Site mailing lists.
For the latest information on what's on at The Bullfrog Blues Club click here
Barking Spider Promotions Mailing List |
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On THURSDAY 7th OCTOBER The Bullfrog Blues Club at The Dockyard Club, Onslow Rd, Southsea, PO5 2NH. is delighted to welcome back - at last - MARK HARRISON, but in another twist of fate rather than as the Mark Harrison Band (trio) it'll be as a duo, as Mark's drummer Ben Welburn has tested positive for Covid 19 and has to isolate. The last postponement of Mark's gig was due to the Dockyard Club having to close at the last minute -due to a member of staff testing positive for Covid - the band were heading to the gig when it was cancelled! However, Mark and band member Charles Benfield are not affected, Charles is a brilliant and much admired double bass player and a fine vocalist too. Mark & Charles perform a lot of duo gigs together which work incredibly well, and they and have a live album out as a duo . Mark plays a 12 string and also a 1934 National Trojan, a wood-body resonator guitar previously owned by Eric Bibb. Mark draws inspiration from Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, Blind Willie McTell and Sonny Boy Williamson, but is a fine songwriter of brilliant blues music of his own. Although the lead instrument is Mark's National or a 12-string guitar, as a duo they still pack one hell of a punch! Apart from being a top double bass player Charles Benfield produced, mixed and mastered Mark's first three albums. Mark says "He's a terrific musician, who knows everything I don't know - a pretty broad field that appears to be getting bigger all the time". Mark's song "Honeyboy", from his 2nd album "Crooked Smile" released in 2012, was nominated for Best Original Song in the British Blues Awards, whilst his 2015 release, the live album "On The Chicken Sandwich Train" reached #3 in the UK Independent Broadcasters Association chart. In that year Mark was also nominated in the British Blues Awards in the Acoustic and Songwriter categories. Mark has toured extensively, and has played the Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, Love Supreme, Ealing Blues, The Great British Folk Festival, the Acoustic Festival of Britain, Celtic Connections in Glasgow (a totally sold out gig) and many, many more. His supports include The Holmes Brothers, Doug MacLeod to name but two, and he's made many radio appearances 'Everybody should be talking about Mark Harrison.' - that's what it says in the magazine, "Classic Rock", in a review of Mark's new double album "The Road To Liberty" (his seventh), which has 21 original songs covering of topics you don't normally hear songs about, and with a huge variety of sounds, atmospheres and arrangements. Here's even MORE positive reviews............. "Overwhelmingly cool , oozes positivity and resilience" "An uplifting listen, exactly what we all need" "Erudite lyrics, ear for a catchy melody and captivating delivery" "Beautifully packaged, with top notch artwork" "An album of songs which together celebrate the best of humanity whilst wryly noting how rarely any of us achieve such an exalted state" "There is a thoughtfulness and maturity in his work that is all too rare in today's music industry, but there is humour and compassion too". "Another essential purchase from a musician who is rapidly becoming a British national treasure" "A magnum opus, casting a jeweller's glass over the human condition ..... from victims to the venal, the desperate to the defiant, the quotidian to the exceptional, from the personal to the political" Check these out!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BhqkM3B67Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9pD6TSsRk Tickets (£8 advance) are available NOW via our website - www.barkingspider.abelgratis.com via Paypal and also from Street Level Music, 139 Albert Rd, Southsea, Hampshire, PO5 2SQ. Or you can take your chances and pay £10 on the door!! Doors open at 8.p.m.