NICK HARPER

+ REDVERS BAILEY

Thursday 17th October

£17.50

Booking fee: £1.50 (per transaction, not per ticket)

Doors: 7:30pm
General admission – limited capacity seated show
Age requirements: 18+

NICK HARPER

Recorded in Abbey Road Studio 2 on Earth Day 2024, ‘Earth Day Blue’ is the 14th studio album release from Nick Harper, the wildly talented and much loved singer-songwriter. With John Leckie in the producer’s chair (Stone Roses, Radiohead, Muse etc.) and Tchad Blake mixing (Tom Waits, Crowded House, Peter Gabriel etc.), the album is a flash mob of high calibre talent assembled for a few hours’ collaboration in a very special space.

But this was not the first time Nick and John had been in session together in Studio 2. It was way back in 1973, in the very same room, that Nick was given his ‘big break’ in the world of music. The duo first ‘worked’ together when Nick, aged 8, recorded his first ever songs with John whilst Nick’s father Roy was recording his own seminal album ‘Lifemask’ with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. So the circle has been squared off and the journey is complete!

‘Earth Day Blue’ is peppered with acoustic ear-worms written with a Studio 2 Beatlesque approach of short, immediate songs, but with the added brio of a group of studio attendees sometimes driven to sing along to Nick’s guitar and voice, adding a party atmosphere to the day. Along the way, Nick displays all his (un)usual talents, from his trademark virtuoso string-bending guitar playing and references to the time of his previous session with John on the paean to Joni Mitchell ‘Joni If Only ..’ to his penchant for prose poems when describing the scene at Abbey Road in the 70s in ‘The Lady In The Fur Coat’.

The recording captures what John says is the magic of a live performance in a controlled recording environment, though, in a space such as this, dripping with portent and legacy (on a personal level for the two as well as to a worldwide community of Abbey Road fanatics) there is a tangible, added depth of poignancy and emotion underlying the album. For Nick Harper fans and for new fans alike, it is all here in unadorned beauty, a recording that witnesses a solo artist without dilution or compromise, nor studio trickery or production prop, having a great day performing in one of the most hallowed rooms on the planet.

“Harper has so much musicianship in him it just leaks out all over the place”The Times

“One of the finest guitarists of his generation, the Bard of Wiltshire”Mojo

“He deserves to become a major figure in his own right”The Guardian

REDVERS BAILEY

Joyfully melancholic, Redvers Bailey’s songs tell the stories of adventures, loves, dreams and heroes. Sometimes rhythmic and good-natured or whispered softly like a confessed secret, the songs are full of humor, love and beautiful heartfelt melodies. Originally from Gloucester, Redvers Bailey performed shows on the streets, stages and living rooms all over Europe before settling in Deal in 2019. This show will be the last chance to catch Redvers live before their big move to Canada!