May 4, 2026, marks the centenary of the first full day of the 1926 General Strike where millions of British workers withdrew their labour and challenged the establishment. They believed a better world was possible.
To mark this historical event the same team that brought successful plays Wor Bella, Carrying David and Hadaway Harry are staging Centenary at the Glasshouse.
“We have a great team and the show will be fantastic. We did a very popular show about four years ago called ‘Boris Out’, and look what happened to him!” said playwright and Theatre producer Ed Waugh
“One hundred years ago millions of workers and their families went on strike. A General Strike poses the question of state power, the 1 per cent – the privileged Establishment or the working class – those who actually create the wealth in society.”
“Despite the heroism and sacrifice of the trade union rank and file, the union leaders in the TUC realised the question of state power was at stake – the Russian Revolution nine years earlier had sent shockwaves throughout the world. These TUC cowards sold out the strike unconditionally after only nine days.”
Ed added “Their pusillanimity led to a carnival of reaction against the trade unions and workers by the Tory government. The miners continued their strike for another six months but were starved back to work. We haven’t had a general strike in this country since. But we’ve been close”.
“We have to learn the lessons of 1926 for the next time, which is on the horizon. The 1926 General Strike was a hugely important period in working class history.”
‘Centenary’ will include songs, comedy, stand up and recitations to celebrate the nine day strike. A big addition are musicians Paul Weller (The Jam) Alan Hull (Lindisfarne), Tom Robinson and Paul Simmonds (The Men They Couldn’t Hang) have personally given permission for their music to be played at the show.
“We are delighted to have been given personal permission from these great songwriters. It will be an evening of brilliant musical and comedic entertainment and inspiration.”added Ed.
Tickets are available for ‘Centenary’ at The Glasshouse, Gateshead at 4pm or 8pm on Monday May 4th 2026.
Neville’s music has attracted attention from the BBC and the specialist music press. Stuart Maconie featured him on BBC 6 Music’s Freak Zone, Electronic Sound magazine praised his debut album The Edge of Destruction which established Consett born Neville (53) as a distinctive voice in contemporary British music. The critically acclaimed debut featured on this site in July 2023.
“I’m hoping to build upon the success of the previous two albums, which certainly found an audience, at the same time this album has a different approach. I like the idea of doing something slightly out of the ordinary each time” explained Foster.
What or who was your inspiration when you were young?“As a child I’d a neighbour who had an old 78 gramophone. I still remember the smell of the thorn needles. That was my first musical experience, it seemed like another world with its own smells and sounds. My dad who like a lot of other men in the 1970s took up guitar so I recall him playing.”
“My first record I bought from Woolworths in Durham as a child was Mike Oldfield’s Blue Peter. My dad played Tubular Bells around the house so I’d have heard that and Oxygène by Jean-Michel Jarre. So, Oldfield and Jarre would be my earliest exposure to modern music.”
“Having played guitar myself for many years when I began making this kind of music I remembered Jarre and Oldfield but also discovered I had in my record collection the likes of Terry Riley, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Michael Rother without really having ever joined up the dots of who these people were or what they were doing.”
Is music in your family? “Not at all. My grandfather was in the navy and played the accordian, he always told me as a child that if I wanted to be popular at parties I should learn to play the piano. My father had a few attempts at playing the guitar which didn’t work out, but it did mean there was a guitar around the house when I was growing up.”
“It’s important to remember, this period in time and in the north east, most families were not affluent enough to have the luxury of a musical instrument in the house let alone a musical education.”
Are you planning any live dates? “The nature of this album makes live dates challenging, I’m against the electronic approach that works with pre-recorded loops and is effectively only live mixing rather than a live show. In the case of this album a live show would mean running several old Windows 98 computers at once, working over the top of them and hoping the results resembled the album, but would in fact be a re-creation.”
“There’s certainly a half way house and I’ve done a few small scale live experiments with other material to test the waters which proved effective musically – which is the main thing, so you can expect more live works in the future.”
Produced by Ciarán Cahill (Van Morrison, Elvis Costello) and John Pilgrim and featuring an appreciation by writer and filmmaker Iain Sinclair ‘Through Lands of Ghosts’ will be released 16th January 2026 on Subexotic.
Emma at BBC Radio 2 with Cerys Mathews December 2023
Magazine front covers, BBC Radio 2, awards, tours, record releases – this past few year Emma has been prolific. In 2023 she released ‘Memphis Calling’ recorded in Sam Phillips studio in Memphis, USA, earlier this year she talked about her third album ‘A Spoonful of Willie Dixon’. Recently she got in touch about her latest single…
I’m stablemates with American band Chris Wyze and the Tellers. We’re both signed for distribution with ‘Select-O-Hits’ in Memphis. Chris found out I was in Tennessee for a few days in September so asked me to co-write and sing a duet with him. We recorded ‘Hearts Blue Christmas’ at Royal Studios in Memphis with the Hi Rhythm Section.
At the end of the recording session producer Boo Mitchell said ‘We have an hour left“. Chris turned to me and said ‘Do you want to do anything?’ I’ve previously recorded with pianist Charles Hodges (who is part of the Hi Rhythm Section) on my record ‘Memphis Calling’ and we have a good friendship and work well together.
I asked Charles if he knew the song “What are you doing New Years Eve”? The track was written by Frank Loesser in 1947. I think I must have first heard the Lena Horne’s 1966 version as my Mum played a lot of her music when I was little.
Charles strolled over and started playing it so beautifully on the grand piano. That piano has been in the same position at Royal studios for decades. Goodness knows how many iconic songs it has featured on!
Charles and I spent about ten minutes getting a key to suit and having a run through, then he called Steve Potts to play some lovely light drums and then we taped it.
L to R – Charles Hodges, Steve Potts, Hubbie Turner, Emma Wilson, BooMitchell, Lina Beach, Chris Wyze and Leroy Hodges at Royal Studio, Willie Mitchell Boulevard, Memphis on 25 September 2025.
Along with promoting the singlenowEmma is already looking forward to 2026…Recently I won the UK Blues Challenge at Marshall Studios which means I go to Memphis in January to represent the UK in the International Blues Challenge and for the European Blues Challenge I go to Poland.
‘What Are You Doing New Years Eve’ is out on 21st November 2025 as digital download and a very limited run of CDs which are available from the official website >>>
Following on from the success of her debut in 2022 ‘Wish Her Well’ and the highly acclaimed 2023 release ‘Memphis Calling’, which was recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Studios in Memphis, Teesside singer Emma Wilson releases her third album ‘A Spoonful of Willie Dixon’.
The recording is always a joyous experience and not like work at all said Emma if I could be in the studio every day of my life I would – well so long as I could gig in the evenings!
After recording Willies’ Hoochie Coochie Ma (ma) on ‘Memphis Calling’ – prompting pianist Archie ‘Hubbie’ Turner from the Hi-Rhythm Section to exclaim “She’s not from Middlesbrough, she’s from Mississippi!” Emma was inspired to sing more of Dixon’s songs and record them with her British band.
Even though I have a distribution deal with ‘Select-O-Hits’ and a great publicist in Frank Roszak, I do the rest of the work myself regarding the release of the record, such as PRS, PPL, coding, mastering and publishing which I have had to teach myself – I’m like my own record company.
Returning to her beloved Memphis in May 2024, Emma performed at the inaugural Riverbeat festival with The Bo-Keys – who’s bandleader Scott Bomar produced ‘Memphis Calling’.
The Riverbeat Festival in Memphis was amazing, it’s held right beside the Mississippi in Tom Lee Park, I felt so thrilled to be there, even checking into the backstage was an experience. I think I was the only British artist there, you become a bit of a novelty “Wow you’re from England!”
Everyone was very welcoming particularly the musicians I played with – Scott Bomar – who produced my album ‘Memphis Calling’. My pal Archie ‘Hubbie’ Turner who also played piano on ‘Memphis Calling’ and the wonderful Bo-Keys.
The stage was openair and even though the heat was sultry there was a cool breeze coming off the river giving it an even more cinematic atmosphere, everything felt sort of slowed down, or maybe that was me trying to take it all in or the ‘Purple Rain’ wine Hubbie gave me!
The audience was vast and I was buzzing to get on. In fact, when we did What Kind Of Love it lasted so long I think we played the 12 inch remix! I also got to watch all the other bands from the VIP area including The Fugees who were pretty spectacular.
Emma then drove down the Blues Highway to Clarksdale to sing at the legendary Ground Zero Club at the invitation of the Pinetop Perkins Foundation. Playing at Ground Zero the iconic club in Clarksdale, Mississippi – which is owned by Morgan Freeman – was a different experience again. It’s a super cool club seating around 300. I was invited to sing at the annual fundraiser the Pinetop Perkins Crawfish Boil.
I performed with the Pinetoppers – students from the Pinetop Perkins Foundation – they were fantastic, full of soul, groove and most of all blues. Backstage they asked so what do you want to play? got a key? got a groove?
Look out for Harrell ‘Young Rell’ Davenport, Danny ‘Guitarwood’ Garwood, Wyly Bigger and Six String Andrew, they really are the blues stars of the future.
We played five blues standards including House of the Rising Sun where I managed to get in a plug about being from the North East of England and mentioning The Animals.
The club itself is great, it looks like a really old vintage venue with cool graffiti on the walls, flags hanging from the ceiling and long wooden tables which the gorgeous waitresses seem to glide between serving beer and wings.
It’s a special place and I loved it. Everyone should go to Memphis and Clarksdale it’s easy just drive down the Blues Highway.
Emma & Hubbie Turner at Riverbeat Festival, Memphis.
You have a few UK gigs scheduled – anymore in the pipeline?
Yes, we have a lot in the UK and more coming in all the time, thanks to the new album release which has boosted our profile. We have a headline at the Texel Blues Festival in the Netherlands, I’m also going to Germany to do some guest spots and then back to USA to promote the record in September.
‘Good to the Last Drop’ 2025 UK tour dates >>>
Saturday 21 June ‘Blues & Soul Revue’ + Trevor Sewell & Lola-Rose, Hutton Rudby village hall, North Yorks. 7:30pm
Tuesday 24 June ‘Bletchley Blues Club’ special guest Terry Marshall (sax) Bletchley, Milton Keynes. 8pm
Sunday 13 July ‘Flying Circus’, Newark. 4pm
Tuesday 29 July ‘The 100 club’, London. 8pm + Thomas Heppell
Sunday 3 August ‘Tyne bar’, Newcastle 4pm
Saturday 9 August “Blues & Soul Revue” + Robin Bibi & Lola-rose Hutton Rudby village hall, North Yorks 7:30pm
Saturday 13 September ‘Flying Circus’ ‘Not the Newark Blues Fest’ 4pm
Friday 10th October Texel Blues Festival, Netherlands
Friday 17 October ‘Crawdaddy club’ The Turk’s Head, Twickenham 8pm
Sunday 7th December Looe Blues Festival, Plymouth
Thursday 18 December ‘Leeds blues club’ Christmas party.
Retired since 2010 and now living in France, Mark was born in Teesville on the outskirts of Middlesbrough where he began playing piano at 7 year old and by 15 started working in showbusiness.
Initially, it was my older sister Margaret who influenced me, she was a brilliant pianist and suggested I start piano lessons. Most weekends the family would sing all the popular up to date songs of the fifties accompanied by my sister on piano recalls Mark.
Of all his experiences in showbusiness it’s a cliché to say but Mark really has been there, done it and worn out the t-shirt. Read on for some of his highs and lows.
For many years I ended up working as a singer and entertainer on the North East club circuit, before moving to Manchester in 1976 where I continued performing while also working as a session singer for the BBC.
Throughout my career I’ve also performed in countries like Norway, Malta and the casino circuit in Portugal plus venues like Bristol Hippodrome and Liverpool Empire. I’ve even worked seasons at Butlins holiday camp.
Mark performing on the North East club circuit.
When did you get your first big break?
Between 1967 to 1969 I was singing with the Bill Sowerby big band at the Top Rank suite in Sunderland. The band regularly supported big name groups who appeared there. Slade and Family come to mind.
On one occasion Radio One DJ ‘Emperor Rosco’ – real name Michael Pasternak – was appearing at the Top Rank with his road show. I happened to be in the venue rehearsing an original song with the big band.
After we finished, Roscoe introduced himself “if you ever fancy moving to London and working as a session singer, you’d be welcome”. He gave me his card and a few months later I took him up on his offer.
When I started working for Rosko he was in the process of forming his own independent record label Mother Records. He co-wrote a song ‘909’ which I recorded as a demo, which presumably was meant for a name artist.
Rosko’s management took the demo along to EMI to discuss a distribution deal for Mother Records. The feedback I received was that they were very impressed with my version and would like to distribute the song.
The song was released in 1971 and started to receive air play with favourable reviews in music magazines. From what I remember it received good reviews on Rosko’s round table and the Pete Murray show as well as other Radio One shows. The only negative review was from Tommy Vance.
Just when Mark was making headway in the music biz a scandal hit the headlines. ‘Bribes at the BBC’ the Sunday newspapers suggested that certain BBC DJs were being paid by record companies to play their records.
Rosko was not mentioned or involved however it stopped DJs at the BBC from being involved in any third-party interests explained Mark. However, he knew he needed to keep up the momentum that he had built up so far.
Rosko’s management approached me and suggested that I should promote the record on the cabaret circuit and local radio stations. In comes Colin Hutchinson.
Colin was based in Middlesbrough and booked the artistes who appeared at the Fiesta Cabaret club in Stockton. Subsequently I signed a five year management and agency contract.
Colin promoted me as a solo entertainer and ironically one of the first venues where I promoted the record was at the Top Rank Suite in Sunderland for a local BBC radio station.
‘You’ll Never See Julie Again’ recorded by Frankie Vaughan.
By 1974 things were looking up, management approached me and put an idea on the table. They said although Frankie Vaughan’s career was slightly waning – having been a big star in the late fifties and sixties – he still had massive pre-sales orders regarding record sales.
By this time, I’d started singing on cruise ships and when on one P&O liner I sat down and wrote ‘I’ll Never See Julie Again’. Within two weeks of being on dry land I recorded a demo version of the song at Keith Murray and Billy Hygates studio in Redcar using local musicians. The song was published with EMI and produced by Les Reed for Columbia records.
Unfortunately, 1974 was a bad year all round for record pressing due to a major shortage of plastics. The major companies gave preference to guaranteed sellers – chart bands like Paper Lace.
Coincidently, in 2020 Mark teamed up with songwriter Chris Morris who was vocalist and guitarist with 70’s pop band Paper Lace who appeared on TV talent show ‘Opportunity Knocks’ and had UK chart hits including a number 1 ‘Billy Don’t be a Hero’ in March 1974.
Regardless of negatives, the first PRS cheque I received for ‘I’ll Never See Julie Again’ noted that the song had sold well in Canada and Australia with reasonable UK sales. We appeared on at least 14 different TV shows to promote the single.
Looking back, I think I’ve had a few setbacks when it comes to recording and record releases however regardless of this, I’m really grateful for the opportunities I’ve received during my career.
On the bill with Bob Monkhouse and Harry Secombe.
What was your experience of working on cruise ships?
I started performing on cruise ships at the age of 25 and initially I was naive as to how it worked. The cruising market at that time was very old fashioned, for example the ship was split between first class and tourist.
There was a first class room on the old Canberra with decor like an old fashioned colonial Gentleman’s club. I only sang there once as after I performed the first two songs combined with topical patter, I was aware that none of the snobby gentlemen were interested. A number of them were sleeping with the Times newspaper covering their face.
After my third song I announced in a rather cheeky way that I had better places to perform, audiences normally listen and react to my show. I walked off to the sound of my own footsteps. Needless to say, I was never asked to work there again.
Fortunately, the cruise director had an idea to double me up to perform in the night club come cabaret lounge for the tourists. On that show and subsequent performances, I received standing ovations from the audience.
Some months later I was sent a P&O in house magazine with an article written by the same cruise director on the Canberra – ‘Mark Aynsley and another young entertainer called Billy Hygate were like a breath of fresh air’.
It went on to say that the future of entertainment on cruise ships was changing and both Mark and Billy had lifted the bar to a higher and modern level.
What are you doing now and can you bring your story up to date?
In 1982 my wife Alison and I established Almara Music Productions. Almara was an agency that represented vocalists, dancers, bands, comedians and magicians in varied fields of TV, entertainment, cruise ships, theatres, cabaret and summer season shows.
We retired in 2010 and permanently moved to south west France although since retiring, Almara Music Productions continues to be the platform for my songwriting promotion.
To listen to a compilation of music by Mark Aynsley Hay & Chris Morris plus family, friends & associates check out the official website:http://www.chrismarkmusic.com
46 year old Tynemouth resident Luan Hanratty has strong Celtic roots. His father was born in Jarrow with their family connections going back to Galway in Ireland and his mother originally from Rosyth on the east coast of Scotland.
Luan at Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields.
‘Yes, the Hanratty name is Irish, however, a brief background to my employment story is that I worked the financial sector in Prague, Czech Republic, moved to Shanghai in China where I was employed as an English teacher. I even appeared on TV there and published some books. Education is strong in my background as my father was a Drama Teacher’.
‘After Covid in 2020 I came back to the UK and based myself in South Shields. I was looking for my next adventure when I came across some local history and got obsessed with reading the stories’.
‘With my business partner Gary Holland we put together a website called Penbal – which is a Celtic name for the Tynemouth headland – the site features articles on Tyneside local history, photographs, AI art, links to Maritime Trust, Lifeboats Brigade and Fishermen’s Heritage plus local products for sale – prints, postcards, mugs, t-shirts and more’.
The latest story has recently featured on BBC News >>>
Luan’s latest post on the site is about a long lost river which flowed from the Mill Dam in South Shields.
‘Beneath the busy modern landscape of South Shields lies a forgotten natural feature – a river called the Mill Dam Creek but also known as the Branin River. This flowed from Mill Dam, next to Customs House today, out to the sea near North Marine Park and the Pier. This effectively made the Lawe an island’.
‘The channel played a vital role in the development of the town, both as a waterway and a habour, and once it was dammed with ballast, the Mill Dam formed a bridge between the north and south reaches of the early town’.
‘So important then, was the creek as a resource that it forms the base of the first industrial activity in South Shields, with coal mining also evident on the south bank where the pit wheel now stands above Asda carpark in Coronation Street’.
‘If you stand on the long sloping escalator when exiting Asda and look out across the huge carpark, you really get a feel for the valley nature of the Mill Dam Pond. Imagine what it must have looked like all those centuries ago’.
‘Another twist to the story is that in the 19th century much of the eastern end of the creek was covered by Denmark Street, where the Denmark Centre is today. In the 1830s, while building the street, a Viking longboat was discovered beside what was originally the river bed’.
‘Maybe there is someone out there who has more information about this amazing find. We know it featured in The Shields Gazette in the 1980s’.
Luan stresses that he has no plans to research any murders or the race riots that have happened on Tyneside.
‘So far, we have over 200 local history posts and we don’t look at any taboo subjects, I just like to paint a picture of our very rich heritage here on Tyneside’.
Working in media and entertainment can be a risky business and after Covid it only increased. Picking up a couple of jobs but then nothing for a while has been a regular pattern for me these past few years. It’s a struggle but I wouldn’t change it for the world, I’ve loved every minute of it since my first video commission in January 1997.
I remember the day well. I was in a community centre in Hetton le Hole, Durham talking to a group of former miners who were interested in making a video when someone burst into the room with tears in her eyes “You never guess what’s happened?” We all turned around thinking the pipes have burst, there’s been an accident, someone’s died, what’s happened? “Kevin Keegans left Newcastle United”!
South Shields theatre producer Ed Waugh
I was interested how others working in the creative industry have managed so I got in touch with South Shields playwright and theatre producer Ed Waugh. Ed is part of the North East based Wisecrack team who use theatre to document working class history. I asked him about his past year.
‘Where did 2024 go? The whole year passed like a whirlwind. We’d come off a busy 2023 but from January 1 we were focused on Wor Bella, which was transferring to the wonderful Newcastle Theatre Royal in April. If that wasn’t enough to organise, we did a pre-show run in London to get the production on its feet’.
‘Wor Bella is about North East women footballers in WW1 and the interest was massive. We had full pages in The Guardian and Daily Telegraph as well as tremendous coverage in other national publications. The upshot was London sold out’.
‘Coming home to the Theatre Royal was magnificent – three sold-out houses and just as in London standing ovations after every performance. It was my fifth show at the most prestigious venue in the region, a record for a local writer, so you can imagine how it swelled this Geordie’s heart with pride’.
(Link to interview with actress Catherine Dryden who starred in ‘Wor Bella’).
‘I’m just so honoured to be working with a top-class, professional and dedicated Wisecrack Productions team. We have director and actor Russell Floyd and other brilliant actors, technicians and hugely important people behind the scenes who allow us to put excellent stories on stage. It’s a true team effort’.
‘We’ve now sold around 800 Wor Bella scripts, so that’s canny. Many more thousands of people now know the story of these selfless working class women who saved the WW1 war effort’.
‘My book Geordie Plays Volume 1 has also almost sold out – the last few remaining first editions at Newcastle City Library are now officially collectors’ items’.
‘2024 ended with a triumphant tour of our play The Cramlington Train Wreckers. It’s about the General Strike of 1926 and how miners in Northumberland inadvertently derailed the Flying Scotsman during the nine-day strike before it was sold out by the TUC and Labour Party leaders. Word of mouth – the only marketing that really matters – was phenomenal and every venue sold out’.
‘We’re looking to get The Cramlington Train Wreckers out again in May 2026 to mark the centenary of the 1926 General Strike – the biggest rupture in British society since the civil war in the 1640s’.
‘In February 2025, Hadaway Harry – produced by and starring Jamie Brown – is touring the region. Hadaway Harry is about champion Tyneside rower Harry Clasper who was a forgotten Geordie legend’.
‘When he died in 1870, 130,00 lined his funeral procession in Newcastle. It will be the play’s 10th anniversary. I can’t believe a decade has gone by!’
‘Then in June, Carrying David will play Newcastle Theatre Royal. My sixth show there. Carrying David is about Glenn McCrory’s rise to becoming the first North East world boxing champion. It is being produced by and stars Micky Cochrane. Don’t miss these plays, you’ll be spellbound!
(It’s worth checking out both ‘Hadaway Harry’ and ‘Carrying David’ reviews on Google).
Actress & Theatre producer Leah Bell
Dirty Dusting, of course, continues to tour nationally – and internationally – and that play is touring venues in the UK in October under the guidance of the inimitable Leah Bell’.
(Link to interview with actress & theatre producer Leah Bell from July 2021)
‘The old warhorse Waiting For Gateaux – written, like Dirty Dusting with Trevor Wood – will be performed in New Zealand this year. Having these four plays produced in 2025 by other people means I can take the year out to write. I’m working on a few new ideas that will hopefully see the light of day in 2026 and beyond’.
ITV news readerIan Payne & former BBC journalist & presenter Jeff Brown
‘I’ll also be doing my talks throughout the region, which amounted to around 40 last year, and I’m producing a series of talks with Ian Payne and Jeff Brown … “the two lads off the telly”. They are happening in April and May’.
‘We’ve done four of these ‘Evenings with’ before, and they sell out quickly. The lads are always good crack and the event is great fun. Loads of other stuff but I was only allowed 500 words for this post and I’ve used up over 600 already! Have a great 2025’.
For some it may be challenging times but Wisecrack continue rolling on. For further information, tour dates & video contact the official website >>>
Lowfeye are Alan Rowland (musician) and Carol Nichol (singer & songwriter). They’ve just released ‘Can Can’ their fourth independently produced album. What have Lowfeye cooked up for these dark, cold, wintry nights? Carol throws a log on the fire.
‘Yeh it’s just the two of us – we have creative control which is paramount to the artistry and creativity of Lowfeye’ said Carol. ‘Songs start to evolve almost by accident. I can be in the Dakota desert composing a country rock road movie soundtrack with it all swirling around in my head while in reality I’m walking around a supermarket, buying wine, chips and beans that’s £14.70 please’.
‘Songs tend to flow fast and easy. They present themselves out of nowhere, almost as if I’m getting a brief from a film director who doesn’t exist’.
‘In the writing process they come in waves of sounds and colour all drifting out of my acoustic guitar or keyboard. Melodies, lyrics and hooks entwine with the influence of film themes, art, nostalgia, current affairs and story telling’.
Stand out songs on this 10 track album are Big Bang which bubbles around the pot, hypnotic goth rock of Babycham, dark piece Jeanne Hebuterne reveals the heartbreaking suicide story about the French artist while Dog Bite puts a vice like squeeze on before Valley of the Dolls hits the road running and Red Star rolls the credits. Lights out.
‘In terms of arrangements Alan and I concoct a cinematic landscape of colourful dreamlike worlds where rock and pop sit hand in hand with classical, folk and ambient. Anything can creep into the mix and make itself at home’.
‘Final stages of the songs reveal their identities with swirling organs rising through chiming guitars, orchestral textures battle it out with pounding drums’.
For creative artists managing and prioritising time is a daily challenge however the pay-off can be surprising and satisfying. As Carol throws another log on the fire she weighs up the benefits and snags of getting yer hands dirty.
‘Not being chained to labels does enable creative freedom, but the down side is juggling regular jobs. On that note if we were signed to a record label we would probably be dropped for not sticking to one formula or style of music’.
‘Getting the right take can involve days of stop-start hit and miss recording sessions, occasional gear malfunction, a phone ringing or the dog barking through a good vocal take, all of these things take time to iron out and finalise’.
‘On the flip side an afternoon can be sufficient to have a track in the bag all done and dusted. And all this recorded in a home studio in a box room setting on basic DIY equipment’.
From their first recording in 2017 with ‘Pow’ to their new offering ‘Can Can’ Lowfeye have produced another independent album full of ideas and imagination.
‘Like all Lowfeye albums ‘Can Can’ is like opening a chocolate box of sound with lots of different flavours. Lyrics can often go into risqué territory – you don’t know what yer going to get’.
‘2024 has been an absolute rollercoaster. I’ve met and worked with some truly amazing people and for that I’m very grateful’ said Alison as she reflects on a productive year.
Alison (3rd from left) nominated at the North East Culture Awards 2024.
‘I started working with Laurels Theatre in Whitley Bay as their Director of Participation and that has brought new opportunities and challenges. Based on the Glasgow version, I started a new initiative called ‘Play & Pasty’ – it’s really took off’.
‘It was to encourage people to walk through theatre doors and see new writing. Every week actors have a script in hand reading and everyone gets a drink and a pasty from our favourite bakers Greggs’.
New writing is important to keep theatre fresh and encourage new audiences. Also, in these times when people are looking to come together the Play and Pasty initiative is providing an important and vital service.
‘These events have become firm favourites with people meeting friends and seeing theatre. This project is really helping not only increase theatre footfall but also combat social isolation and provide a safe, warm space’.
Dealing with challenging subjects is something Alison doesn’t shy away from to a point where her work has been recognised by the North East Culture Awards and organisations in the public sector.
‘I’ve been proud that my play ‘You Need to Say Sorry’ is being used by Social Services and the Police in their domestic abuse training. It’s amazing that something I wrote is in a small way helping in the fight against domestic abuse. I’ve also made the Culture Award’s 2024 finals as writer of the year with this’.
‘With fellow directors Maggie Martin and Polly Brennan I’ve also set up a community interest theatre company called Stanley Creatives. This has enabled us to produce theatre and music events bringing productions into the heart of the community’.
‘Stanley Creatives are also launching the Women We Are project. It’s a great project where we go into community centres and use drama as therapy with women who have experienced trauma through domestic abuse or cancer’.
Alison is fully determined to bring people together and use creativity as a positive driving force, with that she feel’s next year is shaping up to be a big year on the Stanley calendar.
‘I’ve some amazing stuff lined up. ‘Living the Life of Riley’ written by myself and Leah Bell is doing a UK national tour. I’m really looking forward to touring with this as we have former Coronation Street actress Vicky Entwistle starring plus my son is in the play. I also have my new play ‘Tits Up’ debuting February 18th to March 1st at Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay’.
‘Film production is another avenue I’m interested in getting into so we’ve been working on a short film for a festival entry, it’s based on my stage play ‘Hard’ – I’m really looking forward to doing this’.
‘Our film ‘Bonny Chip’ with Lesley Saint John (Auf Wiedersehen, Pet) Deboa Meki and Rosie Fox – is still sweeping the boards at film festivals, we’ve had great nights at the film awards, plus of course the ABBA Girls with Kelly Lofthouse is going well – that train is still rolling’.
How’s it gaan? After sharing stories first posted here in 2018 about the New Wave of British Heavy Metal there’s been a welcome spike in views from Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands.
NWOBHM has always been popular since the first posts in 2017 which featured Fist, Raven, Mythra, Satan, Hollow Ground and Tygers of Pan Tang, plus stories from Impulse Studio big wig David Woods and producer Steve Thompson who brought the hammer down on seminal recordings on the Neat label. Also posted are stories from Durham’s Guardian Studio, although producer Terry Gavaghan has remained elusive. So far.
While new interviews are being lined up to take the site to the end of 2024, November has featured a compilation of stories from this year – and here’s another batch.
First up is a regular to the site, songwriter & vocalist Emma ‘Velvet Tones of Teesside’ Wilson. Emma first appeared back in 2019 talking about her influences in music…
‘Aretha Now’ and ‘Aretha Sings the Blues’ were both records that shaped my development as a singer. I used to sit for hours listening to the songs on vinyl’.
Emma kick started 2024 being pictured on the cover of Blues Matters magazine featuring her new album ‘Memphis Calling’ recorded in Sam Phillips studio, USA.
‘The studio breathes, it has an immense presence. The live room is awesome, beautifully designed. I let my emotions out on the recording’.
100 year old actress and entertainer Helen Russell sadly passed away this year. She will be missed. In May, Helen featured on the site looking back at the start of her career.
‘We didn’t have a phone in the house so I’d take calls on the local public telephone box outside to tell me where I was playing that night. Sometimes it meant getting a bus to Newcastle and then catching another to Stanley in County Durham, or Ashington in Northumberland, then heading back after 10pm – all the time humping my guitar and other equipment. I had no helpers.’
‘When guitar groups became popular in the ‘60s I had to stop dancing on stage because of all the leads and wires. That’s when I took up the guitar and later started writing my own songs.’
Another regular to the site is songwriter and former Neat records producer Steve Thompson, he got in touch in May.
‘I was 24 year old at the time and just quit a waged job to live on fresh air and follow a dream. I was either very brave, very stupid, or both. I quickly began knocking out songs and pitching them all over the place. I knew I needed some action or I was going to starve’.
‘One day I was at the dentist in Wallsend. I’d been called upstairs to the surgery when the receptionist called me back down. It was my publisher on the phone they tracked me down to tell me ‘Hurry Home just entered the charts at 63’. You could’ve knocked me down with a feather, that was the break I was looking for’.
‘From there on in incredible things happened it climbed the charts over a period of three months and peaked at 17. Here I am top 20, I had arrived! Then all sorts of things started to happen, the lyrics were printed in pop magazine Smash Hits, all the airplay on Radio One, name checks from DJ Mike Read on the Breakfast show, and of course Top of the Pops. All this was happening but I was still broke’.
In February former entertainer Peter Embleton recalled his time in clubland.
‘I had a marvellous time working the North East, the greatest training ground for anyone, my job was to put on a show not just be a singer of songs’.
‘As well as all over the North East I worked in Australia and the cruise lines, I was voted male vocalist of the year twice in the ‘80s in the National Club Mirror awards’.
‘I look at some of the talent now and feel sorry that they never experienced the Saturday night atmosphere of say the King Street club in North Shields. The club full at 7pm, great musicians to play for you led by the inimitable Micky Watson, what a buzz.’
‘Yes of course there were poor nights when it didn’t all go according to plan, but hey the good times by far outweighed the bad times. I feel lucky to have experienced the golden age of clubland, there were some brilliant acts and musicians’.
ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE 