Out today are two live recordings from the CloudwatcherUno™ Live Sessions at The Camden Chapel in London in October 2022. Showcasing the very best of independent artists we feature Afreine and Blue Violet. Singing in her first sold out London show Afreine captures the hearts of the audience with her stunning vocals.
The main act of the evening were Blue Violet a phenomenal duo who bring a stripped back acoustic performance that focuses on their harmonies, guitar skills and killer lyrics.
So let yourself be transported to a front row listening experience as you hear these amazing artists sing live on stage in London. These incredible recordings are available on Spotify, Apple and all streaming platforms.
We catch up with CURRAN and talk about how the band got together with Drake White and opened up for him on his recent tour. Mark got his people to talk to Drakes people and the band got lucky. They previously toured across Europe in 2018. Then we talk about Long Road Festival and the shenanigans that Mark got up to the night before backstage and how he was paying for his sins on the Saturday morning playing with Jam Moncur.
CloudwatcherUno with Mark Curran (L) and Jam Moncur (R) at The Long Road Festival 2022
Playing a private show in New York and laying down tracks for the new album in Germany, Mark is keeping himself busy. CURRAN put out an EP in 2019 called “Lonely Road of Faith” and this was the title track and the tour finished in 2019 and started doing promo with a years worth of touring booked for 2020 and then the pandemic hit in Italy.
CURRAN in action opening up for Drake White in London 2022.
It will be rereleased with 5 new tracks as a full album after Mark took the decision to pull it from all streaming services. All the previous songs have been remixed and remastered so in essence it is a brand new record. After the pandemic artists have begun scrambling for venues as they are all competing to perform in front of global audiences. Streaming has killed income for independent artists and touring for opening acts has meant that they make no money.
“Rise Up (My City of Ruin) – Curran
So life as as artist is becoming an impossibility and the cost of touring has meant that prices of tickets have gone up. So spare a dollar for the independent artists travelling across the globe to bring the joy of live music to your ears. In an era of Talent Show winners and disposable pop stars, CURRAN stands out from the rest, not only as singer/songwriter’s but as bona fide Rock Stars.
In the podcast Mark plays an acoustic version of “Better Days” to hear this and to join in with the conversation with CloudwatcherUno and CURRAN click the link below. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
CloudwatcherUno sits down with Elles Bailey to talk about ‘Cheats and Liars’, from Elles new album ‘Shining in the Half Light‘ due in 2022, her musical career so far from touring and promoting her album ‘Road I Call Home‘ which is where I first saw Elles live in concert. Elles recently won The UK Blues Awards — where she was awarded UK Blues Artist of the Year 2021 for the second year running.
‘Medicine Man‘ by Elles Bailey
‘Medicine Man‘ is one of my favourite songs of Elles but the story behind it acts now as a warning sign about the dark side of the music business. Having invested all her money in travelling to Los Angeles for four meetings with record labels with an American producer it turned out that he was a con artist.
The situation became the inspiration for another song ‘Wild Wild West‘
‘You guaranteed I’d feel a blazing fire Sold me a dream so I showed you every scar Planted a seed and I let you take me higher Now here I am on Sunset Boulevard’
Elles managed to use that negative experience and turn it into some of her most popular songs.
‘Wildfire‘ by Elles Bailey
We talk about the story for the fan favourite song ‘Howlin Wolf‘ which Elles wrote in 2013. Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in tribute to the bluesy delta rock and roll music that was the soundtrack for backpack adventures with her father. The love for this song is so much that there is a facebook page from her fans called the Wolfpack.
‘Howlin Wolf‘ by Elles Bailey
Recently Elles played at the Empress Ballroom at The British Country Music Festival 2021 in Blackpool. The festival promotes the best home-grown, contemporary country and Americana artists from across the UK. This was the highlight of the fledgling return of live music to the British Isles. The experience of reconnecting with a live audience was amazing and showed Elles how much she had missed playing live.
‘Cheats and Liars‘ by Elles Bailey
Elles never set out to be a country artist or a blues artist what she is and wants to be first and foremost is a musician who makes killer music. ‘Cheats and Liars’ when it first came out enjoyed a world exclusive on ‘The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews’, on BBC Radio Two and was added to Planet Rock’s A List and was the most played track on Planet Rock in September 2021. The success of this single has meant the second single ‘Sunset City‘ got pushed back to make way for this huge first single.
Elles is the very first artist to be signed to peermusic (the largest independent music publisher in the world) via Under The Apple Tree (UTAT) (the label co-founded by music and broadcasting legend ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris), spearheading a brand-new, music publishing, joint venture.
The Lexington – March 2019
Photo: Alan Dunkley
Photo: Alex Berger
With Elles Bailey at The Lexington – March 2019
Photo: Adam Kennedy
Out of all of these achievements one of the closest to Elles heart has been the birth of her baby which has brought her closer to her family and with their support Elles will be able to go back to what she loves doing most in the world which is going back on tour in October and November 2021.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Elles Bailey. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
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