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For
those who came - a Heartfelt thank you. In these days of financial
instability it is heartening to see so many people in the audience on a
Monday night; perhaps not quite as many as I would have liked to have
seen but nevertheless, I would like to thank you for supporting Acoustic
Sussex. Some while ago we had Cate Ferris perform a support act
for Steve and Martha Tilston at the Red Lion The main slot was occupied by Mark Erelli, a singer/songwriter/guitarist from Reading near Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. In the previous week, Mark had been taking part in the Darwin Song Project, a collaboration of folk musicians from both sides of the Atlantic namely, Chris Wood, Karine Polwart, Rachael McShane, Jez Lowe, Stu Hanna, Krista Detor and Emily Smith - to celebrate and immerse themselves in Charles Darwin's groove. A kind of song writing retreat in rural Shropshire near Darwin' birthplace, where participants are invited to pen some new songs containing the themes of Darwin and his monumental theories. Nobody could be better qualified than Mark because the marriage of his song writing skill with the fact that he holds a Master's Degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Massachusetts (UMass). During Mark's performance I spotted numerous song writing styles, all Mark's own but with reminiscences of Bob Dylan at his best, Paul Simon and on one occasion even Bruce Springsteen. Mark gave us his rendition of one of the songs he wrote for the Darwin Project - Kingdom Come - which was a thoughtful juxtaposition of the actions of a parasitic wasp and an all compassionate God; much more appealing than the content of the material would have you believe! Fortunately the forty or so in the audiences was quick to recognise a quality artist hard at work and responded accordingly and the vibe was lifted. A good evening all round!.. Maximum Bob
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at
Turners Hill. At this time Cate's musical career was in its infancy and
she had not garnered enough self-penned material to bring out a CD and
the audience were keen to know when a CD would be imminent. Now things
have changed considerably and Cate now performs regularly in the
Brunswick on a Sunday night and other venues in the Brighton area. She
treated us to a fine performance of some interesting subjective songs
delivered with that angelic voice that intrigued so many of the audience
at the Red Lion. Incidentally, for those who may be interested, Cate now
has a CD out. It is called Afterspark and is every bit as good as her
performance tonight. Check it out!