Barleycorn Line-Up Monday 22 October 2012
Barleycorn News
Gil Hockman
Gil Hockman is a singer-songwriter from Johannesburg.
He sings songs about all sorts of stuff but at the moment they are mainly songs
about his ex-girlfriends. That's how it goes sometimes. He is currently working
on the follow-up to his debut album Too Early In The Journey. You can find out
more at www.gilhockman.c
Isobel Sempill
This promising guitar student of Caroline Blundell shows a musical maturity beyond her tender years. She already has more than 50 songs to her credit and is planning a trip early in 2013 to the UK and Europe to try her luck in the competitive international world of music. With a style and voice reminiscent of Suzanne Vega, Issy effortlessly captures the hearts of audiences with her self penned soulful narratives and light hearted fun.
Lucy Kruger
This will be the fourth time we have the pleasure of Lucy's appearance at the
Barleycorn. Lucy is a new talent who brings a fresh take to folk rock with
easy, honest song writing and a soulful voice. She arrived in Cape
Town last year after completing her undergraduate degree in Music
and her Honours in Drama at Rhodes
University. She has been
playing guitar as well as writing and performing her own material for six years
and in the past has opened for Linton Kwezi Johnson (LKJ), Josie Field, Cutting
Jade as well as Shawn Phillips.
Her debut album, "Cut those Strings" and featuring innovative SA
artists including Inge Beckmann, Schalk Joubert and Albert Frost, was launched
at Mercury just four weeks ago and has received rave revues. Read what the
press have to say at http://www.lucykruger.com/press/ and
listen to her music on Soundcloud.
Crimson House Blues
From the incongruous combination of the dust of Namibia and Death Metal sprang
forth Crimson House Blues. Since forming two years ago, Crimson House
Blues have relocated to Cape Town.
They have performed alongside some of South Africa’s greatest artists in
night clubs, bars, dives and at festivals, receiving an overwhelmingly positive
response to their mission and their music, which is the perfect blend of blues,
rock, funk, jazz and country western fusion with a Louis Armstrong / Tom Waits /
Joe Cocker influenced vocal style.
Their debut album “Smoke Dust And Whiskey” was released in Cape Town in March 2012 to critical acclaim
and a respectable amount of radio play. The album was self produced and funded
from the band’s extreme gig schedule. Sheer Music recognised the talent and
signed on as the official publisher for the band. “Smoke Dust and Whiskey”
comprises nine songs telling tales of Namibian adventures, too much or too
little whiskey, love found and lost, stories of life’s journey, while sifting
through all the tribulations of being an artist in modern society.
Utilising guttural vocals that soar from tenderness to gut wrenching howls, mad
banjo skills, slide, and harmonica tearing on top of a groovin' rhythm ‘n bass
section they will take you from 50s swing and balls-out rock to sweet subtle
blues and hillbilly hoedowns that will put any audience into a hick frenzy.
CHB's music has being described as many things, but the term "Desert
Blues" has been brought up by enough DJs and drunks to have finally stuck.
At its peak in Namibia the band comprised of six members; currently in their
Cape Town base they operate as a four-piece with Christoph de Chavonnes Vrugt
on drums, Jacques van Rensburg on bass, Redeye Riaan on vocals and guitar and
Arno Van Zyl on banjo and lead guitar. “We believe this is our final calling as
it kicks in its simplicity,” says Redeye.
Already having a number of festivals under their belt (including Synergy, Big
Blues Festival, Table Mountain Blues Summit), organisers and public alike are
always happy with the decision to have them share the bill. Crimson House
Blues recently opened the inaugural Rolling Stone Weekend, a showcase of Cape Town’s best up and
coming bands, and as a result the publication has invited them to be its
special guest on its stage at Up The Creek 2013 – a notoriously difficult
festival to get onto. They are also already booked for other Rolling Stone live
music events. On the same night of the Rolling Stone Weekend, Crimson House
Blues won the AFM Radio 48 Band Off competition, as voted for by fans, walking
away with prizes worth R100 000. They have recently toured Namibia,
playing several gigs as well as the country’s biggest festival, Namrock.