by Thom | Jul 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
Last night, I had the distinct honour and privilege of having a spot at Panache in Hoylake for the Wirral Festival of Firsts on possibly one of the hottest days of the year amongst a fantastic line-up.
The Festival of Firsts is an annual event which in its own words:
“was established in Hoylake in 2011 to deliver an innovative, community based arts festival to encourage participation, the showcasing of local talent as well as the opportunity for the community to access and enjoy some examples of the best art, music and poetry in the country.
The Festival is run by volunteers consisting of an elected executive committee supported by steering groups and managers responsible for different aspects of the Festival.”
Originally intending to play a duo acoustic set with singer Elle Schillereff, we just so happened to hear Chris Cousineau was in the area so we thought he may as well get up and play with us too.
Arrived just as Just By Chance began their fantastic set, followed by the tremendous Dominic Dunn, Sophia, and someone I had heard much about and then seen for the first time that evening, Caroline England.
We went on to play a set that was very lively and a lot of fun for me. Ben the soundman was a complete gent! A lot of people seemed to be dancing and singing along to songs of mine, that as far as I know, they had never heard before. So that was ace!
After us, Madmen took to the stage to deliver a fine set, but the the hero of the night for me was Steve Khan, who really set the night off with a bang.
In in all, it was a good night!
by Thom | May 26, 2013 | Uncategorized
Just got home today from a little venture in Anglesey, where I played a monthly event called The Secret Sessions put on by Steve Blackstone. Had a really great time!
by Thom | Apr 3, 2013 | Uncategorized
I’m in a really good mood tonight, because I found an email sent today from the former editor of NME, Q, Mojo and Word magazines, saying this:
“Hi Thom,
Many thanks for sending the CD, I’ve been listening to it a lot and have to say, Congratulations! So many outstanding songs there and your performance on that killer finale… Very powerful. I hope you have lots of success with it.
Paul”
Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
by Thom | Mar 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
Album review: Thom Morecroft – Moon Moon Shake It
Just had a review of the new album posted today, so I thought I would share here!
“Thom Morecroft has been a fixture on the local acoustic circuit for a while now. No matter if he’s hosting an evening down on Penny Lane, or headlining his own gig at View Two, you know you’re guaranteed some lovely tunes.
Produced, recorded and mixed by Jon Lawton at Liverpool’s Crosstown Studios, ‘Moon Moon Shake It’ is the troubadour’s latest release. Is it an EP or a mini album? Who cares – it’s just seven good songs, beautifully recorded and painstakingly crafted.
Morecroft has found a consistent sound that suits his intricate tunes. Sure, you’d like more light and shade at times – and for him to be that little bit braver with the band – but sometimes, less is more.
It certainly is on the epic ‘Wilted Gardens’, a song meandering along on what sound like open tunings and complex chord patterns. “I’m learning about how cruel a girl can be,” he sings, as a beautiful female harmony takes over the tune.
Said voice belongs to Elle Schillereff… and it’s her voice that almost dominates the record. Never sugary, but always with a kick, the female harmonies are just that bit left of centre to keep things interesting and put this writer in mind of Damien Rice’s early collaborations with Lisa Hannigan.
The title track has a more modern edge, with its conversational vocal almost rapping over the melody and sharing a musical space with local group, The Fifth Movement. ‘The French Girl’ is home to some of the songwriter’s more lyrical gems and the lovely vocal interplay between Morecroft and Schillereff lifts the song above its more pedestrian melody.
‘Daisy’ is my favourite though: opening up with a delicious John Martyn-esque guitar figure, the song unfolds to reveal a vibe not unlike Eric Clapton’s unplugged take on ‘Layla’. The beat swings and the cool mid-section builds just the right amount of tension.
‘Holly’ is another full band song and entirely the better for it – perhaps something for Morecroft to explore? He certainly likes to open his throat and sing in a full, bluesy voice. It suits the band songs, but can reveal limitations when paired with only a delicately picked guitar. Just a thought.
“I made noises like a seal, at least I was clapping,” goes closer ‘The Beast’, as we hear the songwriter take a good hard look at himself. It’s lovely too and shows a cute turn of phrase, alongside another fab’ acoustic guitar sound.
Morecroft may need to decide if delicate finger pickers are his stock on trade. As when he cuts loose with the band, it all makes more sense. Everything is in place for that next step though…
© 2013 Alan O’Hare
Moon Moon Shake It is available to buy from Amazon and iTunes.
You can listen to all of the tracks at soundcloud.com/thom-morecroft”
by Thom | Mar 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
So along came March, and perhaps given some pretty dubious interpretations, spring as well.
But I was full of joy and excitement. Every time I left the house, I was clicking my heels. Most days anyway.
Threshold Festival for me didn’t just mean a very busy Sunday. It was going to be a very fun, rewarding experience.
Due to a little gig at the Sapphire Lounge on Bold Street on Friday the 8th March, I could not attend on the Friday, which looked incredible. So my Threshold Festival began on the Saturday watching the brilliant Gary Edward Jones at the Elevator Bar for Graham Holland and Stuart Todd’s Liverpool Acoustic stage. Stuart’s own project Three Minute Hero played with a bass player I hadn’t met before and a cajonist called Chris Cousineau. I think he’s from Walton…
I also got the chance to watch Louisa Roach perform in her new project ‘She Drew The Gun’ after bumping into quiet a drunk Dawn Georgeson. I could just about make out that her girlfriend was playing at Siren for the Women’s Organisation as part of the Threshold Fringe. Fantastic music! I hope Dawn is over her Sunday morning hangover…
Later that evening, in the Elevator Bar again I had the pleasure to watch my good friend Simon Maddison perform as ‘Silent Cities’. Despite technical sound issues, it was a really incredible set of understated yet proportionally epic balladry, dynamic class and experimental innovation. Next up was the brilliant Hedda Aronssen; her band were really on top form and her guitarist particularly has remarkable tone and feel.
What really capped that Saturday off for me was Robert Vincent. A mate of mine, I also find myself behaving like some insipid geeky fan boy, calling out requests when he asks what he should next play. If people have not seen Rob before, it’s a genuine experience and a half. I was particularly happy that he played “Blue” after I yell-requested it, and that he decided to make special mention of me for doing so. Fantastic set.
So…Sunday.
Sunday started with me joining the Terry Gray band in the Elevator Bar as a saxophone player otherwise known as Squirrel Sax. Also in Terry’s band were Ste Leggett (bass) and Chris Haywood (cajon) – it was a pretty joyous experience! Was good to catch my old friend Oxtoby play a set immediately afterwards, but then I had to head upstairs to the artist studios to play a couple of songs for my friend James Addis to film for his Addistock Sessions. We found a nice quiet room, and recorded a version of an unreleased and pretty much unheard song of mine called ‘Joe Allan’, as well as a version of ‘The Beast’ I hope he leaves on the cutting room floor.
Later in the afternoon, I headed over the Camp and Furnace with my friend and bandmates to watch Dave O’ Grady play his brilliant brand of electric blues. He was sensational! I also enjoyed the Bear Beats Band, who went on after him.
Then it was my turn: at around 5 o clock I popped onto the Paper Garden stage to deliver a 25 minute set, consisting of Pea Soup, Pay No Mind, Daisy, On All Night and Holly, most of which are new or unreleased bits of material. I was backed, I think quite sublimely, by Elle Schillereff, Chris Cousineau and James Baxter. The room was enormous, and my usually quite-loud-as-it-bloody-well-is voice came out enormously in the overall mix.
Later on in the day, I was to be a part of a Little Atom Productions (Gemma Aldcroft, Karen Podesta and interviewer Mike Neary) interview and Q&A Session with the legendary Paul Du Noyer. Paul is the founding editor of Mojo Magazine, as well as the former editor of Q and the NME. The talk specifically dealt with his fantastic book, ‘Liverpool:Wondrous Place’ and featured live performances of some of his favourite songs by myself and the outstandingly talented Natalie McCool.
I played ‘The Leaving of Liverpool’ by The Dubliners, ‘Wake Up Boo’ by The Boo Radleys and ended the evening with ‘The Power of Love’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Natalie played two songs, as she had to quickly head downstairs for her fantastic at around 9.15 on the Paper Garden stage in the Camp and Furnace. These were incredible. She gave us a terrific rendition of ‘Dear Prudence’ by The Beatles a la Siouxsie and the Banshees as well as a really unique and haunting performance of ‘Wondrous Place’ by Billy Fury.
I was struck by many things during the event. The obvious chemistry between Mike Neary and Paul Du Noyer, the sheer enthusiasm and love Du Noyer has for the history and vibrancy of the Liverpool music scene, how much he comes out of his shell (I had previously met a very quiet reserved man), how funny and warm on stage Natalie was, and what a good job Karen and Gemma had done of putting the event on.
I also struck up an immediate friendship with Brian Roberts, the event’s photographer, as well as Andrea and Michelle Neary, and a very colourful character by the name of Elizabeth Mathie, who some cheeky upstart later dubbed ‘the Liverpool ambassador of decadent wisdom’ in the Camp and Furnace bar.
I was bought a couple of glasses of wine and afterwards, and after a nice few conversations at the bar, went over to the Elevator to catch up with Greedy Jesus, as well as Chris and Kaya. All in all, I was very happy.
by Thom | Mar 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
It has been an obscenely long time since I last posted anything new on the website, so I’ll start where I left off I suppose: the album launch in the View Two Gallery on December 1st.
It went remarkably well, really. Beyond word-of-mouth, there was no publicity campaign; no posters, no flyers, no promoter, no event-runner. In the end, the first people taking payments on the door were myself and one of the acts. It was very badly organised. The PA was a complete brute. But people came through the door, people enjoyed the music and I sold over fifty albums.
The night itself was a mixed event: an art exhibition from 6pm put on by Laura Sullivan and her many cohorts, and a gig from 9pm onwards, featuring three of Liverpool’s best acoustic musicians (Robert Vincent, Dominic Dunn and Silent Cities) and finally me playing with my band at the end of the night. My friend Laurence Glover compered throughout the evening, and a well suited up master of ceremonies he was.
It was nice to see familiar faces in the audience: Threshold crew members Karen Macfarlane and Andy Minnis, James Addis, Tony Donaghey, Terry Gray, Seba Rashii, Chris Callander, evening-photographer Kayley Cope, my housemates, former housemates, some of my family and good friends. It was also nice to see a lot of artists, their work, and a lot of their friends who I’d never seen before as well. Without exaggeration, I’d say there was a constant of over 175 people throughout the night. It was a messy success.
The next night, me and Elle Schillereff (the female singer) returned the favour at an event being put on in Formby at Cafe D’art by Robert Vincent, with Sophia and Gary Edward Jones also on the bill. The next Friday, percussionist Chris Cousineau and guitarist James Baxter would return to the line-up to support The Midnight Ramble at Mello Mello. Also on the bill were the Restless Venture and again the gentleman that is Gary Edward Jones.
With December in Liverpool over, I returned to Shrewsbury for Christmas. But by December 27th, I was back in Liverpool ready to perform at the Cellar Bar in Chester on the 29th and by New Years Eve, I was back I was performing at Schmooze Wine Bar and Eatery, along with the fantastic Dominic Dunn (my former partner in door managing activities about a month before). Me and Dom had the amusing task of swapping from downstairs (massive PA system, huge drunk audience) to upstairs (small tables of people eating quiet meals, no PA, whilst one of us sang at them). It was a lot of fun. On New Years Day, I found my song ‘Sexy Shade of Sunburn’ had been played in the morning on BBC6 by Tom Robinson and that I’d been marked as an act to watch for 2013.
I made a visit the first Wednesday I could in January to the Old Roan in Aintree with Chris, to visit Steve Hughes, Greedy Jesus, and the famous Eli. I didn’t have anywhere to go, so Eli let me kip on his sofa, drink his fantastic coffee and sample some of his awful burnt sausage sandwiches. A brilliant time had by all I think!
January ended with the Samuel Garlick run event ‘The Woodland Social’ at the Elevator Bar in the Baltic Triangle. The bill of acts was incredible. I really remember feeling part of something very special; an array of organic, exuberant, passionate musicians with great songs and each with a stomach full of fire. From Danny Badger, to Hedda Aronssen, the GREAT PLAIN SUNDANCE (can’t believe we had to go on the act after them!) and headliners the Edwardian Picnic, it was a really good night, the highlight for me being the moment the GPS played Stay Up All Night. Really really fantastic band, who will undoubtedly be headlining some enormous stage by the end of this year.
February began with the 3rd: a gig for Dave O’ Grady’s new night at Studio 2 with Elle and Chris, then the 6th, as the three of us played for Derek King’s new ‘K’s Choice’ Night at the Printworks Hotel on Renshaw Street. On the 8th, I also played a sneaky set at Terry Gray’s ‘Festival Express’ night at the Vinyl Bar on Lark Lane, where me and Terry also had a bit of a play with my saxophone. Later on, we found ourselves sat round listening to Beatles’ records on Vinyl with some Americans we had met earlier on. Nice people.
By the 9th, I was back in Chester at the Cellar Bar to play a set to a busy busy bar. Later on, we had quite the little shindig in the actual cellar of the Cellar Bar. Having not really thought about where I was going to stay, I was fed by various people with beer and whiskey. I began to make it clear I had nowhere to stay, and three very nice young women said I could sleep at their place. Hilariously, I giggled myself to sleep, considering the connotations of sharing the enormous bed I found there with these three beautiful girls with which absolutely nothing took place in the way in which you may expect. Just to clear that up.
By the 14th of February, the magnificent Threshold Festival was looming like a big loom. I was contacted by Chris Carney, not just about playing at the festival, but also if I would be interested in playing at a Little Atom interview event featuring Paul Du Noyer; the founding editor of Mojo Magazine, and former editor to the NME and Q. I immediately said yes, and Chris Carney (who only until recently thought I was Irish, I wish I had not burst the bubble) and was rung by Gemma Aldcroft of the now award-winning Little Atom Productions about meeting with herself, her Little Atom partner Karen Podesta and the other featured artist Natalie McCool (absolutely amazing!) to discuss the event. This all developed quietly throughout February.
In the meantime, me and Elle Schillereff caught up with old friend Rob Rivieres very briefly as he visited Liverpool in the middle of February. It was good to see him again, and to know how well he and his girlfriend Georgia Stuart were getting on in Exeter. Also during this time, I met and played with a bass player called Adam.
By the end of the month, I was eagerly waiting for Threshold Festival.
