COVENTRY Music Museum curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
Chrissie Dux
Anyone who attends Coventry’s gigs regularly will know the name Chrissie Dux, a singer-songwriter extraordinaire.
She has just released her debut album ‘Justify’ and the collected songs combine to make this a wonderful and stunning debut.
It’s never boring in Chrissie’s world, the album opens with the ultra-catchy Bangles-like ‘Hey Moon’ onto the rocker ‘Justify’, her voice cuts through each track beautifully and precisely, with ‘Hold On’ being a perfect example.
Harmonically ‘The Liar And The Fool’ is the album’s tour de force, with the superb ‘Make It Through The Year’ a perfect way to close the album.
Hats off to the album’s producer Chris Clarke.
You can see Chrissie Dux live at the Earlsdon Carnegie Community Library on Sunday, November 26, in a performance which will feature special guests Brass Hip Flask and Ruth Kelly.
Tickets £5 per person. Over 18s only. Bar available, card payments accepted. She’s also on at the Arches on December 7 and has an in-store gig at Nuneaton’s HMV two days later.
The Trees
The Trees are back- Coventry’s own eco warriors have a new CD available.
The Trees are a city folk/pop band comprising Christopher Sidwell from Crokodile Tears, Hillz FM disc jockey Keith Fabrique and HS2 protester Melanie Moon.
They do it their way, and I’m awfully glad they do. They are writing a song about a tree again as their lyrics go, but I like that- this time, the whole sound is far more accessible.
‘Stuck In The Tree’ makes a great single but so would many other songs on here, (the album contains the recent Hillz FM local Artist Chart number one “Righting The Wrongs”).
It’s nice to hear Melanie’s lovely voice right high in the mix, working perfectly with Chris and Keith’s vocals.
Back in the 80s, so many artists politicised their songs, and sadly not many do it these days, so how refreshing this band can make great entertaining music, but still pack it with enough protest power to get the message through.
Now and Then
Can I say how overjoyed I am my all-time favourite band The Beatles has hit the number one spot again some sixty years after their first hit with the ethereal single ‘Now and Then’.
The song began as a Lennon demo tape and was reworked with the help of new-age technology, although there is a debate on whether AI was used or not.
Whether it was or not, the fact is the Beatles are still relevant (as are The Stones), and as an oldie, this is pure delight for me.
I can’t put a Coventry-related angle on this single, although the ‘other’ side, ‘Love Me Do’ was released on October 5, 1962 the same day the Beatles first played in our area at Nuneaton’s Co-Op Hall, second on the bill to Buddy Britten and the opening act was Rugby’s Mighty Avengers.
This was a gig many uberfans claimed never took place until I proved it did.
