SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE • ISSUE 8 • DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 INSIDE... THE LOAD-IN . 4 CHERYL BEER – HEALING SPIRIT . 5 RISING STARS – DAISY B . 5 BUILDING OUR OWN NASHVILLE . 6 POETRY CORNER – HARRI POWELL . 7 WHO’S MOLLY? . 8 CLASSIC WELSH ALBUM – DAVE EDMUNDS . 10 PAGE 15 BRIAN BREEZE . 11 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE – TIM KELLY . 13 Here’s where you can pick up your JEREMY GLUCK . 14 copy of SOUNDBOARD Magazine: SWANSEA FRINGE FESTIVAL 2019 . 15 SWANSEA NEATH CARMARTHEN Derrick’s Music The Music Shop Parrot Records RECORD REVIEWS . 18 Psicon Music (Neath Indoor Market) CARDIGAN Sin City LLANELLI The Cellar Bar LIVE REVIEWS . 21 National Waterfront Cadno Music CWMAMAN Museum GORSEINON Cwmaman Theatre NIGE . 22 Cinema & Co. Spider Music & Arts Centre Cover To Cover (Mumbles) MERTHYR LLANDOVERY OH PEDRO . 22 Square Peg (Sketty) Red House The Castle Hotel Viva La Frida (Sketty) BRECON PONTYPRIDD STUDENT LIFE . 23 Hen Dderwen (Sketty Park) The Muse A Strings ABERDARE CARDIFF DECEMBER & JANUARY GIG GUIDE – . 24 Jac’s Spiller’s Records LOST FROM THE SCENE – AJ . 25 If you would like to stock the magazine and get lots of people to come to your place looking for it, please let us know. PSSSSTT!!! . 25 SBM AWARDS NIGHT REVIEW . 27 ISSUE #9 ADVERTISING DEADLINE: ADVERTISING ROBOSCOPES . 30 17TH JANUARY 2020 @SOUNDBOARDMAGAZINE THE LOAD-OUT . 31 FOR PUBLICATION: FEBRUARY 1ST .CO.UK PUBLISHED BY EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS ADVERTISING SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE LTD & REVIEWERS 2019 advertising@ 28 Rosehill Terrace, Swansea SA1 6JN Flipsy McCaw, Joel Morgan, soundboardmagazine .co .uk Mike Kennedy, Graham Morse, Jack EDITOR Sounds, Steve Haines, Tansy Rees, Rosie If you would like to stock MIKE KENNEDY Scribblah, Roger Henderson, John Paul editor@soundboardmagazine .co .uk Davies, Amy Sinha, Anthony Price, Richard SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE Willis, Jeremy Gluck, Mitchell Tennant, please get in touch . DESIGN & SUB EDITING Keith Williams, Moira Morgan, Eleanor GRAHAM MORSE – GMID Shaw, Tom Emlyn, Lazarus Carpenter, No part of this magazine may be repro- duced in any form without the written design@soundboardmagazine .co .uk Paul Battenbough, Ifi Iwobi, Jeremy permission of the Editor . Personal views Gluck, Andy Boyt, Jonathan Nichols, Steve expressed in SOUNDBOARD are not necessar- EDITORIAL TEAM Ahearne, Kurt Signs, Huw Rees . ily those of the publisher . Whilst every care FLIPSY MCCAW, JOEL MORGAN is taken, we cannot take responsibility for PHOTOGRAPHY 2019 unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or CHIEF CULTURAL CORRESPONDENT Johan Butenschøn Skre, the shoddy appearance of any singer . JACK SOUNDS Helen Louise Banham, Raymonty Thompson, Mike Kennedy, Steve © 2019 SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE LTD Manley, Graham Morse, Shutterstock, COVER PHOTO: Sound Reinforcement Peter Stradling, Creative Billy Stillman, Carl Connikie, Barry Hill WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER? SoundBoardMagazineUK We want to hear from you. Send us your submissions. Email us. Please and thank you. [email protected] THE LOAD-IN SOUNDBOARD • DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 WAIT? WHAT? IS IT THAT TIME AGAIN? BLOODY HELL, DOESN’T TIME FLY WHEN YOU’RE HAVING FUN? LAST TIME I DID ONE OF THESE I WAS STILL WEARING SHORTS IN THE MORNING AND DRINKING BEER IN THE GARDEN FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS WHEN I GOT HOME FROM WORK, JUST LIKE GOD INTENDED. FEELINGS ARE RUNNING HIGH. AND IT’S GOOD. PEOPLE CAN SENSE THAT SOMETHING POWERFUL AND REAL AND POSSIBLY IMPORTANT IS BREWING IN THE AIR. NOW, I’M A HUDDLED MASS IN A SODDEN PARKA, convenience; random bursts of passing enthusiasms (“MY SCUTTLING HOME IN THE DARK THROUGH HALF- GOD YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS BAND!”) and – of course FLOODED STREETS LIKE A GUILTY LOVER. – good, old-fashioned, random chance. Well, shucks; I Horror show, right? Ah, well, it’s always nice and dry guess that makes us just like every other media outlet in at the gig, right? And you should always go to more gigs. the whole world, then? And just who do we have to an- Welcome, ladies, gents, humans, creatures and others – swer to, anyway? Shareholders? Pfft. of all ages and all gauges – to Soundboard #8. Glad you Yes, and – moving on – last night was the inaugural could make it. Great to have you on board. Soundboard Magazine Awards, held in the shiny, elegant Firstly, formalities: we (The Soundboard Team) would and modern confines of the lobby of the National Water- like to extend a grand and gracious and grateful greeting front Museum, which had been set up and furnished ex- to you (the handsome, refined, tasteful and effervescent pertly by the wonderful and hard-working museum staff, reader) and would like to thank you, from the bubblling led by Zoe Gealy. It was quite the glamorous and fashion- bottoms of our collective hearts, for running your eyes able place to be seen; sartorially, the leaders and trendset- and – in due course – your ears, over our regular humble ters were undoubtedly The One They Call Freaky (settled attempt to present, well, just a selection, really – a thin on a winning look circa 1998, and saw no good reason to slice – of the varied offerings that flow out of the fizzing, change it) and the gloriously-trousered Huw Rees (rocking spitting, occasionally vulgar South Walian cultural god- the retired Breton fisherman look). The rest of us, well...we head; a cup that, not for the first time, is beginning to tried; but there’s some heights mere mortals cannot reach, really fuckin’ runneth over. only aspire to; there’s always next year. For a full report Yes, there’s a lot going on around here at the minute. on the evenings’ action, plus the winners and almost-win- You can tell something is happening by the sharp rise in ners, please proceed immediately to page 27. the number of people who are, loudly and publicly, ques- Yes, and I’m happy to report that I enjoyed myself very tioning the motives and the integrity of others; this is a much – maybe even a little too much – but that’s what sure sign of potential, looming successes, always. Heh! happens when you go back to Rob Nelmes’ house with But, it is most elegantly true: Swansea does feel bloated him. Even if Nige isn’t there, it’s still a bloody wild ride. and tense – pregnant with ideas and energy, and awash The man himself (Nigel (Nige to his friends)) actually with heads and seekers and artists and grifters and chanc- called Rob on his (mobile) phone (Samsung S3 (black)) ers and proto-personalities – all out peddling their wares while I was there, and they had a brief but extremely de- and talking up their idiosyncratic versions of the truth of tailed conversation about the relative merits of three dif- the matter; and, on top of this, winter is coming and eve- ferent types of draft excluder, each only available from a ryone is working on something to keep them busy over particular independent retail outlet, all located at opposite the long, dark nights to come. ends of the county. And here WE are, caught in the middle of all of this, This was a task they’d been given by none other than trying to capture the best of it and encourage the rest of Nige’s Auntie Barbara, as Rob explained later over a late- it. A great wave of wonderful art arcing over us like a spin- night Vimto. Apparently, Aunty Barbara was trying to ning rainbow, and suddenly we find we’re now both the lower her heating bill this winter, after an unexpectedly mainstream (cheers, Ross) and the plucky underdog being high bill last year meant she had to ration her pork pie courted by bigger beasts. A bind, eh? Caught between the intake throughout most of the spring and early summer. perception of an agenda and the actual reality of four peo- Which was a blow, and an experience she has no wish to ple just blindly making it up as they go along. repeat. Lucky for her she has her nephew and his BFF (Best So, what’s an independent, self-run, completely unfund- Flipping Friend) to look out for her. If only we were all so ed magazine to do? Our level best, right? Or, just whatever lucky, eh? we want? Well, that’s an option, certainly. But surely con- Anyway, we do hope you enjoy Soundboard #8. We’ve science should play a part? Or do we make a concerted ef- worked very hard on it, and will continue to do our best fort to try and do the most good for the people who need to bring you the best (and the rest) of what South West the most help? Wales has to offer. It’s a rich and varied tapestry, but there Well, yes. Or, most probably, no; instead, it’s a prob- are plenty of rooms in the mansion. ably a blend of all those things, mixed up with, in no par- ticular order: natural bias; editorial, logistical or financial Act tidy, be kind, shop local. JS 4 QUICK INTERVIEW SOUNDBOARD • DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 CHERYL RISING STARS BEER IIIII HEALING SPIRIT Following a lifetime on the road supporting the likes of Bob Geldof, Van Morrison and Lonnie Donegan, per- forming to audiences of 25,000 throughout the UK & Europe, directing the largest women’s music festival in Europe and touring the orphanages of India, Africa and Belarus as a musician and storyteller, Cheryl felt that DAISY B she had no choice other than to hang up her strings. I’M 16 AND I’M REALLY INTO WRIT- ING IN GENERAL, I’M CURRENTLY “IT IS LITERALLY AS IF THE SPEAK- songs recorded as part of her medita- WRITING A BOOK AND I’VE REGULAR- ERS HAVE BLOWN IN MY HEAD”, tive journey, entitled Woman Needs a LY WRITTEN SONGS SINCE I WAS 12.