This interview was originally published in late 2019. Since then, we’ve all seen a few changes. We’ve given the site a bit of a spring clean and everyone and their sibling’s sharing archive material. We thought it would be a great opportunity to dust off some of our highlights and see how they’re looking (and sounding) now.

We’re kicking off with our first ever audio interview which we grabbed with Graham Parker before his gig at The Foxlowe Centre in Leek on a tour celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the release of his classic album “Squeezing Out Sparks”.

Allan McKay and Steve Jenner grabbed thirty minutes with Graham just after soundcheck and, as always, he was good value for his opinions and insights. The interview was edited for various local radio stations in the north-west but this is the full, uncut version. Just a warning, there’s one mild swear-word at about 9 minutes 15 seconds:

It’s a streaming wet and murky day in the Moorlands – and it pretty much doesn’t matter which set of Moorlands you’re in, it is giving way to a horrible ‘don’t bother’ kind of night.

Graham Parker doesn’t need telling this. He’s just played the first date on a solo UK tour celebrating the release of an acoustic version of his best-selling UK hit album, ‘Squeezing out Sparks’, in Exeter and has spent six hours swapping one set of Moorlands scenery for the Staffordshire Moorlands. For tonight he’s set to play The Foxlowe Centre in Leek. And despite a nasty ‘tour cold’ and having to survive recording a near-on half-hour podcast and radio interview with Mr. McKay and I following the sound check, this sprightly, twinkly 60-plusser is in fine voice when he hits the stage.

He follows a short and perfectly fine set by Stephen Wilson Jnr and once he takes the stage, always a slight and quite unassuming figure, you’re once again reminded of the ‘nakedness’ of the solo acoustic performer. No ‘The Rumour’-style brass section to ‘lean on’ here. The songs either do the job, and the performer can ‘sell’ them, or they can’t.

It kind of helps, though if you’ve got a body of work spanning decades which includes 3 UK top 40 single hits, and 4 top 40 UK hit albums. “Squeezing out Sparks” got to number 22 on the UK album chart and went Gold in a number of territories and is the most ‘stripped down’ of the albums which troubled the UK chart, so that kind of helps as well, as does the knowledge and experience which comes from touring, incessantly, for more years than seems possible and guesting recently on tour with the likes of vinyl single chart-toppers Stone Foundation.

He kicks off with “Fool’s Gold” from 1976 and the album “Heat Treatment”. It was a great song then and is a great song now and Parker’s nasal rasp is the ideal vehicle. His voice does indeed sound needle sharp and his acerbic and self-deprecating wit between songs is an object lesson in how to entertain when you ain’t singing. He follows this with “Chloroform” from 2005 and the album “Songs of no Consequence” and we’re off and running. He already has the near-sell-out crowd eating out of his hand.

He candidly admits “Waiting for the UFOs” is probably the weakest song on “…..Sparks” but plays it anyway (Why, Graham? This has, in fairness, dated a bit) before a triple of “Every Saturday Nite” from recent album “Cloud Symbols”, “Stick to the Plan” and “Black Honey” all of which are played with humour, verve and panache by someone who knows how the tread the boards. He’s nobody’s idea of a world-beating guitar picker, but he’s perfected the art of using alternately a large acoustic and a Telecaster (not to mention a kazoo!!) to accompany himself to a perfectly appropriate effect, especially the acoustic, which he plays with a choppy, rhythmic style which ‘drives’ songs along. Another recent song in “Bathtub Gin” leads into the album opener on “….Sparks”, “Discovering Japan”. Often used a set opener when playing ‘full band’ gigs, this once again proves what an unusually-structured but striking piece this is in a live setting. Well into the ‘back nine’ now, he helter-skelters through to a paint stripping version of album title track “Howlin’ Wind”, which heralded the start of Parker’s recording career back in ’76, “Back to School Days” and a positively desperate-sounding ‘Stick To Me’. This was always a great song which all but disappeared under the ‘kitchen sink’ production which was thrown at it when the album was recorded and indeed it didn’t ‘do’ anything like as well as it should have done due to alleged cack-handed record company shenanigans (“Mercury Poisoning”, anyone?) and then a celebratory bundle of “White Honey” a top 40 UK hit on ‘The Pink Parker’ EP, “Is The Sun Out” and a blisteringly angry version of the new red vinyl single, “Nixon’s Rules”, which is ripping up a few trees as a searing critique of Britain’s failed and increasingly discredited drug policy.

He leaves the stage to rapturous applause to head off in to the next night on his UK tour, nursing a heavy cold but in the secure knowledge that man flu is temporary, class is permanent. He remains one of the few artists to emerge from the era of the ‘new wave’ with an ever-increasing appreciation of his qualities as a song writer and a performer; a reputation which, at the time, was probably ‘disguised’ and certainly under-appreciated by the demands of a very strange time. Bizarrely enough, as an artist, his time is probably Right Now. And it appears to me, watching him onstage in Leek tonight, that he’s clocked this. Go GP.

Here’s something new for you. Allan and Steve had the pleasure of interviewing the initimable Graham Parker this weekend for various radio stations in the north of England.We also had the option of using the unedited version for MusicRiot. Instead of spending hours transcribing the audio recording, we decided to cut out the intermediary and let you have twenty-five and a half minutes of Graham Parker talking about the 40th anniversary of “Squeezing Out Sparks” and a whole load of other things, including his new single “Nixon’s Rules”, which we’ve also included below. You people just don’t know how lucky you are. Anyway, have a listen to some very interesting insights into the music business and other things. Just a word of warning; there’s a very, very mild swear word at around 9:15.

 

 

You can also see the video for the new single here:

So, Graham Parker and Brinsley Schwarz at The Union Chapel and I have to say that this one has a special significance for me. The first proper gig I saw was Brinsley Schwarz (the band) playing at Mansfield Civic Theatre on February 25, 1974 and you can read about that gig here. As a student I saw Graham Parker and The Rumour play at Dundee University Students’ Association (April 20, 1978 if you must know, and £1.50 to get in) and the following year at The Odeon in Edinburgh. The songs were great and the band was on fire at that time; Graham Parker should have had huge commercial success, either at that time or without The Rumour in the early eighties, but it didn’t happen. He’s continued to write, make albums, and play as a solo artist and with various group lineups, mainly in the USA, but after 2012’s “Three Chords Good” album which reunited The Rumour, the UK seems to be ready to clasp him to its bosom again.

The audience in The Union Chapel was pretty much what you would expect for this type of gig and surprisingly well-behaved (no loud conversations about how terrible the journey to the gig was or whinges about the bar prices) apart from the bunch that wanted to help GP by braying along like a tone-deaf rugby team; you can’t win them all. With a body of work going back around forty-five years and a new album to promote as well, there’s a chance that you might not get to hear their favourite song; it must have been my lucky night, because I heard two of mine.

The set started with a GP solo version of my first favourite, “Watch the Moon Come Down”, which lends itself to an acoustic interpretation and it’s probably known by most of the old fans so it was the perfect way to ease everyone in before the almost new “Stop Crying About the Rain” from “Three Chords Good”. It’s great to see Brinsley Schwarz back in live action again; his musicianship has always been superb and his harmonies add another layer to the sound. It’s not The Rumour, but it’s a big enough sound to work in an intimate venue like The Union Chapel.

The set spanned the forty years from the release of “Howlin’ Wind” (which was well represented with “White Honey”, “Silly Thing”, “Not if it Pleases Me” and “Don’t Ask Me Questions”) to the new album, “Mystery Glue” which has three songs featured: “Railroad Spikes”, “I’ve Done Bad Things” and “Flying into London”. There was an obvious warmth and camaraderie between Brinsley and Graham as well as between the audience and the performers throughout the set; GP seemed very much at ease with the whole thing and his voice still sounds superb.

As you might expect, there were a couple of interesting choices. The encore opened with an a cappella solo version of the Gershwin classic “Someone to Watch over Me” and ended with the big seventies hit “Hold Back the Night”. Throw in a scattering of great songs (“Turned up Too Late”, “Under the Mask of Happiness”, “Nation of Shopkeepers”, “Passion Is No Ordinary Word”, “Back to Schooldays” and “Stick to Me”) from across the forty year period and you’ve got a pretty good summary of the career of one of our greatest singer-songwriters. And as for that second favourite song of mine – the second song of the encore was one of the best and most harrowing songs I know. “You Can’t Be Too Strong” (from the album “Squeezing Out Sparks”) is a controversial but very brave piece of songwriting which sounds as relevant now as it did in 1979.

So, Graham Parker can still do it live and this was a pretty good selection of his best songs of the last forty years. He looks relaxed in the live partnership with Brinsley Schwarz, but I suspect that the best is still to come with the reformed Rumour promoting “Mystery Glue” which is out on Monday May 18. You can also hear him doing a guest vocal on the new Stone Foundation album “A Life Unlimited” which is released in the UK in August this year.

It’s three days in to the 2023 High Fives and we thought it was time to let Allan off the leash for his first contribution this year. Here are some of his reminiscences on gigs and artists old and new with a few photos as well. As you can tell from Allan’s introduction, every year has its losses as well as gains.

I’m rapidly approaching my fiftieth anniversary of gig-going and 2023 has been a year where the old and the new have frequently crossed paths as I’ve navigated the London gig scene. Before I get on to the positive stuff, there’s one loss we’ve suffered this year that really hurt. My love of live music kicked off when I was a student in Dundee between 1976 and 1980. One of the bands I saw there was the Scottish soul band Cado Belle. Maggie Reilly was an astonishing singer, but I was blown away by guitar player Alan Darby and his astonishing work on the tone poem ‘September’. The band split after one album and Alan did many things (including working on the door of a Covent Garden club managed by a friend of mine) before finally establishing himself as a guitar player and musical director with Lulu, Van Morrison and Les McKeown before going on to work in The Dominion production of ‘We Will Rock You’. A few years ago, courtesy of the wonderful Artie Zaitz, I wangled an invite for myself and my old mate (and Music Riot contributor) Steve Jenner to meet Alan at Chelsea Arts Club after a Guitars Deluxe performance. He was a lovely guy and he lost his battle with cancer earlier this year. Thankfully, we still have his music. Apologies for starting with a sad story, but those memories are as important as the happy ones, which are coming at you in chronological order.

Pin Drop Sessions @Caddy’s Southend (February 2023)

Have you ever been in Southend on a Friday night in February? It’s cold; it’s bloody cold, but I was going to see the brilliant Phil Burdett for the first time in 2023. It was a chance to see a new venue, have a beer or two with Phil and local bass maestro Martin Cutmore and grab a few pictures. So why is it called ‘Pin Drop Sessions’? It’s back to the old school; a small room, no PA and only acoustic instruments. No soundchecks, turn up and play to an audience that wants to hear music and doesn’t want to talk through the performances. You could literally hear a pin drop.

I’ve seen Phil Burdett performing many times over the last ten years as a singer-songwriter, author and poet and he’s always worth watching, never more so than in this intimate setting. It was perfect for Phil’s tales of Essex.

On this night, the new (for me) was Isabel Inkcap, who was totally engaging as she delivered her folk-inspired songs to a rapt audience. She’s a genuine talent who wins over the audience by sheer presence before she even starts to play either guitar or banjo. She also gifted me a great photo opportunity after a lengthy tuning session when it was obvious she was going to react somehow. I couldn’t have hoped for a better reaction.

Frankie Miller’s Full House @The 100 Club 30^th May 2023

In more ways than one, this comes back to Steve Jenner again. The first band that we saw together at Dundee University was Frankie Miller’s Full House. The blend of rock and soul and Frankie’s incredible voice blew us away; live music was never the same after that. Frankie’s band included a guitar player I’d never seen before, who went on to become hugely respected in the music business as a player and a historian; his name’s Ray Minhinnett. Frankie worked with various musicians live and on record before a brain aneurysm in 1994 ended his musical career. He’s doing fairly well now after all the trauma and the beautiful thing is that his legacy is still intact and his fans still want to hear those songs, which is where Steve Jenner comes back into the picture.

Early in 2023, Steve saw a reconstituted Full House (led by Ray Minhinnett and fronted by singer Gregor MacGregor). He pointed me in their direction and in May 2023 I got the chance to shoot Full House at The 100 Club. Frankie Miller was a one-off, but Gregor MacGregor has the Scottish voice to tackle Frankie’s songs with restraint and power in equal measure (and he’s a lovely bloke). A good night was had by everyone and the 1970s worked pretty well in the 2020s.

Southside Johnny @Shepherd’s Bush Empire 7th July 2023

It was a “Will he, won’t he” gig. The talk in the pubs around Shepherd’s Bush Green on the day was about whether Bruce Springsteen might make a guest appearance between his two Hyde Park gigs on the 6^th and the 8^th. He didn’t, but my mate and guitar player extraordinaire, Jim Maving did bump into the E Street Band bass player Garry Tallent at the gig. Bruce or no Bruce, I never miss a Southside show because you never know when the next one will be. I’ve been a Southside fan for nearly fifty years and I’ve been lucky enough to meet and interview him a few times and photograph him loads of times. I got really lucky this time. In the past, I’ve missed a few great photo opportunities because of the house policy of checking in all pro gear backstage after the first three songs – that didn’t apply this time and I got to shoot from the auditorium for the rest of the set and caught some cracking shots.

I’ve written about Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes before and I’m fairly certain I’ll write about them again. There’s a magic that happens when you take eight world-class musicians and give them the opportunity to express themselves within the framework of four-minute songs; you should all take the opportunity experience it.

Folk in the Park Sutton 19^th August 2023

If you haven’t met Hannah White and Keiron Marshall, you really should. They’re both incredibly talented but they’re the nicest people you could ever wish to meet and they care passionately about music, about the environment and people in general. Hannah’s songwriting is always powerful and sometimes visceral (‘Car Crash’ is a great example) and Keiron shapes the arrangements and production for her songs bringing in all sorts of musicians, including Michelle Stodart to back Hannah live and in the studio.

In 2022, they put together a festival in Manor Park, Sutton which was reasonably successful and decided to expand it in 2023 with more well-known and acclaimed and artists. I would have supported the event whoever was on the bill, but Hannah and Keiron excelled themselves, pulling in appearances from the legendary Nick Lowe (who I saw at my first gig when he played with Brinsley Schwarz) and Iain Matthews (whose album, ‘Stealing Home’, I bought in 1980 on blue vinyl and I’ve loved ever since). And they had Del Amitri topping the bill. Oh, and Hannah made an appearance with her band as well.

I’ve followed Hannah’s career for a few years now and it’s been a revelation to see genuine talent being recognised critically and commercially. Bring on 2024.

Stone Foundation 25^th Anniversary tour

You’ve already read me rattling on about working with one of my teenage musical heroes; I think Neil Sheasby of Stone Foundation trumps me on this one. Neil was a fan of The Jam from their earliest days and, as Stone Foundation gathered momentum through the 21^st century, they picked up a celebrity fan, Paul Weller, who went on to collaborate with them, produce their albums at Black Barn Studios and guest on a few of their gigs.

Forgive me for listing the band members, but Stone Foundation is a team effort and the core of the band has been together now for twenty-five years. Here we go: Neil Jones (vocals/guitar), Neil Sheasby (bass), Phil Ford (drums), Ian Arnold (keys), Rob Newton (percussion), Steve Trigg (trumpet and fluegelhorn), Dave Boraston (trumpet and fluegelhorn) and Anthony Gaylard (saxophone). They’re an incredibly tight soul unit and Neil Jones once told me that having the horn section on stage was like wearing a suit of armour.

I’ve been a fan for over ten years and this year they celebrated their 25^th anniversary with a UK tour that wound up with two nights at Islington Assembly Hall. They were supported by the wonderful Emily Capell (check out her album ‘Combat Frock’), DJ Robert Elms and had guest appearances from Mick Talbot, Graham Parker, Laville and Paul Weller over the two nights. If you want a validation of their work, I think that does it.

After almost fifty years of watching live music, it’s fabulous to pick out five gigs that really got the juices flowing. Just keep it coming, everyone.

Here we go again. It’s time for High Fives 2023 and it’s traditional to kick off the feature with a contribution from Neil Sheasby of Stone Foundation. It’s a major anniversary on two counts – Neil’s been contributing to this feature for ten years now, and Stone Foundation have just completed their twenty-fifth anniversary tour, finishing off with a triumphant two nights at Islington Assembly Hall with special guests Emily Capell, Graham Parker, Laville, Mick Talbot and Paul Weller. And I know Neil mentions this at the end of the piece, but he’s also published his second book, ‘Bass Notes’, this year, giving a warts’n’all view of life on the road with an eight-piece soul band. Here’s Neil’s thoughts on this year, in no particular order:

Talking Heads Talking! – 

Something that seemed so implausible a few years ago but here we are in 2023 and they have been united again for the re-release of the ‘Stop Making Sense’ film. I’ve always felt there’s been unfinished business and I live in hope of a new album and possibly some tour dates. It just made me re-appraise that amazing back catalogue. 

Sly Stone book – Thank you (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) – 

All the wonder, excess and car crash material that you’d expect from a Sly Stone memoir 

Hard to believe he’s still here to tell his story. 

It’s kind of tragic and bittersweet but he was THE originator, look at them at Woodstock, bringing the heavy duty funk as early as 1969! 

Another great page turner was Kevin Armstrong’s ‘Absolute Beginners’ book, his experience as being a sideman to the stars (Bowie, Iggy) it’s full of amazing stories. 

The new Two Tone book by Daniel Rachel ‘Too Much Too Young’ is wonderful too, it digs in and unearths some interesting perspectives, it’ll make you play all those records again too.

It truly was a remarkable period. 

Album of the year? – 

I have to say whilst I heard a lot of songs that caught my attention, I don’t think it’s been a vintage year for the album. 

I’d have to plump for Blur’s ‘The Ballad of Darren’ as my most played record of ‘23 along with ‘Lotus Glow’ by Adi Oasis 

Closely followed by ‘Silver’ by Say She She, a modern soul dancer that doesn’t fall foul of the cliches and pastiche (great live too – check ‘em out!) 

I also loved Chris Thompson’s writing and work on his new Bathers record ‘Sirenesque’. It’s such an eloquent, poetic, beautiful album. 

Chris is a genius. 

The return of Galliano – 

I was overjoyed to witness the return of Galliano this year, naturally I felt I couldn’t miss their London show at Village Underground. I was kind of nervous about it though as they were one of my favourite live bands of the 90’s, I saw them tons of times, always an uplifting, joyous experience. 

The 2023 model were every bit as fabulous. 

There’s a new album in the works for next year too. Positive vibes abound… I’ll dig my beads out. 

SF 25th Anniversary celebrations – 

I’m hesitant to big up ourselves but I have to admit that 2023 and the 25th anniversary of Stone Foundation has felt like a special milestone and something I should not be guilty of feeling proud of. 

The gigs have been tremendous, the crowds have been amazing. It’s been my favourite tour thus far and I myself am celebrating 40 years of making noise in bands. 

I was also pleased to get my D/S/P project off the ground, it was lovely to create music with my son Lowell and my old sparring partner Nick Read, we received some positive vibes back from those tunes. 

So along with the release of my tour diary book “Bass Notes” I’d say it’s been a very productive year. 

Two years after their debut ‘Just Beyond the Shine’, Peach & Quiet are back with another bunch of great songs aided and abetted by producer and guitarist extraordinaire Steve Dawson. The album continues where the debut left off with some gorgeous Americana/country rock/blues stylings with a few influences creeping in from the background of the duo Jonny Miller and Heather Reed. Our review of their debut referenced the usual Laurel Canyon influences but ‘Beautiful Thing’ pulls in some slightly rockier influences like seventies Fleetwood Mac (or particularly Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks) and a lot of that’s down to Steve Dawson’s production and playing with layers of guitars from resonators through electrics to pedal steel.

The gentle title track sets the tone for the album; its country feel with those guitar layers, lovely harmonies and Jonny Miller’s slightly raspy vocal are things that you hear in varying degrees throughout the album. As an added bonus (for me, anyway), the song opens with one of my favourite chord progressions, falling from the tonic to the subdominant. Want to know why I like this progression? It features in two of my favourite songs, ‘These Days’ by Jackson Browne and Graham Parker’s ’Watch the Moon Come Down’. And honestly, speaking as a mediocre guitarist, it’s easy to play and sounds good.

With a title ‘Horse and Saddle’ you’d be expecting a country arrangement; that would be too predictable. Jonny’s dad is a reggae DJ and he was brought up around reggae musicians, so the influence was always going to come out somewhere. Heather’s dad was a Hammond player and Hammond’s very much in evidence on the slow blues of ‘This Time’, the rock vibe of ‘Behind the Sun’ with a nod in the direction of Crazy Horse and ‘Pockets Empty’, the story of a relationship with a charismatic psychopath.

At a time when temperatures are heading below zero again, ‘Beautiful Thing’ brings a welcome splash of California sunshine with its infectious melodies, exquisite harmonies and perfect arrangements, balancing multiple guitar parts with piano and Hammond to create perfect settings for Jonny and Heather’s solo and duet vocals. Summer feels a long way away at the moment, but this album brings it a bit closer.

‘Beautiful Thing’ is released on Peach & Quiet Music (P&QCD002) on 20^th January 2023.

Here’s a live video of ‘This Time’:

We like to try something different now and again. It’s the challenge. Allan, as we probably know likes a challenge, which gig photography always provides. This year, as new connections have been made with artists and managers, opportunities have come up to try a few other things away from stage performance. And why not? Over to Allan.

Eleni (Echo Wants her Voice Back) Camden Chapel soundcheck

I’ve photographed Eleni a few times over the last few years and she’s a joy to shoot. Her face is always animated and her wardrobe is always striking. And the music – it’s a mixture of pop, r’n’b and Hellenic Noir and it’s very dramatic. Add to that Eleni’s striking and powerful voice and some unusual arrangements and you have a potent mix. When she played the intimate Talentbanq venue The Camden Chapel in January this year, I turned up for the soundcheck to grab a few shots in a fairly relaxed environment. Even at a soundcheck, Eleni’s still a performer.

Nicky (Morganway) 229 Soundcheck

Another Talentbanq gig at a slightly bigger venue than The Chapel. This one was a celebration of Talentbanq’s fifth birthday and Morganway, one of my favourite bands, was playing so it was an opportunity for a catch-up and another chance to shoot an incredibly dynamic band in action. Soundchecks, apart from the full band run-through, can be a bit tedious for band and onlookers alike but there can be some gold there if you keep looking for it. Nicky (Nicole J Terry) is Morganway’s violinist (or fiddle player, however you call it). On stage she’s a bundle of pure energy, playing, singing and dancing as if her life depended on it. After doing a quick line check for her violin and vocals, Nicky took an opportunity to relax as the stage light were being set up. She was completely relaxed, which would have made a nice photo, but I was able to line the shot up with a light shining from directly behind, which really made it ping.

The Slacksons, Hanwell Hootie post-gig

I’ve shot The Slacksons a few times now as well. Their crowd-pleasing blend of samples and live instruments with Mikey and Andy out front pinballing around the stage make them a great live attraction. I first met the band through one of those weird music business coincidences – their manager has the same name as my sister, so obviously when we connected on social media, I thought my sister’s account had been hacked. So I ended up shooting a few of the band’s gigs including their appearance at he Hanwell Hootie this summer. We decided to do some post-gig pictures which involved about two minutes shooting and forty-five minutes rounding up the band. I liked this shot with their manager making an appearance as well.

Kat ‘Liar, Liar’ video shoot

Kat, like Eleni, is a singer-songwriter and actor (also a radio presenter). I’ve shot a few of her gigs and got an invite to do some behind-the-scenes photos at the shoot for the video of her single ‘Liar, Liar’ in April. Not something I’d done before but I’m always ready to take on something new. If I’m honest, it’s a bit like a soundcheck, you just keep your eyes open for anything interesting, keep out of shot and don’t cast any shadows on the shot. Kat’s another person I love to photograph, mainly because the results are always good. You can probably see what I mean.

Lyndon Morgans & Phil Burdett, St Pancras Old Church

Bit of a change of style here. I’ve known Phil for a few years now and he introduced me to Lyndon (Songdog) just before the plague. When I heard about this gig I was really pleased because I haven’t shot Lyndon before. Only one problem, I already had gig that night, shooting Stone Foundation and Graham Parker at Koko. Fortunately the two venues are only a few minutes apart and the Stone Foundation gig had an early curfew so I had a swift walk over to SPOC to catch the end of Lyndon’s set. We went back to The Green Room to speak to Lyndon and the obvious photo opportunity came up. Here’s one of the results.

A couple of bonuses

Here’s a couple that are almost gig photos. After Kat’s launch party for the ‘Liar,Liar’ gig at Piano, the band was so up that I had to try to capture the moment. The Morganway shot, from the same gig as the earlier shot of Nicky was planned in advance because I’d always wanted to take one of those shots at the end of a gig from the drum riser. The lighting wasn’t ideal and there was too much smoke bit I still like the moment the photo captures.

It’s a bit of a momentous occasion; it’s the tenth birthday of High Fives and it’s also the first year of proper post-COVID gigs. That has to be worth celebrating, so we thought we would celebrate with a look back at some of the artists that Allan has photographed for the first time this year. Some of them are artists that he’s seen for the first time in 2022, but some of them have a story that stretches back a few years (OK, a lot of years). We’ll leave it to Allan to tell you about his photographic selections.

I’ve learnt over the years that you can never predict the way things will play out in the music business. Here’s a good example; the very first proper gig I saw was at Mansfield Civic Theatre in 1974 and the headliners were Brinsley Schwarz. I’ll never forget it because there was a stage invasion by a gang of Hell’s Angels which was beaten away by the road crew and the band (particularly Nick Lowe); it took a while to realise that gigs weren’t always like that. A few years later, I had photographed all of the Brinsleys in various incarnations with Graham Parker and Rockpile, except Brinsley himself. Fast forward four decades and a photo that I shot of Martin Belmont playing with Graham Parker and the Goldtops is used to publicise a Bob Collum gig that features a guest appearance by Brinsley Schwarz trying out new material and I get an invite to the gig and the opportunity to tell Brinsley why the stage invasion happened nearly fifty years ago and also get a chance to grab a backstage candid shot of Brinsley, Martin and Graham.

It’s another Seventies memory. One of the two football teams I grew up supporting was Mansfield Town, because I lived there from 1968 (the other’s East Fife, if you’re interested). In 1975, the DJ at Field Mill played Randy Edelman’s brilliant cover of Unit Four Plus Two’s ‘Concrete and Clay’ before every game; it was a pop classic and perfect football terrace material. It was followed up in 1976 with ‘Uptown, Uptempo Woman’ and I was completely sold. Randy then went on to write scores for incredibly successful movies. Fast forward again to 2022 and live music promoter Tony Moore tells me about a new club he’s booking artists for (The Camden Club) and that Randy Edelman is doing a free gig there. I’m already on it even before I find out that Isabella Coulstock is doing a support set. Anyway, I get to hear a great version of ‘Concrete and Clay’ and grab a few shots of Mr Edelman. Job done.

In June this year, I was shooting a gig at The Camden Chapel. The wonderful Say Anise was headlining and had invited Frankie Morrow along as support. The Chapel’s one of those gigs where I like to grab a few soundcheck shots as insurance because the lighting can be a bit challenging during gigs. During the soundcheck I had a chat with Frankie and, as fellow Scots, we got on pretty well. She turned in a storming solo set as support to Say Anise and I was hooked. Frankie told me about upcoming full-band gigs to promote her new EP and I was all fired up to photograph her with the full band before COVID got in the way and the gig was pushed back to November. It was no surprise that the band gig was stunning when it finally took place at The Sebright Arms a few days ago. Frankie’s definitely one to watch for 2023.

I’d heard lots of good things about Jenny Colquitt this year but, because of gig clashes, I didn’t manage to see her play until November when she played a headline set at Green Note supported by Simon James. Everything I’d heard about her was absolutely right; Jenny has great songs, her guitar and piano backing are both spot on and her voice has tremendous power even though she was recovering from a heavy cold and felt that her voice is only at about seventy per cent. I can’t wait to hear it at a hundred when she does the band tour next year.

Last, but definitely not least, in the list of this year’s discoveries is Amy Taylor. At the end of April, I went to a So Live Sessions showcase at Escape Bar in Dalston, mainly to catch up with Cloudy Galvez who was recovering from long COVID and gradually rebuilding her live career. If you do a lot of showcases, you see a lot of bands and it’s easy to get a bit blasé about supporting artists. Amy Taylor wasn’t about to let that happen and it was her original material that made an instant impact; she’s a gifted songwriter. She’s also a classically-trained pianist who also plays guitar and she’s only been singing publicly since the start of this year. Anyway, I was totally blown away by Amy’s soulful songs and powerful vocals and I’ve been telling people about her ever since that gig. I would love to say that I spotted the reflection of the earring on Amy’s cheekbone that completes the picture, but I didn’t spot that until it was on the 28” monitor.  I’ve seen her several times since then in all sorts of venues and she’s nailed it every time. You should give her a listen; I suspect she’ll be doing a lot of gigs in 2023.