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.
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:
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:
