rivers2cross

My first trip to the Northcoat Music Centre in Abingdon last night to see the Carol Hodge Band. It’s a terrific little venue and well within striking distance of my home in Reading. Carol is a wonderful singer songwriter and in recent times, after 25 years of performing, has taken the plunge into making this her full-time career. She will soon be releasing her 5th album, and has put together the Carol Hodge Band to go out on the road.

Last night was live music at it’s absolute best. The band were amazing and the songs were taken to another level live. I always feel that I want to leave a gig having seen something different and dare I say more than just a sound that replicates a CD, and Carol and the band more than did that last night. Not only is Carol a brilliant musician, but she brings a wonderful theatrical side to her performances, which just adds to the live experience. The band was tight and they obviously get on really well together from the banter and chemistry on stage.

I hadn’t seen Carol in person since before the pandemic, so it was really nice to have a brief catch up with her afterwards. I managed to pick up a copy of her new album ahead of its official release, plus the obligatory t-shirt and a mug! For those of you who don’t know, Carol has been a terrific supporter of my fundraising and my own music. A great source of inspiration and encouragement. She recorded the genius version of Goodbye Farewell for the charity bowel cancer EP I released a couple of years ago following the passing of Kelly Smith. Last night Carol insisted on donating to my fundraising in spite of my protests, so I will be adding that to the music pot for Bowel Cancer UK, Love Hope Strength and The Bowel Movement x

It’s really important to support live artists and these small live venues at the moment. We need to keep them going during these tough times. Buying merchandise from artists is so important and enables artists like Carol to continue to take her band on the road. I’ve spoken a lot about streaming at the moment with the current Fields of Dawn Reflections EP, but the bottom line is that it takes 5,000 streams to make the same amount for a band as selling one t-shirt does. Fields of Dawn over the last 12 months has had around 3,000 streams, so it’s not hard to do the maths.

If you get the chance to see the Carol Hodge Band play live then I can’t recommend them highly enough. You will not be disappointed x

Carol was actually playing the support slot for Sarah Borges & Eric Ambel, whose set was good old fashioned Americana rock and roll, which is something that I haven’t really seen much of live before. They were totally new to me and were absolutely excellent. Sarah and Eric took it in turns to play songs from their vast back catalogues and both of them providing fun and amusing anecdotes in between songs. Certainly a band well worth checking out.