Gigs

Live music from across the region...

Alina Bzhezhinska & The Hip Harp Collective

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thurs 8 December

Internationally acclaimed harpist & composer Alina Bzhezhinska uses layered effects and electronics to create a unique sound that pays homage to some of jazz, funk and hip-hop’s greatest innovators. The 2018 winner of the PRS Women Make Music award, and widely admired for her innovative approach to musicmaking, Ukraine-born Alina is laserfocused on achieving her stated aim of bringing the harp to the forefront of contemporary music. She’s joined for this concert by her band, the Hip Harp Collective.

Cara Dillon

Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Thurs 8 December

With childhood musical influences including retro folk artists Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell, as well as the pop music listened to by her older sisters, it took Cara Dillon a little while to decide that she was happiest singing the traditional Irish songs with which she’d grown up. Having come to that conclusion, she then set off on a journey which has established her as one of the UK’s finest female vocalists, developing a style that blends her traditional sound with contemporary elements. Cara’s Huntingdon Hall show, Upon A Winter’s Night, features ‘a collection of songs ancient and modern’ which aims to ‘capture the mystery of Christmas’.

Gigs

The Overtones

The Rialto, Coventry, Thurs 1 December

Vocal harmony group The Overtones were working together as painters & decorators when they were discovered by a Warner Brothers scout, who heard them singing during their tea break. A multi-album deal was subsequently secured with the record label. Blending ’50s harmonies with modern pop, their debut offering featured a number of original tracks which the boys themselves had written (including first single Gambling Man and title track Good Ol’ Fashioned Love). Numerous TV appearances have followed in the ensuing years, with slots on shows such as Dancing On Ice and Britain’s Got More Talent ensuring they’ve remained very much in the public eye.

Luna Kiss

Tin Music & Arts, Coventry, Sat 3 December

Alternative rock band Luna Kiss hail from Coventry, take their influences from right across the music spectrum, and next year celebrate their 10th anniversary. Bringing a real grit and energy to their unique version of rock & roll, the talented four-piece’s debut album, Following Shadows, was memorably described by Classic Rock magazine as being ‘broodingly gnarly’.

The Chameleons

hmv Empire, Coventry, Wed 7 December

An atmospheric guitar-based sound combined with passionate lyrics is the musical calling card of the considerably underrated Chameleons, whose relative lack of significant commercial success must surely have been made up for, at least in part, by their acquisition of a hugely loyal and ever-growing fanbase. The Manchester band visit Coventry this month some 41 years after first coming together.

Izzie Derry

Temperance, Leamington Spa, Thurs 22 December

Coventry singer-songwriter Izzie Derry’s musical career started eight years ago with a performance at an open-mic event in her home city. Since then she’s performed headline shows all over the UK and supported artists including Olly Murs and Fairport Convention. Taking her inspiration from 1960s icons Joni Mitchell and Carole King (and having once been described as ‘the love child of Laura Marling and Alanis Morissette’!), Izzie creates and sings strong, soulful and uplifting songs that capture the spirit of what it means to be a young woman in the modern world.