FIFTY3FRIDAYS: BEYOND THE FRINGE
Moving away from South West London to rural Surrey means that there are not quite as many live music venues within reasonable reach so it was a great pleasure to discover the Haslemere Fringe Festival on our doorstep here. I wrote a bit about this bi-annual event two weeks ago and today’s music selection will begin with acts I saw for the first time at the festival. It is a family-friendly, not-for-profit enterprise led by volunteers, with any monies raised going to support H
22 hours ago
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: ALL OF A SUDDEN BY PARK HILLS CIRCLE
A change of format this week as we focus on the new album by the recent Fifty3Fridays favourite, Park Hills Circle. Hopefully you will already recognise the name as the project of multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Maris O'Tierney. With distinctive Alaskan-Irish heritage and a background as a classical guitarist and soprano, Maris previously worked with her twin sister, violinist and poet Bryce, in the duo Maeve & Quinn. Now based in Chicago as a solo artist, she brings
Jul 17
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: FRESH FAVES, FOOTIE & FESTIVALS
All the F’s this week and we won’t include Farage in that. It was a busy start with Sunday at Haslemere Fringe Festival and then my turn to write the reviews for the latest Fresh On The Net Fresh Faves the next day. In between the two, there was Mexico v England. I decided to stay up for it, started to do a bit of research on the Faves to avoid wall-to-wall punditry and finally switched the TV on just before 1am to find a relaxed Thomas Tuchel being interviewed. Once I twigge
Jul 10
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: BACK FROM THE BREAK
So, after a two week break in beautiful Croatia, we are back ready to re-engage your synaesthesia with a tuneful selection of songs that otherwise I might have featured in the past fortnight. I have also picked 12 bonus tracks representing some of my favourites from recent Fresh On The Net submissions to add to the monthly F3F Spotify Playlist and compensate for missing two weeks in June. You’ll find that at the end of today’s issue. Warning: I am not mentioning the football
Jul 3
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: LIVE AT THE BEDFORD – TUES 22 SEPTEMBER
It might be over 3 months away but I am pleased to announce that we are back at The Bedford. The iconic venue in downtown Balham, SW London is an enduring, welcoming space for independent music with its signature circular-shaped gig room, superb sound system and internet live broadcasts. It is a venue to which people come to listen rather than talk over the music and are encouraged to stay for the whole show. On Tuesday 22 September, we have a great line-up at a special Fifty
Jun 12
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: IT MUST BE JUNE
If I had a pint for everyone who has grimly announced that summer is now over, I would be fully under the table. After the heat of late May comes the rain in early June and a welcome drop in temperature for anyone struggling to sleep. Those visiting small live music venues without air con may also be slightly relieved to say nothing of those who otherwise would be sweating it out on stage and regretting wearing the leather trousers. All of which has little to do with today’s
Jun 5
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: BELLA, BELLA, BELLA HUH!
You may have spotted that I did not publish anything last Friday. Having devoted a few column inches to Eurovision 2026 the previous week, you might have reasonably surmised that I had to keep a low profile after describing what transpired to be the winning entry, “Bangaranga” from Bulgaria’s Dara (pictured above), as truly awful. (Sorry Dara). Yet again your ashen-faced scribe did not trouble the Eurovision bookies as my taste in music is clearly poles apart from that of the
May 29
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: EUROVISION NONSENSE
Photo of Look Mum No Computer © EBU / Sarah Louise Bennett On the eve of Eurovision 2026 I thought I would top and tail this week’s tome with a little song contest nonsense. I am never quite sure whether it is considered cool to admit you actually watch, and even relish, this annual pop culture spectacular but I go way back to the days of Katie Boyle who first presented it for the BBC in 1960. In those days it was all ballgowns and tuxedos. Today we have the UK entrant, Sam B
May 15
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: THE EIGHTH OF MAY
Today is indeed the eighth of May; a date on which all Motörfans are urged to turn up the volume to celebrate the loudest day of the year, Motörhead Day! Anyone in for the long haul might even recall that I last wrote about this landmark in 2021, then almost 40 years since Motörhead released its seminal live album No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith. That’s now ticked on to 45 years and sadly in March guitarist Phil Campbell passed away to join Lemmy in the choir invisible. We close th
May 8
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: MUSIC TO YOUR EARS
I combine writing this weekly tome with listening to the week’s music submissions to Fresh On The Net, the independent music blog founded by Tom Robinson and now helmed by Del Osei-Owusu. I am one of a small team of moderators who nominate our favourite entries from all those submitted that week, resulting in a Listening Post totalling 25 tracks. Readers then lend their own ears and vote for their five favourite tracks. The 10 tunes receiving the most votes become the week’s
May 3
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: REMEMBERING SANDY AND DAVE
While this column chiefly focuses on new music largely from independent and grassroots artists, at times we also recognise a past legend or celebrate an anniversary closer to the world of mainstream music. Today, we mark the passing of two of my favourite artists of all time: Sandy Denny who we fondly remember this week and the remarkable Dave Mason who died on Sunday, aged 79. Tuesday 21 April marked 48 years since the tragic, untimely death of Sandy Denny, whose wonderful w
Apr 24
FIFTY3FRIDAYS: KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Getting on for 12 years ago, I had the pleasure of attending a showcase for four disparate acts from the Bella Union stable at the acoustically blessed sanctum of London’s Union Chapel. Memories of that evening came to mind when I read about the independent label’s latest signing. The common link is family; the artists that evening were fulsome in their appreciation of Bella Union and each time the record label was name-checked there was warm audience applause too. It felt l
Apr 17
