High Barn Records

ALONEME

AloneMe is the finely-tuned songwriting partnership of singer Sarah Springett and singer/guitarist David Booth, plus highly respected drummer/programmer Simon Edgoose and hugely talented singer/multi-instrumentalist Liz Townsend.

The band has gigged constantly since their inception in 2003, with hundreds of gigs from London to Dublin and all points in between. The hard work has paid off and their reputation as a must-see live band continues to grow.

Between June 2006 and Feb 2007, the band spent time at the Loft Studios, Liverpool, with sought-after producer Nigel Stonier (Thea Gilmore, Brian Houston, Rod Clements...) and with financial support from the Arts Council’s Escalator Project. The result of these sessions - Sketch - is the band's first full studio album, comprising 10 outstanding tracks showcasing the trademark AloneMe strengths of fine songwriting, cutting lyrics, killer harmonies and classic pop hooks.

With a fantastic album up their sleeves, a loyal and ever expanding fan base, and momentum building with label High Barn Records on board, 2008 will surely see AloneMe make the kind of breakthrough they've deserved all along.

"A confident and instant collection… surely mainstream radio play awaits.” (Keith Ames, Musician Magazine)
"Worthy of considerable success...the potential here is huge" (Elton Townend-Jones, Music-Zine)

THE BAND
Sarah Springett - vox
David Booth - guitar & vox
Simon Edgoose - drums, percussion & programming
Liz Townsend - piano, cello & vox

http://www.myspace.com/aloneme

BASSISTRY

THE BAND

Marcel Pusey studied Jazz at Western Australia Conservatorium and is a Composer, Musical Director and Bass Player. Marcel founded and plays the Electric Bass in the band - he is the inspiration behind and composer of all the music. The music all starts from the bass and Marcel's phatt bass lines are the compositional tool and foundation to Bassistry's unique eclectic sound!

Duncan 'Dunkthetrump' Mckay's unique ethereal trumpet tones have been heard with so many, Bootsy Collins, Tom Jones, Incognito, Richard Ashcroft, The Chemical Brothers, All Saints, Tina Turner, and he survived working with Primal Scream for 5 years.

Sam Blue, is one of London's scariest young drummers. He has grown up playing the break-beats of hip-hop, Gospel music in church, yet being influenced by his love of R&B, fusion and Jazz. He was born with 'the groove' and plays like that's all he's known. He plays with the Denis Rollins Band.

Alex Bennett on keyboards is one of the city's most exciting players. Why? Because he can groove in any style. He understands the groove. You can track him down playing jazz at the Pizza Express London with singing legend Ian Shaw or supporting Patti Labelle playing soul at the Hammersmith Apollo, doing the pop gigs. He does it all.

Katy Seath and Nicola Bull are two of the countries brightest & beautiful young talents. They represent the evolving, serious female vocal talent learning and plying their trade through the influence of the great singers. They're young, hungry, raw and talented. Their desire to explore, and learn, means they both have a huge future.

Jamie Trowell is a highly versatile and experienced percussionist/drummer whose solid, funky yet tasteful playing has recently seen him perform at venues such as Ronnie Scott`s, the Shepherd`s Bush Empire and Royal Festival Hall with various artists including latin-funk band Motimba and the Sahara jazz quartet. During the cruel winter months Jamie can often be found living the good life in the sunny Caribbean, working in the showband on cruise ships.

Jules Faife a rare breed of guitarist who has no problem playing the one note if required. Jules can effortlessly switch from laying down the funk, cranking up the rock licks or playing soothing African motifs. He's a guitarist with a beautiful touch.

MARINA FLORANCE

Marina Florance has been writing songs since her early teens, but didn’t begin performing her own work in earnest until 2004. Those three short years in the public eye have brought her critical acclaim, a string of sell-out gigs, and a prestigious slot at the Cambridge Strawberry Fair folk festival. Now comes an important recording deal; Marina is one of the outstanding debut acts for new acoustic label, High Barn Records, with her memorable album ‘Somewhere Down The Line.’

Marina came late to the folk and country traditions, the soundtrack to her upbringing in north London was soul and reggae. “It was really later on in life that I came across people like Nanci Griffith, Alison Krauss and John Prine,” she explains. “I listen to a lot of different music”. What has emerged is a musical style that she describes as “modern folk which sometimes crosses other borders”.

Listeners will be impressed by the maturity and emotional honesty of the fourteen tracks on Somewhere Down The Line’, where Marina’s direct and heartfelt vocal style provides the perfect medium for a set of deceptively simple songs about complex feelings. And early influences remain in the album’s mix. One of the many stand-out tracks is the reggae-tinged Friday Night, a collaboration with her daughter, Alison.

Marina has a hectic schedule of gigs and is busy promoting her song, Side By Side, which is fast becoming an anthem in local schools. She will also release a single, in Spring 2008.

‘Somewhere Down The Line’ is available now at record shops, on amazon.co.uk and play.com, and for download at iTunes. Tracks from the album have gained airplay on BBC Easter counties on Sue Marchant’s show, and radio stations in Norfolk.

http://www.myspace.com/marinaflorance

PAUL BULLEN
Paul is High Barn's local boy. Having grown up just a few miles from the venue and studio, he was surrounded by musicians and musical instruments from an early age. By the time he reached 16, he was already an accomplished pianist, drummer and guitarist. The musical environment continued during and after college when Paul moved to London to work on such TV shows as CD:UK. T4 and Fame Academy.

Whilst being surrounded by some of the biggest names in music, Paul frequently returned home to record his own song ideas and, years later, these eventually culminated in his debut album 'Let The Night Roll In'. During his late teens, Paul spent time living in California and later travelled to Africa. A number of songs on the album show how these experiences influenced his writing. Californian influences can be heard in such upbeat songs as 'Bygone Days ' and 'Santa Cruz' whilst more percussive tracks like 'This Is The World' and 'You By Me' have a distinctively African feel.

That this album took so long to produce is testament to the incredible effort Paul has put into it. Not only did he write, engineer and produce the album himself, but he also played all the instruments (from guitar, drums and piano to bass, djembe, bull roar and accordion). He also took the photographs for the album sleeve.

http://www.myspace.com/paulbullen

RYAN MYDDLETON

Ryan Myddleton was born and raised in Maidstone, Kent. When his family moved to an isolated pocket of idyllic Somerset at age 12, Ryan found he had time on his hands and no concrete at his feet, thus he abandoned his beloved skateboard and picked up an old battered school guitar. It was his school music teacher who first noticed in Ryan’s voice a twang of Americana and piled upon him a collection of well-used James Taylor LPs. Surrounded by rolling countryside, sunny beach life, rainy beach life, a colourful variety of musicians and free-thinking folk, Ryan became engrossed in the guitar and in the art of song composition.

As a young man Ryan was writing and performing on a regular basis, and strong musical alliances with Duncan MacKay (bass guitar) and James Cross (drums) were formed. He went on to study performance in London where he met Ed Sheldrake (piano) and began to hone his songwriting craft. Influenced by the work of John Martyn, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Ben Harper, as much as by the people and situation around him, Ryan began to carve out a solo singer/songwriter career for himself. He travelled around Spain with his guitar and for a good period made a living on the streets of Barcelona as a night-busker.

In 2002 he recorded his first demo album, As I Stand, and went on to perform these songs to audiences large and small all over the UK. He settled in European Capital of Culture - the city of Liverpool, and in 2006 began to busk, borrow and car-boot his life away in order to begin recording a full-length album. Recruiting the assistance of old friends Duncan MacKay, James Cross and Ed Sheldrake, Ryan went about recording his collection of recent songs.

In 2007 Ryan signed to High Barn Records and soon after the completed album ‘The Road’ was released. Tracks from the album have since featured on various UK radio shows, the title track becoming BBC Radio Leeds MP3 of the week, and can even be heard regularly at Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC, during the half-time interval! Once a solo performer, Ryan now increasingly appears with his gifted band of troubadours at venues across the UK. His success is growing and even stretching as far as Germany, Australia, the USA and Canada.

http://www.myspace.com/ryanmyddleton

SONGS FROM THE BLUE HOUSE

In 2002, James Partridge and Shane Kirk, sometime creative collaborators and band cohorts who had not made music with each other (or indeed, in James’ case, at all) for a decade, decided that it was time to stop saying, “we really must get together and write some songs sometime”, and to get together and write some songs. Which they did.

It was meant to be very simple - just two chaps with acoustic guitars, telling stories. The resulting songs were kind of bluegrassy, but sort of folky, and then again a bit country.

Then it just grew. First, ‘Gibbon’ was roped in, to add not just bass lines, but his own unique feel for melody, harmonies and arrangement as well as brass. One of the songs,
Let’s do it Country, needed a female voice for a verse, so Helen stepped in – and refused to leave, especially once she’d helped to write a good chunk of what turned out to be the second album ‘Too’.

James found a mandolin and dobro player at an Asparagus Fair. Tony Winn, a banjo player, offered to fit in gigs between acting engagements and his own ‘Singing in the Bath’ show. Fiddly Richard (that’s not his real name) shyly rosined up the bow and quickly became indispensable. The multi-talented Radar just turned up to one of the early gigs and hung around until he emigrated. And so on…

“Tree” is SftBH’s third album. At the moment, the line up can feature anything from two to nine members, plus a couple of guests here and there. It’s still very hard to pin the band’s ‘sound’ down. But at the end of the day, it’s just two chaps, with acoustic guitars, telling stories.