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Tag: London

  • Culture Café // Episode 1 // Beth Nielsen Chapman

    Culture Café // Episode 1 // Beth Nielsen Chapman

    At Last!

    It’s finally here! Episode 1 of the all new Culture Café podcast. Thanks for visiting what will hopefully be the first of many podcasts.

    For the first episode, I’m delighted to have been joined by singer/songwriter, Beth Nielsen Chapman, who besides releasing 12 albums in her own right, has written music for Willie Nelson, Elton John, Neil Diamond and Martina McBride amongst others. ‘This Kiss’, which was co written by Beth and recorded by Faith Hill earned her a Grammy nomination and also ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year 1999 and Nashville’s Nammy’s Songwriter of the Year.

    For more information about Beth you can visit her website bethnielsenchapman.com

    Photograph of Beth from her website.

    The Beginning

    If you haven’t heard of Culture Café before, it started as a radio show on DCUfm.com in 2009. In 2011 Culture Café moved to RTÉ 2XM, where it was broadcast weekly on National D.A.B. radio in Ireland.

    I moved to London in the Summer of 2013 and although I tried, it’s hard to do a arts and culture radio show meant for one country when you’re living in another one. While I decided to continue presenting The London Ear, a music show, on RTE 2XM, Culture Café was put on the back burner.

    But I missed it too much, I love speaking to artists about their work, whether it be photographers, writers, painters, actors, festival organisers. So here it is, Culture Café is back, now speaking to one person every week, giving them a voice to share their art and creations all in the time it takes to sit down, relax and have a proper cup of coffee.

    Thanks for dropping by, thanks for listening.

    Nessy x

  • Diary // Wallis Bird at The Garage, London

    Diary // Wallis Bird at The Garage, London

    Wallis Bird at The Garage, Highbury, London, May 11 2014

    So last Sunday night, I headed along to catch Wallis Bird at The Garage in London. The night was opened by Rachel Ries who recently released her own album ‘Ghost of a Gardener’. Ries, who played electric guitar, was for the most part accompanied on keys by a gentleman with an Irish accent, but whose name escaped me. There was a little of her playing keys. but the fact that she played electric guitar seemed to take her out of the little female piano playing singer songwriter cage.

    Architect is Wallis Bird’s fourth album and her most successful. This tour to support the album has seen more people than before come to see Wallis live. And it’s not surprising to see why. On record, Architect, is a fantastically accomplished piece of work, live, her enthusiasm for her music shines through, as does her honesty and authenticity. Bird and her band put on a great show, musicianship is tight and second to none but there’s also room for spontaneity. She plays tracks from her current album along with that of her older catalogue and it’s easy to see that belongs on stage.

    Bird’s humour shines through on stage, yes she has some terrible jokes. Even though. when she speaks about more serious between songs, such as gender equality Bird lovingly refers to Jesus Sausage. (This is the night after Conchita Wurst’s win at Eurovision).

    But the music speaks loudest of all and when you hear tracks like Communion, To My Bones, Hardly Hardly, Blossoms in the Street, I Can Be Your Man and Encore, it’s easy to see that Wallis Bird is one of the best artists of our generation. Great songs, great band, great stage presence, if you haven’t seen her live, you are doing yourself and injustice.

  • The London Ear on RTE 2XM: Show 1 Sep 18 2013

    The London Ear on RTE 2XM: Show 1 Sep 18 2013

    LondonEarBigBen

    As you may or may not know, I’ve relocated to London for work but this has given me the opportunity to do a new music show. So I let my unveil ‘The London Ear’. I’m still working on a logo and stuff like that and I’ve been working on an intro for the show.. may still add a little more of it.

    Here it is, what do you think?

    On this first show, I’m delighted to say that I had the pleasure of chatting to Paul Savage of O Emperor and to Dundalk natives Bold Things, who play the Sebright Arms on Saturday 20th September.. Get down there if you’re in London. I also chose Placebo’s new album ‘Loud Like Love’ as album of the week and played a couple of tracks from that.

    3/4 of Bold Things
    3/4 of Bold Things

    Here’s what happened:
    1. London Ear Intro
    2. The Traps: Calypso
    3. Myles Manley: Got to get out of the country
    4. Placebo: Loud Like Love
    5. O Emperor: Holy Fool
    6. Chat with Paul Savage from O Emperor
    7. O Emperor: This is it
    8. George Ezra: Budapest (Available as a free download)
    9. London Grammar: Strong
    10. Placebo: Purify
    11. Chat with Bold Things (Part 1)
    12. Bold Things: Keep Together
    13. Chat with Bold Things (Part 2)
    14. Bold Things: Hearts Ajar

    So that’s it for Show 1, fingers crossed Show 2 will feature Jim Lockey and The Solemn Sun and The Would Be’s. Thanks for listening, the full show should be up on the RTE player in the next day or so. If not, you can always listen to the repeat of the show on RTE 2XM on Sunday night at 2100.

    Thanks for listening!

  • C-c-c-changes – A New Radio Show!

    C-c-c-changes – A New Radio Show!

    OleTimeRadioThe past couple of months have been a bit strange, constantly travelling between Dublin and London. I started a new job in London just over two weeks ago and now, little by little normality is starting kick back into place.

    There’s still a lot to do but one thing that automatically makes me feel surrounded by normality. My day job is now in a niche nationally broadcast radio station and I also work across the brands magazines and do a bit of video production. That’s all behind the scenes, no one ever sees or hears what I do, so having a new radio show to make every week, is, in itself, an creative outlet for me, it’s something I do and look forward to. It’s part of me, simple as.

    So relocating, I decided I would start a new radio show. Culture Cafe was amazing, it ran for four years, since September 2009, two on DCUfm and two on RTE 2XM. Traveling between Dublin and London over the past while though, pointed out a few things, like the fact to cover arts and culture, it’s pretty much a requisite that you’re in the city or country that you are covering. Otherwise, you’re looking in from the outside. Saying that if time permits, sometime in the future, I may turn Culture Cafe into a London based podcast.

    So the new show, The London Ear, starts tomorrow at 2 pm on RTE 2XM. (Here’s a link for you to listen). I still have to get proper logos sorted, this will be a work in progress.

    With The London Ear, I will look at new music from the UK and Ireland, both new and more established artists. I hopefully will chat to lots of them and also have a regular ‘Free Download’ and ‘Album of the Week’ segments. Although the show is based and recorded in London, it is broadcast in Ireland, so every week I’ll be chatting to an Irish artist, whether they live in the UK, are passing through the UK or are a British artist about to head to Ireland.

    If you or someone you know fits into that, send me a mail nessy @ nessymon.com (Take out the gaps).. Onwards and upwards! I hope you join me on the ride!

    Ole time radio from here