The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Wednesday 12th May 2010

Liverpool born songwriter Mark Chase was the leader of the notorious 90's band World of Leather, who released 2 albums and 7 EPs through Sony. They toured extensively in the UK and Europe and sold respectably in Japan & Scandinavia, whilst skilfully avoiding the UK charts.

Prior to this, Mark had been a successful session musician & session singer, working with numerous artists including Belinda Carlisle, T'Pau, Taylor Dayne and Julian Lennon. He also worked as a commercial session vocalist, recording ‘sound-alike' tracks for TV shows and adverts.

After seeing Beck perform a solo gig a few years ago, Mark altered his approach to music, favouring the ‘stripped down' acoustic style of Neil Young, Damien Rice and Rickie Lee Jones. He continues to perform live regularly, both with his band and as a solo performer. Four of his songs have been used in movie soundtracks.

In tandem with his music career, Mark has also been a TV Presenter on a variety of shows, including; The Survivors Guide, Sextalk (both C4), Breakfast Time, Going Live! (BBC1), Wideangle, Country File (ITV) and Toyah & Chase (VH-1).

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Rebecca is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter and composer from Tunbridge Wells. She started performing at The Grey Lady in 2008 having won a competition at her school, and continued to perform there in a regular slot for two years, whilst enjoying a high level of involvement in the general local music scene. 

  For the past four years Rebecca has lived in Oxford, studying her undergraduate degree in Music at Oxford Brookes University and is now completing her masters in Composition and Musicology. During this time, she has been in a band, ‘The Lanterns’, performed in several musicals, an opera, and in numerous choirs. This year, she ran a show choir called The Fortune Cookies and was Assistant MD for the Brookes production of Spring Awakening.

   As a singer-songwriter, Rebecca is currently working on her debut EP ‘Wolves’ and is enjoying experimenting with new styles and sounds, drawing inspiration from her very eclectic taste in music and artists such as Brandi Carlile and Emma Stevens.

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21 year old Henry Willard is a lyric-driven, multi-instrumentalist based in South-East England.

Having first picked up a guitar at the age of 7, Henry has since progressed considerably to become one of only a handful of artists who focus purely on writing & recording slow, acoustic based melodies, entwined with deep, personal, heartwarming, clever, & often metaphorical lyrics with the pure intention to touch the hearts of his listeners, & within the comfort of his songs offer a safe place for his audience to relate to personal experiences.

14 years on from discovering The Beatles, which in turn led to the desire to idolize his new heroes at a very young age & learn to play the guitar, Henry has recorded 4 albums in total, with his first recording studio experience coming at the age of 11.

Having been 2 years since the release of the last solo album, ‘This One's for Elliott...' in June 2006, Henry has refused to rush back into the studio & record sub-standard material, allowing his lyrics to develop naturally over time & undoubtedly pave the way for the hugely anticipated new album, ‘Old Hadlow Road', released late October 2008, containing his very best work yet!

With influence taken from the likes of Counting Crows, Elliott Smith, Kevin Hearn, Brothers Creeggan, Everclear, Sara Evans & Barenaked Ladies, Henry has been back in the studio during the Summer of 2008 with a whole host of brand new songs to record, & a final result that was well worth waiting for!

‘Old Hadlow Road' consists of 10 original heartwarming, slow, acoustic tracks built around beautifully personal & deep lyrics that ultimately once again offer Henry's listeners the chance to truly open up & feel safe in the comfort & knowledge that they are not alone, & that his songs shall always be there to relate to when in times of need.

The new album 'Old Hadlow Road' is currently available directly from CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, Lala, & many more!

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Born with left side Microtia, Nick picked up the guitar from his folk playing parents when he was seven years old. 

His uncle played drums with Suzi Quatro in the seventies, so music has always run in the family. 

Nick started to sing and produce his own songs at eighteen having honed his blues, rag finger style and soulful rocky tones. 

He ran a studio for three years and in 2013, now with time to focus on himself as an artist, released his debut EP followed by his debut album early 2015. 

Nick aims to be out and about more than he ever has been, to promote himself, record label, charities and good music. More info online.

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