Pizza Express Maidstone, Thursday 20th June 2013

The Soundcasters were formed in early 2008, when Tom James, 19 (Lead Vocalist/Guitarist) and his long-term friend Scott Russell, 18 (Bass/ and Vocalist), with school friend Simon Watson, 19 (Lead Guitarist and Vocalist) decided to form a band and advertised for a drummer. Matt Gibson, 20 (Drummer and Percussionist) auditioned and joined the band. From the first rehearsal, the boys formed a strong friendship and firm desire to be successful as a band.

Their individual tastes in music range from Punk to Jazz and this is reflected in the diversity of their songs. As young lads, this gave them an edge in today’s music scene and helped them to develop their unique sound. The Soundcasters are influenced by bands such as The Beatles, The Band, The Animals and The Arctic Monkeys. Not only have they been compared to The Arctic Monkeys but also The Kinks and The Libertines.

The Soundcasters began to seriously promote themselves in January 2009. They had a hectic summer, and quickly built up a strong fan base; playing private functions, many local and London venues such as The Fly, Bull and Gate, Hope and Anchor and the Dublin Castle, also performing at festivals such as The Lounge on the Farm, Infest and Togfest, as well as filming for a Documentary for Channel 4.

In March 2009, they produced their first EP which had a 60’s pop feel to it that had a huge response from a mixed audience with such songs as ‘Pauline’ in a blues/shuffle style and ‘French Habit’ with its Russian feel that audiences cannot fail to join in singing and dancing along to. The Soundcasters began the year 2010 with a more mature image, feel and sound and a busy and exciting schedule in place for the forthcoming year with plans to play private functions, charity gigs, festivals and further London venues such as The Half Moon, Putney. In March they successfully launched their second EP ‘Ban the Mind Reader’. The music has evolved into a slightly fuller, darker sound with grit, yet lightened with a little country rock. In May they wowed audiences at the infamous Cavern Club in Liverpool as part of the International Pop Overthrow.

The Soundcasters made their TV debut in August when the Channel 4 documentary ‘Amish: World’s Squarest Teenagers’ was shown. This prompted radio interviews and airplay along with many articles in local and national newspapers and TV magazines including the Daily Mirror and Radio Times.

The Soundcasters episode focused on the experience of a group of Amish youngsters spending a week with an artistic and musical family. During the week of filming, the band took their Amish guests to places of interest in Kent and shared with them their love of music, ending the week at ‘Togfest’, the music festival in Milton Keynes, where The Soundcasters played on the main courtyard stage. Clips of their music featured in the programme, causing a great deal of interest in the band, with much activity on their Facebook and MySpace sites helping to increase their fan base.

Following on from this experience, The Soundcasters look forward to writing and recording more of their songs and to continue performing and wowing audiences in and around the UK.

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Blinded Bird are a Kent based band performing upbeat acoustic tracks. Taking influence by from a wide variety of acts from Bob Dylan to Beirut, and Nu Folk acts such as Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers, they found their sound with two acoustic guitars. Blinded Bird have been performing as a band since Winter 2011 and are always looking to advance their music by any means possible. After releasing their debut EP "Through The Fields" in late 2012 the originally two piece band was joined by our third member Lewis Pentecost standing in as a multi-instrumentalist to expand their live sound further.

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Chiddingstone based duo Ant & Fie are Anthony Vicary (guitar and vocals) and Fiona Keeler (vocals & Piano.)  Anthony was previously the frontman of local indie/rock band ‘Catching Flies'. After five years of rigorous performing all over the southeast it was decided that the band had reached a natural end leading Anthony to put down his electric guitar and explore the acoustic side of rock music. With Fiona joining more recently, this talented duo have fused together to emerge as one of the most talented and highly respected acts at the show here at The Grey Lady. Their breathtaking vocals express creative and thought provoking lyrics coupled with crafted melodies which comprises elements of folk, blues and alternative acoustic rock. The duo enjoyed their radio debut earlier this year with a recent live performance of ‘Tobacco Stained Guitar' on BBC Radio Kent. They have just released their debut EP entitled ‘The Quiet'.

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Singer-songwriter, Paul Dunton leads his own unique cross-over orchestra providing an atmospheric fusion of alternative and pop with a classical twist. Paul & his Orchestra take influences from varying modern day artists such as Pink Floyd, Elbow, ELO, Turin Brakes, Massive Attack, Damien Rice and contemporary composers such as Samuel Barber, Ludovico Einaudi, John Barry and Hans Zimmerman. The Orchestra performs Paul's own compositions and a varied selection of uniquely arranged standards from a wide range of artists. The line-up of 8 violins, 4 cellos, guitar, flute, bass and percussion accompanies Paul on vocals and piano, joined by his lead vocalists, Charlotte Andrew and Poppy Raine. Paul and his Orchestra regularly perform at concerts, festivals and private events throughout the UK and internationally, including headlining the Theatrium Wilhelmstraße Festival in Wiesbaden, Germany and an 8 state tour of the USA which culminated in a spectacular roof-top performance on top of the New York Strand Hotel. Increased attention and success led to the orchestra being featured on BBC Radio 2 by Joan Armatrading with interviews and airplay of one of Paul's songs, 'Don't Forget'. This led to Paul supporting Joan Armatrading on five occasions during her recent UK tours.

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