The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Sunday 12th July 2015

Richard Sanford has been fronting 'The Diarys' for over a decade and has finally plucked up the courage to introduce a more placid, romantic side to his repeprouire by stripping it back to one man and a guitar. Over the last 6 months he has been working on a solo album. His style is inspired by some of the old great songsmiths. Dylan, Young and co. The songs have a sense of longing, loss and reaching for a brighter path.  He said, "playing these songs out for the first time not so long ago with shaky hands and a shudder in my voice gave me a whole different emotion than having a full band rocking behind me and I realise there is a vulnerability there I need to keep tapping into. It's never easy sitting up on stage alone but there comes a time when if you have the right material you are proud of it you just have to give it a go."

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"I started writing songs when I was about seven and haven’t really stopped since then. I have always been interested in music as it goes in the family and have always liked to sing. At the age of about nine, I started having piano lessons locally but I wanted to do more pop music material and so stopped taking the lessons. In primary school I started many bands with friends and was always playing around with song writing. The first time I recorded on my own was a cover I did of Invincible by Tinie Tempah and Kelly Rowland. In early 2011 I wrote my first proper song ‘I Cried’ and recorded it in my Dad’s studio. I then wrote another song called ‘This is Your Life’ and decided I wanted to carry on with song writing. I then made my own YouTube account just to see if the songs would get any views and luckily enough they did! I wrote about four more before I filmed my first music video last year. I am very influenced by Emeli Sande as her songs are mainly based on her and the piano. I also listen to music like Ellie Goulding and The Kooks- as well as the music in the charts! I have always sung with my sister as our voices are similar and we harmonise together."

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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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From performing in a West End musical to backing singing for the great Paul Weller, Alex is a diverse powerhouse vocalist who also writes his own equally diverse songs. "I like to write songs in the moment so expect some songs to be slow with a deep meaning then suddenly a fast paced catchy upbeat tune. But all my tracks tell a story". You can expect any of his shows to be full of energy and heart. When it's all said and done you'll leave tapping your toes or humming to his catchy hooks. 

His recent EP 'Mannequin Man' is his first concept EP telling his story of breaking the mould against odds and setting a course to be yourself. With heavy influence from Frank Turner this EP is proof that his songwriting is ever evolving. 

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