The Boxing Day Extravaganza!, Monday 26th December 2016

Harry Whitty is a 17 year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He grew up learning the piano and singing, then picked up the trombone at age 9. He started listening to jazz at around age 13 and, after hearing multi-instrumentalists like James Morrison and Jacob Collier, was inspired to learn as many instruments as possible and picked up drums, electric bass, trumpet and euphonium at around age 15.

His songwriting is inspired by many different artists such as Oli Rockberger, Theo Katzman, Jamie Cullum and Steely Dan. His debut EP entitled ‘Trying My Best’ features 5 original songs on a variety of topics, On the EP, Harry plays all the instruments as well as performing all the vocals. He can often be found gigging around Kent and London along with his band. He also works frequently with other songwriters such as Roberto Picazo. His second EP is due for release early 2018.

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The Jazz singing, Violin playing, Rapper...

Charley is a country girl at heart who grew up on a small Kentish farm but from an early age knew she was born to be a performer.

There may be something about Mary Poppins in Charley's sunny smile but things aren't what they used to be back in the day - when she'd play to a farmyard audience, when the countryside was her stage as she rapped into her broom, when cockerels harmonised with her beautiful vocals and when Henry the Horse was her biggest fan.

Charley now has 'Blue', her violin partner in crime, a true star and sight to behold. With his searing strings, desirable curves and eye-catching outfit, Blue is classically shy at first but soon becomes more and more 'Frisky' as the songs get down and raunchy. He is one of a kind, a violin like no other. If you're not coming for Charley, you gotta see the stud that is Blue. 

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“You are the scream of a jet / You are a whispered amen/It’s not a question of if anymore/It’s a question of when…”
‘It’s Hard To Be Good All the Time”

Can it really be twenty years since Mark Morriss first shimmied into our lives as singer with The Bluetones?

Apparently so. But thirteen hit singles, three Top Ten albums and a collaboration with a national treasure later -more of which shortly- - his ability to sieve poetry from the colander of every day life remains unique.

“I always try to add little things that most songs wouldn’t use,” he says of the lyrics on his remarkable first solo album ‘proper’, A Flash Of Darkness.

“If I can squeeze a mention  of Bergerac into a song (as he does in surefire smash  ‘Consuela’) then  I’m happy.”

While it might not take Jersey’s finest to track down a copy, it’s fair to say that the release of Mark’s folk-infused solo debut, Memory Muscle, in 2008 was low key, despite string arrangements from the legendary composer David Arnold.

However, it wasn’t until The Bluetones split up in  October 2011 that he thought seriously about his next move.
“To be honest I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he says with typical candour.
“So I threw a lot of irons into the fire.”

While one of these resulted in him writing the music for David Walliams’ audio books  (“great fun”), he was still writing songs.  Only this time, with a view to other people singing them.

“It really freed me up. But the songs  I came up with were so personal  I realized they might be difficult for anyone else to sing them.”

Rather than let the songs, as he puts it, ‘end up on the shelf’, Mark headed to ‘a shed in Surrey’ with long term Bluetones collaborator Gordon Mills. As the sessions progressed, so the pent-up frustrations of the past few years poured out.

“Personally I went through  quite a difficult time, and is often the way, that was translated into the songs.”

If there’s a confessional, cathartic edge to A Flash Of Darkness, it also comes with tunes of  tungsten-strength. ‘Guilty Again’ is a conscious nod to ‘70’s soft-rock icon Andrew Gold, while ‘This Is The Lie’ splices a jaunty sea shanty against some brutal self-analysis.

Throw in a pair choice covers – a dreamy take on The Shins’ Pink Bullets’, an acoustic overhaul for Kavinsky’s electro noir ‘Nightcall’, best known from the ‘Drive’ soundtrack- and you’ve got an album which proves that a dark night of the soul often brings artistic illumination.

“The album title refers to that moment when you’ve just turned off the light and everything remains semi-lit for a split second,” says Mark, referring back to his lowest point.

“It’s a revelation of a bad thing, rather than a good thing.
Whisper it, but Mark Morriss’ light bulb moment might just have resulted in his best album yet.

Paul Moody

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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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