The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Sunday 18th February 2018

Sean de Burca is a percussive acoustic guitarist from Kent. By the time he had been playing guitar for just 7 years, he had already been named as one of the top 30 greatest acoustic guitarists under the age of 30 worldwide by Acoustic Guitar Magazine, alongside Ed Sheeran, Newton Faulkner and more. Sean has also been featured as Acoustic Magazine’s ‘Next Big Thing’. On his latest CD, Mechanism, an experimental album combining various playing styles and genres, Sean has also featured his bass guitar, drums and electric guitar playing alongside his original solo acoustic compositions.

“From harmonics to percussive slapping to agile fretboard dancing, this southpaw knows a thing or two about getting the most sound possible out of his guitar. On his three full-length releases on Bandcamp, the self-taught guitarist shows he isn’t afraid of taking risks.”
Acoustic Guitar Magazine 2014

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Mya PB is a guitarist and contemporary singer song writer who writes emotive and honest songs about relationships and everything that comes with them. Her style is influenced by indie rock and folk but her songs cover a variety of genres. Drawing on lyricists like Alex Turner and Guy Garvey, she focuses on writing songs with clever and effective word choice.

Mya has been performing live at open mics since the age of 14 and now, as an 18 year old, regularly gigs around Maidstone and is gearing up towards the release of her first album, Bluebird. The album provides an insight into the intense emotions of young relationships, writing about the highs and lows as well as the aftermath of teenage infatuation. Mya draws on her own experiences for authentic lyrics and doesn’t shy away from her personal life in her songs. 

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The Wonderists are an acoustic singer songwriter duo specialising in intricate melody and poetic lyric. Lithuanian born Tom Povilaitis who been a professional musician for 23 years and has a passion for stringed instruments, production and knowledge. Michelle Watson, the other half of this musical duo just has a passion, but especially for lyrics, theatre and art, expressed through two decades of creative capering. Her greatest skill however is free-styling, and this is how the duo met, jamming round a pot of winter tonic at a mutual friend’s house. A cord was struck and numbers exchanged and at their second organised jam, they pressed record and alchemy occurred. Tom’s intricate guitar rifts perfectly complement Michelle’s dulcet tones and their mutual understanding of what it is to be a wonderist, to choose magic over terror, makes the collaboration inspired. Both work with vulnerable people on the the peripheries of society, either through learning disabilities or mental health issues and both say they love their jobs because of the love and laughter to be found there.

The word wonderist was a phrase coined by the brilliant counter culture author John Higgs, inspired by another brilliant brain, magician Cat Vincent, who suggested the need for a word in society to counter the word terrorist. A way to describe those who spread positivity and choose a different version of reality to the one enforced by the media. Michelle’s powerful voice and lyrics juxtaposed against the beautifully sweet melodies of their songs embody this perfectly. If you enjoy wonderfully constructed acoustic music with intelligent lyrics, this is for you.

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