Hey Shrewsbury music lovers! đ Get ready for a fantastic night of live music, because Albert's Songwriters Showcase is coming to Albert's Shed!Mark your calendars for Wednesday, August 20th, as we kick off a special evening dedicated to original tunes and incredible storytelling. Starting at 8:30 PM, prepare to be entertained by three super talented songwriters, each bringing their unique sound to the stage. And the best part? It's completely FREE ENTRY! đ
Here's a sneak peek at who's performing.
John K Kicking off the night, we're thrilled to welcome Shrewsbury's own John Kay! A seasoned songwriter since the age of 16, John will treat us to his original material. Expect up-tempo rock with a fantastic late 60s/early 70s vibe, brought to life with his acoustic and electric guitars, plus some cool looping action.
Sam Lambeth Next up, from Wolverhampton, we have Sam Lambeth! Inspired by the diverse sounds of Elvis Costello, Sam's known for crafting everything from country rock to Motown-tinged tracks. He'll be sharing songs from his latest collection, 'No Sign of the Summer', which delivers a blistering mix of fizzy grunge pop. Expect catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics that'll transport you.
Timothy Parkes Get ready for the truly enigmatic Timothy Parkes! This Irish-English composer-writer has an incredible story, with a musical journey that's seen him collaborate with legends like Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff and Wayne Hussey of The Mission, plus recent work with Steve Jolliffe of Tangerine Dream. His new material is raw, biographical, and all about openness â prepare for a deep dive into his unique world of guitar and voice
So, grab your mates, settle in, and get ready for a night of incredible original music. You won't want to miss this! See you there! đ¶đž
Artist Biographies & Links:
TIMOTHY PARKES
Irish-English composer-writer and artist currently living in Worcestershire was born at the tail-end of the 1970s, growing up in the 80s with the backdrops of The Cold War, stranger-danger, The Minerâs strikes, The Troubles in Ireland, Homophobia and Section 18, Tim is an enigmatic sort.
After a chance encounter on a train to Penrith with Mikey Georgeson of David Devant and his Spirit Wife in 1996 Tim began to feel a bend in the road away from that ânormal jobâ expectation.
Late 2000 saw TP childishly sacked from the band formed around close school friends by way of a crayon- penned note pushed through the letterbox (without even an envelope or stamp).
Initially this was of course spiritually crippling, but it set feelings and thoughts into action and led to an eventual flurry of songs and bits of music that enabled TP to rise above the peer rejection into a sort of anger that stayed with TP until relatively recently.
It was this bottled-up rage that fuelled life and art for Parkes for years.
In 2008, after discovering that Gary Lucas (Composer of Jeff Buckleyâs album tracks and singles âMojo Pinâ and âGraceâ guitarist in Captain Beefheartâs Magic Band and found in own project Gods And Monsters) would be performing at the Rock Cafe in Stourbridge, TP and then manager made contact with GL and gave him a CD. This led to GL and The Knitting Factory in TriBeCa NYC booking TP for two gigs in late October. Covered by WFNU Radio, Time Out NY and Village Voice, these gigs were a spring board to further gigs in London supporting GL and eventually leading to (with help from Bryan Taylor and Eddy Morton) connecting with Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff, whoâd arguably first inspired TP to pick up an acoustic guitar after hearing his song âRoom 512 (All The News That Is Fit To Print)â in a shared earbud and shared B&H tab with TPâs oldest friend, Paul.
This connection with MH was to blossom into TP recording three tracks âWitchcraftâ, âHolesâ and âLooks Like Rainâ for Milesâ âSharedâ album (Various Artists) and a musical collaboration for The âDirty Rayâ Band (Kevin Weatherill of Immaculate Foolsâ live band with both Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls of TWS) , and later a run of tour support gigs for The Missionâs Wayne Hussey.
The Pandemic saw buried memories emerging from a time when TP was the focus of shame and anger and resentment in childhood, also the emergence of fibromyalgia and return of old spine difficulties into a crescendo of foggy and painful symptoms.
Like many of Timâs peers in music and art, a background career had always been necessary to manage life. TP has had many of these but really settled into therapeutic arts and crafts as a bronze-casting tutor.
Fibromyalgia really changed all this and has meant that since 2020, TP has been unable to work in the background. A curse financially and physically was to become a gift creatively and now music and art are the only ways in which to contribute in Timâs view.
Now TP hopes to share new material which is partly biographical, with a wider audience, and to break down barriers between issues, because being in-between is where itâs at.
Over the years Timothy has recorded guitar parts for July Skies as well as performing on acoustic guitar with the live band, at Union Chapel, Bush Hall and Assalti Al Coure festival in Rimini, Italy.
The winter of 2023/24 brought a chance encounter with a founding member of the original early lineup of Tangerine Dream, Steamhammer member and original composer Steve Jolliffe brought with it a new friendship and collaboration on Jolliffeâs latest album âZankinteraâ.
The cosmic choreography of this encounter and personal importance of the location, a secret cabin belonging to oldest friend, which TP has been attending since the age of 14 were not wasted on Tim and this set him on a renewed journey into musical creativity and performance.
It âfeltâ right to really âpushâ the music again.
In 2022, Tim met Dan Worton (Nedâs Atomic Dustbin, Bouncing Bomb) and Kerry Worton (Bouncing Bomb, The Kerry Worton Trio and Danâs Wife) and struck up a friendship.
It was this friendship supported Tim back into performance again with the love of friendship and caring deeds and now itâs time to get going again.
Thereâs been some early collaborations and jams with Dan and Kerry, and that is right exciting. More on this to follow soon đ
For the moment, Tim is playing solo on guitar and voice until the recordings are finished.
That old bottled-up rage is now transformed into a hope for openness and discourse without conflict, and this comes across in the new material.
https://www.facebook.com/timothyparkesmusician
https://soundcloud.com/timothy-parkes?fbclid=IwY2xjawLxuBBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHoc50y0fbLELEcEfKUAfAFEXPgm73R3ARUIQWtnnS7nwUfIQp4HAp_DvPlgI_aem_ZIsK3AuK69GMODg36UHv-g
SAM LAMBETH
When Wolverhamptonâs Sam Lambeth purchased Elvis Costelloâs The Best of the First Ten Years at age 16, it opened the musical floodgates. âIt was like Iâd been given an instruction manual on musicianship,â he explains.
He became enamoured with Costelloâs ability to retain his Beatles-infused classicism while diversifying into folk, gospel, Americana, jazz and much more. Itâs a blueprint Lambeth has tried to follow with his first two solo records, the country rock of 2021âs Love & Exile, and the motown-tinged Walkinâ to Hollywood (2023).
However, there was something Lambeth forgot to take in all those years ago â that Costello also rocked.
âIâd spent a lot of time trying to craft quite ornate, esoteric music, but anyone thatâs familiar with Costelloâs back catalogue will know every so often he cranks up the guitars and makes raw, red-blooded rock and roll albums,â Lambeth says. âAfter two albums that were quite precise and calculated in their creations, I thought itâd be really fun and liberating to just head into the studio, turn the amps up loud and make a full-on rock record.â
Lambeth had tons of old songs tucked away that just didnât fit his previous recordsâ styles, some dating back to not long after he purchased that Costello record. Growing up, heâd also fallen hard for power pop â the fuzzy melodies, the nostalgic ethos, the glorious harmonies. Reared on a healthy diet of Teenage Fanclub, The Lemonheads, Big Star and Matthew Sweet, Lambeth set his sights on making a summery grunge record.
Dusting off seven songs was easy, working on the lyrics wasnât. âThese seven songs were all finished, but the lyrics were pretty cringey,â Lambeth laughs. âIt was really difficult modifying them because the structure of the songs was set so I had to think of words that fit.â
Thatâs when he chose the theme of summer. âIt feels like more than a season to me,â he explains. âItâs everything â innocence, longing, love, wistfulness, time. I always think back to those six week holidays you have and all those hopes, dreams and emotions you get, as well as the ultimate feelings of boredom, longing and despair. Itâs quite a transcendent season and I wanted to use it as a kind of metaphor for life, time, love and everything in between.â
The result is No Sign of the Summer, a blistering collection of fizzy grunge pop songs. However, there is a bait and switch, with the record opening with the sorrowful, lo-fi âFind Out Whyâ. This was intentional. âI realised this would be the first record of mine without a harmonica on, and I couldnât have that,â Lambeth explains. âI recorded this song in one take and I love the rawness of it all. Itâs bare, honest and sad. I thought itâd be pretty ballsy to open the record with it. And also just to remember â if only to myself â that this is me.â
âJessicaâ broods and builds over a hypnotic guitar riff before bursting into the kind of radio-friendly chorus Lambeth seems to do effortlessly. âDecemberâ and âWhat Would I Say To You Nowâ zip along under frenetic fretwork and sun-drenched harmonies, while âWhen You Take That Trainâ and âSummerâs Goneâ are beautiful, melodic numbers filled with regret and nostalgia. Itâs another consistent collection from a singer-songwriter that is fast becoming a master craftsman.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dB0TG0MmX4VELcadBJpWc?si=vpZ9bflRTLeTwCsDt0hPtg&nd=1&dlsi=370e959e867e45c9
https://www.facebook.com/samlambethmusic/
https://www.instagram.com/samlambethmusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQUn7V7LqV0tnpJncwRAbBA
https://soundcloud.com/user-318167717/sets/sam-lambeth-no-sign-of-the/s-u1WPxKT6zjv?si=a739ac5778dd4591b947c908ce7ce9f7&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
JOHN K
I've been writing songs since I was 16 and played in various bands doing originals and covers. My last band was The Humboosters back in Bucks, before I moved to Shropshire doing all originals. Now doing original material as a solo act - a mixture of acoustic and electric guitars plus drum m/c with bass on looper (sitar to come). The songs are very up tempo rock with a late 60s/early 70s vibe.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1J3zIdsrwzSxDBLePM7faE
Event Venue
8 Barker St, SY1 1QJ Shrewsbury, United Kingdom, 8 Barker Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 1QJ, United Kingdom
