Every week we like to champion the music scene with ten songs in our playlist that all have a connection to the RaW (Reading and Wokingham) area and sometimes beyond!. This week we have three new additions, two from great Reading bands and one from an exceptional artist that we saw live recently.
Leddra Chapman – What If I –
Many will remember Leddra from her first few albums as she achieved great acclaim, including gaining a couple of Record of the Week’s on BBC Radio 2, being championed by Terry Wogan, touring with major artists like Tom Jones and even guesting on an Ed Sheeran release! We first saw her when she performed a guest duet with Reading musician John Mitchell and we were blown away by her incredible vocal performance.
When we saw that she was performing the first night of her solo tour in support of her forthcoming new album, ‘Telling Truths’ not too far away in Camberley at a venue we wanted to check out, the Login Lounge, we had to go along! We were so glad we did as Leddra’s performance was pure class! The quality of her voice and musicianship was impressive as were her band and the personality and joy that came through as Leddra sang and told stories with a beaming smile throughout was a pleasure to witness. It was such an infectious feel good atmosphere that the whole audience sat listening intently throughout not wanting to miss a note or a word of this wonderful show.
The new songs were excellent including one, ‘Aftermath’, that was co-produced by the aforementioned, John Mitchell, and the one we feature here, a great single from the album. The album is released on October 25th and Leddra has a full band album launch show on 27th October at Omeara in London. We would recommend getting along to that. We loved the Camberley show so much that we are tempted to get along there too! A big shout out also to the Login Lounge venue.
If you haven’t checked it out, you really should. It’s a contemporary intimate venue with great sound, friendly staff and many shows worth checking out – https://www.facebook.com/leddrachapman/
The Amazons – Living a Lie –
They must be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, current indie bands to come out of Reading and listening to this new single you can hear why! If this is an indication of their future sound they are surely about to rise to the next level. It’s an awesome track opening with strings and a female voice before a fuzz bass, guitar riffs and the usual great vocals take the track to a soaring level – https://theamazons.co.uk/
Echo Chambers – Cry –
I know we featured a track from this Reading band’s ‘Versificator’ EP earlier this year but this track from the EP has grown on us more and more over the past months so we thought we really had to include it! It’s a bit different to the other tracks on the EP but it is great! Atmospherically building from a hypnotic bass line the track gradually builds with guitar parts being added until an exciting crescendo – https://linktr.ee/Echochambersrdg
Amanda Lehmann – Memory Lane –
Amanda performed a wonderful set at Wokingham Festival. She also plays guitar as part of Steve Hackett’s touring band who will be at Reading Hexagon next Tuesday 22nd – https://www.amandalehmann.co.uk/
Jordan Rudess – Embers –
The keyboard player of ‘Dream Theater’ with a song from his solo album, ’Permission To Fly’ featuring Joe Payne – https://www.jordanrudess.com/
Mackenzie – Better Off Alone –
Mackenzie performed a tight exciting set with her excellent band at Wokingham Festival. This is her new single – https://linktr.ee/Mackenzieofficial
Hats TM – just like this –
The sound of Hats TM is modern pop with a sort of indie dream pop feel but it has a unique quality too. Check out the new single – https://linktr.ee/hatstm
The Dead Can Wait – No One Knows Your Name –
Get along to the band’s album launch show at Reading Face Bar on Saturday 26th – https://thedeadcanwait.band/
The Two Ton Shoes – Something In The Way – Blues based rock from Reading band’s three track EP, ‘The Lie’ with heavy riffs and a great guitar solo – https://linktr.ee/thetwotonshoes
AlphaLine – What U Gonna Do –
This is quite an intriguing band with a diverse range of styles. This song is taken from their recently released, ‘Electromagnetic’ album which was recorded with local producer, Aaron Cilia – https://www.alphalineband.com/
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
