12.30pm, Dan Pryde
DAN is a 21-year-old acoustic artist from Burnham. He has enjoyed playing music from the moment he first started and hasn’t stopped.
He says: “I play both covers and originals and gig with either. My original songs tend to follow an acoustic folk/punk style recently and I’m continuing down that road with my written music.”
“I love the rush of performing in front of different audiences.”
For some time now, he has been trying his hand at writing his own music. Dan has finally got himself a couple of EPs made and he gets a much bigger kick out of playing his own songs in a venue compared to covers.
He appreciates and enjoys it a hundred times more when people listen up and enjoy them. Definitely a performer going places.
1.30pm, Simon Williams
SIMON Williams is one of the best solo singer/guitarists around.
With influences including Jackson Browne, The Eagles and Loudon Wainwright he plays acoustic pop-rock originals and covers.
With over 15 years of gigging experience, most recently as a resident musician at Francesco’s Italian in Maidenhead, Simon also travels up and down the country.
This highly talented performer was a finalist at Hampshire’s Festival Factor competition and one of the headlines acts at the Berlin International Vagabond Festival and, of course, a regular performer and supporter of Wokingham Festival.
You can listen to Simon’s debut album, 40 miles West, on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer and Amazon.
2.30pm, Alfie Griffen
ALFIE is a Reading-based singer/songwriter. You may recognise him as a regular at this year’s Big Berkshire Beach Gig where he was a firm fan favourite.
Alfie Griffin is attracting a wider audience who simply love his laid-back sets of acoustic music.
He cites his influences as Jack White, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Mac Demarco. Expect a mix of originals and covers, spanning folk, blues and indie.
3.45pm, Sascha Osborn
SASCHA is a singer-songwriter who blends her cocktail of influences, seamlessly dancing between the ‘folk’ and ‘jazz’ worlds utilising these flavours and colours to express tender reflective songs about hope, loss and love.
Her debut album Looking Out And After has received airplay on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 6 Music and extremely positive acclaim.
Sascha is currently touring in the UK playing venues and festivals as a solo artist with acoustic guitar and as a duo with Andy Hamill on double bass, electric bass and harmonica and as a trio including Justin Woodward on percussion, drums and vibes.
5pm, The Clique
THE Clique are a sophisticated duo with Gilly Clinton on vocals and Derek Deadman on acoustic guitar.
Their versatility has seen them perform at renowned music venues, five-star hotels, top restaurants, prestigious corporate and private events, weddings, celebration parties and music festivals throughout the UK as well as international venues for over 15 years.
They love to perform a range of melodic and intimate acoustic renditions of classic artists including Kate Bush, Tori Amos, George Michael, Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Aha as well as a whole host of pop artists such as Demi Lovato, James Arthur and Miley Cyrus.
6.15pm and 7.30pm, Nigel Barker
Nigel is an international award-winning filmmaker as well as a musician. He explains: “I decided to merge the two skills into 90-minutes of hopefully enthralling entertainment. There were four months of preparation and I think it works well … 26 videos, 90 minutes of great music.”
Interestingly Nigel has a badly damaged left hand as the result of car accident when he was 23. He didn’t play for nearly thirty years. He puts his recovery down to a heavy clutch on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, negotiating fifty sets of traffic lights per day. He plays with three fingers.
“I get by”, he says. “I’m just grateful to be able to pick up a guitar and make a pleasing noise.”
His first stunning solo album LOVE DEATH AND EVERYTHING INBETWEEN has won high praise. The album, his fourth, is a slightly less Americana based, addition to his three albums with Cowboy Hat and That Fuzzbox Voodoo.
9pm, Toxic Sofa
Toxic Sofa are husband and wife team, Tim Bastock and Kim Halliday. Tim has been playing guitar for more than 40 years and is also an experienced bassist, having played in a variety of local bands and for musicals and pantomimes. Kim has a mainly musical/theatrical background, although she has sung at festivals such as Glastonbury and Rewind and on Saturday prime time TV. She also plays bass guitar and recorder for a church rock band, with Tim on rhythm guitar.
After meeting and watching folk comedy legend Richard Digence (coming to Wokingham Music Club this October) perform at South Hill Park in Bracknell, Berkshire, Kim was inspired to start writing some amusing observations on life, and with the help of her husband, Tim, has now written and recorded six original songs, four of which have been professionally mastered by the genius that is Chris Payne, early keyboards player for Gary Numan and also co-writer of Visage’s Fade to Grey.
Toxic Sofa were voted third in the Best Showcase Act category of the Graham Steel Music Company Awards 2018, for the second year running.
