Each week, there are 10 great acts in our playlist, all with a connection to Reading or Wokingham.
Amanda Lehmann – Memory Lane –
Amanda opened the main stage at Wokingham Festival on August Bank Holiday Monday and despite the midday start many were there early to ensure that they arrived in time to witness her set. That’s not surprising due to the calibre of this talented artist and those that saw here were not disappointed. It was the perfect way to start the day with Amanda’s wonderful voice, intricate guitar playing and beautiful songs, including this one from her ‘Innocence and Illusion’ album, creating such an enchanting atmosphere in the festival arena. There’s a chance to see Amanda in the local area again soon but in a different guise. She will be playing guitar as part of Steve Hackett’s touring band when he performs at Reading Hexagon as part his Genesis Greats, Lamb Highlights & Solo on Tuesday October 22nd. Who’s going to be there to turn to their friends and say ‘I saw Amanda at Wokingham Festival’? I certainly will be – https://www.amandalehmann.co.uk/
Jordan Rudess – Embers –
It’s the keyboard player of one of the biggest progressive metal bands around, ‘Dream Theater’ with a song from his new solo album, ’Permission To Fly’. So what’s the connection with our local area then? Well not a huge amount really but Jordan’s brilliant new album does have the vocal talents of our great friend, Joe Payne. Joe isn’t from our area either but he has become an honorary Wokingham person as far as we are concerned following his incredible appearances at Wokingham Festival over the years. We’ve always championed Joe as we think he is an amazing talent so it’s wonderful to see an artist of the calibre of Jordan Rudess spotting that too. This song is a beautiful anthemic track from the album with Joe’s voice sounding as majestic as ever – 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 and it’s another good one combining melody and power and that voice that just soars – 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. This is an artist who we are really looking forward to seeing develop as there is definitely something special here – https://linktr.ee/hatstm
The Dead Can Wait – No One Knows Your Name –
This is an excellent piece of new classic rock from the Reading based band’s forthcoming album ‘In Lumine’. Get along to the album release 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/
One Last Day – No Chemical Reimagined –
We featured the original version of this song last year. A song has to be a good to work as both a full on rock anthem and also as a piano based ballad. This one certainly does that – https://linktr.ee/onelastday/
Frant1c – Where Have You Been? –
Frant1c is a project initiated by Anne-Claire Rallo of Nine Skies & Solace Supplice and she has created a wonderful album called ‘A Brand New World’ that is out now – https://linktr.ee/frant1c
Áine Deane – the one before the one –
This song was picked by Helen Taylor of the Wokingham Festival management team as one of her fave performances at the event. It’s the extremely talented singer songwriter Áine Deane – https://www.ainedeanemusic.com/
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
