Each 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 tracks for you from acts with connections to Reading and Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen and we hope you find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music.

1. Katacombs – Heaven is… –

Runnin’ Blue have been promoting music in London and Reading for over ten years now, and celebrated their 100th event with a gig at the Face Bar featuring some of the acts they’ve put on over the years. Katacombs is the stage name of Katerina Kiranos, who gave up carpentry for making music; this song was inspired by her love for Tunnocks’ Teacakes. During her excellent set she was joined by folk punk legend, Frank Turner, for a duet on one song. https://www.facebook.com/thisiskatacombs

2. The Kokroachez – That Kinda Girl –

The Kokroachez are a very dynamic band from Oxford, who we saw last year at The Oracle, and who will be kicking off the music on day 2 of this year’s Wokingham Festival, Sunday 30th August. This is their latest single, full of their characteristic energy and a lyric contrasting what you are and what you could be. https://www.instagram.com/thekokroachez/

3. The Two Ton Shoes – The Prestige –

The Two Ton Shoes opened the recent Crazy Cowboy Festival 11 at the Face Bar, the same day they released this, their latest single. The band are local and reckon they had the shortest travel distance to the venue from all those appearing this year! Their Weight of a Stone was Andy’s favourite track of 2023, and this is another great example of their sound. https://www.facebook.com/ thetwotonshoes

4. Forgotten Gods – Everybody’s Hero –

We went along to the Prog for Peart event and it was excellent! It wasn’t too far away (in Abingdon), it was for charity and there was great music over two days so, if you’ve never been before, it’s well worth getting along next year. One of the bands there was Forgotten Gods and you don’t have to wait until next year to see them as they will be at our own, Wokingham Festival, on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31st. Their melodic prog sound was delivered with passion and technical expertise by a tight band of musicians fronted by the confident vocals of Mark Cunningham, who founded and runs Prog for Peart. We are looking forward to seeing him and the band in Wokingham very soon. This track is from their impressive album, Memories – https://www.forgottengods.co.uk/

5. Purple Grace – Just 19 –

Also at Prog for Peart we bumped into Lewis, the drummer from Purple Grace (who we last saw performing at the Wokingham Mela), who was helping with running the event. It also reminded us we hadn’t yet featured their latest single released back in May, so here it is! We’re looking forward to seeing them on the Marquee stage at Wokingham Festival on Sunday, August 30th. https:// www.facebook.com/purplegraceband

6. I See Orange – Doll Guts –

We’ve featured the Swindon-based alt-rock/grunge band before, and we’re excited to learn they are releasing their debut album, Pining for Apollo, at the beginning of September; they’ve also been playing gigs in the USA! In the meantime, this is their most recent single, a tale of horror and revenge, set in a dolls house! https://www.instagram.com/iseeorangemusic/

7. Hollie Rogers – Everything’s Fine –

Hollie Rogers is based in London, and originally from Cornwall, but she recently launched her solo album just down the road at The Harlington in Fleet. The venue was packed, and Hollie and her band, plus a few special guests, delivered a great show (Andy was there to shoot the occasion for Emerging Rock Bands magazine.) It is not hard to guess Hollie’s favourite colour, everyone on stage was wearing orange! This is the title track from her album, which reached no. 2 in the official Jazz and Blues chart, and was co-written with Elles Bailey and Beth Nielsen Chapman who also feature on it. Look out for her on tour from the end of this month. https://www.hollierogers.com/

8. Bone-Idle – Liquorice –

We missed the launch of Reading-based Bone-Idle’s latest single the other weekend, but it was a great gig with support from Verdagears and The Strand. They are definitely a band to

watch as we’ve seen them getting better each time we see them, and each release shows how they’re gaining experience and confidence. https://www.facebook.com/boneidleband

9. Who Ate All the Crayons – Bare Your Teeth –

It’s good to see bands we’ve been following for a while as they develop and improve over time. Who Ate All the Crayons will be headlining the second stage at Wokingham Festival this year, on the Saturday night. This track is from their latest EP Evergreen, and features the distinctive vocals of Harry Stradling and a plangent guitar backing. https://www.facebook.com/ WhoAteAllTheCrayons/

10. Belle and Sebastian – The Boy with the Arab Strap –

We love outdoor shows like the recent series of On The Mount concerts at Wasing Estate and the unique style of introspective, but uplifting, melodic songwriting from indie pop stalwarts, Belle and Sebastian, fitted the location perfectly. Following an impressive rendition of the whole of their If You’re Feeling Sinister album, the band performed a selection of rare and classic songs. The beaming smiles on everyone’s faces reflected the pleasure of this joyous and life-affirming event – https://www.belleandsebastian.com

You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday

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