To expand on that - Preston, Depreston, Priestown, Austerity Ville, a northern English post-industrial milltown, whatever name or identity you choose to give the place and whatever way you choose to think of its music, it has live music going on this December.
The town has a few venues and a lot of 21st century drinking holes and one of them - a cute little arts cafe bar down a side street called Korova Arts Cafe & Bar - has performance, poetry, art and live acoustic acts. And this blog is formally and officially about specifically two of the music nights in that particular den of creativity taking place on the 13th and 14th December (Friday and Saturday).
So let's start with where this Korova is?
Well, if you walk down the main shopping street leading up to Preston Railway Station, Fishergate, you'll come across a Primark http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7824291.stm .Opposite on the right hand side as you walk out of town, is St. Wilfrid Street with a whopping great big church on the corner. Turn down there and look for a brightly lit haven of arty vibe and festival run up merriment. You'll see it glow. Open the door, say hello, ask for a beer, and even if you're a Lancashire anarchist who imagines that we can live without money (just like they do on Star Trek), we actually do still use money as a form of exchange and you'll have to pay for it. But feel free to dream about Star Trek and Anarchism as you hand over your pocket money! And we'll be glad to see you.
The first Korova music night to mention is the After The Mill Open Lounge on Friday December the 13th. All performers are welcome to this so feel free to muck in. The reason it's called After The Mill is because we live in a northern milltown and it's after the mill. It's a question of what do we do next with our lives, in particular our working lives?
It been Christmas an all, it is worth pointing out at this juncture (who knows what that really means but doesn't it sound lovely) that Dickens wrote sections of one of his grimmer tales Hard Times based on his experience in Preston, or Coketown, as he called it. An impoverished smoking milltown. Which is another good reason to run an After The Mill night.
And I know that to be true because I instantly found an academic web site from Ontario Canada claiming so. It must be true: it's the internet and there is only one internet made in our image and in the internet we trust. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/hardtimes/pva27.html
But then what is truth but a consumer perspective: an opinion of mine is equal in weight to all other opinions, apparently. Even ill informed, poorly thought out and inaccurate opinions, and the occasional straightforward lie, are equal in validity to my opinions, often clarified by the statement about everyone having different opinions and points of view. So Preston is not a former milltown, that's just my opinion, it is in fact a retail opportunity for wealth creators.
Nowadays of course we don't work ourselves to death in mills to make a tidy profit for the owners, no, instead the slave labour now works itself to death in other countries, helping to make a tidy profit for the owners. In turn we get to hang about shopping, drinking corporate coffee and working in call centres if we're lucky. (Take Primark's sweatshops for example (see the link)). We're free now and we know this because we have personal computers which we can buy stuff on. And although our choice is somewhat limited by low wages, we know that we chose that for ourselves when we made a lower class consumer lifestyle choice.
Something like that anyway.
Hence - After The Mill Open Lounge Night. I knew you'd like it.
I'd also like to point out that Korova does tea and hot chocolate and has food too!
Ok this is getting a little tiresome for me now never mind you. I don't want to hang about writing this stuff all night. So let's cut to the chase ( another ridiculous phrase that just has to be used).
Saturday Acoustic, December the 14th. A live acoustic performance at Korova Arts Cafe & Bar from 8.30pm.
Biography
http://www.john-herring.com/John Herring is a singer/songwriter, raised on an
estate in Salford and writes songs influenced by
the urban street scenes in which he grew up and
the relationships around him.
Background:
Raised on an estate in Salford, in a household where music from Bacharach and David to Tchaikovsky was played it is safe to say that John's influences have been many and varied. He spent his early years destroying turntables through overplaying and by the age of 11 decided that the equally destructive tuba should be the next piece of musical kit to master. After 5 years and a realisation that the tuba wasn't where contemporary music was at John picked up the bass guitar, but three years later moved onto the acoustic guitar and began writing music.
John’s music is influenced by his early classical upbringing whereby strings, piano and brass make a regular appearance on his tracks. John has just released his eagerly awaited follow up album to, 'Tales From a Northern City,' called, 'It Starts Again.'
Influences and Comparisons:
Elbow, I Am Kloot, The Blue Nile, Roddy Frame, John Martyn, Doves, Peter Gabriel, The Smiths, Paul Heaton
Currently:
John has released the new album, 'It Starts Again.' The work comprises of 10 new songs which showcase both the soulful and cinematic of John's writing with a driving and optimistic feel. Both acoustic and full band shows will now follow into 2012.
Line Up:
John Herring - Guitar and Vocals; John Miles - Guitars; Joe Nearney - Bass and Backing Vocals; Chris Halkyard - Drums and Backing Vocals.
And also playing is singer songwriter Bill Orrick
Bill Orrick ...
Atmospheric folk with
soaring vocals, soulful impassioned lyrics, and a penchant for strange chords
set to self-
Bill Orrick's song 'Oblivious' has received airplay on BBC Radio Lancashire Introducing, Preston FM, All FM Manchester and Manchester Radio Online, and has also been included on SoundBytes' "Sounds of Lancashire 2012" compilation.
Last time Bill played a storming set at Korova and we're well looking forward to having him back again: this time at one of our Saturday Acoustics!
http://www.billorrick.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4ykYL9tKSc
Written by Sweeney Astray's Mike KneafseyAnd of course feel free to check out Sweeney Astray tracks and videos and download them for free...
http://youtu.be/VoMM36l3Xsc http://www.reverbnation.com/sweeneyastray and http://www.sweeneyastray.co.uk/
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