The Bowery - Friday 23rd September 2011
Last Friday I appeared on the bill at The Bowery along with Pete Clark on bass, Damian Alainov on keys, Cris Castellitto on Drums and Josie Bannis and Winston Ward on bvs.
Here’s a snippet of some of the songs we performed. The songs are still at a reasonably early stage in development but will all feature on my second album which I might call “Alright By Me” the name of my favourite track at the moment. Who knows, I might just change my mind.
See what you think…The Brentford Festival - Sunday 4th September 2011
Probably not the best in the world, nor the biggest but certainly the closest to where I live – The Brentford Festival opened its gates on the wettest and windiest days we’d seen in weeks.
I had a wonderful plan that included recording everything that led up to that day so that I could show it as a video diary. It was to include rehearsals leading up to the festival and, of course, the live performance itself. But the rain put paid to that and it was impossible to set up the camcorder. The show did go on when the rain slowed.
Let’s stop talking about the weather now. I’ve attached all the relevant photos to this recording of my interview at Hayes FM and hopefully you’ll get the general idea.
Needless to say, I was surrounded by some fantastic musicians. The gig was acoustic and included Manuel Salamanca on percussion and Pete Clark on acoustic guitar. My back up singers were Josie Bannis and Winston Ward who will also be appearing on my second album which is being recorded this autumn for release in the new year.
Stick around for more details about the recording of the album coming soon…
Sisters Roar! - The Charity CD - Out Now!
An amazing charity event took place on Saturday 16th July. Organised by Sally Bee and Anna Westwood, also known as the Survivor Birds, forty women gathered at Angel Studios in London to record "I Am Woman". Three charities will benefit from 100% of all sales and royalties, you can help by downloading the track from iTunes for 99p or buying the CD for £3.89 (inc P&P):
See and hear the full story:
Fran Clark Live @ The King's Arms - Saturday 21st May 2011
For some reason I woke up with the theme song from Dirty Dancing in my head. You know that line “I’ve had the time of my life…” Well that’s exactly how I describe last night. I was quite nervous about the gig. I was even nervous about going to the rehearsal for the gig. I guess it’s because the songs have been a long time in the planning stage and I was anxious about how they’d come together in a live situation.
I was really happy with the results. It was so good to hear my songs coming to life and the sound that we’ve been working on finally taking form. There’s a long way to go and lots of work to do before we even start to record the second album but it’s going to be fun getting there.
From the response I got last night from all of you, you are certainly keen to hear the second album. A lot of you were asking when the next gig is and we’ll have to get to work on that so watch this space. Your support was amazing and I hope you will stick with us, listening to edits, commenting and coming along to future gigs until we can finally launch the second album. You can even come up with a name for it if you’d like. Think I might run a little competition to see who comes up with the best one.
So, a big thanks to our support act Liis Hirvoja – hope you enjoyed her set as much as I did. An especially big thank you to all the band members for making it happen: Eric Ford (drums) Damian Alainov (keys) Sarah Carter (back up vocals) Josie Bannis (back up vocals) and of as ever my husband, partner, co-producer and arranger, engineer, roadie, Musical Director and more…Pete Clark (bass guitar). I got lots of praise last night but I am nothing without him.
Please come back for some live footage, pictures and more….
Best
Fran
x
Singer's Showcase - 26th March 2011
If you didn’t make this show – well I can only say you missed another hot one. Preparations as intense as usual. Found a keyboard player, lost a keyboard player, found a keyboard player to replace the one that was lost and really struck gold. Thanks to David Frankel for stepping in at only week’s notice to learn a huge repertoire of songs. Our drummer on the night was Cris Castellito and I had endless compliments about his expertise and agreed with every one of them. Sebastian Clark played guitar on some of the songs and I have to praise him for learning one of the songs just before going on stage, as the guitarist was a no show too.
Speaking of no shows we lost one singer to illness earlier during the week and then another on the night!! Started the show a little later as two singers hadn’t shown up but the crowd, as always, was so supportive they didn’t complain that the show got off to a latish start.
All the singers put in a lot of hard work and commitment and it was appreciated – I hope they all had as good a time as I did. They were a special group this time and the audience showed how much they agreed with me on that.
I had said that this would be the last one but there were an awful lot of people last night who want more… you’ll have to watch this space. It’s a lot of work for musical director, Pete Clark, who has a lot to focus on this year. Between us we hope to be releasing a new batch of original music (watch this space even more)!
I had such a great night, it would be good to do it again but … hey we’ll see.
Come back to the site for a video clip compilation of the night and let me have your comments and feedback.
Best Wishes
Fran
Singer's Showcase - 27th November 2010
Thanks to everyone who came out to support all of the singers on what was a cold and miserable night. Outside it was dark and gloomy but inside we were cooking on gas – does anyone still say that? Anyway - I think it was the biggest audience we’ve ever had. Took a few shows to convince a few more people what a great evening’s entertainment the show can be! Let’s hope it continues to grow for next time.
I think we’ve found a good home for the show in the King’s Arms. Small enough to be cosy but not so small we’re fighting for space – like the last venue. But I think what makes the night so special is the intimate atmosphere created by having such a friendly crowd coming down to see us. Not only for the fab singers, but the excellent house band. I have to mention (again) the musical director, Mr Pete Clark, for the work that goes in to song arrangements – we don’t just throw this thing together you know.
Coming up next time, some of your favourite singers and some great new singers join the line up and that means a more varied range of musical genres…
So put 26th March in your diary and we’ll see you there!
Fran
X
Singer's Showcase - 9th October 2010
Go on, admit it; who turned up at the King’s Head in Acton last night before they realised they should have been at the King’s Arms instead? Okay, hands down. Who turned up at the King’s Arms in Acton and had a really good night? If you answered yes to the latter then we’ll forgive the former (even if you did hang around at the King’s Head for a quick gin and tonic – Tony)!
Well it was another successful night all round. I quite liked the new venue – we need to sort out a few teething problems but don’t worry I’ll make sure that’s all in place for next time. i.e someone tending bar on our side and better lighting and table arrangement.
As always you all want more and asked when the next Singer's Showcase would be, I really need you to come along and support it and help to bring a few more people down. The next date is confirmed: 27th November 2010.
I have to say a big thank you to the singers for their talent and their time. They worked hard to entertain and I was so proud of them all. The band was fantastic. Arnie (drums) stepped in at the last minute to fill in and played a blinder, I have to admit. It was the first time playing with Mike (keyboards) and I’m hoping they will both be involved with the next show. Front of house, another superb job and a big Thank You to all of you for coming down and being such a wonderful and supportive audience.
We’d love to see you back.
Best wishes,
Fran
Singer's Showcase - 10th July 2010
Destination – The Rebar, Shepherds Bush. Mission - to host the Singer’s Review.
I must admit, I was a little nervous as I set off for the bar. After a wardrobe malfunction (the dress I’d planned to wear had prompted a ‘does my bum look big in this’ moment so I decided to opt for roomey over the tight fitting number). Off I went, I knew it would be a good show because I know how good the singers are and how much the musicians had worked on the songs.
The first time we did this gig it was so well received, I was asked by almost everyone to stage it again. Some of you even wanted the singers to sing the exact same songs, it was that good! The line up of singers changed slightly this time along with two thirds of the band. Preparations were going well until one of the singers, Elly Wilson, lost his voice. Sorry Elly, you got no sympathy from Sebastian (guitar) who, on receiving the news, said “but I just learned his songs,” and threw down his pick in disgust. Standing in for Elly was a fab vocalist, Keely Johnson, so Elly’s fans were not disappointed. Keith Poulter, even more on form than the last time if that were possible. It was a bit of a family affair with sister Josie Bannis and neice, Keme McKnight, doing it for the girls, in style I might add. Sadly, singer Kojo Rigault, was unable to join us for reasons beyond his control and in true Kojo style, he turned up fashionably late. So late, in fact, the landlady handed him a broom and asked him to help with the clearing up.
I did have a moment, or should I say, a half hour of panic when two 7 foot men in matching outfits turned up wanting to see the landlady’s license to put on live music - and she didn’t have one! Apparently the man from upstairs had called Environmental Health to complain about the noise from the bar. I’m guessing this gentleman has E. H. on speed dial as I’m told he complains about everything, even people walking back from the shops. If the items in their shopping bag clink together too loudly they are likely to have them seized with a stern warning that they must not carry loud shopping in his earshot. To my horror I was to learn from these giants that we couldn’t continue with the second set if we were going to use amplification. Help! Panic set in until the musicians rallied around and we decided to carry on a capella and Pete (band leader and bass guitar) sped off home to get the acoustic guitar that he and Sebastian played in turn. Josh (drums) did a sterling job on drums, dialling down the volume with ease for the acoustic numbers.
With thanks to the audience for their patience and the musicians and singers for their talent, we were able to carry on with the second half. Not quite what we rehearsed but everyone said how intimate it all was and how involved they became because of it.
Stay involved, tell all your friends about it and come down next time. Next date to be announced soon, a new venue will be announced too.
See you all soon
Fran
Radio Interview - 1st September 2010
This involved a
live performance on Hayes FM 91.8 and I was accompanied by Pete Clark - Guitar & Percussion.
Radio Interview - 18th May 2008
With Linley Hamilton on BBC Radio Ulster who played new track Just Listen .
Radio Interview - 26th February 2008
With Sue Marchant on BBC Radio East. Sue played five tracks from "To Fly" my debut album.
