Having spent much of the past 12 months over the pond in the States as well as supporting the much acclaimed Kodaline and Tom Odell, James Bay took centre stage in his headline slot at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen last week, for what was an enraptured performance that completely enthralled and captivated the 300 strong audience crammed inside the stylish East London music venue. 

Described by himself as being "the biggest headline performance of my career",  the sell-out crowd in Hoxton were chomping at the bit for a taste of the rasping vocals of this extremely talented singer-songwriter from Hertfordshire. James very much has a patriotic clan following his movements and prior to the doors opening I got chatting to a guy at the bar who was very good friends with James' brother and knew James from school. He had told me how much of an extremely well grounded and respectful individual James was.  I had noticed this myself whilst watching various interviews of James from his  time spent in the States. Bay's humble and polite manner shone through his stunning performance in Hoxton with his ability to engage with the audience who were evidently resonating with his every word sung. From his southern sounding politeness and softly spoken introduction came his enthralling opening song "When we were on fire" taken from his debut EP 'The Dark of the Morning'. The conviction of the opening chords seemed to instantly captivate the audience and once James delivered his rasping first line you got the feeling that not only would this be a mesmerising gig but a memorable one too. Indeed it was.

I was told by one of his tour team just how much James has developed as more of a confident performer since taking up the opening slot[s] for the likes of Kodaline on their UK tour and ZZ Ward in the States. It is little wonder that his talent has seen James open up sets for non other than The Rolling Stones,  Beth Orton, Rae Morris and Laura Mvula. This performance in East London was delivered with the assurance, confidence and class of a man who is well on his way to great things. 

The set was laced with moments of deafening silence from the mesmerised crowd, such as when James played the spine-tingling and heartfelt 'Move together' along with the seemingly nostalgic childhood memory-esq 'Stealing Cars' (the latter of which, it turns out, isn't about stealing cars, as confirmed by Bay himself). The evening was also an opportunity for James to promote his upcoming EP aptly entitled 'Demos' which features the high-octane 'Collide' which was very warmly received by everyone, myself included. I typically prefer the songs that are more intimate, dramatic and somewhat atmospheric in their delivery; songs that grab you by the heart strings, and evoke a sense of atmosphere throughout - which 'Let it go' (again a new track from 'Demos') certainly achieves. Throughout 'Let it go' you could almost hear a pin drop. The room fell silent, all eyes transfixed on James with a respectful obedience that is sadly, seldom found at gigs these days. The silence of the room was not only a clear indication but also testament to the true talent that was being observed. The atmosphere was helped by the incredible projection of James' vocals which reverberated around the four walls providing true ambience and feeling to an already immense sounding guitar pick-up. 

With his stunning tone, raw expressions and gravely voice supporting his extremely powerful and emotive songs, there was barely a moment that passed without James gripping the crowd. 

It is always great to feel that you're at a gig that is unique and when James informed the packed Hoxton room that this was a night that marks his largest ever headline concert, you certainly felt it was  a special occasion. With so many of his followers in the audience, selling out venues around the country and with James making waves through the digital music social spectrum you really sensed that this is merely the start for this fantastic and humble artist and as he continues his own tour throughout the UK as well as his continued support with Kodaline, it can only be a matter of time before Bay is taking on the bigger venues. Whilst the nature of his music may give good reason to question whether a larger venue (think O2 Academy Brixton  size) may be a tad too grande for a singer-songwriter armed only with a guitar, James confirmed that he has now got a band in place and will be continuing his personal tour which is taking him throughout the UK and Ireland over the coming months.

JR

Find out more about James Bay by visiting his website www.jamesbaymusic.com

Music, much like film or literature, has the power to move you to another space or time. Be it a memory of a place or moment with a friend, the beauty of music is that it can reflect your mood. Emotions and thoughts are mirrored back to you in the form of harmony, rhythm, melody and lyric. That’s why it has been a fundamental part of human life for thousands of years, all over the world. Not long after fire, the wheel, there would have been tune.  

Simon Green, a.k.a – Bonobo, allows his listeners to glimpse at different cultures and parts of the world that many of us have only seen in films or read about in books. Cleverly using melodic scales or rhythms to denote a particular genre specific to a continent, you can almost picture the scene where the song is coming from; a South American Latino dance, or a tranquil East Asian garden. Jazz, latin, garage and dance all mingle harmoniously as they rub shoulders.

Bonobo then mixes it all up with contemporary beats and instruments to take the listener to a strange, dream-type world where Japanese Kimono women stand next to the edge of the Amazon rainforest in an urban, inner-city landscape. At least in my mind, anyway.

Sometimes we want music to reflect how we see the world and for it to try and explain what makes us angry, sad or happy. The gritty realism and social-commentary of The Jam may be poetry to some and nonsense for others (“Waking up at six am on a cool warm morning/opening the windows and breathing in petrol”).

And sometimes we want music to allow us to escape. Escape from the stresses or troubles of life to another place. Seeing Bonobo live for the first time must be a surprise for most people who have listened to his music. How will he recreate all these weird and wonderful sounds on stage? Who will be playing what?

Delightfully, it’s seamless and entertaining. Green hops from bass guitar to laptop (where many of his own created sounds are used as samples) and is surrounded by a full live band and singers. I won’t give too much away for those of you who would like to see Bonobo (and to stop this sounding like an advert!).

Ultimately, for me, I love to travel and if time and money was endless I would be a full-time tourist, visiting states, nations, republics and kingdoms. Following Simon Green on Instagram, you get to see the beautiful places where he plays his music. In a way it’s too real for me. I’d rather sit back, close my eyes and let the music take me there…

GH

With all the hype surrounding the headline acts prior to  Glastonbury 2013, it is little surprise that all the column inches in the various British newspapers and magazines went to the Rolling Stones, Mumford and Sons, the Arctic Monkeys and the like. However, through the haze of all the endless flags, colour-bursting flares and sun drenched music lovers, all of whom were basking in one of the most memorable 'Glasto's' in its forty plus year history, I found myself extremely excited by finding my own diamond in the musical rough; Ruarri Joseph.

Having been unsuccessful with my attempts to get a ticket for Glastonbury, I was, like many others, glued to the BBC 2's coverage of the festival - and it is through finding Joseph that made the lack of a ticket almost worthwhile. The BBC and their often mind numbingly annoying festival presenters spend, in my opinion, way too much time chatting about all kinds of unimportant anecdotes etc, all usually to promote their own self importance (rant over). However what they do really well is have their own acoustic sessions by their studio - a set that provides what looks like a stunning view over the Somerset venue. There is often an eclectic mixture of music that the BBC showcase with their studio sessions, however, the first sign of any artist stood on the stage with just a guitar for company and i'm instantly hooked. After hearing the gravely tones of Joseph's voice amidst the controlled and rhythmic strumming to his song 'Anyway', I knew I had to research this guy more - and it was to my delight that I stumbled on the song 'Got my share', taken from Ruarri Joseph's fourth and indeed most recent record 'Brother'. 

The opening chords of 'Got my share', against the backdrop of soft drumming and base takes this song from strength to strength throughout. 

So thank you Glastonbury and BBC 2 for introducing me to this fine talent, all from the 'living room' stage. Beats the Pyramid stage doesn't it? 

Almost, but not quite.

JR

This song was brought to my attention in one of those moments when you hear a song that sounds familiar, and although you cant quite put your finger on who sings the original, it gives you a brand new appreciation for the song. That was exactly what it was like the first time I heard Passenger's cover of the Bruce Springsteen track Dancing in the dark.

Buried within the set list at the PinkPop 2013 festival, Passenger has the audience fully attentive and mesmerised by his stringy cover. I had heard Dancing in the dark at almost all weddings i've been to and, although i'm a fan of Stringsteen's music, I admit to having never truly liked this song until now. That is, in my opinion, the beauty of someone as talented as Passenger - an artist who can take a hugely popular and successful song and seemingly make it his own, bringing a new found appreciation to a song that was released more than a couple of decades previously.

JR

Now there's something to be said for people throwing out cover songs and claiming credit which is often unwarranted. We live in a world of entertainment which perpetually pushes people to do 'karaoke' style songs of already famous artists in a bid to win programmes such as The X Factor or The Voice. Don't get me wrong, within this highly manufactured reality musical TV 'machine' that spouts out 'the next best thing' there is the odd gem found, such as James Arthur, who entered the competition with songs of his own and a talent to play guitar -as opposed to sing over a backing track. I expect Arthur to make waves in the industry - but hopefully through his own choice of songs and covers, not his labels's.

I digress. The reason I highlight this point of cover songs is that when an established and magnificently talented artist such as kelly Jones from the Stereophonics covers a song, you know its out of appreciation and respect to the original writer/artist.

Having personally met Kelly Jones in my (now) home town of Chiswick, I can vouch for the fact that he the most humble and down to earth 'celebrity' that i've ever had the pleasure of meeting. A man who was genuinely interested in what I had to say, was humbled by my praise for how much I adore his band and seemed somewhat touched when I told him how I feel Word gets around is the best debut album from the 90's Brit Pop era (yes, yes, even eclipsing Oasis's Definitely Maybe).

Here's Kelly singing the fantastic Tom Petty's Free Falling and boy, does he do it justice.

There's no question that some songs or artists have the rare ability to transport you back to a particular time of your life. Whether that be a moment of heartbreak with a  loved one, a fantastic holiday with friends, your wedding or even a funeral, music has the power to evoke and bring back memories that can leave you completely lost in a day dream at your desk, at work or on a bus journey home - all reliving that specific moment in time. Joshua Radin, with his soft, mellow, acoustic tones does just that for me.

I remember a few years ago watching an episode of Scrubs, which guest starred Brendan Fraser, playing the role of Ben, who, it transpired had leukaemia.  I too was battling the disease at the time of watching - and although this made viewing the scenes quite, no, very difficult, I was completely transfixed. Scrubs has always had the power to make the viewer laugh with hysterics and then instantly hold back the tears with the turn of a scene. Ben died of his leukaemia in this scene which, has since been regarded as the most sad scene throughout all episodes of the award winning US comedy TV show.  The song at Ben's funeral was Joshua Radin's Winter. 

Stringy picking guitar chords laced with beautiful lyrics made me completely adore this song and subsequently this artist. Listening to Winter today, six years post diagnosis, still takes me back to me lying on that hospital bed in Birmingham, laughing, crying but always enjoying the sound of Joshua Radin.

I managed to see Joshua play in Camden, London at the end of last year (2012) and his encore was Winter, which topped off what was already a very memorable gig.
JR

Further to this week's Bpositive's Song of the week, I felt compelled to explore further the fine artist that is Passenger. 

Passenger, real name Mike Rosenberg is a folk singer/songwriter from Britain. His stage name comes from  his previous rock-folk band, in which he was the main vocalist and songwriter. When I was first introduced to Passenger by a colleague of mine at work, who, it turns out shares an equal passion for great folk and acoustic music, I was simply blown away by the sound of this man. He instantly put me in mind of other great folk artists which I am a huge fan of such as; The Tallest Man on Earth and a young David Gray. Similar in tone and vocal projection, Passenger, like The Tallest Man on Earth has a somewhat Dylan-esq raw sound to his songs and a very unique voice. 

Although his defining track to date is the very popular Let her go, I found this gem of a track through a YouTube search and I instantly loved it. There's just something about playing music on public transport that lifts the spirits of all on board - and with Holes this is no exception. The fast-paced, catchy song will always captivate an audience and leave them tapping their feet and having the song in their head for the rest of the day.

Not only do I wish I was a passenger on board the tram  when this video (right) was filmed in Melbourne, Australia, but I also wish i'd witness more of this on my commute to work in London. I'd certainly put down my Metro paper, take out my ear phones and sing along whilst tapping my feet -and i'm sure the other passengers on board would too. Who knows, it may even make us smile on a Monday morning.

JR

Although usual practice in this music blog would be for me to share a new song that has inspired me in some way, this short documentary and heart warming story simply left me emotionally drained. 

Zach Sobiech was given only a matter of months to live after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the tender age of 14. Last June, at the age of 17, Zach became a rock star and an inspiration to millions of people. Zach's affinity with music seemed to help him with his battle against the disease and music very much seemed to be his outlet and best way of him expressing himself. The video (right) shows Zach's journey through the latter stages of his battle and we, as an audience get to see just how close he is to his whole family, how they, along with his girlfriend become the objects of his passion for his songwriting. 

In December 2012, Zach's song 'Clouds' went viral and attracted the interest and support of plenty of famous people including; Riann Wilson, The Lumineers, Jason Mraz, Ed Helms and Colbie Caillat to name but a few. Indeed the video attached to this article was produced through Riann Wilson's SoulPancake youtube channel and has attracted over seven million views to date. In one particuarly poignant scene Zach explains "My closure is being able to get my feelings into these songs. So [friends and family] could have something to remember me by, or lean on when I was gone,".

Zach sadly lost his battle with osteosarcoma in May 2013, yet there's no doubt at all that his legacy will last a very long time through his music and his story. In an age in time where there seems to be endless new pop bands that are idolised for seemingly trivial reasons, Zach Sobiech stands out amongst them all as a true rock star whose music and story is now deservingly being appreciated throughout the world.

JR