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Sinead Livingston appeared with the band 'Driven Serious' a few weeks ago, but tonight she performed solo, and included a song called 'Patchwork Pier', written after she had wallked along the North Pier at Roker, with a patchwork of vistas ahead of her as she returned to the shor.
pics to ollow
 
In a change to the way 'The Speakeasy Phenomenon' is presented, the latest issue will now appear above previous issues.
This month we look at how the Speakeasy album came about two years ago, and how your's truly caused a cuffuffle by trying to do a good deed; and scroll down the screen to this month's Speakeasy Schedule and some photos from May on the left handside.
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The 'Speakeasy' at The Harbour View pub in Roker - what's it all about?
Well, it's quite simply the best free to enter blues and acoustic music night in Sunderland! It takes place every Thursday, with live music kicking off at 8.30pm on the dot, and is hosted by legendary Sunderland bluesman George Shovlin, and one of the best guitarists in the north of England, George Lamb.
Initially, after the Speakeasy started in 2014, the evenings involved artists from around the Sunderland area, each playing up to three numbers per night, depending on how many people wanted to perform. However, word quickly spread about how good these nights were, and now performers from all over the north-east, and other parts of the country, regularly come to The Speakeasy.
April 2018 sees the start of an online magazine called 'The Speakeasy Phenomenon'. I'm writing it to give people a flavour of what Speakeasy is all about, how it started, and to provide a bit of information about some of the performers. The first issuegives some background to what it's all about, and the second will follow before the end of April. The plan is to add a new issue at the start of each month, but to get things up and running, I thought I would do two this April, with the second being all about the man whose ideas brought The Speakeasy into being in the first place...the one and only, Mr Shovlin. |
So, here it is, Issue 1 of 'The Speakeasy Phenomenon'.
Geoff Scott 12/4/18
George Shovlin has played a massive part in the development of live music in the city of Sunderland over the best part of half a century. During the last four of these years, along with George Lamb, he has created the music phenomenon that is 'The Speakeasy'. The evenings now attact not only leading blues and acoustic artists from Sunderland and the north-east, but also from around the country. For example, Benjamen Bassford is one of the most talked-about young blues guitarists in the country, and he is travelling up from Nottingham, specifically to be part of the 'Speakeasy' this Thursday (19th April).
In the first article about performers who appear regularly, and some of those making special visits to the Harbour View to be part of these unpredictable, but always top quality nights, we have, of course, focused on Mr Shovlin.....
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This month's 'Speakeasy Phenomenon' concentrates on George Lamb, without whom the show would almost certainly never get near the road, never mind on it! I'm sure many people have wondered why George didn't try to make his living from his guitar playing. Well, read on MacDuff..........I found out when I fired some questions to him about this, and a few other things, in a Q & A session in January.
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In next month's 'Speakeasy Phenomenon'........................
(1) the schedule of artists appearing at the 'Speakeasy' in the Harbour View on Thursday nights throughout June 2018, and hopefully for nthe following two months;;
(2) the Speakeasy album recorded in 2016 - how did that ll come about, and how a local councillor got the wrong end of the stick; and
(3) photographs from the 'Speakeasy' nights during May.
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