Melissa James + Akimbo + Rebecca Hollweg

While the doors to our beloved venue remain closed and the whole world as we know it seems to have turned upside down, we wanted to continue to do what we love doing! So…. we are very proud to present “Virtually Green Note… in the round”… a series of specially-curated, unique online musical events that will run every Wednesday and Friday evening at 8pm (UK time), streamed live to our website, our YouTube and Facebook page.

If you watch this show (and are able to) we would like to like to ask you to make a donation via our PayPal link and support the musicians during this difficult time. All the money raised for each show, will be divided  between the venue and the three artists playing on this date. Please know that we, and all the musicians involved, are incredibly grateful for the support of music-loving audiences… and it enables us to keep doing what what we do!

Suggested donation £10, but any donation will be much appreciated. Thank you!


 

MELISSA JAMES: “Best current British blues singer I know.” – The words of BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson who has long given a nod of approval to the work of this singer-songwriter. Melissa James is, however, much more than a blues singer.
In summer 2015 the recording of “Stripped Back” – the second album release to come from Melissa – would unexpectedly take her in a new direction. “Live Again”, one of the songs recorded, had been written some two years prior. The song speaks of the silent call for help she had heard from a person she could see was struggling mentally. She made the creative decision to allow the stark recording to lay bare her vocal vulnerability, unaware that it would in turn bring to light the plight of her subconscious message to herself through the lyrics of this song. It became clear to her that the cry emerging from the recording was in fact her very own.
From this realisation came a long and slow process of self-discovery and the emergence of Melissa’s Big Sing project SING4SANE. This aimed to bring people together to sing “Live Again” and encouraged connection between those who have an understanding of mental ill health.
“James takes all of her musical loves – jazz, blues, soul, folk – and wraps them up into songs that achieve an astonishing array of moods and emotions.” Jazzwise
“Melissa’s vocals are sensitive, soulful and emotional…” Maverick

 

AKIMBO: Akimbo is a band of quiet aspirations. Founded from within the buzz of the hectic North London landscape, Pedro Velasco and Nell Greco play with the role of silence and dynamics in making music. Not to say that their music is loud and soft. Rather it’s gentle, thoughtful, rough-around-the-edges, layered and made to sound beautiful, when it can be.
The duo’s mutual love of obscure pop, folk music, jazz and ambient, improvised music feeds their distinguished, original sound. It’s the layered textures from vocal and guitar effects, the blurring of roles between instrumentalist/vocalist, and the evocatively rich harmonies and simple melodies..

REBECCA HOLLWEG: Singer-songwriter Rebecca Hollweg released her 3rd album of melodic songs, ‘Country Girl’, in 2015, described by UNCUT magazine as ‘another delightful batch of tunes,’ and given 8/10. She’s about to release her first covers album called ‘Other people’s songs’.

Her albums have been played on BBC Radio 2 by Janice Long, Jamie Cullum, Jeremy Vine, Aled Jones, Eamon Holmes and Alex Lester, and she has played sessions for BBC Radio 2, BBC 6Music (Tom Robinson), and played live on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ and ‘Loose Ends’ as well as Broadcasting House, BBC London (Robert Elms and Simon Lederman) and World Update with Dan Damon on the BBC World Service.
Her music is most like that of James Taylor, one of her major influences, and her songs and special voice connect with people.
She writes about things in her life that are important to other people too. Listening to her play live, one audience member described as ‘like being enfolded in a warm embrace’.
Her music has folk, country, jazz and pop influences and she is an accomplished singer working with a band of exceptionally good musicians. She accompanies herself on acoustic guitar, and works with her husband Andy Hamill,a highly respected bass player who has worked and recorded with many big musical names (including Laura Mvula, Rumer, Eska, Natacha Atlas, Mark Murphy, Nitin Sawhney, Omar, 4Hero and Kylie Minogue).