DIANE TREMARCO IN AWE OF …
CD LAUNCH - NEIL CAMPBELL
I have always greatly admired fellow musicians and creatives and I am thrilled to be able to tell you about those I know well and those I have recently discovered . Please take a look at my Instagram profile for more of the artists I am in awe of .
The end of another year draws ever closer as we welcome a new dawn for live music .
The music industry has suffered a second major setback . The first ? Banning smoking in venues . It was a bittersweet enforcement as performers gained a healthier outlook , publicans lost more and more customers . Sadly , it began a decline in public houses that never recovered .
The second and most devastating was COVID-19 . It hit us when we were already down . It tore the heart and soul out of our industry and goaded us to survive with our hands tied behind our backs .
We were having none of it . We became more creative , making use of the devastation , we wrote , we practiced , we perfected and now , like the proverbial Phoenix , we rise again . A new dawn for live music .
Let ’ s take a look at some of my favourite local performers – this is just a few , there will be more to come .
Diane xx
The music of multi-instrumentalist and composer Neil Campbell draws on elements of contemporary classical , progressive , jazz and other musical styles . His output includes pieces for solo guitar , guitar and cello , songs , instrumental ensemble pieces and choral music .
He has performed and recorded around 20 albums solo and in collaboration with his bands Neil Campbell Collective , Bulbs , Perri and Neil , After the Flood and others . Following a longstanding collaborative process of sharing musical ideas across the internet , he , and other members of his band Bulbs , contributed as co-writers to significant sections of Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and Roine Stolt ’ s album The Invention of Knowledge ( Inside Out 2016 ). He continues to collaborate with Anderson on new music .
Neil ’ s solo performances often involve him using loops and other technology to expand the sound and scope of what one performer can do with the classical guitar . As a soloist he has performed in the UK and Europe and has been a regular performer at the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain .
He particularly enjoys playing in ‘ special ’ venues and has performed solo concerts in spaces such as Union Chapel ( London ), Sheffield Cathedral and Liverpool ' s St George ' s Hall . In October 2013 , he took part in the legendary Irish Sea Sessions at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and at Queen Elizabeth Hall , London .
Across the period of the pandemic in 2020 , Neil focussed on recording his new album for Klee Music , The Great Escape . The album includes twelve original compositions exuding the atmosphere of a travelogue with airy arrangements and jazzy chord progressions . Very much a collaboration with producer / engineer Jon Lawton of Liverpool ’ s Crosstown Studios , Neil performs nearly all of the significant instrumental parts himself , with Norwegian drummer Viktor Nordberg on percussive duties .
Pre-Order : https :// kmpuk . co . uk / product / klee-17-neil-campbell-the-great-escape /
Masquerade Video : YouTube link https :// youtu . be / 1L8LDP _ ijrI
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