James Lockhart

It’s a while since James has played (a year) but he showed us he’s lost nothing…and just to make it even more intimidating, by coincidence, his old French teacher was here with another act (long story)! Anyway we had ‘Alcatraz’, and ‘Over The Edge’ first up plus 2 more songs later in the night. He has a passionate affecting performing style. He makes a big sound that draws you in. I was reminded of ‘Counting Crows’.

 

Tim Haycocks

ONSA regular Dan Hodgson had to withdraw at the last moment but he did us proud by coming up with a fantastic stand-in! 3 numbers including a fine cover of ‘Justice’ (Lamaar) by Tim. He’s a highly competent guitarist, a fine singer and a confident performer with great presence. We liked him!!

  

Jonathan Matthews

Back at ONSA after far too long away! Jon was appearing with Dan on Bass and they effortlessly created a great groove. ‘Man On The Run’, ‘With You’ and ‘Waiting For The Sun’. Great stuff and well received.

 

Sarah Jones and Steve

Another great act. Sarah has a quasi-theatrical gothic intensity to her voice which gives it distinction and interest (whoops is that the most pompous thing I’ve ever written?!) or to put it another way…she’s really good! A cover of Duran Duran’s ‘Ordinary World’ had the audience rocking and rolling!

 

David Doddington

David teamed up with Ephemeral’s guitarist Jeff Steinhardt after meeting up at the last ONSA (we like it when that sort of thing happens!) for two of his numbers tonight. So we had had some full-on hard - edged bluesy groovey versions of ‘Early In The Morning’ and ’16 Tons’. DD finished off with the very fine ‘Best Love’…which deserves to be a world-wide number one! A note to all aspiring singers – listen to David perform and note how you can hear every word and every word is delivered with zest, meaning and passion. This draws the listener in and makes you want more.

 

Ephemeral

Following a Fairport Convention cover Ephemeral gave us a couple of self-penned numbers ‘Ephemeral’ (of course!) and ‘soberly’. This soulful jazzy 5-piece did their ONSA debut on the terrace last week. They achieve a great presence and I particularly like the way they experiment and push musical boundaries. They make great music and hopefully we’ll see them again in due course!

 

Jeff Steinhardt

Ephemeral’s guitarist stepped up on stage for a third time tonight to show us another side of his musical abilities! We had a traditional Italian / Native American song (!) followed by a cover of Louis Armstrong’s ‘Sister Kate’.  Good stuff and well appreciated by the crowd!

 

Darin Robinson

Darin was the star of the last showcase when he performed a feature set with his band. Tonight he was performing with just a percussionist but it worked brilliantly. He writes very good songs and compliments them with fine arrangements and sparkling performances. Highlight tonight ‘Losing It’.

 

Emma Kennedy

And so to Emma. Emma has a really strong voice that brings amazing depth and vibrancy to her performance. 3 great choices: ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’, ‘Zombie’ and ‘If You Wanna Be Bad Be Good’. I think she’d cut-it in the mid-West!