LIVE AT THE BEDFORD

DYLAN WHITE

LEGENDARY PROMO MAN RELEASES LOST MUSIC

For the past 30 years Dylan White has promoted the music of major artists including Oasis, U2, Paul Weller, Arctic Monkeys, Fatboy Slim, Joe Strummer, Saint Etienne, Primal Scream, Mark Morrison, The Libertines, Midge Ure, Chemical Brothers, Suede, Gabrielle, The Alarm, Faithless, Travis, The Beautiful South, Billy Bragg, The Farm and a whole host more!!

But before he did all that, he did this……… “From 1978 at the age of 20 to around 1988 I put my heart and soul into the desire of being a rock star and so began my true life adventure into the world of music, over this period of time, I would play gigs in London pubs and clubs and try my hardest to write songs, in 1981 at the age of 23 I came up with ‘Watching Cranes’, ‘Caught By Love’, Designs On That Girl’ plus others yet to be re-recorded. However, due to my limited singing ability……I was never signed up, so I moved on to other ways of working within the music industry to some level of success. Fast-forward 39 years to 2020 and the COVID pandemic, made me realise that if didn’t do something with these old tunes right now, it may be too late for me!! So my debut single ‘Watching Cranes’ which I’d re-recorded in 2011 and sat on, was released in 2020 and received a raft of plaudits from the likes of Janice Long, Alan McGee, Johnnie Walker and Rodney Bingenheimer to name but a few!!
All this gave me the confidence to dig further into my 78-88 cassette box to see if I had any other forgotten tunes worthy of revisiting, so I have my second single ‘Caught By Love’ and my third single ‘Designs On That Girl’.

With these, I played around with the arrangements and words, as I felt both could be better. I then recorded the basic tracks at home in London on GarageBand and sent them to my producer Jason Tarver who now resides in Barcelona, he then played all the instruments and sent it back to me to do the final vocals, oh I love the modern world.  I can’t quite believe I’m writing this exactly 40 years after creating these songs, but a good tune will never let you down and you’re only old when you stop dreaming!!”

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DAN SHEEHAN

American rocker Dan Sheehan returns to the Bedford and the UK this Summer, this time with full band in tow to play songs from Sheehan’s forthcoming concept album, The Seas Are Rising: Stories of a Climate in Crisis. TSAR aims to entertain while raising awareness about the urgency of the climate crisis, with songs calling attention to record heatwaves in the UK and Europe, climate induced famine in Africa, island nations in fear of being submerged by rising seas, and intensified storms and forest fires across the globe. Sometimes sombre, sometimes surprisingly danceable and at times even humorous, The Seas Are Rising live show leaves the audience inspired to do their part to take on climate change.

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AMYEE WEIR

London based singer songwriter Aymee Weir has spent the past 7 years honing her craft by busking on the streets of London and developing her sound in bedroom studios. Aymee delves into a dreamlike, emotive realm for her latest EP ‘Spit Your Gum and Tie Your Soaking Shoes’. Leading single, ‘Calling it’ fuses guitars and electronic elements to immerse the listener in a lush sonic mist that tells the story of self sabotage and over-thinking in love. This follows her previous collab with Matt Edmondson, which was played on Radio 1 & ITV to great response. Aymee’s latest EP has received several plays from BBC Introducing and she is set to release her next single ‘Billboards’ in August 2023.

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LAUREN B

London based artist Lauren B, born in Belfast N. Ireland May 1992. As a natural introvert, music, dance, and art have always been her closet companion and a necessary therapeutic outlet for self expression. A place she feels most free and at home. Dance will always be her first love, as she continues to explore other creative passions that have been an enormous source of healing for her throughout the years. Writing & illustrating two poetry books, and developing her music has helped her find honest meaning and fine tuned her purpose in life. With Lauren’s upcoming releases, she continues to use her creative energy as powerful healing tools for herself and others. An eclectic taste, she is heavily influenced by R&B, Hiphop, Afrobeats, Lofi, Soul, Classical, Ethereal, and Celtic music. Welcome to the rich, vivid sanctuary of her inner world.

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TOM ABISGOLD

“I’m not a character. I’m not playing anybody. This is who I am, and these are my songs.”

At 19, Tom Abisgold has already done more as an artist than many people do in their entire lives. From the bright lights of London’s West End as lead guitarist of the stage production of School Of Rock to touring the nation and amassing legions of fans as part of Chapter 13, it’s been a frantic few years. But now he’s decided to take things into his own hands. He is stepping out into the world as just Tom and showing everybody what he’s made of when all the glitz and glamour is stripped away. This is the start of a new chapter.

But behind the scenes, there is much more to Tom than you would anticipate based on where you have seen him before. Behind these commercial successes, his charming demeanour and those striking hazel eyes is a truly special artist primed to take things into their own hands in their own stark manner. What you see on the surface with Tom is certainly not what you get. Using the music he loves so much to express darkness and depth that he would probably have kept to himself otherwise, he has been waiting for this exact moment to express himself all his life.

“It feels weird to say that I’ve still only just started because I’ve been doing this stuff since the age of 12,” Tom laughs. “But I think I’m now at an age where I can be more open. I look back on what I have done before as moments prepping me for right now. And now it’s just me out on my own.”

Raised on what he calls “The classics and greats from all eras”, he combines timeless sounds with a warts-and-all delivery on his upbringing, all of the good and the bad, to create a truly unique sonic experience. Tom strives to stand out as an artist without fear or limitation. From the jaunty and self-effacing ‘died @ 18′ to the highly catchy and quippy
’soggy cigarette’, this is the sound of being young, free and unafraid in 2023. Willing to face off against the ups and downs of growing up in the limelight whilst also not allowing the darkness that festers below the surface sway his ambitions, the result is some of the most effervescent, complex and individual music you will hear this year or any year to come.

“I don’t want to do something that someone else can do better than me,” Tom admits. “There’s no point in me trying to sing or write like someone else because someone else will have done it already. And imperfection is a huge part of how I develop and make music. The ‘died @ 18’ riff was a mistake, for example. Making music in such a way has shown me how life-affirming it can be. Life is full of mistakes, and mistakes will always be here. And all those imperfections make me feel like someone can go, “I have never heard anything like that before”. That’s how I want people to react.”

Through his music, Tom masterfully navigates the delicate balance between authenticity and entertainment. By infusing his songs with an undeniable sense of liveliness, he invites his listeners to dance and sing along, enveloping them in an experience that transcends mere sadness. Tom recognises the importance of providing solace without overshadowing the joyous moments that define youth.

Rather than unloading on social media, clamouring for attention and affection, he instead puts all of his heart, soul and pain into the words he writes and the notes he plays. Pulling as much from his troubled childhood as growing and learning about who he is in the most unconventional of circumstances, the result is the sort of vulnerable and vital storytelling that artists twice his age would struggle to express. Peeling back the layers of perception and exorcising demons as he goes, these are all the things that make his such a star, and then some.

“I’m very lucky I now have a place where I can get things off my chest in a way that I know a lot of people my age don’t have,” he concludes “being able to put these emotions in, deal with the things I have been through over the years and feel that these songs are purely about me is a big part of why I am doing this. I know this is my chance to just go for it.”
Tom’s story embodies the essence of triumph over challenges, sure to spark a fire within the hearts of the young and restless. Get ready, because Tom’s captivating saga is bound to captivate a whole generation, leaving an unforgettable mark on their souls.

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