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Tuesday 20th January 2009
An Unfamiliar Place by Barbara Helen, CD Launch
 Barbara Helen at Doctor Browns with support from Martin Nesbitt, Blind Summat and Brother Crow.We had the pleasure of hosting Barbara Helen as she released her new album an Unfamiliar Place. Barbara has appeared for us several times over the last year and has never failed to put on a superb performance. When we heard about her new CD we immediatley suggested we launch it in style at Doctor Browns in Middlesbrough.
 Ironically Barbara had yet to perform in Doc Browns so it was an appropriate setting to launch the CD - An Unfamiliar Place! With the input from Barbara as to who we should have to support her on this special night we decided on a line up of Martin Nesbitt - the North Easts Premier comedy singer/songwriter, Blind Summat - an amazing folk band made up of four of the finest artists our area has to offer, Wendy Arrowsmith, Paul Arrowsmith, Joolz Cavell and Rebekah Findley. And finally Brother Crow - a superb duo from Weardale who are firm favourites of ours.Martin Nesbitt
To start proceedings Martin Nesbitt took to the stage and played a set to a very full Doctor Browns. Martin, a local legend always puts on a fantastic show and tonight was no exception. His songs are a reflection of life - more importantly of life in Teesside,  there is a bitter sweet quality to the lyrics, telling stories of real people and situations which, with his own stamp of humour, Martin turns into extremely comical events which everyone can relate to on some level. His final song - The Asbo song is hysterical, I have had it bookmarked as a favourite on You Tube for ages! Well worth checking this guy out if you haven't been fortunate enough to catch his act yet. Martin also hosts The Saltburn Open Acoustic night every Friday at the Cons Club in Saltburn and also Loftus Open Acoustic every Thursday night at The Station in Loftus.
Blind Summat
  Next up we had Blind Summat. As I mentioned above, this group is made up of the finest acts in the area, possibly better known for their solo performances. Wendy and Paul Arrowsmith play host to The Kirkby Fleetham Folk Club and Wendy has a very successful solo career which takes her all over the country. Joolz Cavell is, in her own right a fantastic performer who appears regularly on the North East and North Yorkshire circuit and finally  Rebekah Findley who we first saw a year ago at an open mic night making her solo debut! Put them all together and you get Blind Summat - as they put it, an antidote to miserable folk!
I personally was really looking forward to seeing Blind Summat play, having seen the respective artists play solo I was eager to see what they could do as a band. I was not disappointed. Blind Summat quite literally burst onto the stage! Their set was varied and certainly not dull. When you think of folk bands there is often a stereotype that comes to mind, Blind Summat do not fit into any category that I can think of, they are unique! They mixed their set between up beat tunes that got your feet tapping to slower more contemporary songs and the dynamic between the four was electric. They actually enjoyed performing! Whats that all about? Seriously though this four piece is well worth going to see. Highly entertaining and amusing wrapped up with a professional quality and an infectious sound.
Two acts down and still two to go, I think one of the winning factors to the whole evening was the range of performers who were gracing our stage. Four top quality acts on one night and free entry - the folk/acoustic scene is very much underrated in our area and these fine musicians should be more broadly recognised.
Brother Crow Up next we had the amazing Brother Crow - a two piece from Weardale made up of Andrew Davison and Graeme Carroll. Another fine act that is hard to categorise. These two guys paint pictures with their songs, telling true stories of tragedy, disaster and human achievement. Don't get me wrong here, although some of the themes for the tunes are bleak its not all doom and gloom, in fact quite the opposite. They manage to take you back to the times when life was hard and they tell us of events that took place in those times, the content of the songs always managing to raise goosepimples on your arms. What distinguishes Brother Crow and sets them apart from many other acts is the way they put their songs across. Each is delivered with a sense of deep feeling and energy, and although poignant subject matter there is a wry sense of humour which comes across as they perform. Absolutely superb, I can not praise this duo enough and I would love to see them perform more often in the Teesside area.
Barbara Helen
 Finally we had the lady herself, Barbara Helen. Now again we are big fans of Barbara and since we obtained a copy of her CD it hasn't been off the player. An Unfamiliar Place is a beautiful album made up of 11 original tracks. Each song on the CD has a depth of meaning to it which is Barbara's hallmark. She writes from the heart and the emotion displayed in her performance tells you how the words have personal meaning. The first track - A Familiar Place - is one we can all relate to. We all  choose to seek a familiar place to want to go to when we feel we need time to re-evaluate and recover. Barbara puts forward a wonderful account of one who is looking to revisit a better time of life and a chance to learn from mistakes made. It would take far too long to talk here of all of the tracks on the CD however, another one on there that deserves a mention is When You Look At Me. A beautiful song which tells of the bond between a man and a woman and that special look shared between them. A real journey of emotion in this tune, those of us who have been lucky enough to find this kind of intensity of emotion in a relationship will identify with the words and those who haven't will be left yearning to capture the feeling.
 Barbara's performance tonight was absolutely first class, she delivered a full set ranging from the poignant and whimsical to the more up-tempo and joyful with her amazing vocal clarity and honest emotion. Accompanied on several of the tracks by husband Les Cameron - who also plays on the CD and by Graeme Carroll from Brother Crow on keyboards for one of tracks, the show was outstanding and much appreciated by the audience of young and older alike. To liken this lady to anybody is not easy, hints of a more mature Joni Mitchell perhaps, however she is in a class of her own and can only be described as the first lady of contemporary acoustic music.
To find out more about Barbara Helen and how to purchase An Unfamiliar Place please visit her Myspace page. This is one that is a worthy addition to anybodys collection!
Review by Angie for North East Live
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