Acoustic Sunday at Borders Bookstore

Sunday 22nd June

After two very sucessful weeks of our Acoustic Sundays, today proved to be the busiest so far. With Acoustic acts from the Teesside area all requesting a slot at our Sunday events we had a bumper 6 acts on for the shoppers at Borders today!

The Bass Players Daughter

Our first act today was a duet known as The Bass Players Daughter. Harriet and her Dad make up the duo - Dad not suprisingly is a bass player but today he backed Harriet on the acoustic guitar. Harriet performed a set of songs she has written herself as well as a couple of cover versions of popular tunes.
Having been a part of a couple of local cover bands, Harriet decided to pursue a solo career to enable her to play her own material. She told us that whilst covers have their place, nothing beats performing a song written by you. A wonderful set from Harriet started off our day of acoustic performances in fine style. To find out more about The Bass Players Daughter you can visit their MySpace Page. Harriet is also playing at The Teesside Open Mic Club at the Sportsman in Eaglescliffe on 7th July.

Joe Burge

Once again we had the wonderful Joe Burge perform for us next this week. Again Joe played us a selection of his own material proving that last week was no one off performance, this week was even better! Despite having a sore throat Joe played a full set to the shoppers of Borders and ended on a curious comedy song which added a lighthearted slant to the day.

We hope that Joe will continue to come along and play for us at our Acoustic Sundays as he is set to become a firm favourite with the regular audience. Next week he will be appearing again with his band, Nil by Mouth, playing a completely different set of material. You can find out more about Joe by visiting his MySpace Page.

Shoebox

Our third act this week was Shoebox. Locally these guys are known for their up beat indie / rock sound but today showed us a different side to Shoebox. They played a set made up of their own material brought down a level or two to accomodate the acoustic setting. Sometimes it is difficult to make a tune sound good when it is not played as it was meant to be heard but Shoebox managed to perform the tracks in a totally unique way which not only sounded natural but made the tunes sound like completely different songs! Another fantastic performance from these guys continued the quality of the days acts so far. Shoebox are appearing in a Battle of the Bands at Doctor Browns in Middlesbrough on 25th June and will also be appearing at various venues in the area over the coming months. Do check out their MySpace Page for details of where they will be playing. You will not be disppointed!

The Radio Pirates

Next up we had The Radio Pirates from Middlesbrough. An alternative Indie band this was again a first for them to perform an acoustic set. The guys rose to the challenge and were the first band we have had on to bring along a bongo drum - albeit a very small one! The Radio Pirates played us a selection of original songs and added a definate humourous dimension to the day with a couple of their tongue in cheek tracks. We are definately interested to see these guys play a usual set as they displayed a great deal of promise and were extremely entertaining. The crew are as follows... Mark with the vocals, Rob on the guitar, Jonny with the lyrics and the bass and Dave on the drums. Check out their MySpace Page to find out more about them!

Lithium Speed Dementia

The penultimate act of the day was Daniel Drinkwater from Lithium Speed Dementia. Daniel was solo today due to Louise, the bass player of the group, being unable to make it down to Borders. Daniel put on a totally awesome solo performance including the use of an acoustic guitar and a keyboard as part of the act. The talent shown by this young man was spectacular, he performed not only numbers usually played with the full band behind him but also threw in a couple of much loved covers such as Nina Simones Feeling Good. The audience at Borders showed their appreciation of this artist by a thunderous applause after each number and even calls for more at the end of the performance! CD's of Lithium Speed Dementia were handed out by the dozen to new found fans of the group. LSD are playing at Doctor Browns on Wednesday 2nd July in the semi final of the Battle of the Bands and you can check out their MySpace Page to see where else they are playing locally.
We hope to get LSD back to Borders before we end this event to play as a band and also to see Daniel again. Daniel is yet another outstanding artist to perform at our Acoustic Sundays at Borders Bookstore!

Simon Brown

Our Final act of the day was Simon Brown. Simon is from Teesside and is a solo artist who has played at a variety of Open Mic sessions in the area. A fine artist to end the day with, Simon ended the day with a fine performance of classic popular covers including songs by Meatloaf and The Jam. After prompting he treat us all to one of his original songs which was performed beautifully and stood up against the tried and tested covers he usually plays. This guy has a wonderful vocal range and is very entertaining to watch, he interacts with his audience and you can't help to get caught up with his performance. Keep an eye out for Simon, he performs locally regularly and appears at The Teesside Open Mic Club at The Sportsman in Eaglescliffe.

So ends our third Acoustic Sunday at Borders with another display of fantastic local unsigned talent.

We will be continuing our Acoustic Sundays throughout the month of July in Borders. We have a range of some of the top local entertainers lined up to appear and will be reporting on NEL after each event. Next week we have several more local artists for you including Gin Soaked Boy and Electric Nightmares.

Come along and support these local entertainers, browse through the vast range of books on offer in Borders and have a great day out!

For more information about Borders please visit their website Here.

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