Acoustic Sunday at Borders Bookstore

Sunday 6th July

Today marked an Acoustic Sunday with a slight difference to previous weeks. We had decided to change the theme of our event to embrace the staggering amount of talent this area has in the folk genre. With five of the most amazing artists this area has to offer we were looking forward to a great day.

Barbara Helen

Barbara is possibly one of the finest solo singer / songwriters we have had the pleasure of seeing perform in a long time. Not only does she have a beautiful voice she also performs all of her own material in her act. With heartfelt lyrics and a varied repertoire, Barbara quite literally puts her heart and soul into her performance - beautiful, inspiring and enchanting.
Barbara can often be seen in the local area at the many acoustic nights and festivals being held. Her new CD will be available soon and already people are eagerly awaiting its release - ourselves included.

You can find out more about Barbara by visiting her MySpace Page and she is also appearing at Natures World in Middlesbrough on July 12th. Definately an artist to make a point of going to see if you get the chance. This performance was a brilliant start to what was promising to be one of the best Acoustic Sundays so far!

Paul Cornwall

Following Barbara we had the wonderful Paul Cornwall. Hailing from Saltburn Paul is a well known face in the folk clubs of the North East, although his earlier years saw him playing bass in a variety of dodgy 'pop' bands in the WMC's of the North - his words not ours! His self confessed first love of Folk Music has brought him to where he is now and he is acclaimed as being one of the finest Folk Artists the North East has to offer.
Paul has a wonderful way of drawing you into his performance, the traditional folk songs he performs are haunting and full of meaning. As well as performing traditional songs, Paul also writes a lot of his own material and currently has a CD available containing his work. Towards the end of his set we were treated to an unexpected and delightful duet, Barbara Helen joined him on stage to perform two final songs. It has to be said that this pair together are fantastic to watch - and to listen to! You can find out more about Paul by visiting his MySpace Page and he is also appearing at Natures World in Middlesbrough on 12th July and the Sidmouth Folk Festival in Devon on 4th August.

JIVA

Our third act this week was JIVA, a duo made up of Jimmy and Val - the Ji and the Va in JIVA. This duo are gaining a reputation in and around the area for their perfectly balanced blend of guitars and vocals. As well as performing in a lot of folk clubs JIVA also support the charity Mind Active and perform in residential care homes every month for this worthwhile cause.Another fantastic performance by our third act definately kept up the high standard and quality of acts we had on at Borders today. Made up of original material their set was soothing and beautifully performed and attracted a lot of shoppers across to our stage area.JIVA can be seen playing again in Teesside at Teesside Open Mic Club at The Sportsman in Eaglescliffe on 28th July, we would highly recommend going along to catch this fantastic act. Also check out their MySpace Page or their website for more information about where you can see JIVA perform.

We Are The Pinstripes

Next up we had We Are The Pinstripes, a three piece acoustic folk band from Hartlepool. These guys were ones we were very much looking forward to seeing as we had heard a lot of excellent reports about the act. We were not disappointed, with a slightly more up beat performance to the previous three artists, We Are The Pinstripes treated us to a humourous set made up of their own material and even managed to make each section of the bookstore fit in with their performance. We are the Pinstripes are a fantastic act to watch, they have a certain quality that sets them apart from a lot of entertainers of this ilk and the accordian - an integral part of their act - makes them decidedly different. Their own material is solid and well written with an honesty to it that is put across in a humerous manner. We are certainly looking forward to hearing these guys play again and are definately ones to watch out for. Check out their MySpace Page for more information about We Are the Pinstripes.

The Caffrey Brothers

Finally today we had the wonderful Caffrey Brothers. Very well known in the Tyneside area, The Caffrey Brothers are possibly the North Easts premier Folk / Rock band and ones we were very excited to have perform for us at Borders. As the name suggest, The Caffrey Brothers are made up of three brothers Phil, Peter and Paul who have been singing together for many years. The full line up of The Caffreys include Alan (Big Al) Stevenson - guitar and Mandolin, Geoff Lincoln - Bass Guitar and Trevor Brewis - drums although today we only had the brothers and Big Al for our acoustic set. We were treated to an outstanding performance by an outstanding band when The Caffreys took to the stage, many a foot was a tapping in the aisles of Borders and this act was a superb way to end one of the best Acoustic Sundays to date. The Caffrey Brothers can be seen all over the North East - and a lot further afield - including the Pickering Folk Festival on August 9th where they are appearing with Eddi Reader (Fairground Attraction) Chris Difford (Squeeze) and many more well known names. To find out more about this class act please visit their MySpace Page or their website.

Altogether today was a huge success and definately one we will remember!

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 Clear Blue Skies, Head of Light Entertainment, The Banter and The Steve Marron Project! 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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