Mike Dawson spent an hour kicking around with Nick Holmes the frontman and creator of The Nick Holmes Band. Nick is a seasoned and talented musician with a disarming personality which explains how he has become a bit of a talent magnet over the years. His band is made up of a variety of musicians, from Peter Moore on trombone, (BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008, to Alan Arthur, who plays lead guitar (middle 50′s). Nick is devoid of rock n roll swagger and yet exhibits clear signs of the same music fever you get after your first three recognisable cords. He is quoted as saying “I never got over the fact that it is possible for a bloke from Newport to sing and write songs and people like them. – It is the coolest thing in the world.” Billy Bragg worked for the same company as him and later wrote “Nick Holmes can turn a cliche into a catch phrase and a platitude into a stinging sentence that loops around your brain for a decade.” He played gigs around Manchester rubbing shoulders with the likes of such upstarts as Mick Hucknall of Simply Red. He says he has always been in love with the art of songwriting and it shows. His brilliant album is out in October and we hope to get Nick back on the show but in the meantime just click below as usual to hear an edit of the interview as well as a couple of tunes from the album both live and off the CD.
The band’s website is www.fundanatural.com
Their myspace is www.myspace.com/nickholmesband
Other Posts http://www.gsfcuk.com
Its the time of year when you will be glad you decided to have a go and grow a bit of your own food in the garden. In these frugal times theres nothing like the taste of some home grown produce to get you going. Mike Dawson has done just that but hit one or two snags along the way. Special thanks to our expert this week Nick Chenhall who came on the show to talk about tomato growing. He has been growing tom’s for many a year and was on hand to provide some expert advice to Mike Dawson. Luckily Nick is always around to help you out if he can. You can check out his website and blog and register for his newslette below. You may even discover his talent for music too but we will leave that to you.
Limbcare is a charitable organisation run by quad amputee Ray Edwards. He came on the show to talk to Mike Dawson to tell his amazing story of how he overcame the obstacles life threw at him. From being a fit health young man in the building trade to fighting off cancer only to succumb to a second illness that resulted in kidney failure and worse. Doctors were forced to amputate all four of Rays limbs to keep him alive. He tells of his recovery and the event that really turned him around. He is now the founder of an organisation called limbcare who now support other victims of limb loss. He now faces the ultimate challenge which is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this September. Despite his disability he is a motivator through words and actions and is ready to face up to this amazing challenge. You can click below to find out the latest on his efforts or offer donations and support to the campaign. You can also click on the player below to hear the full unedited interview with Ray
An American pressure group called “Focus on the Family” have just spent around 2.5million pounds on a pro life add to be aired during the Superbowl of 2010. The short add will be viewed by over 100 million people around the world. It features Tim Tebow who is a hero to many even though his mother considered abortion around the time of his birth. Incredibly this add provoked some controversy and was eventually aired. Meanwhile Mike Dawson spoke to Robin Haig who represents an organisation in the UK called “The Society For The Protection Of Unborn Children”. In this interview they discuss the moral and ethical judgments involved in the decision to have an abortion.
Perrecy is one of our friends on Myspace and we have played his music once or twice of course. He is based in Bavaria and is originally from Hamburg. His band perform and record Morrissey songs. Nothing unusual there you might think but they have added a German twist. All the songs are performed and recorded in German and use the ukulele. So the familiar sound of the Smiths classics come over very different. Although we wanted to get Perrecy on the show we never expected the phone call we got just after playing his tune. A great surprise all the same to have a chat with him on air and a great excuse to play another. You can hear the interview and tune below and of course visit his website to hear more.
