Singer of the month - November 2008

Lisa de'Ville

One of Leicester/shire's outstanding singer songwriters, Lisa has been delighting audiences with her beautifully clear voice and atmospheric, melodic songs. For the past few months Lisa has been playing many gigs at a number of popular venues, caves, cafes and art galleries, including The Bodega Social Club, The Musician and the LSU Main Stage, supporting a wide variety of touring bands. She was a finalist in the 2008 Battle of the Acoustics competition, coming second in the grand final. Her classically trained four octave voice has drawn comparrisons to Jeff Buckley, and PJ Harvey. With words that are provocative and powerful, her heartbraking melodies stick in your brain and sets souls free.

'Santa Maria' outlines everything that after this you will come to expect from Lisa De'Ville, stunning vocals, an eerie quality but strangely you'd feel comfortable listening to this on a Californian beach to the metronome beat of the sea, and melodies that graze past ideas of 'Hallelujah' (which ever version you wish to compare it too.) (Grey Picture Reviews). Lisa has appeared on BBC Radio Leicester and also sings with the band Black Vinyl Heart.

Hear Lisa's songs on her Myspace page

Previous singers of the month: Dan White (Sep), Dave Voss (Oct)

Reviews

Dave Voss at the Musician, 15th October 2008

Dave, accompanied by Claire on the keyboard, played at the Musician. His set of melodic songs included the title song of his forthcoming EP release, "Closer in the Dark". What stands out about Dave's music is the quality of his musical arrangements for guitar and keyboard and the accomplished way that he works his lead vocals alongside the backing of his co-artist Claire.

Dave's songs are melodic and atmospheric, slightly dark at times but always evoking strong emotions and poetic reflections. Moody and sometimes sultry, his songs comment on life and experience, sometimes serene but at times rising to a crescendo as he visits some powerful feelings.

Dave has been influenced by his idol Elliot Smith and in fact included one of his covers in his set, which included "I'll sing when you're gone", "Filled with reason", "Closer in the Dark" and What now is yours to give up".

Dave's EP "Closer ion the dark" will feature five original songs and is due out on 1st November and will available from his Myspace page, price £3.50 - also available for download from iTunes and Amazon

Dave Voss Photo © Sewell Photography

Listen to Dave Voss's music on Myspace

Previous singers of the month: Dan White (Sept '08)

This is our new page listing singers, singer-songwriters, soloists and acoustic artists in Leicester/shire.

Barricades Rise

Singing duo from Nuneaton, playing in Leicester frequently.

Bob Dilling

Folk singer from Leicester

Chloe Vaughan

Folk and roots singer from Leicester

Chris Armson

Singer/songwriter from Leicester

Chris Swirls (Mono Wednesday)

Young indie singer from Leicester who performs an energetic sets of indie songs.

Christian Bell-Young

Indie/pop singer from Loughborough

Dan White

Dan White is an unusual but much admired singer, whose unique brand of image and performance has earned him a considerable reputation in Leicester.

As a singer songwriter, Dan has produced a variety of songs, some of which reflect his highly ideosyncratic folk, comedy style. Dan competed in the Leicester acoustic competition in 2008, where he progressed through to the finals. He placed 10th in the runners' up section but won The Arts in Leicestershire award for best stage performance.

The music of Dan white is based mainly on shocking the audience through lude and perhaps immature subjects.  He takes the listener into everyday situations with a surreal twist which is usually revealed in the chorus. Thus leading them into a false sense of security and pushing the line where some folk musicians dare not go.

Along with his comedy songs there are songs of a more serious tone. These include ‘David' which was written for a close friend who lost his life in a motorcycle accident. Another song that has received good reviews is ‘Empty' touching on the sensitive area of suicide.

‘Geoffrey Taylor' is one of Dan's best loved songs telling the story of a tramp who through various situations has managed to destroy everything he ever had. A music video was directed for this song by media student Lewis Barnes, which can be found on you tube.

Dan White on Myspace

Daniel McColgan

Singer from Leicester

Dave Voss

Leicester singer Dave Voss has played drums for many bands including the Post Rock Band Maybeshewill, and Octimus. Through out this time Dave was writing personal material, including songs about life experiences and and a set of love songs. Influenced heavily by Elliott Smith, Damien Rice and John Frusiciante, his songs conciously reflect these influences with great respect. From acoustic melodies to dynamic rock instrumentation, Dave's writing combines the best of the genres in which he has worked, which makes his music stand out from the crowd.

Dean Sharman (DJ Blues Bar)

Blues singer from Leicester. A great set of blues songs with slide on his siilver guitar.

JJ Manning

A lifetime of playing guitar and singing has seen this veteran artists working alongside the legendary Irish bands The Chieftains, The Fureys and Davy Arthur and In 2005 he played a one-of gig providing artist support for American Delta Blues player Kent Duchaine when he visited Leicester in February of that year.

Joe Morrell

A young musician who writes his own songs which he performs with guitar. His style is chilled and suited to candle light. His influences include Radio Head and Jeff Buckley with a bit of Elliot Smith and Damien Rice. He used to be in the rock band Sam Smiles. His guitar accompaniment is full of intricate and captivating phrases and he sings with a distinctive style.

Kathryn Oram

Kathryn is 17 years old and is currently doing a performing arts course at Guthlaxton College in Leicestershire. She has been singing for many years and has also been writing her own songs for over three years. She has recently been to a recording studio in Kent to record some of her own music which you can find on on her website ...

Lisa De'Ville

Singer from Loughborough

The Locks

Duo from Melton Mowbray

Mango

Husband a wife Craig and Sacha have beautifully harmonised voices and always delight audiences when ever they perform. They sing soft, melodic songs, with Craig on acoustic guitar.

Martyn Jackson (We're Just Friends)

We're Just Friends is the solo effort of singer/songwriter Martyn Jackson. After the break up of his previous Leicestershire based band, Madison Square, it had been decided that he would carry on his songwriting role under the name We're Just Friends. Martyn has been writing and recording his own material from the age of 16, with heavy inspiration from bands such as Bright Eyes, Death Cab For Cutie and Elliott Smith. His genre can be seen as Indie, Rock and Folk orientated. There are three demo tracks available on his Myspace.

These demos range from aggressive to the apathetic, focusing on lyrical content so that the listener may empathize and understand the emotion throughout the tracks. These demos are in full band arrangements however live shows are in fact an acoustic set up, this will show the different side to each song and how every lyric can be portrayed with a different emotion. Martyn may not be fashionable music, but has something that a lot of mainstream indie acts lack.

Oli Charles

Oli is a vocalist with Leicester band The Steptoos but occasionally performs solo acoustic sets. His set of indie songs is excellent, nicely played and well sung with an egaging stage presence.

Paula Driver

Singer/songwriter from Leicester

Steve Faulkner

Singer/songwriter from Hinckley

Are you a singer? Please send us your details, to add to the list

All photos on this page are copy right of Sewell Photography.