Ryan's Gig Guide - November 2018

rgg Nov 2018 35 www.ryansgigguide.com Songs In The Sky is a series of live music events organised by Songwall, an online and live platform showcasing original songs by unsigned artists with a fair trade music philosophy at its heart.The venue was at the top of Birmingham's iconic Rotunda building, which houses Staying Cool at the Rotunda - award-winning serviced apartments that you can stay in!The lofty setting offers the lucky few who manage to bag tickets spectaclular views across Birmingham, while en- joying pre-gig drinks on the huge balcony. Opening the night was Songwall founder and artist Brendan Poynton , who explained the Songwall philosophy and then treaed the audi- ence to some of his own superbly crafted songs. The highlight of which, was during 'Similar shoes' when Brendan invited the audience to sing along. Most of us are quite happy to sing along as part of a large crowd in a massive dark venue but this venue is about the size of an above av- erage living room so you'd expect the prospect audience participation to be most people's worst nightmare - but not this audience!We all joined in to create a magical moment in the song. After a break for min- gling and drinking, well known local acoustic singer song- writer Zee Khattak performed what I can only describe as a magnificent, set of original material. On the surface you could say he's the architypal acoustic troubador, with a style remiscent of greats such as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen but there's an ethereal quality to Zee's vocals which, were set-off wonderfully with some gen- tle harmonica playing. Accompanied by percussionist David Rees- Jones , Zee performed his songs with seemingly effortless perfection culminating in the magnifi- cent 'Not today satan' which went down a storm. Zee is an artist who deserves to be heard by the millions of lovers of folk, country and anyone appreciates the art of songwriting. The final performer was Philippa Zawe who, having seen her perform solo and alongside her band, I knew would wow this lucky audience. Philippa has a fantas- tically controlled vocal style which conveys an enor- mous amount of feel- ing and meaning in every single word. She proves that it's possible to be an artist with a political & social con- science without a hint of a rant or shout. Her voice has a dreamy quality and is on a par with the classic soul legends and contemporary artists like Laura Marling & Lianne La Havas. In Brendan's words, Philippa is at the stage where she's "ready to go" - she could be picked up by a label right now and be an instant global star - SHE IS THAT GOOD! Birmingham and the surrounding area really is packed with masses of world class musical talent and Songwall's events prove that if you can drag yourself away from the mind-numbing TV shows, you can witness the magic of a singer- songwriter pouring out their soul in the most intimate of settings. Magic in the sky over Birmingham by Fat BlokeWith No Tattoos review: 18th October “Songs In The Sky” Staying Cool At The Rotunda  www.songwall.com