Show & Darren Hodson

The show tonight is a Radio Boscombe curated show being the first Wednesday of the month. Started by Chinners and the Radio Boscombe chaps, carrying on the illusion that I’ve been away stirring up insurgencies and Cornish revolutions until I burst in during the second chat segment. The reality is I’ve had to miss a couple of shows due to being away on diving holiday in Egypt, which was fantastic thanks for asking, and has given me the break I didn’t manage to have over the Christmas period!

Jasmine Newsome-Stone is our musical guest invited along by Radio Boscombe, she plays some amazing solo songs, just her and her guitar. Sam Hutchinson has also joined us; he’s running a new feature A Little Bit Racey in a couple of shows time so is here sussing out the lie of the land. Lots of improvisation and laughter ensue amongst the live and canned music.

Darren Hodson is on at The Lord Nelson; Chinners joins me to hear him after the show as we have some catching up to do after my time away. Darren plays covers to start, and slips in some of his own material during his second set. Shame the pub is quiet for this impressive troubador, we have a great time together.

Wednesday Contrasts

Darren Hodson is tonight’s show guest, along with Rock Regeneration’s Chinners. Having vaguely known Darren for many years, it’s a great opportunity to just sit and chat about him and his music, we get to play a few tunes from the “solo” album Short Stories & Tall Tails. I quote solo since he wrote most all the material, and then got a lot of mates (very talented musos) around him to record it. As such it is a fuller Darren Hodson & The Southern Companion project; a lot of time is spent talking around the various bands he’s in, and the music played is all The Southern Companion, very smooth, bluesy, country, South California style.

What really comes across is Darren’s humility, here we find someone who has rarely seemed to seek success or favour, yet has enough about him to make a living from his music.

From this well produced sound to the on stage madness that is Pronghorn, playing tonight at Poole’s Lord Nelson. Deliberately ramshackle, furious pace thanks to John’s incessantly quick drumming, fast guitar chords, and mad fiddles and banjo. It’s ages since I’ve seen Pronghorn (at least the first time since I started this blog) and its all great. I’m also amazed at the crowd in the pub, for a wet and wild Wednesday night, there’s very little room to bounce around in, exactly what’s needed for the tunes.

Since I’m in Poole, I drop in to the Portsmouth Hoy open mic, to find Steve Perring playing, being accompanied by host Nikki Hann on flute and gushing praise, which is great. Rob and Matt are next up, a keyboard and acoustic combo playing quirky, jerky and upbeat tunes. The vocals are good too. However, seeing them leave at the end, makes me wonder there must be easier ways, as they lug a huge box containing said digital piano behind them! The final act here are totally enthusiastic, Glen on a great sounding 12 string guitar and Nikki again belting out Big Yellow Taxi, amongst others.