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Author Rob Chapman to discuss Syd Barrett & Nick Drake book at Vinyl Sessions at Starling Independent bar, Harrogate

The cover artwork for Rob Chapman’s book, Unsung: Unsaid, Syd & Nick In Absentia

ROB Chapman, one of Britain’s premier music writers, will make an exclusive visit to Starling Independent Bar Cafe Kitchen, Oxford Street, Harrogate, for a Vinyl Sessions event co-hosted by Charm on January 22 at 7.30pm.

Author Chapman will participate in an evening of conversation and music focused on two legends, Syd Barrett, who was responsible for Pink Floyd’s first Top Ten hit See Emily Play, and singer-songwriter Nick Drake.

Chapman, who has written regularly for Mojo and Uncut magazines, as well as The Times and the Guardian, will take part in a Q&A about these seminal enigmas of the 1960s’ and 1970s’ rock world with Graham Chalmers, of the Harrogate Advertiser, and his Charm colleague James Littlewood.

Chapman also will discuss his two bestselling books, Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head, published by Faber & Faber in 2010, and his latest groundbreaking work, Unsung: Unsaid – Syd And Nick In Absentia.

The cover to Rob Chapman’s 2010 book Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head


The evening will feature two all-time classic albums in the shape of Pink Floyd’s Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) and Nick Drake’s Pink Moon (1972).

The event will be helmed by Vinyl Sessions founder Colin Paine and will include an accompanying video slide show by Jim Dobbs.

Vinyl Sessions and Charm present An Exclusive Evening with Rob Chapman on Pink Floyd & Nick Drake,Starling Independent Bar Cafe Kitchen, Oxford Street, Harrogate, January 22; doors open at 7pm for the 7.30pm start.

Tickets must be booked in advance at £10 each plus booking fee at eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening-with-rob-chapman-plus-pink-floyd-nick-drake-on-vinyl-tickets-1127910934969. Every penny goes to Harrogate Hospital Community Charity.

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on Steve Mason and Wolf Solent, Stockton on the Forest Village Hall, near York, December 14

Fairy lights and a lamp for Steve Mason’s Christmas-season solo show at Stockton on the Forest Village Hall. All pictures: Paul Rhodes

THIS seemingly incongruous venue turned out to be a smart choice. “I have no idea where I am,” Mason joked.

Yet this North Yorkshire village hall clearly put the Scotsman at ease. The former chief of the Beta Band has been enjoying a long solo revival since Boys Outside was released in 2010. His last album, 2019’s About The Light, was a wonderfully accessible collection of pop rock songs, while 2013’s Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time fulfilled all The Beta Band’s unspent promise.

Seated alone by a lamp, amid twinkling fairy lights and a Christmas tree to the side in this beautifully maintained hall, Mason would be an unlikely choice for a Christmas party. It turns out that while his songs can be downbeat and deal with serious themes, he is great company, full of stories and funny lines. He also commands your attention on stage.

Tuesday’s audience and a village-hall Christmas tree at Steve Mason’s gig

Hopefully support act Wolf Solent (Yor- based Danny Trew Barton) was taking notes, as he was the opposite. He’s in good company – think Nick Drake’s disastrous tour of working men’s clubs.

Solent’s material feels steeped in lo-fi bands such as Acetone and Sparklehorse, which is a tough act to take to a live audience, but in the mix there were songs of quiet beauty.

Even his most ardent admirers might admit that Mason’s songs tend to sound alike, but he has an unerring knack of finding a way to bring both depth and melody. A new number, accompanied by stomping and clapping, was a prime example – with a timely message about needing light.

“I have no idea where I am,” admitted Scotsman Steve Mason at his Stockton on the Forest concert

In lockdown, Mason has become, in his words and at least partly tongue in cheek, a rampant capitalist – and he was looking fetching in one of his sweatshirts. This side of him must sit uneasily with the part that “won’t follow fools”, which was a biting line in another new composition.

His faithful cover of Roger Waters’ Mother (from The Wall) felt like a natural choice, better than his expected finale of Dry The Rain, which never quite took off. The Beta Band’s signature song works better with a band, as evidenced from his Crescent show in 2019 or his star turn on the Deer Shed Festival main stage at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, that same year.

At his best, Mason is a bona-fide member of music’s business class and he certainly lit up a pitch-black December night.

Review by Paul Rhodes

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Why Grayson Perry is Top of the Pots, Kinky Sex plate and all…

Kinky Sex: Grayson Perry’s first ceramic, from his Pre-Therapy Years exhibition at York Art Gallery

SHEER art attack podcasters Chalmers & Hutch discuss the cracking ceramics exhibition Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years at York Theatre Royal in episode 45 of Two Big Egos In A Small Car.

What’s on Graham’s Lonely Film Club Night list?

How does the passing of time judge Nick Drake, Bowie, Dylan and…Sinead O’Connor, singer, agent provocateur and now autobiographer? More Sinned against than Sinning?

What are all those flags on Harrogate Stray? Graham flags up Luke Jerram’s NHS tribute installation, In Memoriam.

Here’s the link to hear more: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/8636988