If the Hat Fitz, the Stables will wear it

A particularly busy week lies ahead at The Stables, so we'll dive straight in.
Balsamo DeightonBalsamo Deighton
Balsamo Deighton

This evening’s date by funnyman Mark Steel is all sold-out in the Jim Marshall Auditorium, but Stage 2 still has availability for Roxanne de Bastion, out on the road with her debut headlining dates.

It’s not the first time she has treated the venue to her vocal charms, mind you – she recently played as support to Ricky Ross.

Roxanne has issued a new track from the Seeing You EP to mark the dates, and says that Wasteland is inspired by the changes in her hometown of Berlin.

Colin BlunstoneColin Blunstone
Colin Blunstone

“With this song, I aim to stir up a conversation about the importance of art and live music in city planning!” she said.

When part of Berlin’s East Side Gallery – the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall – was torn down to gain access to new luxury apartments and hotels, protests fell on deaf ears.

Roxanne was affected enough to make music about it.

‘It is a call to arms; a cry to rally the creative troops and sway the urban developmental arms of local governments, putting the artistic and cultural identities of these cities back into focus.’

Hat Fitz and CaraHat Fitz and Cara
Hat Fitz and Cara

She says that if music and art aren’t placed at the heart of city planning, the characteristics that make cities including London and Berlin so unique and full of life are at risk of being lost.

And we concur.

Check in with her from 8.45pm.

Only single seats remain for Feast of Fiddles on Friday night, as the marvellous music making that began at a folk club and has turned into a folk-rock institution continues to cheer.

Colin BlunstoneColin Blunstone
Colin Blunstone

Singer-songwriter Dave Nachmanoff is often caught live with Al Stewart, working as both his lead guitarist and his opening act, but not this week he’s not.

Instead Dave is in the spotlight and on Stage 2 on Friday night with his ‘superbly creative, touching and evocative’ deliveries.

On Saturday night the venue is taken over by music makers from right here in the Keynes – the Woburn Sands Band will be treating the assembled as they run the gamut from big band classics to jazz, pop and brass band originals.

On Stage 2, the very different but every bit as awesome Hat Fitz & Cara make their return.

Hat Fitz and CaraHat Fitz and Cara
Hat Fitz and Cara

We saw them on the same stage this time last year, and were won over by their raw yet warm brilliance.

A partnership on stage and off, the wild man of Australian blues and the petite Irish lass with a voice of gargantuan ability make a formidable team, and there’s more to Cara than ‘just’ that vocal range – she drums and gets busy with the washboard, flute and tin whistle.

Sensational songs deserving of your ears interspersed with an easy style of storytelling, and the odd bit of lighthearted inter-bickering.

To miss this is to miss out.

We won’t waste column inches on Colin Blunstone’s date on Sunday which is bordering on a sell-out. Also approaching capacity this week coming is Monday’s gig pairing up prog rock pioneers Renaissance and Curved Air.

They’ll be revisiting their collective roots and remembering the soundtrack of their lives, according to Renaissance front lady Annie Haslam.

Try for tickets, but be prepared for disappointment, and it’s the same deal for Tuesday’s show by Irish players The Fureys.

Benjamin Folke Thomas will see you over on Stage 2 with his Dylan and Cohen influenced take on alt-country, with added lashings of country rock.

Rounding off the week, Nerina Pallot makes her return in support of her ‘bold, bluesy, Biblical storm’ of an album that she has called The Sound and the Fury.

Get busy with your plastic pal and call the box office on 01908 280800.