12th December 06

Other Artists on Topers Rant Records

Carl Hogsden & Jane Threlfall.

Topers Rant is pleased to anounce that Carl Hogsden and Jane Threlfall are now on the Label. T he album "Who", being re-released on Topers Rant Records is a masterful piece of work by two of the countrys most talented acoustic folk artists. Carl is an exceptionally gifted guitarist who performs music in the traditional Folk style of England and Scotland. Jane Has an exquisitly beautiful voice and is a very gifted mandolin & mando-cello player.

Carl His due to release his Debut album on Topers Rant Records in 2007.

Listen to Carl and Jane on Myspace

New Old Songs. Downloadable. + New Album complete!

I shall be putting up for download new & old songs that were written for my old band and other projects. Some of the tracks go back nearly 10yrs!

Keep an eye for postings reguarly as there will be new tracks posted up every week on the myspace site for free download. Some tracks have never been released.

Some are quite me & others are me in diffrent skins with diffrent heads.

Hope you enjoy

Robert

New Album Here!

Available for download only now! Please visit merchandise page.

IRB

Troubadour

Four & a half hours sitting in a car on the hottest day of the year! That was how long it took us to get from sunny Suffolk to Earls court. Traffic Jams galore. Blackwall tunnel was closed after an accident!

Even when we started to play things started to go tits up with monitors screaming static and then dying completely. Whether this was heard by the audience or came through the main speakers ive no idea. But on stage it was a struggle. Then of course the batterys in my guitar pickup failed. (Many thanks to Matt Carpianni for the guitar he lent me)

All that aside people seemed not to notice the problems on stage and gave myself & George a great reception. I love the Troubadour and it was great to meet new people. So after visiting Brick Lane for my fix of Bagels & a East End cuppa I headed back to the countryside to drop off George and Ray in Ipswich. Drive back to Debenham, unload Gong etc I crawl into bed at 5.30 am.

Thats Rock N Roll. Love It!

My thanks to Danko who caught 4 mins of 'Johnny Allen' on film. Expect the vid on the site soon

Ip-Art Festival

Many Thankyou's to all the people who turned up to The Ipswich Town Hall on July 5th.

The entire show was recorded live by BBC Radio Suffolk, and hosted by Stephen Foster.

Carl Hogsden and Jade Rhiannon played wonderful sets to open the evenings entertainment. There is also a recording of Carls opening set available on request for a few £'s.

It was great to play back in Ipswich again after a years absence.

I will not say the show was all fun and games though as the Council Chamber is a room that although very large is completely inadequate for a show of this kind. Although when we agreed play the show the council promised that the venue was being completely renovated. Guess what...

All power for lights, PA and recording equipment had to come from one 240V plug in wall! And yes it did hum and crackle rather nicely. So much in fact that the moniters had to be turned off to reduce the earth hums and feedback!

But in the end its all Rock n Roll as they say and with a fantastic audience to perform to, myself an George were on a high when we finished the show.

My apologies for not playing an encore because at 10.50pm a council person turned up and told us that we had to end the show 10 mins early!

PS: (A independant show is in the pipeline in Ipswich for later this year)

These Times they are are a changing!

Robert Brown plays Ipswich Town Hall July 5th 06

A musical extravaganza is to go ahead at Ipswich town hall. Special Guests are:

Jade Rhiannon is a singer songwriter from Cambridge who has recently
returned from a tour of New Zealand and Australia.
Her music has been described as 'Beautiful' and 'Mesmerising
drawing on a wide range of influences from Ella
Fitzgerald to The Peatbog Fairies.
Joining her on vocals for the evening is Hannah Whitehall who is currently
gaining a big reputation in London and Cambridge.
Expect a folky feel and a sprinkling of soul.

Opening the show is Carl Hogsden.

From Cambridge, Hogsden has been quietly plying his trade from coast to coast in the US and the UK.

Still a young man he is an English folk purist and has gained enormous respect from his peers. A very gifted guitarist he is

Described as "the real deal when it comes to research and performance".

An evening of musical honesty and integrity can be expected from some of the UK's finest musiians

A Night At The Troubadour

On Thursday 9th March, there will be a full night of music from Robert at the Troubadour in Earls Court. Robert will be showcasing new material, as well as older live fovourites. With "New Order of Gypsy's" George Fothergill on percussion, and special guests suopporting (TBA). It promises to be a memorable night.

She Likes To Hurt Me

A Call out of the blue, a week before Christmas, from Glen Miller Orchestra sticks man, and former Smouldering Son, Dominique Metz. He informed me that "Bass Booster" Franck Bedez was in London for Christmas, and was up for a gig.

A swift call to the Haymakers in Cambridge and a show was arranged.New songs were blipped via email MP3 over the Internet to Dom and Franck.

To any other rhythm section with no rehersal, this kind of prepartion for gigging new songs would be almost impossible. But with a drummer and bass player like Dominique and Franck behind me, I felt invincible.

For me the highlight of the evening was the folk/ funk/ metal bludgeoner "She Likes To Hurt Me". Dom and Franck had the groove nailed to the floor! An absolute pleasure and a walk in the park to put the icing on the cake.

Many thamks to Jon on the sound for being soundman and chief roadie for the gig.

Festival Prog Rock

A lot has happened since the last news entry.
Most importantly is the welcome arrival of George Fothergil on percussion.

Completely thrown in at the deep end and with only one rehearsal the evening before, George's baptism of fire was playing in front of 3000 at the Clare World music festival.
As festivals go I wasn't entirely looking forward to the usual backstage hassle and poor sound problems through a usually inadequate PA system.
How wrong I was! Equipment shuttled to the stage by roadies, and first class food & drinks in the hospitality area. Food all cooked on the premises (The Town Hall!) To top it all the sound system was great and mixed very well. As the live recording straight from the desk will testify.

To Say I winged it would be a understatement as I was sure how after only one rehearsal it could be nothing more than a rough Jam.
This amazingly worked to our advantage. After just a few minutes myself & George started to enjoy ourselves & and spark off one another. Improvisation can go awfully wrong sometimes but on this occasion it saved the day and produced some music that I will always be proud of! (See Review) We have since been invited back as one of the headliners next year. (See Gallery for Festival pics)

New Venues & New Songs

Its amazing how many different kinds of audiences there are across London.
From the Toubadour in Earls Court to the Caernarven Castle's "Last Rockers Club" in Camden.
Some audiences seem to worry more about the colour of your guitar than if you can play it or not!
But never the less variety is the spice of life and being able to play a completely different set of songs in the same town is a songwriters dream.
Camden isn't a place to be shy & retiring and being able to really let rip is a pleasent change.
On the other hand the Troubadour is a venue that not only has the prestige of being one of the top small venues in the city, It has been hosting gigs by the likes of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix & Led Zeppelin for over 50 years!
It is a venue that accepts a wide variety of artists and most importantly has a listening audience.
The show on November 23rd was our 4th at the Troubadour.
New songs played included the stalkers lament "I woke up inside my car".
New dates at the Troubadour to be anounced soon.

In the meantime Camden calls with 3 shows scheduled before Christmas. (See Gig Guide)
Anyone attending can pick up a free live EP recorded the Clare Festival. (limited stocks only for each show)
Expect a wayout heavy evening!
See you at the Shows.
RB.

BBC Radio Cambridge Folk Festival 2005

Friday Night Headline "Club Stage"

Myself and Soundman Jon booked (blagged) our way into the 5 star "des res" of Coldhams Common in the back of an old transit van. A crate of Guiness, some out of date sauages and some disposible BBQ's, were all we needed to get into the festival spirit.

Although I lost the last 10 minutes of my set, due to someone over running his set earlier in the evening, I was determined to get people off their backsides before I left the stage. With Dan on percussion, we managed to whip the usually sedate Club Tent into a leaping mass come the end of a full scale "Falling From A Great Height."

It was the first time I have played the Folk Fest and I was blown away by the reaction the show recieved. All of the 100 CD EP's were snapped up at the back of the stage almost immediatly after the show ended.

It was great to meet so many people at once after the show who just wanted to say hi and thanks for a great night

My personal highlight of the festival was Mary Gauthier. Although on the same bill at Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots 03, I had never met her or heard her songs. Seeing her show and then meeting her was fabulous. "Dark but beautiful!"

My deep gratitude to the Cambridge Folk Club for all their help and hard work, and the faithful for their continuing support.

PS An album that captures the experience of the live show will be released as soon as my finances permit the project.

HOT NEWS, HOT GIGS!

Robert to play Cambridge Folk Festival

News just in, that Robert has been asked to headline the Cambridge Folk Club Stage at this years Cambridge Folk Festival, on Friday 29th July.

Also, Robert will be playing the Half Moon at Putney, London, The Globe Theatre, London, and the famous Troubadour coffee house, in Earls Court. See gig page for details.

JUNE 2005

Two interesting gigs this last month. The first at the Ipswich Arts Festival, and the second filling in the headline slot for a lesbian rock band, at The Borderline in London's Soho.

Ipswich was a great gig to play and meet many friends and supporters. A full house and very enthuiastic audience where many newly penned songs were aired for the first time.

The Borderline is always a great venue to play and many thanks to Barry and the crew for looking after me so well at such short notice. Soon to return (watch this space).

FEBRUARY 2005

Robert plays the Troubadour

Tuesday 1st March Robert played the legendary coffee house that is the Troubadour.

Cambridge & Camden (January 2005)

Two gigs a world apart it seemed to me. Myself & Boy Wonder made a fun and eye opening trip down to the "Last Rockers Club" in the heart of Camden to play what was billed as a hotbed of indie talent! ....Hmmm, if Laurel & Hardy ever start a record company then Camden is the place theyshould start recruiting! There was an all girl trio (V cute too!) who rocked! "JoanovArc" A band who turned up to the gig who had actually learnt to sing and play their instruments before they got there! I was surprised at how good a reaction we received since we only performed as a duo, but the crowd did get a very heavy falling from a great height in its entirety. Many thanks to the faithful who made the trip.

Cambridge Folk Club

Wow! What a great night out! Performed, and met some incredible musicians. Heard music from every end of the folk spectrum. This is one gig that we shall be playing and attending for a long time. Special mention must go to Joe Bogggs & the Free Radicals. (Satire at its best & most observant). And ""Carl" Folk guitarist & vocal memory genius. Martin Carthy look out!

OCTOBER 2004

When Robert met Lulu - Wednesday 27th October 2004

What a strange week that was. Playing 3 gigs that ranged from one of the largest, to the smallest, to the loudest!

It started with a phone call Tuesday evening from a promoter asking if I could play a solo acoustic support on Wednesday for Lulu! Always up for a play I 'reluctantly' scrubbed my late shift at the Hospital.

What a great room to play to. The Regent in Ipswich is the biggest venue in East Anglia seating 1,800. Even though I was only the support act it seemed that nearly every seat was occupied. Even though I over ran my time slot, my 8 song set seemed to go down well with the crowd and with Lulu. She was very complimentary about my songs which was encouraging as she has Grammy nominations and Ivor Novello awards. It was nice that after the show, Lulu stood and talked about songwriting for a while with me. She even asked if we could get together in the future and write some songs together! Whether she ever contacts me to do this will have to be seen. Having only heard Lulu on film and record I was very impressed with her live performance. Her voice is exceptionally good live and seems to have a definite ballsy grit which I hadn't noticed before. She is still very pretty and seemed genuinely a nice person. She didn't have any 'diva-isms', especially since when she started in showbiz she was little more than a child.

I was asked to play support for the Harrogate and Manchester shows. But I really couldn't afford to cancel work, and as the promoter welched on paying expenses for Ipswich and wouldn't even cover petrol costs, I had to pass. Whether it was Lulu who asked me to do the support I'm not sure, but I hope it was.

The next night was loud! Me and two of my best mates played a rock covers set in a Rock Club in Cambridge - everything from Led Zep, Otis Rush, Foo Fighters and Hendrix. What a blast! No pressure, just freaked out and rocked till we dropped. I must have sweated away a stone in weight!

The White Hart in Adleburgh is a very small pub, but has a very big reputation for good beer and good live music. So it was, that myself and drummer boy-wonder brought a 6ft gong, congas, tablas and acoustic guitar to play. Many thanks to the landlord 'Chris' as we were never short of beer, and for running one of the best pubs and venues we play at.