Once again we had an awesome year of music at The Big Comfy Bookshop with local, national and international acts calling in for gigs and sessions. In less than three years BCB has become one of the prominent venues on the UK's vibrant acoustic touring circuit attracting some of the country's finest musicians and we've already got a bunch of superb artists lined up for this year! Most of our events sell out so it's best to buy tickets as soon as they become available... Our near-legendary 'Big Comfy Sessions' youtube videos have continued to be hugely popular with musicians contacting us on a weekly basis to ask if they can come and film with us, so we asked a distinguished panel of music-industry judges if they'd pick the top five Big Comfy Sessions from 2016! Unfortunately the distinguished judges refused (we couldn't afford to pay them), so it was left to Michael, Richard and Rob, the people who sit at the very nerve-centre of Big Comfy Sessions, to argue it out amongst themselves. In no particular order, here's what we eventually agreed on:
The Willows - Goodnight Loving Trail
Rob Says: "Filming The Willows was like watching a bunch of mates just having a great time performing music together. Throw in some authentic-sounding folky-Americana and it made for one of our favourite sessions of the year.
Lilo's Wall - America
Richard Says: "It was an honour to spend an hour with two young ladies right at the start of what will be a successful career...I cannot believe how good they were, and how good I don't think they realise they are. We filmed a few takes, but it's easy to see why with this complicated song... and why we are so glad they were professional enough to want to get it just right."
Sam Kelly - Sultans of Swing
Michael Says "Sam not only performs a stunning version of sultans of swing with Jamie in tow on banjo, but the guys turned up 6 hours early and we just sat the whole time and chatted about music, life and all in between. They performed to a sell out crowd at the bookshop in the evening. Top guys, top cover song and original song, simply mesmerising."
Paul Bell - Four
Richard Says: "I found it hard to hold the camera steady during Paul's perfect little song about being 4, partly through chuckles about ketchup and hitting every single thing that Mima does now... and partly through a tear or two about how all that innocence is so quickly gone. A lovely session with a charming man, perfect."
August & After - Halley
Rob Says: "Quite possibly just the nicest bunch of people we've ever had in session, Their performance of 'Halley' was beautiful; they had a great time in their session and so did we."
Here's to many more in 2017. Please visit, share and subscribe at www.BigComfySessions.com
If you're a musician wanting to record a session, please see HERE
Currently listening to: Before The Sun by Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage
Currently Reading: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
