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A stronghold of music in the Borders is the String Jam Club which meets on the last Saturday of every month in Bank Street, Galashiels. This club which meets upstairs in The Salmon Inn, Bank Street, Galashiels was launched in 1997 by singer-songwriter Allie Fox, who is the host and resident musician. The String Jam Club is famous for showcasing great eclectic music and for its friendly atmosphere.

"The Borders haven of acoustic music." (The List)
Scots Trad Music Awards Club Of the Year Nominee 2007
Voted the 2nd best gig in the whole of the UK by the Guardian
for info call: 01750-720538


Saturday 26th June

PRESTON REED

Preston Reed is a one-man guitar revolution. The New Yorker tweaks the nose of musical convention, pokes the eye of accepted wisdom, and burns the rulebook of the past. His unique style is impossible, unfathomable, unthinkable, as with blurred hands he taps, tickles, slaps and soothes his instrument, fusing polyrhythmic percussion with emotive melody to create a sonic landscape. Each piece is a symphonic tidal wave, yet Reed only needs one acoustic and ten fingers to send it crashing onto audiences across the planet.

Drawing on blues, rock, funk and jazz influences among others, Reed weaves and melds genres, rhythms and textures to produce a signature sound that has been likened by critics to Jimi Hendrix for its emotional power and stylistic creativity. Reed's vast range of explosively original music will forever change your expectation of a guitarist. Reed attacks the entire instrument in a never-ending search for the orchestra he knows is lurking inside. His two hands racing up and down the fretboard to create a rock/jazz rhythm section, melody line, chordal accompaniment and percussion simultaneously. Preston's live shows are full of contrasts, by turns explosive and sweetly lyrical. He riffs with the conviction and guts of a rock band, yet plays with the subtlety of that most delicate of jazz pianists, Bill Evans. There are no fancy gadgets or gimmicky FX - just 6 strings (or occasionally 12), two hands and a daring and innovative musical imagination that crosses all boundaries.

Preston Reed will make your jaw drop. The secret, he says, is to relax and let the guitar patterns run by themselves. Which explains how, at full tilt, he may sound like a full-on heavy metal band but he still won't have broken sweat. What is impossible to convey, however, is the impact of going to your first Preston Reed concert and actually believing what you're actually seeing. The String Jam Club is the ideal venue for a first-hand close-up experience such as this, and you simply shouldn't miss this truly exhilarating musician in action.

"Widely thought of as the world's most gifted acoustic guitarist. " TOTAL GUITAR
"Heart-stopping tour de force." BILLBOARD
“True spellbinding guitar mastery.” GUITARIST MAGAZINE
“Absolutely unmissable.” THE HERALD

Admission £9 on the door - or advance tickets from The Salmon – on sale from tomorrow (1st June) evening

http://www.prestonreed.com
http://www.myspace.com/prestonreed



B>Saturday 24th April 2010 RORY McLEOD

Doors open 7.15 pm

RORY McLEOD is a one-man-soul-band, and poet who has a natural troubadour's talent for weaving magical, musical, storytelling spells accompanied by his own bizarre solo orchestra of distinctive instruments. The spoons, finger-cymbals, bandorea, Djembe-drum, harmonica, guitar, trombone and-tap-dancing shoes accompany the rich, raw, deep and resonant voice of this singular and liberating performer.

RORY McLEOD is a musical Gypsy, his eccentric melodies are infused with influences from Flamenco to blues, through to Celtic, East European and Calypso rhythms creating a style of music and songwriting that has been described as "intimate, revealing, political and powerful."

"When he sings his songs he will take you on a journey with him."

"Poetry and dance-stories with verve, sharpness, humour and warmth about people and for people."

"Great songs to dance to, infectious rhythms, flying harmonica!"

An ex-circus clown and fire eater, Rory has played harmonica and guitar with MICHELLE SHOCKED, ANI DI FRANCO, BUTCH HANCOCK, TOWNES VAN ZANDT, with the West-African guitarist ALI FARKE-TOURE and TAJ MAHAL and Madagascan group TARIKA. He's enjoyed creative collaborations with HASSAN ERRAJI, KATHRYN TICKELL and PAUL RODDEN - virtuosos, respectively, of the Moroccan Oud, the Northumbrian pipes and the Irish banjo.

Rory has written songs and music for a BBC radio documentary - an oral history project about East London's 400 year old Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market. Also written songs and music commissioned by 'SHIFTWORK', a Scottish dance and circus theatre based company devising a psycho-comedy theatre-show based on a traditional puppet play called Punch and Judy. Also has been commissioned to write music for T.V. animation series ‘Creature Comforts’ 2003. Has appeared on Channel 4’s arts programme 'After Image' and Welsh TV 'Television Ballads'.

ADVANCE TICKETS FROM THE SALMON or admission on the door £9

Thanks to Allie Fox for this bright copy.

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