SARA DEL SALINAS I have no idea if the Spanish have a phrase that is in any way equivalent in meaning or nuance to the English idiomatic saying of ´take it with a pinch of salt.´ In fact, when I first pondered the appropriateness of the phrase for this article, I realised I wasn´t even […]
HOW WE GOT HERE FROM THERE I spent the first half of what I laughingly call my ´career´ in the UK, writing songs with my musical partner Colin Lever. Calling ourselves Lendanear we played the folk circuit in the North West of England and recorded three folksy / country-ish contemporary albums. We wrote about fifty […]
OLDHAM BAND (LEES) LIVE AND ON C.D. Editor´s Notes. Any of our readers who have been following the Oldham Band (Lees) on http://www.oldhamband.co.uk/ will be aware that they have recently been attaching achievements to their ambitions. These musicians have recently been recording in St. Thomas Parish Church in Stockport, and even since then have worked […]
ARTS AND POLITICS: THE ODD COUPLE With the UK holding an election in December that, even if the parties each try to address social issues, will inevitably be about Brexit and November 10th the date of a general election being held in Spain and across The Canary Islands after a spate of ´hung´ results recently, […]
CHESTNUTS AND OLD SPANISH CUSTOMS All Saints Day in Spain (Todos Los Santos) takes place on November 1st. It is a very important national public holiday throughout Spain, when people, from all over the country, return to their town or village to lay flowers on the graves of deceased relatives. There are few religious days […]
SING MISS MELODY, SING A recent enquiry led us down new Sidetracks and Detours and gave us this idea for this new post. It also took me hurtling back in time all across the arts to the days when afternoons in Manchester city centre were peopled by someone at every street corner yelling out headlines, […]
TO THE BEGINNING AND BACK AGAIN How does one write the Divine? St John the Divine may have shown us the way in the fourth Gospel with his timeless phrase ‘In the beginning was the Word’ but how do we write the word in a world of seeming unbelief or disregard for formal religion and […]
A MOMENT IN A UNIVERSE They will soon have been in existence for twenty years and in that time have become widely famed as a vocal group delivering improvised performances in the jazz genre. The Norwegian group, Trondheim Voices, were formed to take part in a Christmas Concert in 2001 that had been initiated by […]
VERONICA SHOOT, CONCERT PIANIST She was, when only six years old, predicted by Lord Yehudi Menuhin as ´destined to become a great pianist´ and Veronika Shoot is now identified by distinguished musicians and audiences alike as ´one of the most sensitive, charismatic and versatile´ pianists performing. Born in Moscow, Veronika moved to the UK at […]
BRIGHT NEW DAWN FOR OLD MUSIC In 2019 The Rochdale Music Society (RMS) is celebrating forty years of promoting great music performances by excellent artists. all across the arts regularly receives news items form Graham Marshall who does so much good work in publicising the RMS and who was particularly helpful to me when I […]
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS: 7 / 12 / 25 classical, jazz, folk, rock, americana; songwriters & invisible angels7th December 2025 - 7:00 am
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS Pass It On 2/11/2025 Jenny Bray, Nash and Asher, Opus 222nd November 2025 - 7:00 am
A LITTLE BUNDLE OF SUMMER. sidetracks & detours 3rd September 2025 featuring Jazz Artist, Jenny Bray. Broadcaster and writer, Steve Bewick, Expo Folk and Sound Roots3rd September 2025 - 7:00 am