Monday morning feeling fine...

Happy Monday!

Got that still hung over from the weekend feeling? Never mind a couple of quiet nights in will do you the power of good, which is just as well because the live music choice for the next couple of days is a little restricted!

Live events for Monday in Somerset and West Dorset
Kissmet @ St Clares, Seaton (in Devon but who's counting?)

Live events for Monday in the Taunton and Bridgwater areas
Open Mic Night @ The Westgate, Taunton

For Tuesday 1st in South Somerset & West Dorset
April Dead, Encyclopedia, Not My Hero, End Of The Hits & TBA @
Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil



April Dead in all their glory - Check out their web site for MP3s www.aprildead.com

We don't yet have the Taunton area information for Tuesday sorry!

The Editor

Saturday night's alright

It's been a manic day...what about tonight?

Events in South Somerset & West Dorset
Low Numbers @ Woods Wine Bar, Yeovil
Crying Out Loud @ Half Moon, Stoke-s-Hamdon
Breathless @ Old Barn Club
Storm @ Lord Nelson, Norton-s-Hamdon
Deirdre Cartwright @ Jazz Club at Plume of Feathers, Sherborne
Martha's Vineyard @ Wheatsheaf Inn, South Petherton
Best B4 Midnite @ Labour Club
Mojo @ Ropemakers, Bridport
Gut and Steel @ The Plucknett

Events in Taunton & Bridgwater area
Brotherhood of Man @ Wellsprings Leisure Centre, Taunton (are they still touring?)
Hard Tack @ Princess Royal Taunton
Killing Time @ Old Market, Bridgwater
Catch 23 @ Pen & Quill, Taunton
Record Hop @ Weston Super Mare Football Club
Relocate @ The Westgate, Taunton
Snakes @ The Vintage, Wellington
Helen Riley @ Green Dragon, Wellington
Some Like It Hot @ The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton

Enjoy, Enjoy!

The Editor

Sherborne Jazz on Saturday 26th

We recieved this message below from the Sherborne Jazz Club. Sounds like a great night out. I'll let them tell the story.

Dr Quantum Leaps is the latest CD from The Dierdre Cartwright Group who will be performing on Saturday 26th February at sherbornejazz at The Plume of Feathers in Sherborne.



Dierdre Cartwright

I can confirm, from having heard them at a recent Teignmouth Jazz Festival, that the band is Intensely hip, groovy, accessible and atmospheric in the words of The Musician magazine.There has been a good deal of media interest in Deirdre's latest project and she's been interviewed about it on several radio programmes including Courtney Pine's BBC radio show and one of BBC Radio Three's jazz programmes.John Fordham of The Guardian describes the music on the new CD as Soft, lyrical and heartfelt combination of contemporary jazz and urban music. Do come along and join us at sherbornejazz to enjoy the music. You will be most welcome.As usual, doors open at 8:00pm - and prices are £10 / £8 / £5 for non-members; members & students respectively.If you would like more info. about this gig or the club in general, please check the newly updated sherbornejazz website or give us a call on 01935 410881 ... hope to see you there!

If you haven't already been to hear jazz at The Plume of Feathers, then you probably don't know about one of the West Country's greatest musical assets sherbornejazz. It's been evolving for more than fifteen years in different venues in and around town.The sherbornejazz venue at the Plume of Feathers has a low-key atmosphere so you can stand or sit and chat at the back and no-one will mind. Stage lighting illuminates the players, candles light the tables, so you can merge into the background and just listen if you prefer. Most tables are now are non-smoking.By some fluke of physics - and our excellent Yamaha PA system that we have been able to afford with lottery funding from Arts Council England - it's one of those rooms with surprisingly good acoustic properties so you can hear what's going on equally well at the back or the front.

The Editor

Got that Friday feeling?

Here we are again ready for the weekend. We have just put the March edition of the magazine to bed and it is possible there will be some delay in getting it out for the first of the month; keep your fingers crossed!

For a listing of what's happening tonight scroll down to the text in the previous posting.

Happy In Your Work?
It seems that Hairdressers are the happiest workers, while civil servants, social workers and architects are the unhappiest, a new poll shows.

Two out of five hairdressers said they were extremely happy in their job, according to a survey of 1,200 employees by UK qualifications body City & Guilds.

Next in the happiness league were members of the clergy, chefs, beauticians and plumbers. The poll, released Friday, also showed that workers were happier than a year ago.

It turns out that "White Collar" workers are the least happy (or most miserable if you prefer). So if you are reading this you are probably not happy in your work!

Here is the table of top ten jobs for happiness.

Percentage of workers who said they were happy at work:
1) Hairdressers 40%
2) Clergy 24%
3) Chefs/cooks 23%
4) Beauticians 22%
5) Plumbers 20%
6) Mechanics 20%
7) Builders 20%
8) Electricians 18%
9) Florists 18%
10) Fitness Instructors 18%
Source: City & Guilds

Perhaps it's time for a new career!

The Editor

Thursday - Snow Warnings

Where the hell did Wednesday go? I know it happened but it was gone in a flash!

Today's weather check: Snow sleet and bloody cold.

What's on today?
Actually it's pretty quiet

In South Somerset & West Dorset areas
Little Bit O'luck, a show celebrating the life of Stanley Holloway @ Millenium Hall, Seavington
Rhythm Junkies (fomerly known as Groovetube) @ Stars Lane Café Bar, Yeovil

In the Taunton & Bridgwater areas
Jazz Festival @ The Cross Keys, Taunton (it runs until 27th)

So what about Friday? Loads of good stuff!

In South Somerset & West Dorset areas
Natasha @ Mermaid Inn, Sherborne
Live Music TBA @ Woods Wine Bar, Yeovil
Hoover The Dog @ Village Hall, Clapton & Wayford



Damm You; you Dog hooverer!

The Dog House Skiffle Band @ Village Hall, Kingsdon

A skiffle band in the dog house, we're not surprised wearing those hats.

Little Bit O'luck, a show celebrating the life of Stanley Holloway @ Village Hall, Charlton Horethorne
October File, Days In December, Through Silence, Orca, Texas Drag Queen Massacre @
Flicks Bar, Yeovil
Balance of Power @ Plume of Feathers, Sherborne
Mid Life Crisis @ Fleur de Lis, Stoke-s-Hamdon
Skinful @ Red Lion, Beaminster
Live Music TBA @ White Hart, Sherborne

In the Taunton & Bridgwater areas
Jive Street @ Royal British Legion, Taunton
S.O.S. @ Cross Rifles Bridgwater
Jive/Rock'n'Roll @ Taunton R'n'R Club
Groove-a-licious @ The Pen & Quill, Taunton
Rusty Razor @ Green Dragon, Combe St Nicholas
Elderely Brothers @ The Westgate, Taunton
Anuna @ Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton
Blues Allstars @ Wookey Hole Inn

The Editor

Wot's on Tuesday night?

The weather forecasters are promising us more snow, but however cold it is outside the music tonight will be hot! X-Teller launch their second album tonight at the Quicksilver in Yeovil, check out the older posts for more details.

At Kingsbury Episcopi, Hazel O'Connor makes a return visit to sing torch songs and more in an intimate atmosphere. It is about as far removed from the post punk music of her past as you could get!

Events in South Somerset & West Dorset
X-Teller (album launch party) @ Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil
Hazel O'Connor with Cormac DeBarra @ Wyndham Arms, Kingsbury Episcopi

In the Taunton & Bridgwater area
Flicker @ The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton
Fresh Faces @ The Tacchi Morris Arts Centre, Taunton
Acoustic Night @ The Green Dragon, Combe St Nicholas, Nr Chard

The Editor

All quiet on the Monday front

It looks as if the week will once again begin with a whimper instead of a bang. We have no live music listed for the South Somerset and West Dorset area on Monday night. In the Taunton and Bridgwater area it will be Open Mike Night @ The Westgate in Taunton.

Of course you could try something completely different!

Portrait Photography Using a Digital Camera
at The Engine Room, Bridgwater.



Courses on: Tuesday 22nd February and Tuesday 22nd March 2005.
This session with professional Photographer Deb Weinreb, will primarily look at how to take better portraits. It will incorporate information about photographic principles and some general information about digital technology.

Cost: £10 per course.
Contact Details:
Somerset Film and Video Ltd
The Engine Room
52 High Street, Bridgwater, Somerset. TA6 3BL.
Telephone: (01278) 433187
Fax: (01278) 433172
Email: info@somersetfilm.com
http://www.theengineroom.net/
www.somersetfilm.com

The Editor

X-Teller album launch draws near

Those of you who have been watching the counter on the X-Teller website will hardly have failed to notice that there are only 2 days until the offical X-Teller album launch party!

Taking place at the Quicksilver Mail in Yeovil this Tuesday (22nd), it'll be free entry all night with doors open from 6:30pm. Support from Joe Public kicking off the live music at 7:30pm, X-Teller will then take the stage from 9:30pm with the light show provided by the Wizard Strobe Show. Wizard will then DJ rocking tunes until the end of the night!

Copies of the new album will be on sale (nearly a week before they are officially released!) all night at £8 including free badges with the first 50 sold! There will also be a limited amount of the first album 'Between These Lives' available on the night.For those of you who are unable to come to Yeovil for the launch, you can still order the album from the Rogue Rock Records website, found at www.roguerockrecords.co.uk, and it will be sent out to coincide with the release date (28th) and also includes a free badge.

The Editor

Off Topic: Darts League

Somewhat off the normal topics but we had this information come in from the Royal Marine in Yeovil.


Yeovil & District Mixed summer darts league AGM to be held at Royal Marine Inn, Great Western Terrace Monday 21st March @ 7pm teams within 7 mile radius accepted
contact Lucie 01935 474350

The Editor

Us and Them events in March

Local Pink Floyd tribute act have let us know about a couple of gigs they have this month. One local and the other not so...

Fri 11th March, Finn McCool's, Weymouth
Sun 27th March, Botley Hill Farmhouse, Surrey (not exactly local we know!)

The Editor

Friday 18th

So once again Franz Ferdinand has scooped the awards, this time at the NME award show last night. The best British band award went to The Libertines. The lead singer of Pete Doherty's former band said his "heart goes out" to the troubled rock star who was too unwell to attend one of the biggest awards in the music calendar.

Events tonight in South Somerset & West Dorset areas
Vicky Layton @ Mermaid Inn, Sherborne
The Amazing Pilots & Ingo Star Cruiser @ Woods Wine Bar, Yeovil
Tony Armstrong @ White Hart, Sherborne
Driver @ Red Lion, Beaminster
Krays @ Fleur de Lis, Stoke-s-Hamdon



The Krays play a rare gig! Punk comes to Stoke.

Nothing Yet @ Westminster
Unforgiven Kingdom @ Plume of Feathers, Sherborne
Jinder @ Railway Hotel, Blandford Forum
Tom Toomey @ The Knapp, Beaminster
Adequate 7, Absent Logic, School Boy Error, Not My Hero + support @ Flicks Bar, Yeovil

Events in the Taunton and Bridgwater area
Vin Garbut @ Milverton Music Club
Mojo @ The Pen and Quill, Taunton
McCoy Country @ Beam Bridge Hotel
Barry Paull (Elvis tribute) @ Cross Rifles, Bridgwater



Barry Paull as Elvis, he has his own groupies you know!

Real Deal Westgate, Taunton
Bells Bruton @ Wookey Hole Inn

Enjoy the day.
The Editor

Thursday First night of the weekend!

Normally Thursday night is the first night of the weekend, but this week it's more like a wet weekend...too bloody quiet!

Live events in South Somerset & West Dorset
Jam Night @ Woods Wine Bar, Yeovil
Real Deal @ Stars Lane Café Bar, Yeovil
Dave King @ White Horse, Wincanton

Live events in Taunton & Bridgwater area
Nothing listed at all!!!

The Editor

Wicked Wednesday

We all know that sometimes the lady in your life can become just a bit fractious, but what about this event we found on Yahoo News?

Woman jailed for ripping off lover's testicle
LONDON (Reuters) - A woman has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail for ripping off her ex-lover's testicle with her bare hands during a drunken brawl after he refused her sex.
Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage in May last year after Geoffrey Jones, 37, who had ended their long-term relationship, rejected her advances.
She grabbed him by the genitals, tearing off his left testicle, then hid it in her mouth before a friend of Jones handed it back to him saying "that's yours".
Monti, of Birkenhead, near Liverpool, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding at an earlier hearing.
Her lawyer said on Thursday her client had little memory of the night.

He had refused her! We note that they are now ex-lovers. So presumably he had no clothes on, but who was the the mysterious 'friend' who happened to be there as well whilst he was naked? The mind (and other bits of the anatomy) boggles.


Events in South Somerset & West Dorset
Sherborne Jazz Quartet @ Woods Wine Bar, Yeovil
Kylie in Vogue @ Chicago Rock Café, Yeovil




Events in Taunton & Bridgwater area
Hoppy Horton @ Pen & Quill, Taunton
Modern Jive @ Royal British Legion, Taunton

Storm Charity Gig in March

We have just had word that local band Storm will be playing a charity gig at the Quicksilver Mail in Yeovil on Sunday 27th March.




The event is in aid of the Piers Simon Donation Appeal which is raising funds to help in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami.

Entry is just £3 on the door and the event runs from 8.30pm till late. It's a great way to help support the appeal and it should be a great night out!

The Editor

The Editor

Is Tuesday the new Sunday?

It is so quiet out there that we were wondering if Tuesday had become the new day of rest!

Here are the events for today

Events in South Somerset & West Dorset
Jinder @ No. 10, Bridport

Events in Taunton & Bridgwater area
Dial M for Murder @ The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton (until the 19th)

Oh well there is always tomorrow!

The Editor

Wot no music?

We know that many of you will tonight be wooing your nearest and dearest to celebrate Valentine's day. Chocolates, flowers and fizzy plonk will abound along with sweet nothings whispered in the ear that go something like; "go on love, how about it? It is Valentines you know".




It's just as well we have something to celebrate as it is something of a musical desert out there tonight. The only event we have listed is the open mike night at the Westgate in Taunton.

There is always tomorrow though. Enjoy your Valentine's day!

The Editor

Live Events this weekend

The Phoney War
The phoney election war seems to have started with all the politicos in full swing; only thing is...no one has actually bothered to tell Joe Public when this supposed election might be.

Is it just us seeing things with a cynical eye, or are we once again being manipulated by the very people supposed to represent OUR best interests? We sometimes wonder if it is their own pension plans that they are more concerned about.

Punk Trains!
A locomotive is being officially named after punk legend Joe Strummer. A naming ceremony in honour of the Clash frontman, who was 50 when he died in 2002 at his home in Somerset, was due to take place at Bristol Temple Meads railway station.

The honour follows in a British tradition of naming trains after famous people.
The Clash rose to fame in the 1970s and their hits include the acclaimed album London Calling. In his later years Strummer, who had a heart defect, had been working with new band, The Mescaleros. Strummer was born John Graham Mellor and his final album, Streetcore, was posthumously released in 2003. The train is a Class 47 diesel, built in 1965. Owned by Cotswold Rail, the Joe Strummer will be working in East Anglia and eastern England.

LIVE MUSIC
There is a pretty busy weekend ahead of high quality live music.

If you are in the South Somerset & West Dorset area then check out
Acoustic Strawbs @ St Clares, Seaton
Live Music TBA @ Woods Wine Bar, Yeovil
Martha's Vineyard @ Half Moon, Stoke-s-Hamdon
Shania Twain tribute evening @ Old Barn Club, Yeovil
Spikedrivers @ Arts Centre, Dorchester
Skinful @ Ropemakers, Bridport
Zig Zag @ Labour Club, Yeovil
Wob (in the bar) @ Plume of Feathers, Sherborne
Yaniv Nachum @ Jazz Club at Plume of Feathers, Sherborne
Tom Toomey @ Kings Arms, Stockland
Storm @ Poullet Arms, Lopen Head
Ian Parker + Band @ Bell Inn, Ash

In the Taunton and Bridgwater area
Dark Chunk @ The Pen & Quill, Taunton



Dark Chunk performing their melodic rock, funk hip-hop stuff

Black Jack @ Old Market, Bridgwater
Ann Clancey @ Green Dragon, Wellington
Fab Beatles + Double Bluff @ RAOB Club, Taunton
Rose & Crilly @ The Vintage, Wellington
Cross Wired @ The Westgate, Taunton
Christie James @ Princess Royal, Taunton
Open Acoustic Evening @ Melly' Bar, BAC

Enjoy, Enjoy.
The Editor

Sherborne Jazz on Saturday night

At sherbornejazz this Saturday, in conjunction with Bristol's BeBop Club, They're proud to be bringing this fantastic band over from Holland for just two UK dates.

The Jazz Club came across Yaniv's band playing in a small club in Amsterdam and were really excited and mightily impressed with what they heard




Yaniv Nachum is a phenomenal sax player from Israel, who studied and has subsequently taught at the Manhattan School of Music. Pianist Franz Von Chossy is from Germany, as is bassist Cord Heineking, whilst drummer Anssi Lehtivuori is from Finland.Click Here for some sound clips.There's a really nice article on the jazz discussion website allaboutjazz.com. This is some of what they have to say about Yaniv's band: "They can claim all the elaborate world music influences they want to, but the ultimate result is these guys simply rock! What they play is highly energetic and intelligent modern jazz that is generally straight-ahead, with the extra influences providing an accent rather than a dominating presence ... anyone familiar with Chris Potter - one of the players Nachum has worked with - ought to get a kick out of hearing a similar voice with a foreign accent, so to speak."

As usual it'll be at The Plume of Feathers at 8:00pm - prices £10 / £8 / £5 for non-members; members & stuends respectively.If you would like more info. about this gig or the club in general, please check the sherbornejazz website or give them a call on 01935 410881

If you haven't already been to hear jazz at The Plume of Feathers, then you probably don't know about one of the West Country's greatest musical assets sherbornejazz. It's been evolving for more than fifteen years in different venues in and around town. The sherbornejazz venue at the Plume of Feathers has a low-key atmosphere so you can stand or sit and chat at the back and no-one will mind. Stage lighting illuminates the players, candles light the tables, so you can merge into the background and just listen if you prefer. The tables at the front are non-smoking.By some fluke of physics - and an excellent Yamaha PA system - it's one of those rooms with surprisingly good acoustic properties so you can hear what's going on equally well at the back or the front.

The Editor

Thursday, Royalty, BRITS & local music!

So Charlie's going to marry Camila on 6th April. Will she become the Pricess of Wales? Your next Queen? Even the constitutional experts seem to have differing opinions. Some how it seems more unlikely than ever that Charles will be King.

BRITS On TV Tonight
The outrageous U.S. band Scissor Sisters took the Brits by storm by winning three awards at the record industry's big night of the year.

Best British Group and Best British Rock Act went to Franz Ferdinand

Keane landed the coveted Best British Album for "Hopes and Fears" and were hailed as Best British Breakthrough Act.

McFly were chosen as Best Pop Act on what was the 25th anniversary of the Brit awards and the Robbie Williams song Angels was awarded best song of the last 25 years (are they sure?)

You get to see it all on TV tonight at 8pm on ITV.

Almost local girl Joss Stone, picked up two awards one for Best British Female and the other for British Urban Act. That'll be urban Devon then!

Things are still pretty quiet out there on a mid week so just a few local events to tell you about today.

Events in South Somerset & West Dorset
Howling at the Moon @ Stars Lane Café Bar
Jam Night @ Woods Wine Bar

In Taunton and Bridgwater area
Jazz River Jam Session @ The Westgate, Taunton
The Bluze Band @ Quantock Gateway, Bridgwater

Enjoy your day.

The Editor

Cookie Monsters

We so want to believe that this kind of thing could only happen in the USA but with things getting so wierd in the UK who the hell knows?

Girls fined for giving neighbour cookies
DURANGO, Colorado (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 (480 pounds) for the distress a neighbour said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts.
The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbour Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day.
Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitte, 18, paid the judgment on Thursday after a small claims court ruling by La Plata County Court Judge Doug Walker, a court clerk said on Friday.
The girls baked cookies as a surprise for several of their rural Colorado neighbours on July 31 and dropped off small batches on their porches, accompanied by red or pink paper hearts and the message: "Have a great night".
The Denver Post newspaper reported on Friday that the girls had decided to stay home and bake the cookies rather than go to a dance where there might be cursing and drinking.
It reported that six neighbours wrote letters entered as evidence in the case thanking the girls for the cookies.
But Young said she was frightened because the two had knocked on her door at about 10:30 p.m. and run off after leaving the cookies.
She went to a hospital emergency room the next day, fearing that she had suffered a heart attack, court records said.
The judge awarded Young her medical costs, but did not award punitive damages. He said he did not think the girls had acted maliciously but that 10:30 was fairly late at night for them to be out.

Words fail us!

The Editor