The Strypes to support The Artic Monkeys on Arena Tour

New Mark Joseph Album, 'The In Between Effect', to be Released on 8th July 2013

Steve Cradock - New Dates Announced

Sat June 29 - Hard Rock Calling, London 

Sat July 06 - Godiva Festival, Coventry 

Sat October 26 - The Wardrobe, Leeds 

Mon October 28 - East Village Arts Club, Liverpool  

Tue October 29 – Cluny, Newcastle 

Wed October 30 - Oran Mor, Glasgow  

Fri November 01 - Library, The Institute, Birmingham 

Sat November 02 – Leadmill, Sheffield 

Mon November 04 – Scala, London 

Tue November 05 – Komedia, Brighton 

Wed November 06 - Deaf Institute, Manchester 

Thu November 07 – Bodega, Nottingham 

Fri November 08 – Thekla, Bristol

'Hubble Bubble' in Nottingham on the first Saturday of the month

'Crawdaddy!' on Friday 5th July

Hip City's DJ 'Dream Team' spin the sounds on Saturday 10th August at The Britannia, London

The Fay Hallam Trinity play at Portsmouth's Hipshaker Club on 20th July

The Moment support new 4-song 'Let's Come Together' EP with July gig at The Borderline

Mark Joesph is back with free to attend gigs in June and July

Bobby 'Blue' Bland dies aged 83

Bobby "Blue" Bland, a distinguished singer who blended Southern blues and soul in songs such as "Shoes", "Turn on Your Love Light", "Further On Up the Road," and “I Pity The Fool”, died on Sunday. He was 83.

Rodd Bland said his father died about 5:30 p.m. Sunday due to complications from an on-going illness at his Memphis home surrounded by relatives. He was a pioneer of the modern soul-blues sound.

Bland was a member of the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Known as "The Lion of The Blues," was born in 1930 in Rosemark, Tennessee. He moved to Memphis in 1947 where he began mixing sounds from gospel, blues and R&B music, joining the Beale Streeters, a group that included Johnny Ace, B.B. King and Junior Parker, according to Bland's biography on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website.

"His hallmark was his supple, confidential soul-blues delivery," the website said.

Bland received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

RIP Mary Love

Mary Love, the Sacramento, California born singer who went on to some fame in the mid and late 60s, has died at age 69. Later known as Mary Love Comer when she re-emerged as a Gospel singer, Love, is an American soul and gospel singer, and Christian evangelist.

After being discovered by Sam Cooke's manager, J.W. Alexander, Love began singing on sessions in Los Angeles before recording “You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet” for the Modern record label in 1965. Later records for the label met with little success until "Move a Little Closer," which made the R&B chart in 1966. Her recordings for Modern, sone of which were issued in the UK, subsequently became popular on the English Northern soul scene. She revisited the lower reaches of the R&B chart with "The Hurt Is Just Beginning" for Roulette in 1968, but thereafter made few recordings for some years.

In the early 1980s Comer returned as a Gospel singer, working with husband Brad Comer. She released the single "Come Out Of The Sandbox" in 1987, and the couple ran their own church in Tennessee. She continued to record sporadically after that. She ultimately returned to California, where she communicated with many of her fans via her website:

Faith and belief comprise a very important part of our lives.  A person's beliefs in many ways define who they are -- how they see themselves, what they want out of life, and more. On this web site I'll offer a personal account of my own beliefs.  I'll describe how my beliefs have changed my life in profound and exciting ways, and how I think they might change the lives of others.  I will share the delivering power of our God and His restoration of our souls when we trust Him and His Word.

She will be missed.