PREVIEW.

Showcase 2, June 2 2013

The Originals Cafe is proud to present for your listening pleasure three of SL's finest singer-songwriters - Quantamis, Tom 2.0 & Nance Brody. Come along and find out why their original songs are an indulgence your ears cannot live without.

Quantamis. Come with us on a journey though the mists of time back through the Dark Ages to a land where Sir Lancelot and Guinnevere lived and The Lady of The Lake and Merlin conjured up magical spells. Then march forwards to the present day taking all those centuries of music and stories with you and then you will awaken to find yourself at one of Quantamis’ concerts! This wonderful singer-songwriter defines the word enchanting with guitar skills that will enthrall you and lyrics that are pure magic.

Tom 2.0. Tom could easily grace the stages of any hotel in Vegas. He’s that type of entertainer. This versatile musician (who can play guitar, keyboards and trumpet!) has now found his home on the stages of SL delivering his own wonderful compositions that come in styles that range from quirky to serious. Tom is guaranteed to put on smile on your face.

Nance Brody, from the land where the great singer-songwriters continue to flourish (Canada!), has a style all her own. Her original songs range from the most heartfelt ballads to what she describes as “Rootsy, Rockin’, Bluesy, Folkin’” tunes. As a lyricist there is none better. Nance will captivate you with her words and music.

Quantamis

Tom 2.0

Nance Brody

See you there! From the OC Scribe

SHOW REVIEW.

An mp3 sample of each performers performance appears on their individual pages.

Tonight the "Originals Cafe" was overwhelming with talented songwriters! The night begun with SL's musical journeyman, Quantamis. Quan began his set of distinctive originals with the perfect song entitled "Homeward Bound" which prophetically told us to "sing your song"! And that he did. Starting off with just his acoustic guitar, which sounded beautiful played with Quan's intricate picking style, he showered us in tales of old and new that were mostly based upon various elements of love. Songs like "Lavasia", "Avelene" and "Afterglow" come to us from another time with lyrics that catch your ear immediately. "Sedona Moondance" was written for his partner and is magnificent in all its beauty. "The Hourglass" talked of the Kings and Queens of an Ireland long past. Then it was time to break out the electric guitar and rock out a little utilizing his own wonderfully recorded backings. Starting out with a very moody string-laden instrumental called "Sorrow" before lifting the tempo with "Silver Teardrops" and Catch the Light" both containing very impressive electric guitar. Quan concluded with another midtempo number called "I Feel it" which perfectly summed up this wonderful hour with one of SL's most unique singer songwriters.

Tom 2.0 was next and put us back into the 20th century with strong influences from the 60's and 70's. Tom's original compsitions range from the quirky and outright funny to very serious love songs and tonight we witnessed some of his very best songs in all these catergories. Before each song Tom shared with us stories of how they came to be written which gave them much more significance. The quirky & funny were all bundled into one with his first song of the night - the SL based "I Don't Need Your Drama" which is one of best SL themed songs I have heard. Next he let us hear the first ever "proper" song that he ever wrote called "Heaven & Hell" and damn fine it was too for a "first" effort. Soon after he played us two songs, one a mid tempo love song, "She Makes Me" followed by a beautiful break up song called "I'm Sorry". He told us the reason for the break up was that he found out that the women in question was married but the song was sung from the women's perspective and it is her that is saying "Sorry"... a great twist on a very common theme and a truely lovely song. Next up were a bunch of songs using Tom's own recorded backing tracks that featured some fine electric guitar and harmonies.

These songs were also imitations of styles from some of Tom's musical heroes.The first of these, the very catchy, "A Girl Like You" was obviously inspired by the "British Invasion" sound which I thought sounded like Gerry & The Pacemakers. Next was a Buddy Holly/Everly Brothers sounding "Here To Stay" followed by another Beatley sounding ballad called "I Don't Want To Be Alone". He finished this bracket with the wonderful Buddy Holly influenced "She". One of the night's highlights came near the end of his set. A gorgeous lullaby called "To Get You Through The Night". Tom then finished his show the way he started with a strange and quirky song called "Insane Elaine". Tom is a fine songwriter who excels in a number of different styles and will always give you an extremely entertaining hour of music.

Nance Brody was in a mellow sort of mood tonight so we got what she described as one of two styles she usually writes, the "slower love songs" or the "uptempo love songs". Tonight we were gifted with the former though the latter emerged for a couple of songs near the end. Nance writes from the heart and soul and every song has a reason to be written. Her songs are honest, many heartbreakingly so. Tonight she also told us the reasons behind the writing of each song and her honesty had many of us at times in tears. Nance and her family of songs are special and deserve to be heard by everyone. Having only begun writing songs in the last 20 odd years she has amassed around 400 sets of lyrics many of which have had her music added to them. Nance is a fine guitarist and an excellent singer who can touch your heart one minute and have you laughing and dancing the next. She begun her set with the perfect song.. a song about songwriting called "Attuned". Her latest song followed, called "I'm All Yours" that was written in March. Another highlight was her stunning song called "Why Music" which was about how her songwriting makes her "feel" and how it doesn't have to be justified. Next was the first song she ever wrote called "Sitting By The River" and is a great song by any standards. A beautiful love song called "Fly Me To The Moon" was one of the night's absolute stand outs and Nance finished her set with a song inspired by John Lennon called "World's Love Song". And that brought to a close another exceptional night of original music from three of SL's most talented singer-songwriters.

So please join us again at "Originals Cafe" next month for more of the same wonderful music!

OC SCRIBE