From the banks of the Tyne the band play live music on a regular basis as well as recording and uploading tracks to their Soundcloud.

One of their latest recording that has caught our attention is their single ‘Fields Of Mercy’. The track is light and airy complimentary to their minimalist sound. It is joyous song as it is a musical celebration of love.

Once the song builds up to the chorus it has an anthem like sound which then falls back into a rhythmic mix of gentle guitar hooks and soothing bass. To the end you are left almost day dreaming no thanks to the deep melodic vocals throughout the track.

Bernicia Rising also offers young musicians the chance to win a spot to perform alongside the likes of Lulu James and The Little Comets at The Customs House, where Bernicia festival will take place.

Organisers of the event are looking for original artists and bands from South Shields, aged between 15-19, who are encouraged to upload a track to Bernicia Rising’s SoundCloud group.

All of the tracks uploaded will be the judged by a panel of music experts and the finalists will then be given the opportunity to perform at Bernicia Rising.

Musicians and bands will then perform at South Shield’s Amphitheatre on June 8^th alongside headliner and Bernicia act Athletes in Paris. After the event, one act will be chosen to open Bernicia’s main stage and will be given 10 tickets to the festival.

The guidelines of how to apply for Bernicia Rising 

1. One track to be uploaded per artist.

2. All acts must be available to play on both Saturday June 8th and Sunday August 4th.

3. All acts must have AT LEAST three original tracks. No covers will be permitted.

4. All acts must be from the South Shields area, and members must be between 15-19 years old.

5. Window for entering opens May 1st, and closes May 20th.

6. Finalists will be notified by May 28th.

7. Each finalist will be given 2 tickets to Bernicia Festival.

8. Winning act will given 10 tickets to Bernicia Festival.

Due to take place on Sunday August the 4^th at The Customs House, the town’s historic arts venue, Bernicia aims to bring together creative talent within the North East for a day of live music, vintage shopping, arts and film.

At the heart of the festival is the music, which is all home-grown talent, and features rising stars from South Shields it’s self.

The much anticipate line-up of regional artists has been announced and we are happy to say it’s a cracking list of the who’s who of local music. . .

Set to headline the festival are The Little Comets. The band are one of the most successful acts the North East has produced, as they have won over audiences worldwide with their unique indie rock sound.

Set to join them will be Lulu James, a South Shield’s girl herself. Lulu James is currently set to take the UK by storm with her emotive electronic soul music when she joins with Email Sande to support her on her European tour.

Next up are hard rockers Boy Jumps Ship who have support from the likes of BBC Radio 1 and Kerrang Magazine who describe their music as: “enigmatic sound bites nestled between soaring refrains that wouldn’t disgrace Biffy Clyro.”

Further representing South Shields will be Natasha Haws an emerging talent within the North East music scene. Her first single was released last year and received much praise including support from BBC Radio One’s Huw Stephens.

The rest of the line-up includes a mix of bands and artists including the psychedelic Symphonic Pictures, The Minotaurs, melancholic pop band The Union Choir, garage rock duo Gallery Circus, dark pop Maps Are Fiction, alternative folk outfit Crooked Hands, electronic duo Lionhall, quirky Athletes In Paris, The Railway club, singer-song writer Faith Elliot, indie-folk singer Suntrapp and South Shield’s very own Little Red.

The festival will take place on August the 4^th at The Customs House, South Shields. Tickets will be distributed via a lottery system, more information on which will be released shortly. To keep up to date with the festival follow it’s official blog : http://berniciafestival.wordpress.com

The single ‘This One’s For Love’ will be released via No More Records on June 3rd 2013. The music video was Directed by Nick Thompson and filmed in Yarm, Teesside, in March 2013.

Secret Violins

Never mind the Sage, Gateshead, in May Sunderland is to host a wealth of folk music from across the region.

On the banks of the river Tyne The Bonded Warehouse will put on an evening of music aimed to bring together musicians from all over the Wear Valley.

The night of folk music will include performances from Secret Violins, Summer Tumblers (from Sunderland), Driven Serious, Brother Crow, Stanhope Silver Band, The Community Choir and a special duo yet to be announced. As well as a range of musicians the night also boasts a performance by a Durham Clog dance group.

Secret Violins

Summer Tumblers 

Driven Serious

Follow The River will take place on May the 14^th at The Bonded Warehouse, Sunderland, tickets are £5 in advance and £7 on the door. 

Masamune

Masamune are a four-piece Rock band who formed within The Bunker, the city’s music recording rooms, and they have landed the opportunity to play a supporting slot at the 02 Academy. 

The band are due to supports Fearless Vampire Killers, a death pop band from Beccles, at 02 Academy 2 in Newcastle on Thursday 18th April 2013.

This comes after they successfully launched their new EP ‘Masquerade’ and music video last month with an EP launch in a packed Plugged Inn, with an audience of 100 people.

(You can read a review of their EP Here)

Neil Anthony, lead singer of the band, said, “It’s a good feeling to be selected to play with a band that is, well supported enough, to headline a smaller stage at Download Festival. We feel it’s a step in the right direction for us to support a touring band at the O2 Newcastle. This gig will be a great opportunity for us to show a different crowd of people what we are about and we’ll hopefully pick up new fans along the way.”

Tickets for the Fearless Vampire Killers gig are available from the O2 Academy website for £8.05 (includes booking fee). Alternatively, fans of Masamune can get guest list tickets directly from the band by contacting masamunemusic@hotmail.co.uk.

Peculiar Disco Moves

The atmosphere in the Star and Shadow was electric as Peculiar Disco Moves gave all they had to the audience on the night. Belting out a mix of new songs from their second EP ‘The Domino Effect’ as well as some old songs they had the crowd dancing all night long.

Each song had it’s own story as Alix Shepherd, on lead vocals, explained before each song. Never before had I realised how ingenuous PDMs are as they sang topical songs such as footballers wages to and your toe tapping to every tune. With their high energy on stage, great personality and catchy songs their set was great fun and left me with a smile on my face.

‘The Domino Effect’ is now available to download from their bandcamp. 

Since the beginning of the blog we have been big supporters of The Lake Poets, reviewing their latest singles, EP and even interviewing Martin Longstaff himself – the founding member of the band.

Now we are happy to announce that the alternative folk collective are back with a new song ‘April’ due to be released on the 29th April, via Tiny Lights Recordings.

The single is an emotive and poetic song detailing the complex emotions that comes with love, loss and betrayal. Just like previous singles the main focus of the song is a solo acoustic guitar and Martin’s soft Northern vocals embellished with a chorus of harmonica and strings.

Each line of the song is poignant and provokes raw emotions as well as endearing images, “Life goes on, or so they say, what is life without you in it, anyway”. You will be left moved and oddly tranquil after listening to ‘April’ – it is simply a beautiful song.

CD & 7″ are available to pre-order via The Lake Poets Bandcamp and if you pre-order you will get the B-side for free. Fans of the single keep your eyes peeled for music video for the single, coming in the next few weeks.

Now a year on he is ready to release his first single ‘Sleep On A Dream’ which was recorded and produced by another local musician and friend Paul Liddell. The single is now available on Bandcamp to download.

As well as this Chris has directed and produced a music video for local rapper B-Type, also from Sunderland. The video is for the rappers latest single ‘House Is Not A Home’ and signals a change in his sound what Chris describes as “Unconventional compared to his chip-tune stuff”.

The band originally formed in 2009 after all four members met each other at The Bunker, Sunderland’s popular music rehearsal rooms. From there the four-piece, which consists of Steve Kane on guitar, James Wallace on bass, Jack Johnson on Drums and Neil Anthony on lead vocals, gelled and over the coming weeks became a fully fledged band.

Now the Masmune after spending a few years writing their own material, recording and performing across the North East, are ready to release their debut single ‘Masquerade’.

The single has been self-funded and when released will be accompanied by a music video, created with help from Smooth Motion Pictures.

The single is taken from their debut EP which shares the singles name and was recorded in Room3Recording with resident studio engineer and producer Neil Bassett (from Hyde and Beast).

The EP starts with the single ‘Masquerade’ which is a slow burner. The single is a slick recording with plenty of edginess emphasised by the electrifying guitar hooks throughout. However it is quite mellow in comparison with the other tracks on the EP.

The next song is ‘Dreams For Sale’ which truly captures the bands alterantive rock sound through the mash up of beats, intricate guitar hooks and crashing drums. The best way to listen to this tracks is at full volume.

Ending the EP is a instrumental track ’00:12′ which packs a punch through the combination of a screaming guitar, funky bass and rhythmic drums. You can hear the passion the band has for their music though the construction and sound of the song.

The band will be launching their single, as well as premiering their music video, on Friday March the 30th at Plugged-Inn, Sunderland. On the night 27 Side Effects and The Creep Void will be supporting the band and tickets for the launch are £3otd with doors opening at 8pm.