Fiona Clayton Live From Plug 'n' Play Acoustic Showcase

Plug and Play returned to the Penrith Playhouse this month for a new season of live music to run from September through to May, writes Mitch Mitchelson. As usual the event was held on the first Sunday of the month and this season was opened with an acoustic showcase featuring performances from artists across the North of England.

Tom Corda-Stanley opened up the evening with the help of Andy Johnson and Chris Walker with a great bit of impromptu blues to get the ball rolling and they were very well received by the audience. Tom is of course Plug & Plays own sound and stage engineer as well as being part of the rockabilly group Moonshine Daddies and the jug band blues group Jackie Knox & The Good Time Band. Chris and Andy are also seasoned local performers and can currently be found playing the pubs and clubs with local drummer, Gordon Duckworth as the rock group Antenna Head.

Next to take to the stage was the excellent Fiona Clayton, Fiona is a solo performer in her own right and can regularly be found playing the festivals and is also part of the Alston based group Room Full of Owls. Fiona has a beautiful voice and a disarming stage presence. Keep an eye out for Fiona and Room Full of Owls – they are going places!

Phil Lewthwaite travelled across from the west coast to perform a great set for the house. Phil is from the Whitehaven area and last year performed at the Edinburgh fringe festival and recently at the Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven. Phil is a very talented performer with a great voice and an accomplished guitarist and we hope to see more of him at Plug & Play.

Christian and Georgia took to the stage next, they are a young duo who approached us first with a CD; we were very impressed with what we heard and booked them straight away to perform on our opening night of the season. Christian and Georgia travelled over from County Durham to entertain the Plug & Play audience and they were very well received. Your reviewer suspects they will be back to perform more of their material in the future. Watch this space.

Jamie Francis was next up. Jamie is from Maryport and has been playing gigs in and around the area for 6 or 7 years both as a solo performer and with a band. His performance was edgy, soulful and moody. He played some great blues guitar and slide blues and his voice was just awesome. Your reviewer hopes very much to see Jamie perform again, as for me, this was the highlight of the night!

The very talented and entertaining Fiona Hanlon closed the show with a great set of songs. She had a real rapport with the audience and literally hundreds of songs to choose from. Prior to her set your reviewer had a little bet, or should we say dared Fiona to play a Lady Gaga cover and after a little coaxing from the wings she really made the song her own and had the audience singing along. Fiona is from the Kendal area and has managed to get sponsorship from the Hawkshead Brewery, which your reviewer thought was a great trick. As the host for the evening your reviewer was able to have a quick chat with Fiona and was amazed to learn that she had previously suffered broken fingers in a car accident which had put a temporary halt to her playing music, however this hadn’t stopped her for long and after retraining herself to play guitar she now plays gigs all over Cumbria and has a strong following. Your reviewer hopes to see Fiona Hanlon perform again, perhaps even returning to Plug & Play to entertain our appreciative audience once again. Will there be more Lady Gaga or perhaps the TingTings? Only time will tell.