Amazingly it’s been seven years since Katie Melua last hypnotized us with her voice and excellent songs.  A good reason then to hope that concert life will be back to normal next year, as she has just been added to the line-up for next years KunstRasen Season in Bonn.  13 August is the date you need to add to your diary.

The Georgian singer divorced from motorcycle racer James Toseland earlier this year and put her experiences of the break on ‘Remind me to forget‘ which is the last track on her latest release simply titled ‘Album No. 8’.  The album itself is an intelligently written (by Melua) light jazz affair, that features the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra and is well worth getting hold of.  Hopefully, you will then be able to sing along in August.  All fingers and toes firmly crossed that this show takes place, ideally without the seating which I felt put a distance between performer and audience last time around.  But let’s not get lost in details – first let’s hope that the show is possible!

See below for the latest plan for Kunst!Rasen (and other planned Bonn musical highlights) in 2021.

It happens every year in Bonn at Christmas.  No, not the Rhine freezing over, or a rail strike,  I mean of course the Festive concerts of Scottish Folk supremo Simon Kempston at Bonn Folk Club.

Legend has it that John Harrison made a deal at the Crossroads (somewhere near Grauerheindorf) that there would always be a stage for Simon – as long as Simon brought with him a new CD.  And so the deal was set in 2010 over a flagon of whiskey (Scotch of course).  Simon isn’t letting a little bug like Covid 19 stop him.  If you can’t come to him then Simon is coming to you via Facebook:  DIAL IN DETAILS HERE

On Sunday 13 December from 8.00 pm to 9.30 pm CET (7.00 pm to 8.30 pm UK time) you can catch a whole concert for the Folk Club statutory fee of nothing – but hopefully you will want to reward Simon in what has been a calamitous year for someone who makes his living from travelling the World and playing music.  Paypal donations will be gratefully accepted.

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“Put the band together in a room, record some live-takes and put the best moments out on CD/vinyl”

That’s how the new release from Henrik Freischlader ‘Missing Pieces’ came into being, according to the band website anyway. As easy as that? Ah, but if you are familiar with Henrik at all you will know that under the cap, behind the pleasant grin and cool, easy-going persona, there is a lot of work, attention to detail and thought behind everything the man does – from the studio through to the cover artwork. Like it’s predecessor ‘Hands on the Puzzle’ the new disc is a veritable work of Art on all levels. In fact, unless you’re a dyed in the wool Alt-Blues purist or Hell-bent Rocker, you will very likely find ‘Missing Pieces’ to be Henrik’s best and most creative work to date. Henrik Freischlader’s manifesto for a peaceful revolution is a surefire winner.

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There are some more livestream shows from Bonn coming your way from BonnLive.  This is features a band I’ve enjoyed hearing on local stages that goes by the quirky name of Huck Le Berry Finn.

Quirky music too?  Judge for yourself – and don’t forget the ‘Jetzt Spenden’ (Donate) button if you like what you hear – to help keep live music alive in the City.

More details of what’s happening are HERE

Yes I know, at the current time this all looks hopelessly optimistic.  But do keep that mask on, do keep 2 metres distance, don’t meet up with 20 of your mates at home, and just maybe we will actually get to see Sting finally…