Two great gigs coming up at The Nerve Centre

On Friday, June 10, Declan O’Rourke and Band, will be on stage performing among other things, pieces from the Mag Pai Zai offering, which was released on April 8.

The songs on Mag Pai Zai came in a flourish following a bout of writer’s block, after an average of one song per month for about 10 years, Declan didn’t write anything for almost 18 months. There were various causes for the interruption in creativity, but the primary one, he says, was the over-analysing of his songwriting process.

From Since Kyabram to Mag Pai Zai, Declan has matured as a songwriter in ways he would never have thought possible. While it must be good for the creative ego to know that singers of the calibre of Eddi Reader and Josh Groban have covered his songs, it’s a salutary lesson, surely, to realise that what had been considered the correct way to do things was, in fact, wrong.

The Nerve Centre date is one of a series on his current nationwide tour. Doors open at 8.30pm and tickets are £14, including the booking fee. Over 16s only.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, June 15 Foy Vance will be under the spotlight.

Tickets for this gig are £10, including the booking fee, and door at 8pm, and again there will be a strictly over 16 policy on the door

Usual tags such as ‘singer-songwriter’, ‘folk-soul’, ‘troubadour’ are perceived with a considerable amount of cynicism these days, especially since the music scene has been saturated with middle of the road artists, marketed as such by traditional record label formulae. Someone with a discerning ear and trust in their own taste should be able to spot who’s the real deal and who’s not.

Leaving tags aside, Foy Vance operates in his own parallel universe. His music is an evolving journey, a constant search for artistic expression captured in the moment, operating well away from industry standards. Surely you’ll hear echoes of Otis Redding, Richie Havens, Tom Waits and Van Morrison in Foy’s music, legends he’s already being compared to and definite influences. An ever so modest Foy will laugh at these comparisons, but then again that’s what makes him so special.”