New Music - Ragsy New Single Released Today

Former The Voice star to release a new single in the middle of the crisis

Ragsy’s forthcoming album ‘One More For The Road’ has been a long time coming. There was a delay in its release in early 2020 due to the effects that the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on the world, including the music industry. The singer’s new album was recorded at Northhouse Studios and co-produced with his producer Chris Peet.

Talking about their relationship, both professionally and personally, Ragsy expressed:

“I can chat with Chris about the stories behind the songs, the mood, the feel, and then somehow the sound effortlessly develops from thereon.

“He’s a great producer, a ‘Musical Magician’ as I like to call him - a very talented man. We’ve worked together for a long time now and achieved a lot along the way.”

I had the opportunity to interview Ragsy to tell me everything about his life since partaking at The Voice UK, back in 2012. Here’s the latest from the star:

The new single ‘The First Time’ has been identified as upbeat, passionate and a song that we can all relate to. Ragsy stated that the lyrics refer to the beautiful initial feelings that people experience when they meet the love of their life:

“From that moment of setting eyes on each other, to holding hands, and then the first kiss. The journey begins, pinching ourselves every day, hoping this feeling never goes away, remains the same and lasts

Forever.”

He described.

The artwork for the single as well as the album was created by Ragsy’s partner Hannah Day.

“Hannah has been a huge support for my music career. Having to constantly listen to the tracks as they develop, as well as my concerns. But when it comes to the artwork, we kind of thrashed out the ideas, then Hannah has just a great ‘let’s go get it done attitude’ with a natural ability to capture the imagery for the music.” 

The star stated about his partner.

‘The First Time’ released today and is available to stream and download from all major online distribution sites. The Song also has an animated lyric video to support its release.

Charles Stylianou

Blog- A Cypriot in Cardiff

Copyright KCL

Have you ever imagined that a pandemic will appear one day and make us forget whatever we took for granted in our lives? It has been almost a year.

These thoughts made me feel the need to write something and share it with you, because like everyone else, I miss the normal days... 

Before Covid-19 people could visit some enjoyable music venues, something that unfortunately you cannot do in this period.

Cardiff has been declared as the first music city in the United Kingdom.

As a foreign student who studies in Cardiff, I can say that Cardiff has a big culture in music.

Since 1990s, Cardiff musich has been dominated mainly by rock music with later trends developing towards more extreme styles of the genre such as heavy metal and metalcore music.

Womanby Street in Cardiff, is one of the streets, where people could meet and experience Live Music of many types.

The street used to be full of tourists, locals and students who would enjoy themselves drinking and dancing.

Copyright KCL

I visited Womanby Street a few weeks ago and captured some pictures of this silent street…

It has been a while since we have been in lockdown and I hope everything will finish as soon as possible and everyone will have the opportunity to visit this Legendary and Cultural street. 

Soon again I am hoping we will be able to enjoy the little things that make us happy! 

Perhaps it is a time to reflect at the moment, a time to enjoy as much as we can our Families and Friends (even if it’s on Zoom!).

Being patient and doing things that make us happy, learning new things, exercise,having a walk, and if you are in Cardiff Centre don’t forget to have a walk in Bute Park and take some fresh air.

Bute Park is one of my favorite places in Cardiff, it really makes me calm and I enjoy a relaxing time in Nature! 

Everyone is looking forward for this to be a better year, the best is yet to come! Soon again we will be able to enjoy the little things that make us happy! For the time being, I hope everyone is Well and enjoying Life as well as they can in this very difficult time.

Constantina Hamali

Constantinas visit to Womanby Street was Prior to Lockdown

Retro Album Review - Rumours

February marks the anniversary of one the greatest pop-rock albums of all time, Rumours, the

eleventh studio album by Fleetwood Mac. The record hit the shelves 44 years ago, on February 4 th ,

1977 and it was a smash hit upon its release.

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were drafted into the band by Mick Fleetwood 2 years before

the release of Rumours in 1975, Solidifying the band’s most famous line-up, that consisted of Mick

Fleetwood (Drums), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals/Guitar), Stevie Nicks (vocals/tambourine), Christine

McVie (vocals/keyboard) and John McVie (Bass).

Shortly after the arrival of Nicks and Buckingham, the group released the record, ‘Fleetwood Mac’,

in July 1975. Despite being self-titled, this was the British-American band’s 10th studio album.

The biggest single, Rhiannon, was a massive success at the time and it gave the group some much

needed radio exposure.

However, Rumours, would prove to be the record that would write Fleetwood Mac in the history

book as one of the most famous rock bands of all time.

Lindsey Buckingham wanted to make a “pop-album” with Rumours, whilst incorporating the band’s

traditional blues-rock style into the record

From the record’s leading track, “Second Hand News”, to its final song, “Gold Dust Woman”,

Rumours doesn’t miss a beat.

“Go Your Own way”, “Dreams” and “Don’t stop”, were all released as singles during 1976 and 1977,

and they would prove to be, possibly, Fleetwood mac’s most iconic songs.

Every song on the record seems fresh, the songwriting is as good as it gets on a pop/soft rock record.

“I Don’t Wanna Know” is my personal favorite, written by Stevie Nicks, before she and Buckingham

had joined the band.

Rumours was recorded at the record plant studio, in Sausalito, California, for the most part. The

album went on to win a Grammy award for album of the year in 1978 and would go onto sell over 40

million copies.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Rumours was the fact that Fleetwood Mac managed to

record the album whilst two break-ups were taking place within the band. John and Christine

McVie’s marriage was coming to an end, whilst Buckingham and Nick’s relationship was also

breaking down.

Fights between Nicks and Buckingham were commonplace, whilst John and Christine would not look

at each other during the recording sessions.

But the emotions from the break-ups that would prove to fuel the albums songs, and the heavy use of drugs

during the recording sessions also played an important role in the record’s creation.

The band would go on to record their twelfth studio album, Tusk, two years later in 1979. In the

years that followed Fleetwood Mac disbanded only to get back together again shortly after.

Joe Strong

All Photos Subject To Copyright

My First Music Memory

Photo Subject To Copyright

Similarly to most people, music plays an integral part of my day to day life with a vast range of genres available to soundtrack my life.

Growing up in a household that is very musically driven, I’ve had a strong inclination to music for the majority of my life.

There were many songs and music videos I found interest in before but the first one to stand out was the band Paramore; in the late 2000s a fair bit of time after the release of Riot! I discovered MiseryBusiness on TV music channel Kerrang!.

Misery Business was loud, in-your-face and unlocked a whole new genre to me.

With a genre heavily dominated by men it was so cool(and definitely necessary for) me to see a woman front a band! The song was, and still is,extremely catchy with the potential to get stuck in your head all day.; it had catchy hooks,powerful vocals and a chorus that will get stuck in your head for days.

I straight away found a mass of interest in their work, as I was still a young child this included recording whenever they played on TV and rewatching whenever I wanted to listen to them. Due to the style influence behind Paramore’s earlier music, I showed up to school wearing fake Doc Martens and used hair chalks to dye my hair pink and although I was made fun of a lot I really enjoyed dressing this way.

Paramore encouraged me to try music out for myself, I took GCSE music and started a band and found so much happiness from music and the art of performance that I completely owe to them.

Bethan Stewart

Photo Subject To Copyright

Butterfly For NHS

Local photographer seeks to reinvigorate the community support for the NHS and key workers with a new symbol of hope and positivity.

Photographer Conor Elliott, from Penarth is looking to inject a fresh approach to the support for the NHS and other key workers. Last year the rainbow proved a very successful way to show support and appreciation for the NHS. Now he feels that it is as important as ever to continue that support. He is therefore asking the community to display in their windows a new symbol: a butterfly.   

The butterfly is a perfect symbol to use. Like the rainbow, it is a symbol of hope. It is also seen as a very positive image of birth and regeneration. The possibilities to be creative are endless. It is an easy image to create for younger children and everyone. Conor does not want to dismiss the rainbow and, of course, it can continue to be used and even combined with the butterfly but he feels that asking people to repeat what they did last year might be a little tired. He also feels that people are very jaded by the ongoing pandemic and he wants to show the NHS that now more than ever they have not been forgotten. So by introducing a new symbol it can reinvigorate something that was successful last year. 

Last year, having noticed the creative support made up of the window art of rainbows that were displayed with such affection throughout the communities of Penarth and Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Conor walked the streets photographing this art and created large 6ft x 4ft mosaics that were made up of thousands of photographs. The mosaics are now displayed in Llandough and Barry hospitals in the Vale.

“This is a new opportunity for the community to show the NHS and key workers that there is still massive support for them through continuing difficult times. It is a very simple concept that can have a huge impact as we are on the final push to get back to our normal lives.”

“The weather is starting to brighten. Spring is on its way. This will be a wonderful opportunity to brighten our windows again by doing something creative and to feel positive again, a chance to spread a little happiness. It would be nice to see smiles back on peoples’ faces.”

It is hoped that this can spread as far as possible. People can get involved in all kinds of ways in their own communities and be as creative as possible. It is an important way for people to show their support to something as important as the NHS, which continues to be under such huge pressure, and all key workers.  Regeneration within our communities and lives is something we are facing. On a wider scale this can even send a message of hope around the world through ‘The Butterfly Effect’.

Email: conor.elliott@ntlworld.com

Website: www.conorelliottphotography.com   NHS mosaic blog: www.conorelliottphotography.com/blog

Instagram: conorelliott123

My First Music Memory

My earliest music memory doesn’t come in the form of the first album I bought with my pocket money or what was popular growing up in the school playground, thank god growing up with some of the music we had in the 90s, that, and most my friends at that time having a ‘interesting’ taste in music.

When I look back, my earliest memory is of playing on my PlayStation 1 in our living room while my parents did their chores on a Saturday morning. (Although my dad doesn’t let me forget about the time I fell asleep during a Yes concert).

The game was Pandemonium but if you asked my now what the music was like on that game, I’d tell you it was jam packed with tracks from the Lighthouse Family and Prefab Sprout, that was growing up living with Mum and Dad.

“Tony Woolway Rock & Roll Legend” my friends use to call him because I would always be talking about the music he has shared with me, gave me the perfect balance of Punk with bands like the Clash and sixties stuff like The Kinks, as well as something a bit smoother like Mum’s favourite Barbra Streisand.

Listening to these different types of artists gave me a good base to discover artists that I would later love in my teens like Green Day and later the amazing Lucy Rose.

With the BB jeans and DC trainers you would think all I listened to were bands like Blink 182 and Sum 41, which was still true, yet music for me at that point was more than what I was supposed to be listening to or what was popular. I would often put on headphones in the living room while my parents watched TV. I would make out I was listening to Red Hot Chilli Peppers but would also sneak one of their CDs on when something good was happening on Casualty. Simple Red’s Stars was always a favourite from an earlier age so that was always a go to for me, but it’s also the lack of music for me that I remember the most. I always thought at the time that wireless headphones were a thing of the future, and they really were with these making you play a game of standing statues to listen to a song with no interruptions Such was the awful reception.

I remember listening to the Gorillaz first album on my dad’s birthday and bugging him to buy it for me with his birthday money which he did after only the 43rd time of asking. See he can be a nice guy.

Getting my first portable CD Player meant I could take my music everywhere and anywhere as long as I wore the same coat with the big pockets to carry it. the memory that sticks out for me is not taking it with me on a nice summers bike ride or to the park to play music with my friends, it was the medicine to get me through my GCSEs or what poisoned my results.

I remember the times I had to go to bed earlier, as I had to be up early for school but secretly hiding my CD Player under my pillow in case my parents came to check if I was asleep. I spoke to my parents about this the other day and they had no idea that’s what I use to do. Can’t believe they didn’t spot it even after most CDs ended up case-less in my room.

Now, I spend most my time listening and discussing the latest Hip Hop on our podcast, Two Diff Boyz And Their Podcast (cheeky plug) and think how have I ended up here. I suppose Hip Hop for me is kind of like a modern-day Punk and I think it’s that similarity that picks my interest and the love of the bass guitar. I often share music with my dad that I think he will like usually off the back of something he has sent me from back in the day, the latest being Thundercat after borrowing his Stevie Wonder vinyl collection which he doesn’t know about yet!

By Jonathan Woolway

Remembering Gary Moore

Images Subject to Copyright

Ten years ago today Gary Moore sadly passed away. As a small tribute we recall a review from one of his Performances at St Davids Hall Cardiff in 2009.

Below are links to some live performances.

I was fortunate to see the show at The Point in Dublin. His solo on ’Still in Love With You’ was memorable and encapsulated so much of his playing.

The famous Gibson Les Paul Gary used on many recordings and Performances was bought from Peter Green the Legendary Guitarist and Songwriter of the original Fleetwood Mac.

‘Greeny’ as it was called became an iconic guitar, it was reported Moore bought the Guitar for £100 here is the story told by Moore from Guitarist Magazine.

“I had an SG at the time and so I took it into town and I sold it for £160 or something and he came up to my flat for the money and gave me 40 or 50 quid back! He said, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll just take what I paid for it, which was 120 quid.’

"But then he said he wouldn’t even do that and so I think I ended up giving him £100 or £110. I said to him if he ever wanted it back I’d give it to him,he said he would never ask for it back..

The current owner of the Guitar is Metallica Guitarist Kirk Hammett.

Hammett paid a reported 2 Million Dollars for the Instrument, but reports of this vary.

St Davids Hall Review

 With a brace of guitars, little conversation and absolutely no ceremony, Gary Moore demonstrated to a capacity St David’s Hall audience, just why he is a guitar legend.

His fans nudge to the front, not to whoop, whistle or wave but to witness close-up and in admiration a talent that has endured for almost forty years.

Having graced the line-up of several bands including Skid Row and of course Thin Lizzy, his solo career has uncovered his progression from heavy rock through the blues.

Probably the fastest guitarist in the world – his hand is certainly quicker than the eye – Moore nowadays fronts a simple four-piece consisiting of drums, bass and keyboard.

Other than to introduce each number, his rapport comes through the mastery of his craft and from the opening introduction of Bad For You Baby, also the title of his current album, the crowd are his.

Nowadays, rather than indulging himself, he indulges his fans and whilst predictably yet tantalisingly keeping Parisienne Walkways as his final encore, he takes us on a tour of both his own and cover blues material including Mojo Boogie, the soulful More Than You’ll Ever Know and of course Still Got The Blues.

Technically perfect, but, no longer with any need for technique his sound remains unique.

Frankly if you weren’t moved…you

By Jackie Davies - South Wales Argus

New Feature - My First Music Memory

We have a new feature starting today and running every Tuesday, My First Music Memory.

The Idea is to write in a few paragraphs your earliest memory of music and the story behind it.

Today we feature Niamh Colclough. Niamh is a Journalism Student at the University of South Wales.

If you would like to tell us about your First Music Memory, Please email to infocardifflive@gmail.com

If its just a Paragraph or much more thats ok, It’s all about the moment you fell in love with Music.

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Niamh Colclough - My first music Memory

I don’t ever recall a particular ‘first music experience’ in my life, music has been something that’s simply always been there, my grandma used to tell me that I was born with a microphone in my hand and that music was just something that was a natural part of me. My childhood was completely surrounded and engulfed by creativity and music due to my family and friends. One of my moms strongest memories of me was from when I was only two years old. It was Eurovision 2001 and I was sat on the living room floor in my chair doing nothing but being a lazy baby (as I always was), this was until my mom flicked over to BBC for the Eurovision song contest. Every time I ask her about this story she smiles and as much as she doesn’t like to admit it, I know it chokes her up. I could not stop dancing, shaking my chubby little arms around with the widest grin on my face to the cringeworthy European dance tracks. My mom always says that this was the day she new I had a special place in may heart just for music. 

As I said though, music has always been there to me, every memory throughout my childhood and significant stages of my life contains elements of music or creativity. But there is one particular time where I think my passion really came to life. I must have been about 5 or 6 when my parents showed me my first musical, it was the Wizard Of Oz. Being such a weird and wacky child, the combination of the story line, bizarre characters and wonderful music made me fall head over heels in love with it, alongside musicals in general. I must have watched the film over 10 times in that one week, and I remember physically wanting to be Judy Garland (but who doesn’t hey?). This is what really set off my passion for music.

The following week my dad had got me a poster of The Wizard Of Oz and had hung it above my bed in my room, it was honestly one if not the best thing id ever received (and I was a very lucky child). Every time I looked at it I felt inspired and driven to perform and create. Due to the constant singing coming from my room, blasting music all day and the ceiling almost coming down every ten minutes from too much dancing, my parents became aware of my musical passions very quickly. 

I have been lucky enough to have one of the most supportive families i have ever known and this was evident from my early childhood days. They got me started on piano lessons the following week, I stuck to the piano for about a year but I knew that wasn’t my passion. I wanted to sing, I wanted to perform, I wanted to be the star. But at the time - being only 7 years old - the thought of sharing my voice in front of others was excruciatingly terrifying. I never shared my voice with anyone, not even my parents knew that I could sing the way I did. This was Until year 7, my first year of ‘big’ school. The music department were hosting a musical evening full of singers, choirs, musicians etc and it was my first live solo singing Leona Lewis, Run. I can genuinely picture and re live the exact moment in my head, feeling for feeling. I was completely terrified, frozen and drowning with fear, I can remember the horrible sinking feeling I got in my heart - you know the one - … but I did it. My dad always tells me to this day of the reaction from the whole auditorium when I opened my mouth. It was the first time anyone, let alone my parents and teachers, had heard me sing. And the rest was history…

Since that day my fear and anxiety left, just getting that response from that one performance changed me as a person completely. It was all I needed to know I could make it, to know that I was good enough. I quickly became the lead roles in the school music productions, my parents got me professional vocal training lessons each week, I taught myself how to play guitar and began writing my own music and much more. This drive is still instilled in me today, even though I chose writing as my path, music is still implemented in everything I do, within my journalism and my day to day life. Most importantly my passion for music is just as awake as it was on that day I watched the Wizard of Oz for the first time. - The poster of which is still up on my wall by the way.