At once thought-provoking and immediate, singer/guitarist Tom Rodwell presents an unruly hybrid of blues, gospel and calypso that regularly takes him around the UK, New Zealand, Switzerland, Holland, and the US.
With lyrics drawing on the allegories and subtexts of slave-era spirituals, and music that is freshly improvised each concert, Rodwell's performances are rarely standard fare. But his unconventionality also implies a concern with danceable rhythms - which frequently translates into the kind of entertainment so often missing from the characteristic overkill of the blues scene.
Apart from gigs in ruined castles in Switzerland at dawn and in ramshackle boozers in Sheffield, Rodwell has also recently performed at concert events featuring genuine recording sessions on the original medium of recorded sound - the wax cylinder - with the Vulcan Cylinder Record Co. and LA songster and fortune teller, Madame Pamita.
At Kings Place, Rodwell appears with New Zealand percussionist dynamo Damian Horner-Pausma, who brings unconventional approaches to ethnic instruments - including tabla, pandeiro, tambourine and found objects.
"By turns wild, angry, hypnotic and sensual it's as uncompromising as it is funky and some of the best live music I've seen." Blues in London
"Refreshingly different, very genuine and unforced and with a seriously juicy groove." Giles Hedley and the Aviators
"I danced so much last night I can now hardly walk - thanks so much." DJ Sophie Toes
"Psychotic gospel." Blues in Britain
Click here to read more about Tom Rodwell
Image by Jonathan Pilkington 2008
Choose your seat on arrival.
Date: Friday 4 September
Time: 20:45
Venue: St Pancras
Please note that online booking closes 90 minutes prior to the start of the performance.
