Red Alerts were sirening off all over the west of the country as Storm Darragh battered the bruised country into further submission. Luckily humans are hardy and the first event for our new organisation east Devon Soul went off. It was great to see such a lovely eclectic bunch of people enjoying Grammy nominated Acantha Lang at the Marine Theatre, a last minute change from the embattled Seaton Gateway. It was a beautiful night and we at East Devon Soul will be running many more events over the next few years. We see soul music as all music that comes from the soul. So it will be hip hop, funk, latin, jazz, pop, rock, jungle, electronic dance and of course soul. We are also planning a big event in July 2026 so news will be passed around when details have been defined through the first part of next year.
We are really looking forward to developing music in and around East Devon, providing high quality music for all.
New Orleans soul singer Acantha Lang is performing at the Marine Theatre Lyme Regis Dorset on Friday 6th December, supported by two top Funk and Soul DJ’s. It’s an unbelievable coup for the town and area so here is some info about Acantha
“She’s brilliant … destined for world domination.”
The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show, BBC 6Music
New Orleans-born (London-based) rising Soul artist Acantha Lang has been compared to legends Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight. Her acclaimed debut album ‘Beautiful Dreams,’ released in 2023, charted at #3 on The Official UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart, garnering critical praise and rave reviews with 5-star ratings in Echoes Magazine and Soul Bag Magazine (France). Acantha graced the covers of the iconic Blues & Soul and Echoes Magazines and received Album of the Month honours from Soul Tracks, Relix, American Songwriter, KCRW’s ‘Top Tune,’ and more. Tastemaker Craig Charles (BBC 6Music’s Funk & Soul Show) notes: “She’s brilliant…destined for world domination.”
Lang has also been captivating audiences globally, making her US TV debut on CBS Saturday Morning and performing at the prestigious 2024 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, major venues in Spain and the UK, and renowned clubs like Bizz’Art (Paris, France) and Melkweg (Netherlands). In April 2024, she was a featured artist at The Dew Drop in New Orleans and performed alongside The New Mastersounds at The House of Blues and Blue Nile as part of the BACKBEAT Jazz Fest series during New Orleans Jazz Fest weekend where she met new fans like Anderson.Paak. She was also invited as a special guest for Jon Cleary at his sold-out show at the renowned Jazz Cafe in London.
Lang’s songwriting prowess was recognized before her solo career, crafting tracks for the GRAMMY-nominated Robert Randolph & The Family Band. Her debut EP, ‘Sugar Woman,’ earned her critical acclaim and the 2021 Soul Tracks Readers’ Choice Award for New Artist of the Year. She was also accepted into the Recording Academy’s (Grammy) 2022 member class.
Currently writing album #2 with further US and European touring to come off the back of a string of sold-out recent shows in Spain, this GRAMMY-nominated songwriter has established a dedicated legion of fans with her 13m+ viewed “Standing On The Shoulders Of” soul series.
With over 3 million streams and placements on top Spotify playlists like All Funked Up, Best Retro Songs, and Best Funk Songs of 2023, Lang’s music is resonating with a global audience. Radio support in the UK (BBC 6Music’s Funk & Soul Show) and the US (KCRW’s Top Tune of the Day) further solidifies her rising star status. Her most recently released single was a re-imagined funk cover of Bill Withers’ ‘Grandma’s Hands’, that was named Jazz FM’s Breakfast Show record of the week, added to the A List, plus also got love from esteemed DJ Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 2. Acantha is currently preparing to return to the studio to write her sophomore album, slated for 2025
I am sure that most of the my female friends have a greater number of friends than my male mates. I love friends, the close bond, silly and deep chats, similarities, differences but I don’t seem to spend much time nurturing them. I have a lovely small group alongside my close family, where I nurture relationships but generally I am quite self centred. Weaving my own path through the sticks of life, slaloming around poles which appear out of nowhere or gradually emerge from the distance. Today I woke up thinking about what I was going to do in two years time, when my research contract expires. It’s miles away but felt so close this morning. Being with friends at Glastonbury is an essential experience. I love my own space but this is one location and occasion where shared experiences are vital. OK you can meet people randomly, sometimes those that you know, but having a close group around you, the right number, 1-2, is ideal. Not too many to cramp your style and flow but enough to feel the love, comforted and sharing. In a couple of weeks a festival that I help to run, The Sidmouth Jazz and Blues Festival, will start, kicking off with king go gold Tony Hadley. Spandau Ballet cut a long story short, were cool for a few months but then became one of my less liked groups of the era. Being part of a festival is a great buzz, the year of planning coming to fruition, watching the vagaries of the English weather tease you. Seeing the same faces come back to work and help. A familiarity each year but also something different. There is always a vibe, a tangible feel to certain years. The wet Glastonbury’s trudging through mud, the hot Glastonbury’s yearning for shade. It’s not the specific bands but more the feel. What are the punters up to. Fashion, actions. Being part of organising a festival you feel that deep responsibility for everyone to have a great time, and when or if they do then your heart sings. It’s all worthwhile. The nerves start to kick in with a week to go. It all becomes real. A marker for the summer. A barometer of life. I am always gutted if I don’t go to Glastonbury Festival, which I haven’t for the last 10 years. I was tired of it by 2014. Corporate nonsense taking over the freedom which used to abound in the 1980s and 90s. BBC trucks pulling up and filming everything. A great wall holding everyone in. Search lights, watch towers. It used to be so liberating, now it feels like an image of liberation, a 2D rather than 3D experience. Still good though. I’m in that brief period of excitement and slight trepidation, a couple of days before going, trying to organise a good camping spot and not accepting every single gig coming my way, although I think I’ll be too busy to see Coldplay or Shania Twain. Which is a relief. The heart of Glastonbury is still run by crews who have been there for years, Shangri la, Theatre and Circus, Bandstand, Croissant Neuf. All the fun of the fair. Packing: small tent, nuts, protein bars, coffee, Trangia, duvet, trombone, accordion, water, vitamins, suncream, shorts, sandals, trainers, hats, brightly coloured shirts, festival blanket, sunglasses, camera. Check, 1, 2.
I am very excited to announce this years festival lineup, which features an amazing array of talented musicians across jazz, latin, funk, soul and blues. There will be 5 headline nights from Thursday 23rd May to Monday 27th May, with the community music stages being across the weekend. Previous festival goers will understand the extremely high quality of all acts that we programme for this event. We have had an increasingly large number of artists applying to play which has made the decision making process increasingly competitive.
The end of May is the perfect time to visit East Devon, UK. The flowers are out and the weather is usually (crossed fingers) perfect. A beautiful way to welcome in an English summer. A perfect long weekend break.
When Femi Koleoso from Ezra Collective collected the Mercury Music Prize for 2023 he thanked the support and inspiration of Tomorrow’s Warriors. They are an education organisation, not a school or college, who support underrepresented jazz musicians, nurturing them from early teens through to mid 20s. They have had 9 Mercury Music prize nominees including Moses Boyd, the Comet is Coming, Sons of Kemet, SEED Ensemble and Nubya Garcia. All musicians who come through TW have a free education, supported by crowd funding and sponsorship.
A couple of current projects include combining electronic producers with jazz musicians who breakdown silos of music style and thought. They are also interested in bringing jazz to rural areas across the UK, having just completed a successful project in Devon. In 2024 we are hoping to bring TW to the Sidmouth Jazz and Blues festival to bring the story of jazz to the countryside. All hail the warriors.
And the winner of the 2023 Mercury Music prize is…….Ezra Collective. Excellent choice. A jazz group winning a major popular music prize shows how the genre is central stage and gives a real filip to events such as the Sidmouth Jazz Festival that I am part of the organising team. Ezra Collective’s album Where I’m meant to be is excellent, mixing afro beat with jazz and hip hop, showing their London roots. Accepting the award, drummer Femi Koleoso thanked Tomorrow’s Warriors and the Total Refreshment Centre community space where the group and the new London Jazz scene emerged. Taking Brian Eno’s concept of Scenius (or group genius) you need free spaces to support collective creativity, central locations where people can hang out and explore their creative selves. I learnt about playing in bands and explored musical styles through having the time and space to explore, experiment. Neoliberal gentrification housing issues that are sweeping our lands are cutting bands like Ezra at source. They will disappear without a proactive moment now to protect community spaces – it is a human need for us all.
Femi also thanked music education, schools, colleges, tutors who support young musicians to develop and explore their fields. Ezra Collective came through Tomorrow’s Warriors, a school that develops young jazz musicians in London and is expanding their reach across the UK and beyond, helping musicians from underprivileged backgrounds in Devon for example to explore the joys of jazz. In working on the Sidmouth Jazz Festival, I also want to see the expansion of jazz in rural areas, to see urbanities in the fields, swimming in the sea, hanging out on beaches, playing, dancing and listening to music, spreading our rich cultures to all parts. Ezra Collective have just made a big moment in that direction.
It’s a few weeks since the heady heights of the Sidmouth international Jazz and blues festival 2023, an amazingly successful venture led by the unstoppable Ian Bowden and crew. He has created a beautiful and professional event that garnered such great responses as ‘if Carling did festivals’ or ‘ what an outstanding weekend, so well organised, great bands and we hope it continues for years to come’.
My role was to support Ian when I could, help with curating bands and compere the main stage. All good fun. I was so pleased to have secured the simply superb Hannah Williams and the Affirmations, the heart wrenching Roland Gift and most talented of talented Courtney Pine somehow rocking out this sleepy and beautiful Devon town like never before. The Jazz Defenders were incredible whilst Indira Roman and Aji Pa’ti knocked it out of the park.
Every act was wonderful and it feels like a family spirit of musicians is starting to develop in our rural outpost.
Please stay in contact through our website for updates and limited edition merch. See you in 2024 as we welcome you back again
I am very honoured and excited to be part of the Sidmouth International Jazz and Blues festival team featuring great headline acts such as the Brand New Heavies and Courtney Pine.
The free community music is unbelievably high quality including Roland Gift of the Fine Young Cannibals and the amazing Hannah and the Apparitions. All in wonderful sunny Devon. At the end of May. Perfect
