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
In 1983 I left school for college and embarked on an adventure to the South of France, with my band mates Hoedown at Hanks in legendary Transit van The Cow, hub caps designed like Newcastle Brown bottle tops. In music worlds other things were also occurring…
Pop critic Paul Morley talks about 1973 as an iconic year within both classical and popular Western music worlds, with releases from Roxy Music to Steve Reich to Bach (?). Our Covid19 neighbour and friend downstairs Matt Davies, alternatively sees 1983 as the most vital year for music. Billy Jean has got your number walking down the pathway, ligting up dancefloors across the globe up. The three members of the Thompson Twins have love on your side whilst in rural Bath, UK the Roman Baths echo to the pain of Tears for Fears. Sweet Dreams and Let’s Dance are two iconic tracks that are played as much today, with the Eurythmics track the theme to the Women’s football world cup in Australia. We come from the land down under, where women glow and men plunder. Still true indeed Louis Rubiales. If you ever get a song stuck in your head, known as an earworm, then listening to a few bars of Karma Chameleon will sort you out. Looking forward, Prince was yet to be symbol but he could predict the millennium bug. Rip it up by Orange Juice. Everything Counts for Depeche Mode, introducing a new synthesised aesthetic to pop worlds, taking the sound of underground electronica into the hit parade. A youthful madame Ciccone was having a Holiday in Club Tropicana with George and friends. This Charming Man, True, Let the Music Play on New Years Day. I was young, Too Shy Shy, hush hush to be much of a Love Cat, Oblivious that Love is a Battlefield. Wow what a year, where the scenius was popular music in general, an epoch where a combination of scenii interact, snowballing Over and Over, a year where popular culture turned to Gold.
Hey its a far from black Friday. Awaking to beautiful mauve, purple, red and translucent blue skies seems like a good moment to unleash my album Intra, under the name i have used for many a moon, Inochi, meaning life energy in Japanese
Intra contains a selection of tunes, melodies, rhythms, samples, sounds, that I have been tinkering with over a few years, so it is great to get them al together in the same place and throw them out into the world. I would say that my music is inspired by where and who I am but also groups like Bonobo, Thievery Corp, Boards of Canada, Nils Frahm, jungle, Orbital, Orb, Morricone, Pärt, Floating Points.
Please have a listen here and hope you enjoy it. Something for the weekend.
