Women in music; a shifting balance.

Live? That's one thing. But at Radio, it's already changed. And there's a programming rule for that.

Sometimes it helps to have a dinosaur perspective. I've been looking at music, local and mainstream, over 40 years or more, and I'm seeing changes. I'm only talking about these two areas in this post. But that's already a lot to be going on with. 

       Rebecca Downes     pic Mick Schofield

The week before last, I chased around Birmingham catching bands I hadn't yet seen. I started with Rebecca Downes - a two-person powerhouse blues/jazz set at the Blue Piano. Then headed to the Rainbow's seven-band indie night, to catch Shaake, a new project from Suzi And The Backbeats, and damn good they were too. Then to the Fiddle and Bone for some of Hannah Johnson And The Broken Hearts elegantly spinning tales of country heartache, love, and loss. 

I had a great time: one night, three bands, all led by strong women. It's part of a trend. 

The Wonder Stuff's Erica Nockalls: attitude with violins

A solo album at last, playing in three separate outfits, Nockalls talks rock violin at music school, session work, doing it right, persistence and perseverance...

Birmingham has a School of Music. I've had dealings with them down the years, from when the old BRMB ran classical shows - really, they did - and I presented. That was all some thirty years ago, when the place was resolutely classical. I always felt like a hooligan scruff around them, probably because I was a vulgar commercial radio person trespassing in the groves of academe. 

Things change. I don't know who leaves the Birmingham Conservatoire to build a classical career these days - and by the way, I'd love to know who does -  but I'm constantly delighted and impressed by the range of musicianship the place has spun out into the local scene. I love the folk stuff encouraged by Joe Broughton; a mighty eight Conservatoire graduates have graced the Destroyers. There are many others, of course; I haven't even touched on the jazz guys. A common factor is a sense of adventure, a willingness to up-end apple carts, and blazing musicianship. 

Erica Nockalls is part of this: a terrific fiddle player with a brand new solo album. She tells a story of musicianship, multiple bands, attitude and application. 

Toy Hearts head for the Western Swing motherlode. It's like Moseley. With horses.

Toy Hearts take a leap, not quite into the unknown, but certainly into a whole world of unpredictable. 

Last Thursday 28th March, Birmingham’s Toy Hearts played a hometown gig with Brooklynite Rebecca Pronsky as their special guest at the Hare and Hounds. Then it’s off on the road again. In May they play a farewell gig, again at the Hare. 

Two days later, they relocate to Austin, Texas, for at least four months. Bags packed, gigs set up, visas sorted, cat rehomed. That is, all things considered, one hell of a jump. 

Toy Hearts are no strangers to the US. A family band - sisters Hannah and Sophia, and dad Stewart Johnson – they have taken their blend of bluegrass and western swing stateside for years. You might say that’s coals to Newcastle, but they’ve been generously and warmly received. That speaks volumes. And if you check out the USA Toy Hearts videoclips in this post after the jump, it all seems to fit. Still and all, it’s one thing to travel to the States and get a warm welcome; it’s quite another to take yourself to the home of Western Swing and systematically build on that.