Over on the Ents24 stage at Guilfest this Sunday will be Duke Special.
Now, despite looking like a hungover Edward Scissorhands, this bloke is a fantastic performer. His album, “Songs from the Deep Forest”, arrived in my life earlier this year after seeing him on Jools Holland (clips of which you can find after the jump).
If you’re going to be at Guilfest, I’m pleading with you to go and see Duke. No, wait, I’m demanding you do.
Five seconds into his set you’ll realise that he is a) immensely talented, and b) immensely Irish. You thought Ronan Keating had an accent, but wait until you hear Duke. His Irish is so thick you wonder how you can understand it, but it means his lyrics seem to soothe themselves out of his lungs. If he plays “No Cover Up”, you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Appearing on stage with Duke will be his master percussionist, Chip Bailey — a celebrity in his own right. His instrument (if you can even call it that) is his ‘Stumpf Fiddle’. Which, essentially, is a stick with some pans and a bicycle bell strapped to it. It makes a terrific noise though, as this YouTube clip demonstrates.
Songs to look out for are “Portrait”, “Last Night I Nearly Died”, “Freewheel” (which was his last single), and the previously mentioned “No Cover Up”. He’s prone to the odd cover version too, Nina Simone’s “I Got Life” has been played a lot recently, so there’s a good chance he’ll pull that one out of the bag at some point.
Anyway, don’t take my word for it. Have a look at these two beauties. Performed on Jools Holland a while back. Enjoy.
Portrait:

No Cover Up:

Possibly related:

1. Festivals round-up: Oxegen survival guide, Guilfest movie, Live Earth debutants, T in the Park weather, new Latitude stage

2. Festivals round-up: Latitude and Indian Summer brighten rather than dampen spirits, problems mar Guilfest, Marilyn Manson footage from Download

3. Later… with Jools Holland online.

4. Where Have I Heard That Song Before?: Steve Earle’s ‘Galway Girl’

5. Centre Stage From The Basement on Sky Arts: new music show for TV

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Posted by ScarlettSusi on Friday July 13th, 2007 at 4:43 pm