Skatz Live Acoustic Music Gigs

Skatz is a member of the band Woodstock, singing and playing guitar, piano and percussion. He is also performing solo sets of his own Acoustic Music songs which have a World Music twist, has a new album in the pipeline, recently reformed the much vaunted Nick Drake inspired band Bryter Layter, and has toured a show about heroes and legends of Leicestershire called 'Daniel Lambert's Trousers' with fellow musician Steve Cartwright, the songs from which are part of Skatz' play of the same name.

Skatz is a multi-instrumentalist Acoustic Musician, which means he can play many instruments. He claims to be able to create music out of just about anything, and can pull an improvised song out of the bag at the drop of a hat.

Trained in Drama with a degree in Performing Arts from De Montfort University, Leicester, Skatz's latest acting performance was in a leading role in the folk opera 'The Minstrel's Tale' at Leicester Cathedral in 2009.

Until recently Skatz was half of the stand up comedy double act Rob & Skatz, touring their own brand of anarchic humour around the national comedy circuit.

Bands:

Woodstock

Skatz, Liz Scattergood and Kate Easton (joined by bass player extraordinaire Neil Segrott at some venues) combine soaring harmonies, unforgettable songs and quality playing with a sense of humour and stage presence that is creating positive waves at festivals and music venues nationwide.

2009 was the 40th Anniversary of 'Woodstock' (the festival and the song) so as well as performing their own songs the band are touring a very popular set of songs by Joni Mitchell (writer of the song) and Crosby Still Nash & Young (the world's first 'supergroup', who put their version of the song high up the charts) to appreciative audiences across the UK.

As their name suggests, the band have Joni and CSNY high on their list of influences, not only because of the quality of their music, but also for being among the very few artists who have stayed true to their muse in the face of bland, formulaic commercialism. Joni has maintained her intensely personal and poetic lyrical style through the decades and must surely be regarded as one of the most important songwriters of the 20th century, inspiring more artists directly or indirectly than perhaps most of us realise. To call her an ageing folk hippie would be to ignore chord structures and melodies which, even in her early work, were unrivalled except amongst classical or jazz composers. Fellow Canadian and Godfather of Grunge Neil Young is perhaps even more influential than Joni, certainly amongst electric guitar players and for his very public rebellions against the demands of number-crunching record company executives. Well worth celebrating!

Bryter Layter

For several years from 1999 onwards, Leicester-based band Bryter Layter toured their sensitively wrought celebration of the music of cult singer songwriter Nick Drake. Skatz managed to get his head and fingers around the essence of Nick's arresting and complex guitar technique, delightfully weaving this in and around the silky vocals of Steve Parker, the jazz-inspired fretless bass guitar playing of Neil Segrott, the delicate underplayed percussion of Andy Fitzsimons and the smooth strings of viola player Kate Easton and violinist Nikki Anderson. Back by popular demand, Bryter Layter can occasionally be found at a venue near you, laying a blanket of quintissential Englishness over you in a way that only the music of Nick Drake can. Some might say that Bryter Layter's own songs have a similar haunting effect.

Scattergood & Cartwright

Using his correct surname for a change (cos it sounded right in this band!) Skatz teamed up on a whim with fellow singer songwriter Steve Cartwright early in the 'noughties' to write a series of songs about Leicestershire heroes and legends which they titled 'Daniel Lambert's Trousers' after the larger-than-life local legend's pants housed in a Leicester museum and shown on Blue Peter in the 1970's containing both Peter Purves and John Noakes. The show caught on. Maybe it was the catchy songs, maybe it was the humour. Whatever it was, the boys enjoyed a few years of small festival limelight and local notoriety before other projects took over. But it never really ended and the boys continue to write songs and tour round the county. Skatz has also written a play which contains some of the songs (see www.daniellambertstrousers.com)

Solo

Last but definitely not least, Skatz has a back catalogue of his own songs which if you're very lucky you can catch him performing live. He is gradually recording his second solo album, a slightly schizophrenic affair which could end up being a double album, one half focussing on peace and love and world music, the other the much more abrasive, angst-fuelled rant that has been bubbling away in his tormented psyche for so long!
With his new recording studio up and running he's taking it slowly, but find him on Facebook or MySpace (see Links page) and you'll get to hear advance mixes of the songs as they're recorded. One thing's for sure, it won't be the minimal acoustic style of his first album.