Festival fun under the sun

July has been busy as hell, and all the better for it.

The busyness began at The Drift Cafe, Cresswell, where we played the monthly biker meet up - insert Hels’ Angels joke here - The gig was lovely, and capped off with a walk down the stunning Druridge Bay. Northumberland Coast remains undefeated.

Continuing the Northumberland theme, we zipped off with our neighbour besties Hazel and Paul to The Big Morpeth Campout, hosted at the picturesque West Benbridge Farm. We braved the wind, enjoyed the sun, and enjoyed learning the deep lore of Morpeth from Hazel, our resident Morpothian.

Once the tents were up, we zipped back to Ouseburn, first to record a live session for early Hels P supporters, Radio Tyneside (see video below!), and then to play our set in the bandstand for the Ouseburn festival. The bandstand is one of those strange spaces rarely used in the area, except for the harmless weed smoking teenagers (oh to be young) - but to see if transformed for the festival was truly gorgeous - shout out to Maria for the incredible hand picked wildflowers!

Our next gig-in-a-designated-”National-Landscape”, was Alston live in the Pennines. After a four month (!) long gap, it was great to finally be playing another show with the rhythm section (Alex Ferry/Anneka Robson) behind me. We had a great slot, on a great stage and it was a joy watching people pile into the tent as the sun went down. There was dancing, singing, and mobility scootering. We also bumped into Steve (Three Tynes Podcast) who gave us some local recommendations, so after a terrible sleep in the tent, Zac and I headed up to Ashgill force on a weary but beautiful walk.

We made a quick stop to play at Dinky Dub fest just off of Druridge Bay (one of our favourite spots) for a relaxed festival slot on the first day of the festival. However, after a busy month, we didn’t hang about, so after a quick stop at the beach we got back to rest for the next event - “Kennedy Music Management Presents” - at The Angel’s Cut in Darlington.

This was our second time headlining Angel’s Cut, but this time part of Adam Kennedy’s event showcasing artists he works with. The night couldn’t have been better. Squeezed into the top room were a fantastic crowd of Darlo music fans out in droves to support grassroots music. Hewittson started off the night, with a gorgeous set of originals on topics from anxiety to the East coast train line. Next up, Anna Karila and Josh Atkinson played a powerful duo set. The two bounced off each other well, with powerful acoustic guitars and soaring harmonies, they went back to back playing their songs in turn, finishing up with a stunning version of Wild Horses. After a lot of upbeat festivals sets, I wanted to get back to some quieter songs, and take some more time to talk through the set list. Zac and I played through the ‘Just What I Do’ EP in full, before playing the new [NAME TBA] EP in full. Finally, I snuck in a few personal favourites we don’t normally play before finishing the set unplugged with Moving Mountains. It felt perfect to close out the long night without any amplification, making the most of the great acoustics of the room and the lovely attentive audience.

Unless I’ve managed to miss getting this newsletter out on time (again) - then you still have time to grab a ticket to see me and the band playing at Durham Fringe, in front of the cathedral.

Tickets available from the Durham Fringe website only.

For all upcoming shows, click here!