Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Delivering the brash honesty of rap music, with her unique blend of soul and R&B spirit, Ray BLK weaves between genre boundaries borrowing the elements she requires to reach her goals. “I feel proud when my music connects with people,” says the 23-year-old, real name Rita Ekwere, who was born in Nigeria and raised in Catford, South London. Ray’s first experiences of music came at a very early age, when she recalls dancing to Missy Elliott and Timbaland on MTV Bass at the age of seven “From that age I thought, this is what I want to do,” she recalls. “I remember singing and dancing along to all of it and thinking ‘Oh my god, I'd love to be doing this.’” From the age of ten, Ray was already setting her dream in motion, filling her school notebooks with original song lyrics, prompting teachers to put her on a gifted and talented music programme. Despite her early experiments with music, it wasn’t until her final year of studying English Literature at university that she de...

23 year old rising star John Newman follows his massive number 1 single “Love Me Again”, and equally rousing follow-up “Cheating” with the release on October 14th of his hotly anticipated debut album ”Tribute”. The album, co-produced by Newman, confirms his class as a songwriter, peerless power as a vocalist and offers conclusive proof that the UK has a singular new talent in its midst. “Love Me Again” which has achieved Gold Status in the UK for sales in excess of 500,000, has hit the No1 spot on iTunes in a staggering 16 countries across the globe and follows John’s previous anthem and chart-topper “Feel The Love”, which he co-wrote and fronted with Rudimental. October is going to be a very busy month for the young Yorkshireman who releases his new Island Records single ”Cheating” on October 7th , and played a special homecoming show at the Grade 2 listed Victorian Music Hall in Settle, on October 3rd. The Settle gig, which sold out in less than 2 minutes, will be a taster of what’...