With a beautiful voice complimented by the light touch of piano and acoustic guitar, Ellie Jane shines on new single ‘Clocks’. Jane is one of the most highly thought of independent song writers in the UK at the moment, feeding off the good buzz she received when reaching the final of the national UK Open Mic competition.
And now, with this single and six song EP it promotes, she is taking a further step towards gaining the recognition she deserves. Far from being a cookie cutter pop princess, this is a writer of original songs with influences from far outside the pop genre.
It makes for an interesting cocktail, which should be enjoyed in full by finding the EP on iTunes.
Typified by opening track ‘Skippin’ Stones’ (above), the new album from soul vocalist Kelly Moneymaker is a new album packed with vim and vigour.
With the recent rebirth of the funk genre through a pop filter (see Bruno Mars et al.), it’s fantastic to hear an album which dedicates itself to funk and soul music in its purest form. This isn’t filtered through focus groups and layers of mastering to make it into a packaged piece of entertainment – this is raw, old school soul, and brings with it all the energy that implies.
The fact that tracks on this album bring to mind names like Diana Ross, Aretha, Tina Turner and others speaks volumes about the quality on show here. And while we’re on the subject of volume, Moneymaker’s vocals are beltingly good.
The national singing competition TeenStar has found its latest winner! Joining a long line of prestigious Future Music competition winners, Rachel Ann from Bournemouth, Dorset has been crowned the champion of the national TeenStar competition at The NEC in Birmingham!
Singing Competition Winner
Rachel Ann was crowned champion in front of a capacity crowd and a prestigious music industry judging panel at The NEC in Birmingham on Saturday night. Her unique performance of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” won over the competition industry judges making her the overall winner of TeenStar. She will now be offered a recording and development deal including a £5,000 advance to spend on the development of her music.
The national singing competition is brought to you by Future Music – the company behind the discovery of artists such as such as Luke Friend and Karen Hardy both of which have had chart success this year, Jacob Banks, Warner Music’s Birdy, Columbia Record’s Lucy Spraggan, Union J’s Jaymi Hensley and Jahmene Douglas, both of which are now signed to Sony Music.
Music industry judges at the National Singing Competition Grand Final
After impressing the judging panel at the auditions, Rachel Ann battled against more than 9,000 acts who entered for TeenStar this year across the UK. She went on to perform in the TeenStar live showcases, battling through both Regional and Area Final heats to make it to the national Grand Final.
The judging panel for the Grand Final included record label representatives from Universal, as well representatives from music management companies, recording studios, professional musicians, national press representatives and the examination board, Rock School.
Rachel Ann has now won a comprehensive consultation package with Future Music, an extensive winner’s publicity package, and an amazing £5,000 advance to spend on the development of her music. On winning the prizes Rachel said, “I’m literally speechless, overjoyed with happiness. Thank you to everyone for all the support!”
Chris Grayston, Head Judge and Director of Future Music has said, “Rachel Ann has been a stand out act throughout the TeenStar competition. Her unique vocal range and emotive performances make her a clear winner!” Check out more information about the TeenStar Champion on the website here.
Future Music is also about to start singing auditions for Open Mic UK, find more information and enter music competition Open Mic UK now. Also check out the Future Music Songwriting Contest, which is specifically for songwriters of any age and genre.
The national music competition Open Mic UK has found its latest winner! Joining a long line of prestigious Future Music competition winners, Richard Jones from Wolverhampton has been crowned the champion of the national Open Mic UK music competition at The NEC in Birmingham!
Music competition Open Mic UK Winner
Richard Jones was crowned champion in front of a capacity crowd and a prestigious music industry judging panel at The NEC in Birmingham on Saturday night. His original song called “Temptation” won over the music competition industry judges making him the overall winner of Open Mic UK.
The music competition is brought to you by Future Music – the company behind the discovery of artists such as such as Jacob Banks, Warner Music’s Birdy, Columbia Record’s Lucy Spraggan, Union J’s Jaymi Hensley and Jahmene Douglas, both of which are now signed to Sony Music, and TeenStar competition winners Luke Friend and Emily Middlemas.
Music industry judges at the National Grand Final
After impressing the judging panel at the auditions, Richard Jones battled against more than 9,000 acts who entered for Open Mic UK this year across the UK. He went on to perform in the Open Mic UK live showcases, battling through both Regional and Area Final heats to make it to the national Grand Final.
The judging panel for the Grand Final included record label representatives from Sony and Universal, as well representatives from music management companies, recording studios, professional vocal coaches and the examination board, Rock School.
Richard Jones has now won a comprehensive consultation package with Future Music, an extensive winner’s publicity package, and an amazing £5,000 to spend on the development of his music. On winning the prizes Richard said, “Since I’ve only been singing for a year it’s quite cool to be the winner of Open Mic UK.”
Chris Grayston, Head Judge and Director of Future Music has said, “Richard Jones has been a stand out act throughout the Open Mic UK competition. His original songs and emotive performances make him a clear winner!” click here for more information about the Open Mic UK music competition Winner .
The national singing competition TeenStar has found its latest winner! Joining a long line of prestigious Future Music competition winners, Emily Middlemas from Glasgow, Scotland has been crowned as TeenStar 2014 champion at The NEC in Birmingham.
TeenStar 2014 champion
Emily Middlemas was crowned champion in front of a capacity crowd and a prestigious music industry judging panel at The NEC in Birmingham on Saturday night. Singing her own original song ‘Goodnight Kiss’, Emily won over the competition industry judges, making her the winner of the Mid-Teen age category and the overall winner of the TeenStar singing competition. She has now won a recording and development deal including £5,000 to spend on the development of her music.
The national singing competition is brought to you by Future Music – the company behind the discovery of artists such as Jacob Banks, Warner Music’s Birdy, Columbia Record’s Lucy Spraggan, Union J’s Jaymi Hensley and Jahmene Douglas, both of whom are now signed to Sony Music, and last year’s TeenStar competition winner Luke Friend, who was runner up on The X Factor last year.
Music industry judges
After impressing the judging panel at the auditions Emily Middlemas battled against more than 9,000 acts who signed up to TeenStar this year across the UK. She went on to perform in the TeenStar live showcases, battling through both Regional and Area Final heats to make it to the national Grand Final.
The judging panel for the Grand Final included record label representatives from Sony and Universal, as well as names such as four time Ivor Novello award winner Mark Hill, Birdy’s producer Gareth Henderson, Sony Music talent scout James Dillamore, A&R scout for Universal Music James Meadows, Jayne Collins – an A&R consultant for major record companies who has put together and managed The Saturdays and The Wanted, CeCe Sammy – a TV personality and celebrity vocal coach who has worked with the likes of Diana Ross, Will Young, Simon Cowell and Leona Lewis, journalist for TeenStar partner Shout Magazine Claire McDonald, along with Head of Future Music Chris Grayston. Also picked by the judging panel as winners were Jake Mckechnie from Wigan, Manchester, who won the Pre-Teen age category, and Victoria Bass from Folkestone, Kent who took home the title for the Late-Teen age category.
Emily has now won a comprehensive consultation package with Future Music, an extensive winner’s publicity package, and an amazing £5,000 to spend on the development of her music. On winning the prizes Emily said,”Thank you to the TeenStar team for being so supportive throughout my musical journey, as well as my mum and dad, and the industry judges”.
Future Music is also about to start auditions for Open Mic UK. It’s not too late to enter and audition in the next few coming weeks. To find out more and enter Open Mic UK now go to www.openmicukco.uk.
Because playing the guitar isn't really work, is it?
We Don't Want a Proper Job 