Dear Sir,
On Thursday 12th October, my son Oliver and I, attended a live music event ‘Blues at the Brewery’ hosted by the fantastic Gary Grainger at The Steam Machine Brewery on Northfield Way.
As my son has just begun studying music performance at Bishop Auckland College, and seeing this event advertised on social media, we decided to pop over straight from him coming home from college, with living so close to the venue, obviously, still with guitar on his back. This was our first time here and we were not sure what to expect, but on entering we were amazed at how nice the place looked, very comfortable and welcoming with some great people in attendance. After settling down and watching some very talented acts playing, without realising that it was also an open mic night, the opportunity arose for my son to get up and give it ago, but being a bassist he needed support to carry a tune, which quickly arrived after meeting a young and very talented singer/guitarist from Spennymoor, Mat Gamsby. The two lads hit it off straight away with such enthusiasm to perform together and after a brief practice in the side room, they came back full of confidence to give it a try.
Mr. Grainger warmly introduced them to the audience and the lads played ‘Twist & Shout’ followed by ‘Creep’ by Radiohead.
Considering this was the first time they had met and equally the first time at the venue, they both gave a respectful on the spot performance that was nicely received.
This was one of those moments to remember, as it was also my son’s first ever public performance and the start of things to come. Many thanks to Garry Grainger and all at The Steam Machine Brewery.
Bill Gibson