Rebecca’s ‘coming home’ to be among friends in North

A DOUBLE-award winning blues/rock singer who impressed at a Mickleton Live gig last year returns to the region early next month for the first of three forthcoming shows in the North East.

When she appeared in Teesdale, Rebecca Downes had just been voted best female vocalist and best emerging artist at the British Blues Awards.
She is back in the region, this time at the Stockton Arc, on Friday, May 5.
A fortnight later she is at the 02 Academy, in Newcastle, when she will open for rock supergroup Snakecharmer before returning a third time to appear at the Sedgefield Blues Club, in November.
The Birmingham-based singer-guitarist said she is looking forward to heading north again.
“I have found that right from the start audiences in the North have really encouraged and supported me,” she said.
“I always feel like I am coming home. I have got so many good friends there now.”
Since appearing at Mickleton, she and her band – guitarist Steve Birkett, Rick Benton on keyboards, bassist Dan Clark and Lloyd Daker on drums – have been busy both on the road and in the studio.
“We have been on tour to Germany with John Lee Hooker Jnr and we are going back out there in November,” she said. “We have been playing a lot. We have played in front of 5,000 people at gigs so far this year.”
She said the chance to support Snakecharmer was “a huge step up” for the band.
Snakecharmer, for those wondering, was formed by bassist Neil Murray, who found fame with Whitesnake, and features the likes of Harry James (Thunder/Magnum) and Adam Wakeman (Ozzy Osbourne).
“I was absolutely over the moon when we got that. To share a stage with some of those names is really great,” said Ms Downes.
“It will also give us the chance to reach more rock fans. It’s important to get out there, state your case and deliver your best.
“When I go to a gig, I always check out the support band as well. I know how hard it is and how much of a big deal it is for them to reach new audiences.
“It’s incredible really. I remember playing in a pub four years ago to just a couple of people and now going on tour with Snakecharmer.”
In between gigs, she is working on her third studio album – a follow up to last year’s critically acclaimed Believe – which is due for release next January.
To keep things ticking over, she has a live album out, of which she is very proud.
“It captures the essence of who we are and what we do. I am definitely more of a live performer than a studio person.”
Tickets for Rebecca Downes at Stockton Arc are £12. Go to www.arconline.co.uk for more details.
To find out more about Rebecca Downes, go to www.re beccadownes.com.