Stonham Sessions kick off with the Joe Ringer Band
Friday night music takes us through until music can start over again
The new ‘Stonham Sessions’ hub for music starts this Friday (5 March) with the first live streaming performance from The Joe Ringer Band.
Introduced by Stonham Barns Park, these planned events are looking to encourage musical talent in the region and bring live music and entertainment to followers of the leisure, retail and holiday venue and people from all over the UK.
The ‘Stonham Sessions’ are the first initiative to be introduced at the hub which will see weekly live stream performances from the Aspal Theatre which will enable people to enjoy live music from the comfort of their own homes. They will run from 5 March – 28 May 2021 on Friday evenings with a different local band, artist or act featuring and streaming on the leisure group’s and artists’ social media channels.
The first stream will feature The Joe Ringer Band, one of East Anglia’s leading bands which plays over 100 events, cruises and shows all over the UK and specialising in the best of soul, jazz, pop and rock (www.thejrb.co.uk). Formed in 2012 by vocalist Joe Ringer, the multi-faceted outfit span the decades and genres, spanning everything from Big Band Swing and Soul to Pop and Musical Theatre. Their line-ups range from a jazz quartet to an 18-piece orchestra and everything in between.
Their big band spectacular ‘The Greatest Show’ played to a sell-out 1200 crowd at Norwich Theatre Royal in 2019 which led them onto the Royal Caribbean ‘Stages’ cruise later in the year, performing alongside names such as Alfie Boe and Sheridan Smith.
For Stonham Sessions, they will be featuring their 6-piece line-up and playing their ‘greatest hits’ from 60’s to today, covering artists from Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner to Bruno Mars and Beyonce. Joe and the band will be joined by Roxy Yarnold on vocals, who can be found singing backing vocals with artists such as Boy George and Culture Club.
Says Joe, ‘I’m so excited to be opening the Stonham Sessions as we just can’t wait to play again. Lockdown has been so hard for us with over 150 cancellations. We just want to make music together after such a long time off – I’m just hoping we can all remember how to play our instruments!’
‘Our set will feature something for everyone. From jazz and soul to rock and pop. All performed in our own style.’
The streaming sessions will be filmed on a multi-angled HD camera set-up using a digital mixer and resident sound engineer to ensure the stream is of the highest quality. Over 30 bands and artists have shown interest in the sessions which will be hosted by the Mid-Suffolk studios.
It is hoped that once lockdown restrictions ease bands will be able to practice, perform and record music at the venue which has been closed since the start of the pandemic.
Other bands and artists scheduled for Stonham Sessions include Serena Grant (12 March @ 7.00pm) with Hayley & Ben Classical Duo (12 March @ 8.30), Fat & Furious (19 March @ 7.00pm), Sou Nair (26 March @ 7.00pm) and Johnny Flinton (26 March @ 8.30pm).
Breeze Redwine, who has signed a management deal with Stonham Barns Park, will be performing at ‘Stonham Sessions’ at the Aspal Theatre on 2 April at 7.00pm. She previously headlined the Mini Music Festival held at the venue in December last year and has her first single release out under the new deal on 9 April.
The Aspal Theatre is large enough to adhere to current Government guidelines for live performance events, with 2m social distancing in place to ensure the safety of the acts. Fans will be able to donate to the individuals bands and artists for watching the performance, as if they were buying a ticket. This is voluntary donation only.
Breeze Redwine, who has signed a management contract with Stonham Barns Park, will be performing at one of the ‘Stonham Sessions’ at the Aspal Theatre on 2 April at 8.30pm. She previously headlined the Mini Music Festival held at the venue in December last year.
Said David Sandpearl from Stonham Barns Park, ‘The Mini Music Festival event held at the end of 2020 was a huge success with artists from Norfolk and Suffolk and we hope to encourage these artists and others to use the Aspal Theatre venue as a safe and fully equipped studio to use for their musical development.’
‘Breeze Redwine is an amazing new talent and she is ready to take her music career to the next level with her new release in March. We are delighted to be helping her and others with a new platform for musical performance.’
