Email: newsdesk.lds@yorkshirereporter.co.uk40 MUSIC NOTES APRIL 2017

TIME TO SHINE COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENT: MARY VISITS LUXULELE - PUDSEY'S UKULELE BAND

−−−−− BY MARY JOHNSON-GREEN −−−−−

If you have always wanted to be in a band then Luxulele, Pudsey's own community ukulele band, could be for you. Still in its infancy this group celebrated its 2nd birthday in December, last year, and has already gained a good reputation.

Luxulele was formed by two local women, Jill Huggins and Lesley Whiteley. Over coffee they told me about the development of the group.

"We got financial and practical help from the LOVE PUDSEY charity. A grant of £700 paid for the music stands and some

ukuleles. We meet every Tuesday at the cafe Lux in Pudsey at 11am. Our aim was to form a daytime group, accessible to all levels of musicians including absolute beginners. In the early days we were unsure if anyone would turn up."

The group has flourished and has grand ambitions. Last year's 'music tour' consisted of 10 events, including the "BIG LUNCH" event, coffee mornings, fundraisers and Christmas fetes. The group looks very professional in their black t-shirts sporting the brand new logo.

They performed their first fundraiser of 2017 recently when

Luxulele and Otley Ukulele Group joined forces to raise money for Bosom Friends. The event was a sell out and in total £780 was raised for the charity.

The two groups, with about 20 ukulele players apiece, each did a 45 minute set which seemed to go down very well with the audience who sang along to a selection of popular tunes. Future events are planned and so practice continues. The group are currently learning two new songs, 'Do You Wanna Dance?' and 'Brown Eyed Girl.'

Feedback from the group is very positive. Most had never played any instrument before joining; a few have some experience.

"I used to play violin at school," Diane told me, "and I must say I was worried at first but the group are so welcoming."

Meeting and making new friends and enjoying each other's company was mentioned more than once. But the big buzz for most was playing in a group, playing for others and having fun.

If you want to follow their progress visit;www.luxulele.wordpress.com or, better yet, join them on a

Tuesday morning at Cafe Lux.Time to Shine is managed by Leeds Older People’s Forum

(LOPF) and funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Fulfilling Lives: Ageing Better programme to reduce social isolation and loneliness amongst people over 50. Time to Shine selects partners across Leeds to deliver unique and creative projects that engage socially isolated people. Within the programme is robust external local and national evaluation to test and learn from the approaches and inform future work. For more information please visit: timetoshineleeds.org

The award-winning Live at Leeds festival 2017 is just around the corner, kicking off Summer’s huge festival season. After previously hosting the very best in new talent which saw Ed Sheeran play in front of a 100-person crowd at Leeds’ Cockpit 5 years ago, and Sam Smith play in the Holy Trinity Church just three years ago, the festival was the first place to see Mumford & Sons, Clean Bandit, Bastille, the 1975 and Rudimental in Leeds before they all went on to become the dons of UK music: So, who are the ones to watch this year? Who will be the next “must see” band? This is not an easy question to answer because the 2017 festival is the biggest Live At Leeds yet. So big indeed that they’ve added an opening and closing ceremony – a bit like the Olympics but with better music. Literally! Apart from the headliners such as Maximo Park, Cloud Nothings, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man and Slaves there are three new artists that deserve to be checked out

After spending the last couple of years in their studio exploring sounds and working on new music, SUPERFOOD return with the infectious Double Dutch, their first new material since 2014.

Having pressed reset on the band, SUPERFOOD will start their new incarnation with Dirty Hit Records. Their yet untitled second album will be released later this year and is born out of a new-found freedom, enabling them to take their music to completely new and exciting places. Free from outside influences, the self-produced record bursts with light but the album’s creation wasn't without its problems. “We had no money, no label and we wanted to give up several times,” says front man Dom Ganderton. The band emerged through the struggles with a record that serves as a document to perseverance, while putting to bed any notion of a difficult second record.

Southampton-raised, 22-year-old London-based singer, songwriter and producer Laurel Arnell-Cullen has been busy this year, whether that be releasing her PARK EP, or signing to iconic English independent label Counter Records (an imprint of Ninja Tune), releasing the tracks 'Life Worth Living' and 'San Francisco' on her own Theia label or heading out on her first headline tour.

Critical acclaim has appeared from numerous blogs, becoming a mainstay on the hype machine chat in 2016 and picking up support from the likes of Radio 1, 6 music, Radio X, Beats 1, Spotify and awarded Apple Music's very first New Artist of the Week.

Liverpool’s thrilling fuzz-pop quartet Clean Cut Kid have announced details of their much-anticipated debut album. A string of exhilarating singles has given snapshots of their brilliance and now comes a record to match. 'Felt' will be released on April 28th through Babe Magnet Records/Polydor and is available for pre-order now. It will be preceded by a new single, 'Leaving You Behind', which has already received a Hottest Record accolade.

Clean Cut Kid are Mike Halls, Evelyn Halls, Saul Godman and Ross Higginson. The four-piece are one of the most exciting breakthrough bands in the UK, their inventive take on anthemic guitar-pop the product of intense writing and rehearsal sessions at the band's practice space in Liverpool.

Rick Astley is a singer, songwriter, musician, and radio personality. His 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a No 1 hit single in 25 countries, and won the 1988 Best British Single. By the time

of his retirement in 1993, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide. Astley made a comeback in 2007, becoming an Internet phenomenon when his video "Never Gonna Give You Up" became integral to the meme known as "rickrolling". Astley was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008. His 2016 album 50 debuted in the UK at No 1 and he is touring the album now: His performance at Halifax Victoria Theatre sold out within minutes and they all revelled in the nostalgia of the 1980s. Astley was magnificent.

And a quick word for his support too who was equally magnificent. Anchorage, Alaska born singer and songwriter EARL grew up living in a gas station and singing gospel in her local church choir. As a Jazz obsessive since the age of seven, any free time was spent listening to the crackling of classic Duke Ellington and Josephine Baker, both influences to the fore here: Not sure either will be invited to Live At Leeds though!

Music Notes With Stuart Glossop

■ Rick Astley

■ Earl