Manx Radio Live Lounge Manx Radio

Annabel Curphey, previously a member of Spaghetti and the Hoops, has been forging a career for herself in Brighton under the new stage name of 'Annabel Lauren'.
She was on Isle recently so Christy took the opportunity to catch up with her about her music, her plans - and whether her Mum's Cauliflower Cheese is all that she says it is...

Internationally acclaimed Jake Thackray tribute, John Watterson, first fell in love with the poetic and musical stylings of Jake at a gig here on the Isle of Man. Since then, he has made a name for himself as 'Fake', invited to tour with acts like Fairport Convention and regularly contributing to radio programmes on BBC 2, 3 and 4.


He returns to the Island for a special one off performance next week, playing the Peel Centenary Centre on May 18th, with every penny of the night going to Hospice. He tells Christy more.

You may remember us chatting with songwriter Callum Brew about this time last year, about his idea for an event that has two purposes – raising awareness and funds for Mental Health charities while promoting the excellent original songwriting talent on the Island. Well, he's doing it again! Black Dog Oven May 18th will see a long line up of some of the Island's finest taking to the stage.


Callum tells Christy what we can expect and Juan Christian, from Isle Listen, tells us what it means for the Charity to have events like this raise funds for them.

Songwriting duo Carl Holden and Stu Watret have already overcome the practical obstacles of being separated by the Irish Sea, but in the past few years they were faced with a whole new challenge... Singer Stu slowly lost his ability to sing, as a symptom of having a rare form of Motor Neurone Disease.


Undeterred, they have embraced the benefits of AI, showing that the world of artificial intelligence can have positives too.


 

Christy was joined by Christine Collister in the Live Lounge this evening, talking about her new release: the book, art project and album 'Children of the Sea'. You can get your hands on copies of the book/album at ChristineCollister.com and at her launch gig, at the Peel Centenary Centre on April 27th. Christine will be then be heading to the UK for a tour later this year, check her website for all the details. 


She also played this stunning Sandy Denny cover live for us... 


https://youtu.be/rDOt3_XdQHY?si=rKmZqQtgKc6LTMSi

As well as speaking with young rapper Seb Garood in the Live Lounge this week (which you'll find as a separate podcast), Christy also caught up with singer songwriter Francesca May ahead of her returning to London to further her career (pictured with partner and producer Andrew Johnson below) and we paid tribute to extraordinary talent Sarah Puzzar (picture by Adrian Cowin below), who it was announced had passed away at the weekend.


You can find some of Sarah's songs with The Heights on the Reverbnation page here, and listen to the superb collaboration she released in 2002 with Superloop here. 


And you can watch Francesca playing live in the studio last Summer here.