Pioneering She Punk and John Peel favourite Helen McCookerybook is appearing in Brighton on the Saturday 30th March on a triple bill with Pat Fish and Asbo Derek, at 08:00 p.m. at The Latest Bar, 14-17 Manchester St, Brighton BN2 1TF (www.latestmusicbar.co.uk) / 01273 687171, tickets £9.35 (www.wegottickets.com).
Original bass player and lead singer with 70’s/80’s Brighton-based punk rock band The Chefs and later Helen & the Horns McCookerybook’s appearance marks the 40th anniversary of her explosive 1979 recording debut with punk rockers The Chefs. Helen McCookerybook will be performing fan favourites such as ‘The Sea’ and ‘A Good Life With A Bad Apple’, and recorded in NY her limited edition single ‘Saturday Night With The London Set’. McCookerybook’s Brighton gig is part of her 2019 DIY, a 15 gig-plus UK tour, running from March to December 2019 (www.mccookerybook.com).
McCookerybook’s music is admired by fans and the music industry alike, “McCookerybook purveys a gentle, jazz-folk melodicism, with a dark underside” – Time Out, “acoustically led, her songs are of love, politics and quite possibly, the kitchen sink, and her voice is pure as crystal.” (HIAPOP) and “McCookerybook’s lyrics, frank and idiosyncratic, find poetry in the everyday – shards of broken glass in the ice-cream” – Art & Music: The Saatchi Magazine.
A multi-faceted talent: singer/songwriter, artist, author, academic, McCookerybook returned to the stage ten years ago, releasing four albums the latest being her finest album ‘The Sea’, an exquisite collection featuring the divine ‘Summer Days’ a favourite of Gideon Coe on 6Music. McCookerybook’s bossa-inspired jazz lilt vocals, her glorious melodies in simple sparse arrangements are juxtaposed with subtly dissident, occasionally dark lyrics, a critically praised feature of her music.
In 2007 McCookerybook, (AKA Dr. Helen Reddington), published ‘The Lost Women of Rock’, a ground-breaking book recognized for its frank and critical analysis of women breaking into a male domain. The book was turned into a powerful documentary ‘Stories from the She Punks: music with a different agenda’ (2018, UK, 45 mins), directed by McCookerybook and Gina Birch of the Raincoats which had its successful world premiere at London’s 2018 Doc’n Roll Festival and is being screened in Brighton in April.
The wide appeal of McCookerybook distinct songwriting and vocals, her evident wit and intelligence, prompts airplay on an eclectic mix of radio stations from 6Music, Juice FM’s ‘Midnight Campfire’ and interestingly BBC Radio Scotland’s nan Gaidheal, a Scottish Gaelic station that embraces her music. McCookerybook’s talent as a luminous chronicler of the heart will light up The Latest on Saturday 30th March 2019. Don’t miss it!
More on this concert and those taking part HERE.
