The Online Festival.....at a venue near you!

So where's the best place to go for a varied selection of unsigned bands I hear you ask.....where can I listen to anything from Heavy Rock, Dubstep, electro-pop and acoustic flows......well it's The Online Festival of course.  

It's a one stop promotional shop for bands and individual artists to download their tunes and interact with each other whilst using its website and the social media phenom that is Twitter to promote themseloves.  

Better than that, they now have organised a showcase event in Grimsby on Saturday 22nd of September headlined by The Jebs and supported by The Supernormals plus introducing Tohaveistohold, Mog Stanley and Rob Crawford.





Headlining the event is The Jebs, a four piece indie band formed in 2010 and although new to the Grimsby/Cleethorpes music scene will definately not disappoint with their Ocean Colour Scene and Ordinary Boys influenced tunes.  A tight and tidy rhythm section, clever guitar riffs and strong vocals make this band one to keep an eye on for 2012. Making music that people wanna hear is their motto and the boys certainly live up to that !  Highlight for them to date was when they played 2 nights recently supporting Ralph's favourite Scottish band The View and have been gigging almost non stop since.  

Next on the line up is Supernormals a five-piece band from Grimsby performing all their original material.  Although studio experienced, the magic lies on stage. Their unique tone is drawn from an eclectic range of influences from Calvin Harris, Friendly Fires, Stevie Wonder and The Beatles to Scissor Sisters, Mo Wax, Michael Jackson, George Clinton & Massive Attack.  With an endorsement from Audio Technica, Supernormals continue to bring their idiosyncratic sound to audiences across the country. Their hard work and commitment is a great example to all up-and-coming artists and bands looking to make a name for themselves in these challenging musical climates.  They're  a confident, exciting and sharp sounding group that's got to be knocking on the door of bigger and better things.  check out their track 'For The Girls' if you don't believe me.

First of the Introducing acts is Chris Hallam aka S.K.S aka Tohaveistohold. He's 29 years old and plays a number of stringed instruments including guitar, ukulele, mandolin and bass (a little bit).  He's a singer/songwriter  acoustic flower and this is going to be his first gig.  He's never performed live and is "nervous but excited at the same time" He's been doing music for about three years but only been recording for the past year or so and has his own home studio.  He use to live in Manchester but now lives in Weston Super Mare with his wife and three beautiful daughters.  His lyrics are real and based around everyday happenings that he and everyone else can relate to.  He had me hooked from the first time I heard the clever lyrics and flow of 'Pull Out The Lappy And Type It' beautifully accompanied by the simple strumming of the uke.  You're going to hear more of this young man.....he's already been featured on Wolverhampton City Radio 101.8 fm           

The next act came to Ralph's attention already and was blogged back in June.  It's  

sharp dressed blues man Mog Stanley.  He describes himself as a song singin', guitar playin', foot tappin', blues, folk, indie musician and I know that sounds like he's got a sponsorship with Coca Cola but that really does sum up his stylee.  He's currently featured at No.7 in The Ralph's Life chart and it's no wonder why with his gigging pedigree.

His crisp bluesy guitar playing is complimented by his super smooth vocals.  You only have to listen to 'Little Bag of Bones' to get hooked on his immaculate, ultra-hip laid back vibes.

He's just returned to us from the Colne R & B Festival where he appeared on the acoustic stage.

Completing the line up is local man Rob Crawford a singer/songwriter, musician and producer of energetic rock songs, pop ballads, acoustic gems and full blown masterpieces from his studio.  He has been described by Jason Blume (writer for Britney Spears/Backstreet Boys) as 'a very talented writer'.

Rob is working on his 2nd album ’Cross Fingers’ and is inviting everyone to listen to the tracks for free at The Online Festival.  Bit by bit the album has been carefully put together and Rob has been busy blogging about the progress, keeping fans up to date with the latest developments and introducing some amazing incentives to get fans involved in the making of the album.  His sound is represented here by the addictively poppy 'Bright Young Things'.




Ralph's final word is.....if you're looking for somewhere to go to promote your music and get the chance to feature in exclusive musical showcase events, look no further than The Online Festival.....ask for @daveyhub and tell him Ralph sent you and if you're in Grimsby on Saturday 22nd September get yourself down to the Corner Lounge!