Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Becky Edwards

Matt Henshaw here recommending again, and bringing you the beautiful people of the world that make music and songs. And they don't come much more beautiful inside and out than the wonderful Becky Edwards. The twists and turns of fate and serendipity have brought both myself and Becky to Leicester from the north of the East Midlands, growing up as we did in Ilkeston and Ripley respectively, and finding ourselves in Leicestershire & Rutland.

My first week out last July with acoustic guitar in hand I met Becky and shared a stage at a little pub on Granby Street in the city. I was a humble open mic participant, and Becky was the headline act along with the marvellous Chris Conway, whom I've mentioned before whenst babbling about thems there Mia and the Moons. Massive Thanks to Stevie Jones for putting this one on !

Here she is having a sing song with her best friend, daughter and equally beautiful and hilarious Evelyn ...



... it's not all Disney classics in Becky's repertoire but I would be more than satisfied if it was. This video highlights the love between a mother and daughter and I feel, as we all should feel, grateful to Becky (as it says on her birth certificate - Rebecca she is not), for letting us into her life and sharing her blessings of music, talent and family with us. If this video has failed to make you smile, even just a little bit then I suggest you may need a support group of some kind, I don't know what, just Google "How to make myself happier" or something.

I Love Miss Edwards so much in fact that, along with Leah Sinead, I invited her to come and play at my birthday party last September. What a jolly pleasant night we had !

Here she is, above, playing at The Cookie, and no doubt you'll see her back again when I invite her to come and join me at an Acoustic Rhythm'n'Gospel Cavalcade sometime soon in the not so distant future ...

A few more things to note about Becky ... she is vegan and a shining example of someone who is talented, beautiful and healthy living a life she knows is right and pure, she is multi-talented so much so that alongside her music, she can dance, she is hilarious and a grand purveyor of words emotions and feelings, one day her and Evelyn will be known around the country, and making people smile in the same way I hope that Tippy and I do. Most pressingly though, is the race for the space at the top of the YouTube search, my friend Becky Edwards is not a pole dancer!

I owe a great deal to hanging around with Edwards, just being in her company inspires me to be a better person, when I say Leicester is a warm and loving place to be as a musician, I don't think I'm exaggerating too much when I say that a lot of that is down to Becky, for better or worse she helped forge the friendship between myself and Stu Crown and The Bobcats and led me to my discovery of The Simpletones.

I haven't even mentioned some of her great songs, 'Princess in a Paper Bag' is my personal favourite, 'Thin' is an honest and astoundingly heartfelt emotional ballad, and 'Your Face' is a sumptuous slice of acoustic pop, that I secretly think is about me, or maybe I just wish it was! Excellent songwriting!!

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Mia & The Moon

So, this week I went to a show in Leicester, I wasn't supposed to, I was supposed to be in Wales, but the stars aligned and due to the oncoming dawning of the Age of Aquarius and the inordinate amount weather we've been having I've been in the city all week. Before I get into recommending a couple more of my favourite East Midlands Girls I'm going to give a very very very special mention to the fantastic and wonderful Chris Conway ... Google Him, Do It Now !

Chris was one of the first musicians I met when I moved to the city, and if I'm honest, even from week one of getting out and playing the guitar again, I met Chris that very first week, and he's one of the finest musicians I've ever met before and since, a true gentleman and a real character. And his music makes me laugh, cry and discombobulate in equal measure ...

... so, why am I banging on about Chris Conway? Well, it was he and thee Mia & The Moon whom it was I went to see this week. The night was entitled 'Songs of Wonder', and in wonderment I sat on my bean bag, by the incense, sipping on my coffee - now I know what you're thinking, but they didn't have any milk ... and Black Coffee is always better than Black Tea ...

Both acts are fantastic and I hope that I'll see, play with, record with, write with Chris Conway sometime soon ! And Mia & The Moon are indeed celestial beings. Mary-Anne and Laura, as they are know to their friends, are sisters and carry that all encompassing yin and yang that is needed to bring the light and dark into every performance.

I won't waste any more of your time with superlatives and sycophancy so I'll let the music do the talking ... but I do find it quite serendipitous that in one sister I've found someone I feel I can write some great soul songs with and add a bit of female harmony to the Matt Henshaw Rhythm'n'Gospel Cavalcade and in the other sister I've found someone I can talk about the stars and space with in a completely unscientific manner, yeah, we're really out there ... Man !!

Spread The Love indeed ! MHx