... Roger McGuinn Burgess Hill I like folk songs, 'cause they tell stories, smiled Chicago-bom Roger McGuinn, whose tour is named Voice of the Byrds. Maybe that should read Voice of the Wyrds because-like so many of his sixties contemporaries-his songwriting talent is emphasised through the lyrics over the importance of the music. With pleasing anecdotes detailing lyric-swaps between him self ...

... Dervish Forum This, surely, is a fairly definitive example of a band living up to its name. Sligo-based Dervish plays with a stunning verve and energy, presenting Irish music at its most exciting: driving rhythms, lilting melodies and dynamic arrangements are there in profusion. The level of musicianship in the six-piece band is outstanding ly good, and is demonstrated to equal effect in ...

... Karen Akers Pizza on the Park Even before Karen Akers begins to sing, there is an elegance about her demeanour that is quite distracting. Despite her height-she is almost 6ft tall- the singer still cuts a graceful figure, and with her striking cheekbones and short bobbed stylish haircut, many a model would simply kill for her look. But what has probably made this US concert and cabaret star ...

... Our Kind of Musicals Grimsby In aid of the When You Wish Upon a Star children's charity, more than two hours of show-stoppers pleased a near capacity Auditorium crowd and proved that local lad Gary Williams' star is still in the ascendancy. Hosting the show was the magnificent David Jacobs, whose self-deprecating anecdotes had everyone chuckling. While one could listen to Jacobs all night, his ...

... Fresh and fizzy presentation Huddersfield The Barries Merseyside-based duo The Barries appeared at the Oakes club, where their cabaret-based performance was well-received by a presentation night audience. Tony and Tricia Barrie are twin brother and sister. They are very young, and their blend of fresh and fizzy presentation, com bined with Tricia's distinctive singing voice which sounds mature ...

... Rich Hall: the Shame Spiral Edinburgh/Touring You have got to hand it to Rich Hall-here is a comic who really does his homework. Anyone who can come to Scotland and perform a pun-ridden song that manages to get both Preston-pans and Kirkcaldy in, and keep the scansior going has to be doing something right. In fact it was Hall's alter- ego, his uncle Otis 'You'd be surprised now many men are ...

... Side by Side by Jerome Kern Covent Garden Festival: Peacock Startling to find a concert celebrating the life and work of Jerome Kern that missed out on standards such as The Folks Who Live on the Hill, Dearly Beloved and even Long Ago and Far Away. But then this was a show calculated to search out the iar, especially from the early Broadway years. And no one could really complain if we got ...

... Childhood stardom-- on a high note? By John Martland Like England's cricketers following their early exit from the World Cup, the team surrounding Charlotte Church, the remarkable thirteen-year-old soprano from Wales, was very much on the defensive in LJttte Big Voice (Presentable Productions for R4 Tuesday, June 1). Perhaps they had been read ing the review describing her chart-topping album ...