Each week, there are 10 great acts in our playlist, all with a connection to Reading or Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen, and we hope you find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music. This week, we’ve got three new entries from acts who have a connection to the area.
1. Gemma Rogers – MOLLY_1989 – With her first single of 2025, Gemma Rogers turns her razor-sharp wit to the dating scene, and how women have to deal with unbalanced dynamics and unreasonable expectations. This is from her forthcoming second album, due out next year, we can’t wait! The track was played by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 Music, and you can’t get much better than that! We last saw Gemma play at the Face Bar in January for Club Velocity and are sure she’ll be back before too long, but you can catch her on tour, including at Glastonbury later this month. https://www.facebook.com gemmarogersmusic
2. Miki Berenyi Trio – Stranger – Miki Berenyi was in the band Lush in the ‘90s, and then, after a break from performing, Piroshka. From that band the Miki Berenyi Trio emerged. They were due to play at the Face Bar for Club Velocity last month, but were forced to postpone due to ill health. This moody cinematic track is too good to leave until then, so we’re including it now, and looking forward to seeing them perform in December. https://mikistuff.com/
3. Verdagears – Bird at the Bar – A rather different take on dating from a different perspective to Gemma Rogers’, this is the debut single from an exciting young grunge band from Reading we’ve seen perform a couple of times already and are very impressed by (the fact that they covered one of Andrew Merritt’s favourite tracks by Two Ton Shoes helped). Verdagears are playing at Wokingham Festival in August, opening the Marquee stage on Sunday 24th, so get down there early! https://www.instagram.com/ verdagears/
4. Solstice – Life –
Solstice were voted Best Band in the Prog Magazine Readers’ Poll for 2024, and when we saw them perform at the 1865 in Southampton recently, we could see why! In addition, band leader Andy
Glass was voted top in the Guitarist category, and most of the rest of the band featured in the top ten of their respective specialities. Life is the latest single from their Clann album and is a great introduction to their sound. You can see them for yourself on the main stage at Wokingham Festival on August 25th! https://solsticeprog.uk/
5. Steve Hackett – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – Another selection for prog rock fans! We featured one of Steve Hackett’s new tracks when he played at The Hexagon last year, when his band performed the Genesis classic album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, as well as his new material. The very next day they performed the same show at The Royal Albert Hall, and that show was recorded. This is the single, and title song of original album, from the forthcoming live release, The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall. The album is released on July 11th. https://www.hackettsongs.com/
6. Chesney Hawkes – LOUD! –
Featured in last week’s paper, Chesney Hawkes is much more than a one-hit wonder. This track is from his new album, Living Arrows, his first after a twelve year gap to raise his kids in LA, and he returned to the UK to record this album. Chesney is originally from just down the road in Windsor, and is appearing at Rewind South in Henley-on-Thames in August, and the album was recorded in Jake Gosling’s Sticky Studios in Windlesham. https://www.chesneyhawkes.com/
7. Jagged Baptist Club – Physical Surveillance –
Another thumbs-up for a band seen at The Purple Turtle, courtesy of the regular Monday night curated by Groove Cult Shindigs. Jagged Baptist Club came all the way from Los Angeles, as part of a tour of the UK and Ireland, to entertain the packed crowd with a set of frantic energy including tracks like this, the title track from their recent album. https://www.facebook.com jaggedbaptistclub
8. China Bears – Gracie –
Based in Guildford, China Bears played in Wokingham a couple of years ago for a packed Gig House (now Den 24), supporting Rila’s Edge. They are returning to the town this summer
for Wokingham Festival, where they are headlining on the Marquee stage on the Saturday night, 23rd August. This gentle and contemplative track is the lead track from their most recent EP. https://www.facebook.com/ChinaBearsBand
9. San Demas, Shoot to Kill – All In On Me –
We’ve featured San Demas a couple of times before, but this latest single is a bit of a departure from their regular sound, being their heaviest track to date climaxing with a guest vocal from metalcore purveyors Shoot to Kill’s vocalist, Danny Weathers. They played most recently at Frogfest in High Wycombe. https://www.facebook.com/SanDemasMusic
10. The Julia Set – I Won’t Back Down –
The Julia Set are based in West London, but ventured out to the Acoustic Couch in Bracknell recently, where we saw them put on a great show of their original songs. This is their latest single, released earlier this year. They have a great classic rock sound, with an indie edge to it, and you can see them for yourself when they grace the Marquee stage on Saturday 23rd August at Wokingham Festival. https://linktr.ee/thejuliaset
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
