Creativity, togetherness and music are not dead even during lockdown. So a group of Swiss Music Bloggers got together and decided to create a series that showcases new up and coming artists. Every Sunday at 6pm you get to discover 2 new artists and here’s is one of mine:
Lauren Daigle
I am a huge fan of Lauren Daigle. A lot of people will recognize her song “You Say”. It’s been played on the radio quite a lot. I also assume most people think that Adele is singing that song. They have a quite similar sound. However, most people don’t know that the song is actually a religious song. Lauren Daigle is a christian music singer and a really good one at that. “You Say” won a grammy as well as her album “Look Up Child”.
You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe
You Say
Her album “Look Up Child” is one of my favs and I can listen to it for hours. The first track “Still rolling stones” is a gospel song and it’s so powerful! I’ve added her Spotify below so you should definitely listen to it – not just to this song 🙂 Each time you listen to the record you find a new jewel or a new nuance you haven’t heard before.
Lauren Daigle was supposed to go on a European tour and then Corona hit. So I can only hope that once this is over she will reschedule her tour and include a Swiss date! And hope is what the album emits. Every song has strong meaning and a story behind it. Of course it’s also religious but I do think you would enjoy the songs even if you are not a religious person.
Last year Lauren also participated in a live stream event and I got to experience her online “live” 🙂 And her voice did not disappoint! Plus she was super nice and funny. She loves bracelets so all her fans give her friendship bracelets. She’s gonna end up with a really heavy arm soon if she continues like that!
On February 26th she’s releasing her new single “Hold on to me” which I am super excited to hear since it’s the first release after the 2018 album. It’s been a while so I am sure she had time to dig deep and write some jewels for the new record.
Lauren Daigle has a powerful voice and gives hope to us in a time where everyone needs a bit of hope. An amazing female vocalist who I cannot wait to see live!
Kekoas Korner is super stocked that I got the chance to interview Nathan Evans. His song “Wellerman” is currently at No. 10 in the Swiss charts and I’m sure it’s still going to rise. So are you ready to find out the funniest thing that happened to Nathan back when he was still a mail man?So let’s dive right into the interview:
How did you find the „Wellerman“ song and what made you cover it?
I’ve been doing Tik Tok videos since last January covering different songs. In July someone left a comment underneath one of my videos saying «I think you’d be really good at this song and I think you should try it. It’s a sea shanty called «Leave her Johnny». Could you try that song?» So I went away and I’ve done some research and I thought that’s quite good. So did it and I uploaded it. The comments under that one were like «Oh My God, that’s amazing!», «Could you do the Drunken Sailor?», «Could you do the Wellerman?». Just basically all those sea shanties. In December I got around to do the Wellerman.
And then it took off! 🙂
Yes, that’s it! 🙂
You probably heard your song on the radio right?
Yes!
How did you feel when you heard Wellerman on the radio for the first time?
Probably the first time I heard it on the radio was at the start of January. It was insane! To hear myself on the radio is crazy. And ever since then it keeps getting crazier and crazier.
Wellerman is a sea shanty but generally what are your musical influences?
I’ve been singing since I was 6 and I’ve been playing guitar since I was 8. So it’s been a big part of my life forever. But now who influences me are Dermot Kennedy, Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi. They’re like the main three front runners for influences but back when I was growing up there was Elvis, Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. It’s quite a large group of people who can influence me.
Can we expect your own songs after Wellerman?
Possibly! I’m hoping to let everyone see that I don’t just do sea shanties. I can do other stuff as well. I want to let people see that I can do loads of different music. That’s the plan.
Zoom call with Nathan Evans
So you’re writing your own music? What’s your writing process?
It depends. Sometimes I am sitting on my computer playing or I’ll be out doing something and some words come to mind. So I grab my phone… My phone is absolutely stacked with once sentences. 🙂 Other times a melody will come to me so I just sing it in my phone in voice notes. I also actually sit down and say I’m gonna write a song. It just depends on where the mood takes me that day.
I’m sure were a few crazy things that happened the last few weeks but what was the craziest?
Going to No 1 on Capital Radio’s big top 40 was insane! Sitting at No 2 still on the official charts. And probably Brian May mentioning me. That was one of the highlights. That’s insane!!
Yes, I saw that on Tik Tok today!
Yeah, incredible.
In Switzerland you’re No 10 this week! That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?!
Just incredible. *Smiles and shakes his head in disbelief*
I’m sure this overnight success is quite incredible as you just said. How did your family and friends and wife react?
They’re all so happy for me. They look forward to what’s to come next. Everyday they’re texting me wondering what I’m up to and want to see what’s to come. They are just so happy! It’s good because they’re all very supportive.
That’s great! Are they concerned as well for example that they won’t see you any more?
Noooo. They’re all the same. I think everybody is used to not seeing me now because of the Corona virus and being stuck in the house. If need be I will give them a Zoom call. They’re just all very excited and happy. It’s good because they’ve obviously seen that this has been a big part of my life for while now. It’s been something I wanted to do and now it’s happening.
You just mentioned the corona virus which is making touring impossible. But we all hope in 2022 or later this year there will be some live music again. Do you plan to tour Europe or the world then?
Possibly. I would like to imagine it. That would be absolutely amazing. We never know. It might come still but wait and see what happens.
Note by Kekoas Korner: His first 4 live gigs in Dublin, Manchester, London and Glasgow for later this year are going on sale 19th Feb!
Are there any live streams planned?
Possibly. Obviously Tik Tok has been a big place for me. I used to go live on there. It’s not a far fetched idea to think I could do a live stream. So yes, that’s a possibility.
I’m sure all the fans would love to see it! I’ve seen a few myself and yes it’s not the same as live concerts but at least it’s something.
It’s as close as we can get! 🙂
Yes! So when you’re touring or maybe even later down the road what would be your favourite or most special venue you’d like to play in?
One day the biggest and most ambitious has got to be Wembley. That is like the number one spot for me. If I ever manage to get to play that, that would be outstanding.
And what would you say needs to happen that you can say you’ve made it with your music? Is that already the case or at what point would you say that?
Once I released a song that I’ve written and I’ve done everything myself and that everbody loves the same way they love the Wellerman. That would be the moment for me that I’m like right OK people like this and I’ve made it. Until that happens I’ll just sit with my fingers and toes crossed hoping that will happen.
Well hopefully in two to three months! *Crossing my fingers* The interview was quite last minute so I didn’t have a lot of time to ask my follower on Instagram to send me some fan questions. But here are a few:
Do you watch football and what team do you support?
Yes I watch football. I like to keep up to date with all things football. I watch the Scottish leagues, the English Leagues, Europa league, Champions league when they’re on. So I love football. I do support a team. It’s a local Glasgow team.
Support your local, right?! 🙂
Yes, that’s it 🙂
What was the funniest thing that happened to you when you were a mail man?
Nathan tells us his funniest story as a mail man
What’s your favourite food?
Probably a rare steak and chips. Nice and simple nothing too fancy 🙂
What about desserts?
I’m not big for desserts. I’m quite fussy. Just a plain chocolate bar that’s probably my favourite.
So you should definitely come to Switzerland! 🙂
Yes, exactly! 🙂
Will you be continuing doing tik tok videos?
Definitely! The base fans and loads of support came from there. I’m not gonna stop. It’s where I started and it would be unfair to them if I just stopped.
Do you have anything else you’d like to say to your Swiss fans?
Just thank you for your support! It’s incredible that the song is doing so well. I’m super grateful for everybody who’s been listening to the song and been streaming it and shown so much so support.
Thank you Nathan for the interview! I’m hoping to see you live soon!
Creativity, togetherness and music are not dead even during lockdown. So a group of Swiss Music Bloggers got together and decided to create a series that showcases new up and coming artists. Every Sunday at 6pm you get to discover 2 new artists and here’s is one of mine:
Nathan Evans – From postman to popstar
That’s the story of Nathan Evans. Only a few weeks ago the citizens of Airdire, Scotland were blessed with a singing postman delivering their mail everyday. But these days the world is small thanks to social media. Nathan uploaded a tik tok video of himself singing a very old sea shanty called “Wellerman” – and the rest is history as they say.
The 30 sec “Wellerman” video went viral and was watched by 12 million people on tik tok. Nathan Evans drums on his guitar to create a beat and his incredible voice with the very charming accent does the rest. Loads of other tik tokers started to duet with him. It literally took off like a rocket! Of course this couldn’t go unnoticed by the big music labels and here you go – Nathan is now a signed artist at a major label Polydor Records and is now in the midst of Billie Eilish or Selena Gomez. Have a look at this cool compilation YouTube video:
“Wellerman” – the background
The 26 year old has obviously hit a nerve with the sea shanty that orgininated in New Zealand. The “Wellerman” was a supply ship between 1830 to 1840 that was part of the whale hunting company “The Weller Bros.” The whale hunting origin of the song can be seen in the word “tonguin” which describes the tiresome work of cutting a whale into pieces. A bit gruesome I know but the song is about longing and hoping – which to be fair we all do at the moment.
“Wellerman 2021”
The hopeful longing for the arrival of the Wellerman and for us right now the hopeful longing of a normal world. Is that why the this song hit a nerve? I don’t know. But what I know is that the song is an inspiration: Hard work and the pay off will come. So we just have to wait a little while longer. For Nathan the hard work has definitely paid off. I honestly cannot wait for him to be able to perform this song live. I can feel the goosebumps already of thousands of people singing our lockdown tik tok anthem.
The original Tik Tok video is great but of course it needed a little make over to be played in clubs – haha I know there are no clubs at the moment, but there will be. “Wellerman 2021” has great dance beat and didn’t loose it shanty character! I am currently listening to both songs on replay. And yes – I’m so proud to say that the radios are starting to play the song as well! 🙂 Kekoas Korner is also super stocked that I got to interview Nathan Evans! Read more here.
Nathan Evans has a brilliant unique voice and I can’t wait to hear more songs! But what I love most is his story from postman to popstar within a few weeks thanks to tik tok. I wish him all the success in the world and hopefully we’ll get to see him live soon!
I’m a proud P!NK fan for 18 years and after her two shows at Waldbühne in Berlin I couldn’t wait for the Beautiful Trauma World Tour. So we decided to do a little German tour ourselves. First up Berlin Olympiastadion, then Waldstadion in Frankfurt, Olympiastadion in Munich twice and finally Zurich at Letzigrund stadion. So here’s my little recap of these awesome different five gigs.
The Support Acts
DJ Kid Cut Up
What an awesome DJ! I’ve seen many many bad ones but this one really knew what he was doing. Mixing so many hits together making us ready to party. He knew how to get the crowd going and was brilliant to have him in-between the two supporting bands. Plus I loved the last 15mins of his set when he literally prepared us for the show with vocal coaching by Freddie Mercury, Hands-up partying with 50 Cent. DJ Kid Cut Up was a lovely addition to the Beautiful Traum Tour and I’d love to see him again.
Bang Bang Romeo
I grew to love Bang Bang Romeo because they’re an incredible powerful band from Yorkshire, England. I love how confident Stars – the lead singer – is. No matter what size you are you should be proud of your body and she definitely oozed body confidence and I love her for that. Every time I couldn’t wait to see what she was wearing! Ross and Rich aren’t shy of colours and glitter either so the three are a match made in heaven. Now let’s talk music. The trio rocked their set. They’ve added two covers – “What’s Up?” by the 4 Non Blondes and “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes. So good!!! 🙂
With “Shame on you” and “Chemical” Bang Bang Romeo have two powerful rock songs which totally get stuck in your head! I’m actually hoping that they’re coming back soon for their own headline show! During their 30mins set I got to rock out and by the time we got to the 2nd gig in Munich I was able to singalong too 🙂 And coming to my last point and why I love Bang Bang Romeo even more they are actually answering you on Instagram – which is why I knew that they wouldn’t be performing in Zurich but would still travel along. Such a shame! But I am glad for my four times I did get to see them 🙂
Vance Joy
I was super excited to finally see Vance Joy live and we did get to listen to him for 45mins. He started out with “Mess is Mine” and “Georgia” – a beautiful ballade which I grew to love very much. “Fire and the Flood” got me dancing every time and singing veery highly and loudly haha But what I love about the song are the trumpets and the awesome rhythm! He then asked us if there are some Bruce Springsteen fans? And let me tell you Zurich has the most which made Vance Joy very happy 😀 “Dancing in the Dark” is also a lovely cover.
The summer vibes were big in the 2nd part of the set – and obviously the Aussie knows how to do that. “We’re going home” started it off and when Vance Joy brought out the little Ukulele for “Saturday Sun” I definitely couldn’t stop dancing! 🙂 “Lay it on me” came before the party really started with a Lionel Richie cover “All Night Long” mixed in with Justin Bieber’s “Sorry. Love love loved it !! And then he finally sang his mega hit “Riptide” and now everyone knew who they were actually seeing haha I can honestly say I am looking forward to seeing him in a small show here in Zurich. So please Vance Joy come back soon! 🙂
Here I Go Again
The awesome band which I will introduce you later started to walk on stage with a song by Whitesnake called “Here I Go Again” so we all knew it’s about to start! In typical P!NK fashion she flew in on a huge pink chandelier and very obviously started singing “Get the party started”. I loved the start of the show because it meant that we still had two hours of awesomeness to come! 😀 Now it was time to introduce us to the “Beautiful Trauma” tour and in Munich “Are you ready to sweat with us tonight?!” 😀
You guys know that I love confetti and fireworks but I absolutely lose it if an artist has a treadmill kinda thing on stage – and of course, P!NK had it! For “Just Like A Pill” which got all the old fans dancing she walked up and down the catwalk on the treadmill thing and started saying hello to the first rows. Another classic is “Who Knew” and I’m soo happy it made the setlist. In Munich on Night 1 it was soo hot that everyone couldn’t really think straight including P!NK 😀 She started with the 2nd verse and had to stop the song after the first few lines. It was so cute hahaha I don’t know what it was that day but there was a special atmosphere at the Olympiastadion.
Revenge Land
We were shown a short video which introduced us to Revenge Land. You can see the start of it in my Frankfurt highlights on Instagram. But basically, it said what you can do if your sweetie pees in the shower or farts in bed or pukes on you on a roller coaster. Yes, those are all examples from the video and I loved watching the reactions of the crowd since I knew what was coming 😀
The die-hard P!NK fans knew that “Funhouse” had to come on after this introduction but little did we know that she remixed it with No Doubt’s “Just a Girl”! What an awesome combination!! 😀 And yes, P!NK we looove Gwen Stefani haha At the end of this song P!NK introduced us to her awesome band and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do now too: Eva Gardner on Bass, Mark Schulman on drums, Stacy Campbell and Jenny singing backing vocals, Justin Derrico aka Spanky on the guitar, Jason Chapman on keys, Jessy Greene on Violin and Cello and Adriana on keys and vocals and guitar. Y’all rock and make this show amazing! THANK YOU 🙂
It’s silly if I say this is highlight because actually the whole show is a highlight but let’s just say I was looking forward to this song a lot. “Hustle” from the new record was already one of my fav songs before the tour but now it deffo is. P!NK said that this song is for everyone who pissed you off. Plus she also taught us a new dance: The Jitterbug
An unbelievable moment we got to enjoy was when P!NK and Khasan did an incredible acrobatic thing during her song “Secrets”. It’s just WOW what these two are doing. I won’t describe it because there are no words. Just have a look in my highlights… Try Zurich 🙂
Nature
All the dancers and P!NK created a beautiful mystical moment during “Try” and in Munich Night 1 the rain started and the thunderstorms in the back added to the magical atmosphere. I will never ever forget this beautiful moment. It kept drizzling throughout the night and the thunderstorms never came but made for a wonderful backdrop. When “Just Give me a Reason” started all the phone lights went up and I had goosebumps all over my body. In every city except Zurich the phone lights made this song very beautiful. Because Zurich started so early it wasn’t dark enough to get the people to take out their phones for this song but wait for it the Swissies are just special! 😀
Up next is a song by Bishop Briggs called “River”. P!NK covered the song two years ago at Waldbühne and I fell in love with the song. I am over the moon that she put it back on the setlist. No-one around normally knows this song but it is so powerful and one of my highlights in every city. My Mom filmed the song in Zurich because I could never ever sit still enough to do that. I enjoyed every second of the song and I will post it soon. Now the good news is that if you suffer from the after tour blues as well Bishop Briggs is coming to Europe! Are you joining me??
After water there is fire. “Just like Fire” warmed me up in Berlin and made it even hotter in Frankfurt. Every time I was looking forward where the fire would go off this time. It changed in every city and I loved this surprise moment.
Women are strong
In Berlin we had actual rockets pointing at the sky during “What About Us”. It was so beautiful and so special but unfortunately this only happened in Berlin. It was super emotional for me because only a few meters away P!NK performed the song for the first time two years ago. I felt the tears rising so I started filming and I could prevent me from crying. During the last gig in Zurich I didn’t want to hold back any emotions so I let it out. I was super sad that it was almost over but also super happy that I still got enjoy another hour of the show.
After this emotional song it’s hard to focus on the next song but I am sooo glad that the Swiss audience appreciated “For Now” with lots of phone lights. It was so special because in no other city the lights went up so even P!NK recognized this and said “Thank you, that was beautiful”. Now we got to listen to another song of the new album. “90 days” with Wrabel. A beautiful duet and a moment to be quiet – not everyone respected that….
Time for some alone time with Spanky 😀 P!NK and Justin sat down and lots of fans threw stuff at her. So many presents cheese, frogs, ducks…! But I want to mention how special this one present is – a mini chandelier with P!NK just like the one from the beginning. So impressive honestly! “Time After Time” a cover by Cindy Lauper brought out the lights in Frankfurt. The new song “Walk Me Home” we already got to hear in a new version and in Zurich people started clapping which never happened before! Such a great atmosphere! The Swissies are so different haha
The band joined the two at the end of the catwalk stage. We all had a big ol’ party with “I am Here”. What a song! You got the biiig anthem moment and also the party in the middle where the band and some people in the crowd danced. “F**kin’ perfect” finished the Women are strong part.
My Daughter is beautiful
During “Raise your Glass” P!NK introduced us to the amaaaazing dancers and here they are: Reina Hidalgo, Shannon Holtzapffel, Tracy Shibata, Jeremy Hudson, Anthony Westlake, Remi Bakkar, Khasan Brailsford, Loriel Hennington, Madelyne Spang, Justine Lutz I will also post a video soon with the whole introduction. They deserve all the applause in the world. Y’all are rockstars! And finally, Willow is coming on stage as well! Another little badass woman in the making! 🙂
The party is on with “Blow Me (one last kiss)” and 90’s remix of “Can We Pretend” which marks the last song of the normal set. Super colourful fireworks and confetti are all over the audience while P!NK slowly descends into the stage floor only to come back with a real bang! The moment everyone has been waiting for.
She’s singing “So What” and actually flies around the stadium! 😀 It is honestly incredible and I’ve been speaking to people all over and they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. I love the reactions and even if you show videos to people they go: “WOW! Incredible! Unbelievable!” 😀 If you don’t know what I’m talking about just watch the video on Instagram.
With one last song after the party P!NK comes back on stage to say a quiet Goodbye to us. “Glitter in the Air” is such a beautiful ballade and so fitting because she sings:
Have you ever wished for an endless night? Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself Will it ever get better than tonight?
Glitter in the Air by P!NK
And let me tell you Munich Night 1 and Zurich were exactly one of those nights that you wished wouldn’t stop. I am so happy I got to spend 5 nights with these incredible artists giving their best for us. I will have these memories forever. Thank you!
P!NK proves that she’s currently the best live artist in the world. An energetic heartfelt performance that you will tell your grandchildren about. If you haven’t seen it you missed out and if you’re about to see it you are definitely in luck! 🙂
I found this new show from the network NBC on Saturday and I couldn’t stop watching it. It is mesmerisingly fantastic and I can only recommend it. The show is called Songland and portrays the process of songwriting. Not a lot of people know how a song is made and how much hard work and creativity gets put into it. Songland highlights all the amazing songwriters and I just loved it.
Asher Roth live is just like the Asher Roth I had imagined. I’m so happy that Just Because brought him to Mascotte last Friday. It was the perfect start to the weekend. To the peeps who weren’t there you deffo missed a party! 🙂
Let’s start the party
At 8.20 Asher Roth came on stage. He didn’t need a support act warming up the crowd because we were ready. But let me tell you I really didn’t expect this. As soon as the first beats came blasting out Asher said hello to us. Not just a wave, no. He came down to us and shook everyone’s hands or fist pumped us. I loved it. So cool. He started with his first mix tape and some people already knew the songs but most of us were still a bit shy.
When Metallica announced that they’d be playing in Zurich at Letzigrund I knew I had to try and see them. They are just Legends which you have to see at least once. Last night with their Worldwired tour they started the openair concert season with a bang. 45 000 people were coming to see their favourite band and almost all of them showed up in the right merch!
When the ticket prices were announced I knew I had to try to pull a Guns ‘N Roses again. Luckily a friend of mine from a fellow blog called Bäckstage helped me out a lot and landed me a front of stage ticket! Which meant that I was super close to the stage and saw how Metallica interacted with their fans. Let me tell you I thought they were super cute. Not a word I thought I would use to describe Metallica haha But they really were. All of them were actually looking at us, talking and miming stuff. It was just really cool to see.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Just after 8 Ennio Morricone’s “Ecstasy of Gold” started to ring around the Letzigrund and the huge screnes showed some scenes from the movie. The amosphere was already great with the 95% male voices singing to the score. The four guys – James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo – stepped on stage to perform the title track “Hardwired” of their newest record. I was fascinated. Kirk and Robert walked around the whole stage and said hello to the front rows. But what struck me the most is that you could actually feel the music in your stomache! It’s like loud fireworks 😀 Because it was so loud your whole body experienced the music in a different way. I loved it!
Kekoas Korner got to travel to Basel to see Mumford and Sons at St. Jakobshalle on Sunday. I’ve never been to the venue and I have never seen them live so I was pretty excited. I heard only great things about their live performances and I’ve seen them on TV a few times so I was expecting a lot. Surprisingly the stage on the Delta Tour was set in the middle of venue which I already liked. So here’s a little more how the evening went:
Gang of Youths got the moves
The support act Gang of Youths is an Australian indie rock band from Sydney. Unfortunately I was quite distracted because I couldn’t find my phone and I thought I’d lost it. However, silly me, I put in my boots just minutes ago – which I always do when I have my boots on but I completely forgot. So the first 3 songs were kind of a blur. After huge waves of relief were flooding through me I could finally focus on Gang of Youths. Oh boy, David – the lead singer – can dance. Those moving hips were another distraction. He looked like the dancers on Let’s Dance Germany haha
A week ago I published the New Music post about Jack Savoretti where I told you guys that I’d be so excited to see him play and I was very curious. Well fast forward a week and here we are at Volkshaus in front row waiting to see if Jack Savoretti would fullfil my expectations. But I might have been even more excited to see his support act called Ward Thomas.
Ward Thomas – Voices from heaven
At 7.30 the two sisters Lizzie and Catherine took the stage accompanied by their two musicians. I saw the two girls at the C2C Songwriter Sessions in London and I fell in love with their voices. Unfortunately they only performed one song “Cartwheels” because they were actually just surprise guests winning the CMA Jeff Walker Global Artist Achievement Award! How cool is that?!
Are you a fan of indie rock? Yes? Then you’ll love Ten Tonnes. This lovely lad from England started out in pubs and slowly making his way across Europe now. Before his performance at this year’s RADAR Festival I got to speak with Ten Tonnes about his debut record, his relationship with his famous brother and Bob Ross!
I gotta ask Ten Tonnes is a super special name. I read somewhere that you came up with it while you did open mic shows and you wanted to have a name that no-one else has. But that doesn’t really answer where it came from, does it? 🙂
I don’t actually know where it came from. It just came out of no-where. I wish I had a better explanation than that! 🙂 I was at the pub and it came out of thin air. I’m sorry it’s not really a satisfying answer! *laughs*
