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Ninebarrow + Bim

Venue: Fordingbridge Town Hall
Town: Fordingbridge
Date: 12th May
Website: http://www.azanialtd.com/Azania_Ltd/forest_LIVE.html

forest LIVE aims to bring high quality music to the New Forest, South Wiltshire, East Dorset and West Hampshire. As well as bringing nationally acclaimed acts to the area they also showcase local talent by giving opportunities to perform. On Friday 12th May they had the soft and melodious Bim from Bath, and the rhythmic and mellow Ninebarrow from Dorset.

Bim, made up of pianist and singer Denmark 'Tim' Davis and singer Rebecca Rosier, are a good looking duo with mesmorising vocals. This electro-pop act caused quite a sensation at the latest forest LIVE event in Fordingbridge. They were stripped bare, vocally, singing warm, shimmery acoustic versions of their tracks new and old. Their new song Stop you is by far my favourite, particularly with Davis' opening lyrics that get you hooked on the story of love lost. And their earlier track Stay in my Memory is truly haunting as an acoustic version. These singers are a class act who deserve all the acclaim they have received over since they broke onto the pop scene in 2008.

Ninebarrow are another pair that are easy on the eyes and the ears, this time bringing a more folky vibe to the night's proceedings. Lyrically, it is clear the Dorset boys, Jon Whitley and Jay Labouchardiere, draw on their experiences and their passion for local history. All this adds to their story telling ability. Having listened to their set and their EP there is not a lot you can do but allow yourself to switch off and at the same time receive a bit of an historical education. There was competent dexterity witnessed by Jon on the ukulele together with amusing anecdotes: you could not help but relate to them. By day, the boys are GP and primary school teacher, and they have only been writing and gigging together for a short while. They could actually pass off as an act that has many years of collaboration behind them. It is without doubt these are two talented musicians who are in it for the long haul as singer songwriters.

Both acts were a hit with the audience which was made up of young and old. Their unwavering attention meant you could hear a pin drop, and the sentiment and feeling truly resonated. In fact, it seemed both acts touched a chord with each other too - perhaps we could see a folk, electro-pop collaboration on the cards in the near future, in which case you heard it here first.

The next forest LIVE event takes place on 9th June at Fordingbridge Town Hall where the sensational 'Paper Aeroplanes' will be performing.

Tickets can be purchased from http://www.azanialtd.com/Azania_Ltd/forest_LIVE.html

Words Jessica Dawson Pictures Tim