Andy Potts
Bio
Community focused sports fan from Northeast England. Tends to root for the little guy. Look out for Talking Northeast, my new project coming soon.
Stories (91/0)
Gig review: Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand
Why should anyone care about small music venues? This is why. It’s a Tuesday evening in Durham, and the “sold out” signs are up. The Holy GrAle, one of the city’s classier bars, is welcoming Kathryn Williams and Withered Hand (Dan Willson’s stage name) as they promote their recent joint album. Both have played bigger venues than this, both have headlined on the folk festival circuit, so tonight is a rare chance to explore some new music in a different ambience.
By Andy Pottsabout 17 hours ago in Beat
Not pints & parkruns: Riverside junior
This was a big achievement. We decided to switch our usual junior parkrun in Durham for a different event in Chester-le-Street and made an immediate breakthrough. For the first time, daughter managed to keep running for the whole 2km! Definitely a ‘proud daddy’ moment, watching her step up and do something she hadn’t really thought she could manage.
By Andy Potts4 days ago in Longevity
Playlist: part #8
Kathryn Williams and Withered Hand - Weekend A couple of weeks ago I was looking forward to the release of Kathryn Williams and Withered Hand’s collaboration album Willson Williams. And it was worth the wait. To listen to these two sublime voices blending beautifully together, you’d think they’d been making music together for decades rather than recording as a duo for the first time.
By Andy Potts6 days ago in Beat
Big Bad Wolf
In the beginning was the wolf. A fearsome combination of ferocious vanity and utter incompetence, he was only ever a cypher. Existing to embody our unspoken fears while simultaneously assuaging them. He turned out to be a simpleton, bested by a schoolgirl, outwitted by those three giggling piglets.
By Andy Potts9 days ago in Fiction
Playlist: Border crossings
Bubamara – Sheikhs of Mallow I got a happy update this morning, with news that Bubamara has a new album coming out soon. If you’re not familiar, this is the exotic sound of Darlington via the Med. It’s a border-bashing brew of folk traditions from Italy, the Balkans and beyond, and well worth a few minutes of your time. If you’re a fan of the likes of The Ukrainians, Gogol Bordello or even Goran Bregovic, you’ll probably find something to enjoy.
By Andy Potts15 days ago in Beat
- Top Story - April 2024
Pints & Parkruns: Jubilee, SpennymoorTop Story - April 2024
If MC Escher created a parkrun, it might look a bit like Jubilee. Based in a compact – but surprisingly lovely – park in the small County Durham town of Spennymoor, it twists and turns its way up repeated hills. Although basic physics says it must come down again, somehow this route never feels like it gives runners a proper descent.
By Andy Potts19 days ago in Longevity
Pints & Parkruns: Carlisle Park, Morpeth
This week’s run was a late decision. How late? Well, I was already on the A1, heading towards Scotland, and decided to see how far I could get by about quarter-to-parkrun. The answer turned out to be Morpeth, where Carlisle Park was completely new to me.
By Andy Potts25 days ago in Longevity
Playlist: part #6
The Girl with the Replaceable Head – Shangri La Yeah, I’m an 80s kid. That comes with certain conditions. In particular, there’s a twang of a guitar that jets me back to my carefree, younger days when life was simple and the Cocteau Twins catered for most of my musical needs. Which brings us neatly to The Girl with the Replaceable Head. Not just a great name for a band, this lot also have a neat line in jangly, shoe-gazey indie that would surely have bagged a deal with 4AD in about 1990.
By Andy Potts27 days ago in Beat
Happy ever after
It started with a kiss. Which makes a change, since usually it pretty much ends with a kiss. You know that bit. Frog turns into prince, princess awakes from a deep slumber, active hero marries passive heroine and we all live happily ever after. Or we assume so, since nobody checks back for the wedding anniversary a few years later when our beautiful prince(ss) is run ragged by a brood of royal brats and our handsome prince(ss) is casting a roving eye elsewhere.
By Andy Pottsabout a month ago in Fiction
Playlist: Aelius
Another weekend, another festival. The Aelius Alternative festival in Newcastle is preparing its first edition on Saturday and it promises to be a belter. At a tough time for smaller music venues, it’s great to see a cluster of bars around the railway station work together to showcase some exciting local talent.
By Andy Pottsabout a month ago in Beat
Living on Video / Trans X
Nothing dates as fast as someone else’s idea of the future. Back in the day, Trans X seemed like a glimpse of life in the unimaginably sci-fi year 2000. From synth sounds to hi-tech visuals, this was music destined to make an impression on an 80s schoolboy.
By Andy Pottsabout a month ago in 01
Playlist: Russia
Gnoomes - Loops A big gigging weekend starts at Stockton Calling and continues on Easter Sunday with Gnoomes playing Newcastle’s Cumberland Arms. The latter gig, in support of last year’s Ax Ox album, might be a bit special. Gnoomes are that rare thing: an independent Russian band. It won’t come as much of a surprise that, in a country where most things are centralized, grassroots cultural life is also greeted with suspicion. Hailing from Perm, a Ural city that briefly enjoyed a reputation as a provincial centre for experimental, contemporary art, Gnoomes has little choice but to embrace outsider status.
By Andy Pottsabout a month ago in Beat