"The Best of Cornish Music" - West Briton
Nervosa, MEB, Andrew Bate, Discopip, The Underground Press Syndicate and The Pitts battle it out in the Falmouth heat of the National Competition to find the best live act.

Club cuckoo and promoters Suave have teamed up with SW1 Productions to bring the first Cornish heat of The Red Stripe Music Awards to Falmouth this month.A nationwide hunt begins this January for the UK's best live music act, and with slots at two major festivals already guaranteed for the winner, the Red Stripe Music Award (RSMA) will be tougher than ever.

Across the UK, hundreds of artists will be taking to the stage in over 50 different venues to try and win the coveted crown.

The Cornish line-up has finally been announced, with an eclectic mix of local talent taking to the Club Cuckoo stage and fighting for a place in the national final in May.

My Elvis Blackout

Mates first, gang second, band third. MEB make music that itself is the apocalypse wow; the excitement and the thrill-killing dread you'd feel when the bomb hits; the sound of a whole town looting a supermarket of all its booze and having a street party.

Loud, lean, mean and fast; no slow songs, no ballads. As well as two UK tours with The Bluetones they've played a number of dates with Sheffield's latest export, Harrisons, and also supported The Fall in March.

Nervosa

A six piece progressive folk band who have spent the last two years writing enough material for two albums, Nervosa have supported three signed bands since November in their first handful of gigs - Sons and Daughters, The Victorian English Gentlemans Club and Jimbob of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine.

Combining the usual guitar/bass/ drums combination with mandolin, synth, organ and a magical box of sonic tricks (known as a kaos pad) their set has been described in the press as "an assured set of hypnotically rich and textural songs, reminiscent of Radiohead and Arcade Fire".

The Pitts

The Pitts describes himself as "a drummer who plays drums using a guitar. I sing about past experiences and unusual stories which I make up".

His Myspace describes him as Acoustic/Flamenco/Punk, essentially we are talking about something that shouldn't work but when fused with the Zappa-esque lyrical content and Pitt's quirky stage presence it is a sure fire winning combination.

Disco Pip

Another year passes and another great band crashes onto the scene after honing their skills in a Truro College rehearsal room.

Forming on the same Truro College course that has spawned the likes of The Hitchcock Rules, Ammunition and most recently I Say Marvin, Disco Pip have getting gaining quite a reputation, as well as fan base, for their dynamic electro punk fuelled live show.

Andrew Bate

Andrew Bate possesses one of the most striking and emotive voices that you'll hear. His singing brings to mind a combination of Nick Drake, Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley.

Almost trance-like, his songs seem to carry this young man to other places whilst the audience are left behind to wonder at the spectacle of his performance.

Lee Trewhela said in What's On: "...many are calling [Andrew Bate] Cornwall's very own Jeff Buckley. Praise doesn't come much higher than that. Throw in comparisons to Thom Yorke and Nick Drake and a performance that sees him almost possessed by the power of his songs and you have a very special performer."

The Underground Press Syndicate

The Underground Press Syndicate or The UPS, as they are commonly known, are a relatively new addition to the local music scene, well outside of their hometown of Falmouth that is.

These guys make angular indie in a way the Maccabees make indie, infectious, spiky and danceable. A unique chemistry of influences and playing styles fuels what could easily become another great slightly off-kilter British art-rock band.

Sounds like a great night.

Redstripe Music Awards 2008 - Club Cuckoo, MI Bar, Church Street, Falmouth

Tickets - £4 on the door.

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