Summerland
Gary Shearer & Sophie Armstrong from Summerland although relatively unheard of in the Borders are fast becoming integrated into the local music scene, because anyone who has been fortunate enough to come across them have all been very impressed with both their musical ability and their stage presence.
I first met Gary & Sophie when they came onto my radio show as guests, playing live in a tiny studio, they sounded amazing and have such lovely personalities, I did wonder however if that great sound was transferable onto a larger stage and I've had to wait for what seems like a long, long time to find out.
Sunday 13th July 2014, they played at Paxton Gala alongside the Joe Mangels and Scocha, I made sure to go along early enough to catch them in action, not only did they replicate the great sound in the radio studio, they surpassed that with a teriffic performace..
Gary is so animated when he plays the guitar, I get quite hypnotised by it and Sophie has such a powerful and perfect pitch to her voice that you could listen to her for hours, their harmonies are tight and their set choices are right up my street, including covers of Bruce Springsteen, The Poilce & Fleetwood Mac...but don't let this fool you, they do so much more than just covers, they have some lovely songs of their own too that blend easily into the set.
I honestly can't think of a single negative thing to say about them, I'd love to see Gary with a Martin guitar, but then they'd have to fight me off the stage, so maybe best not to try that..
If you hear of them playing near you, get yourself along to see them and if you're looking for talented musicians with great personallities to enhance your venue, get hold of these guys, I could not recommend them any higher..are you getting the picture.. I really really like them..I've attached a video to this blog so you can get an idea, but there is only one way to hear great music like Summerland play and that's live.. get them booked!
Playing at Paxton Gala on Sunday 13th July 2014
