Tunbridge Wells Ukulele Night Thing is a fortnightly Monday night open Ukulele Jam for anyone with a Uke and also the home of TWUNT the Band. We meet at the Cross Keys Pub, in Tunbridge Wells and have a right laugh playing away those Monday blues!

TWUNT the BAND

“The most sublimely orchestrated group of musicians working in the UK today”, “The very definition of cutting edge”, “An avant-garde fusion of experimental dub step and Tuvan throat singing”, are all things that have never been said about Tunbridge Wells Ukulele Night Thing (TWUNT), and never will.

However, what you can say about TWUNT is that it offers a pack of stupidly enthusiastic ukulele players with a wry sense of humour and the silliest set list this side of Jive Bunny’s mega mix.

TWUNT is a twenty to thirty strong group of players from in and around Tunbridge Wells who pack in to the High Brooms Tavern on a fortnightly basis to have a drink and a good old sing-along – playing songs from a truly eclectic range of artists from Lady Gaga to Alice Cooper, stopping off somewhere in the middle for a bit of Johnny Cash. The youngest player is yet to hit their teens and the most senior member is in his 70s, and should be old enough to know better by now. Some of the group are experienced musicians whilst for others learning ukulele has opened up a whole new world of fun… which is what it’s all about.

The TWUNT band has grown out of the regular jam nights and is formed of only the most obsessive and fanatical group members. Their inaugural gig was in 2011 at Eastbourne’s “Magnificent Motor” festival. To the band?s astonishment, during the set more people came to listen than got up and left…so they decided to do it all over again. Since this the group has developed and established itself as a favourite at local festivals and charity fundraisers, with appearances at the fabulously named “Poofest” and the prestigious Rusthall village fete where the group not only managed to play without drowning in torrential rain but also stormed to victory in the Tug-of-war in a battle which will surely resound through the ages.

Website

How far would you go to record an album? The first solo album from 4th Wall front man Paul Cheese offers a unique sound, featuring live recordings from across Britain, taken during a 2000-mile bike ride….Paul is currently finishing off his second album that was written and recorded on 4000 mile journey across Europe....

Although he is an experienced recording artist and accomplished studio engineer, Paul came to this realization recently when on a snow boarding holiday in the Alps. He tried recording a track 7000ft up a mountain and was blown away by the way it sounded. ‘It’s the way voices and instruments bounce back at you and how you feed that in the way you perform. Also it’s not just the sound of the space, but the feeling it creates. You can get everything in the studio but you can’t press a button called soul. Some locations can be uplifting and that influences the sound you make. When you have a big grin, it changes the shape of your voice.’

Fired by this discovery, he embarked on a 2000-mile cycle ride to the four furthest points of the British mainland. Taking a miniature-recording studio with him, Paul made recordings at locations he encountered along the way and the best of these found their way onto his new album …Just for the Record.

Listening back to the final mix Paul is totally convinced it was the way to go. ‘Listening to the performances again takes me right back to the places they were recorded because I captured the feeling that was there at the time. It’s made my album a very special collection of songs and it was the experience of a lifetime. I met so many great people along the way who were so supportive. I want to thank them all because they helped make it happen.’