"...For the joy of growing life better!" - Sheree Brown

your friendly neighborhood story teller. 


Nigerian-born, UK-based singer/songwriter Jacob Banks moved to Birmingham at the age of 13, and began singing, playing guitar and writing songs at the age of 20. He got his start recording songs for friends to listen to in their cars and hitting the open mic circuit before self-releasing his first EP The Monologue in 2013.

Jacob has since released independent EP The Paradox and made his debut on Interscope Records with The Boy Who Cried Freedom EP.  His track “Worthy” has surpassed 5 million streams on Spotify, and his music has been praised by everyone from The New York Times to Vogue, with Time recognizing “Chainsmoking” as one of the “Best Songs of 2017 So Far” and The FADER naming “Mercy” one of their “Songs You Need in Your Life This Week.”

Having supported the likes of Alicia Keys, Sam Smith and Emeli Sandé on tour in the UK, Jacob is now playing to festival crowds around the world including including Lollapalooza, Firefly, Outsidelands and Austin City Limits in the US. The New York Times named Jacob one of “12 Notable Acts” at SXSW.  This fall, Jacob will embark on his headlining North American Into the Wild tour. The tour will kick off with a show at LA’s The Roxy on November 2nd, which sold out 3 months in advance, and will run through December 5th in Atlanta. Jacob is also gearing up to release new music imminently.

'A talented singer-songwriter' - The New Yorker

In recent years, Julie has toured the world alongside the Happy Mondays as a Co-Vocalist. Julie honed her craft as leading songstress alongside Shaun Ryder and is now pursuing her solo career. Standing with the great soul divas, Julie has a rare gift, blending gospel, jazz and blues to work her magic. 
Weaving soul tingling vocals, with spellbinding harmonies and infectious melodies, Julie delivers a stunning live acoustic performance.

Her own work has received air play on Jazz Fm/BBC Manchester/All FM/XFM/UNITY RADIO and was voted the most promising vocalist by Giles Peterson. Julie has since recorded tracks with labels, Grand Central, Giant Step Records, and Sanctuary Records. 
She has worked with producer Sunny Levine, on the Happy Mondays album ’Uncle Dysfunctional – an album that has allowed to show off her skills as a passionate and powerful vocalist .

Julie is currently working as a Lead  Vocalist and writer with the Groove Orchestra Caulbearers. She has shared several collaborations with French Outfit Destjil and has recently released the single "Superstar" under her new formed band Julie Gordon & The Digital Orchestra. Superstar has been released through record label King Prawn Records. Julie continues to develop her unique style as a versatile Vocalist and is highly respected throughout Manchester and beyond. 

Her incredible vocal range, we would say, is liken to silk, woven through warm melodies and dark under currents that convey a majestic presence.- She is the life blood of a vibrant and innovative being that rediscovers the missing era of Black British Soul Music. 
Spacek, Liz Fields, Kindred Family Soul, Amp Fiddler and many others who respectfully Julie is inspired by; have created a vibe, a vision in music, which hand in hand offers listeners unique and mastered melodies, in which she crafts through her production. Julie has played a crucial part in Manchester’s underground music scene, and has elegantly crossed into mainstream and kept a noted respect for the underground industry. Julie’s infectious and powerful stage presence has sparked much debate for Manchester’s ‘finest’ Powerhouse. 

In another lifetime I was known as a bass player by some, and a music producer by a few others. A bass guitarist, mainly because my guitar seemed to be permanently grafted onto my person whilst walking the streets, going to school, going to church etc. Recently many people from back in the day have encouraged me to re-string my bass guitar, wipe away the dust & cobwebs and see if it’s still capable of making a noise.

On the production side: growing up I had very little means of purchasing expensive equipment and had to find inventive ways of making recordings appear slightly better than they actually were. I still enjoy that challenge. Posted here are two old examples of recordings – ‘Save our love’ was recorded with a room full of very budget recording gear in the early 90’s and ‘B the 1 u R’ was recorded with a single microphone and a hardware sampler.

Now a graphic artist, I no longer gig or record. In some ways that’s released me to return to my days of experimenting in my free time, I’m beginning to focus more on the expression and joy of this God given gift of music and hope to share this joy with you.

Bursting from an array of musical brilliance, singer / songwriter / pianist AVERY*Sunshine emerges onto the scene with her soon to be released self-titled debut album. Rooted in gospel, she reaches deep into that cornucopia of style and sound and sings a song which articulates the complexities of life with luminous insight. Fluent in many languages from soul and house to classical and hip hop, AVERY*Sunshine expresses with a voice that speaks boldly and tells a uniquely familiar story…a story about love and loss…healing…and finding the newness of oneself in the midst of it all

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