The Big Boulder Rolls On – Phil ‘Swill’ Odgers
The acoustics supplied by the Victorian era design enabled a real connection between the audience and the Swill, while the brand new modernity added to features of the Grade II listed former school by the Heeley Development Trust a timeless compliment to the cyclical themes of the songs – oppression by oppressors, a voice for the unjustly silenced and the inspirational acts of defiance and rebellion that confirm the art of storytelling as one of necessity.
Gary Kaye performed the first live music ever heard at Sum Studios, utilising the corridors to educate with a social purpose for the first time since the building was abandoned to dereliction back in 2006, telling tales of the Union and the marginalised on a journey from Woody Guthrie to Des Warren via Richard Brautigan, organised by the Big Boulder Rolls On.
Gary was followed onto the stage by Phil ‘Swill’ Odgers, whose command of a really powerful voice and easy interplay with the audience has been honed through a thirty year career touring the world with the Men They Couldn’t Hang (TMTCH).
The Big Boulder Rolls On has earned a reputation for promoting artists with a really healthy motivation and work ethic; performing with a humility that helps create an atmosphere of upbeat poignancy and informality that blurs the line between organiser and customer, artist and audience.
People who had taken a chance and were discovering the music for the first time sat and dancing side-by-side with veteran fans present at a legendary TMTCH gig in Pitsmoor long ago, a personal favourite of Phil’s, who played songs from his latest solo venture Godforsaken Voyage alongside established classics by the TMTCH.
Gary was welcomed back on stage for the finale, including a rousing rendition of The Ghosts of Cable Street’ which was heard live for the first time by a young man named Arthur, who had walked to Heeley from Ecclesall to see the music he had been played on vinyl by his father.
Gary Kaye & Swill Odgers at Sum Studios
Swill Odgers at Sum Studios
Gary Kaye at Sum Studios
Swill Odgers at Sum Studios
