Love is the theme this week as venues in Ipswich celebrate Valentine’s Day with live music spanning from blues, reggae, rock and soul.

Ipswich Star: Pump and GrindPump and Grind (Image: Archant)

Remi Morrison, of Rec Cactus Media, returns to give us a taste of some of the alternative night on offer this week.

Saturday, February 13

The vibes continue with the return of Freedom Sound System at Pump & Grind, in Great Coleman Street.

Enjoy a night of Reggae, dub and good vibes deep into the night with some roots and culture thrown in. There is going to be some good food as well. The music kicks off at 8pm.

Listen here

At the The Mulberry Tree we have the return of Diezel playing hard rock covers from 9pm with free entry.

Ipswich Star: Remi Morrison is pictured at Pump and Grind in Ipswich.Remi Morrison is pictured at Pump and Grind in Ipswich. (Image: Archant)

Sunday, February 14

Closing the weekend is The Mulberry Folk session, from 8pm.

I bumped into the guys from Free Sprit Events, two young men making a mark on the Ipswich night scene. They told me about their night at PJ McGintys & Sons

It’s going to be a night of local talent as it’s Martell x Briti$h Mixtape Release.

They will be supported by Lewis Huggins.

Looking ahead:

Next week on Friday it’s the debut Live UK show of Boris Carloff at Pump & Grind supported by DJ Ben Osborne (Noise of Art).

Ipswich Star: Cult bar and cafeCult bar and cafe (Image: Archant)

Despite Boris Carloff’s stage name being inspired by the English horror actor Boris Karloff, this is the first time Boris has brought his live show to the UK.

Already something of a star in Prague, his debut full-length solo album, The Escapist (released in 2012) won the Apollo Award (Czech Mercury Award) for Best Album of The Year in 2012. He was also nominated in five categories of the Czech Angel Awards (Czech Gramy Award), winning two of them for Video of The Year, for the rack Falling, and ‘Best Electronic Album’.

Boris is joined by host DJ Ben Osborne, resident DJ at Big Chill Bar, The Social, and The National Portrait Gallery in London and founder of Noise of Art.

At home:

I had the pleasure of meeting Fern Teather last year and I have to say this young lady’s work ethic is absolutely awesome and her voice, wow. Whenever I hear her voice it makes me want to sit in a field or by a river and just relax.

Described as “a fantastic young artist, with an enchanting and infectious song-writing style” by Tom Simpkins from BBC Cambridgeshire, and by Maverick Magazine as an “incredibly talented singer-songwriter, whose tone belies her youth”, Fern released her debut album ‘Hiding in the Dark’ late last year.

Inspired by bands and artists such as Laura Marling, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, The Staves, and many more, Fern pulls on her eclectic taste in music to create her own unique folk-edged Americana sound. Her track ‘Outside of the Lines’ was featured on BBC Introducing in Suffolk last week so support this local talent.

Now to her work ethic, at just 18 Fern has taken hold of her careers and launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund her album, where fans of her music could pledge different amounts of money in return for limited edition rewards. These ranged from posters and wristbands, to signed CDs, T-shirts, handwritten lyrics, and even house gigs. This turned out to be incredibly successful, and she reached her target of £2,000 in just 10 days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45D3p-Y04MA

Hiding in the Dark features 11 original songs, written and arranged by Fern.

“Music has always been a huge part of my life, and after releasing two EP’s and playing over 350 gigs, I decided it was time to make my first album,” she said.

She writes her songs to “celebrate life’s ups and deal with life’s downs’”.

Follow Fern as blogs, vlogs, and uses social media as regularly as she can around her hectic schedule of performing, recording, writing and providing vocal backing for other bands/artists.

Visit her website for more information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsZaHo9TIeE