Music Spotlight: Tom Seals in charity venue marathon at Crewe Live festival

May 25 2011 by Will Harris, Crewe Chronicle

WE’RE all hoping Crewe Live ’11 is going to be busy beyond belief.

For Tom Seals, well that’s just a given.

The four-day Volume Festival, featuring more 150 bands and artists across 12 venues, is set to attract thousands of gig-goers.

And there’s a good chance that many of them will catch the exceptional 18-year-old jazz pianist along the way.

In aid of St Luke’s Hospice, Tom is attempting the marathon feat of playing all stages at some point during the event.

He kicks things off with a headline slot at The Duke of Bridgwater on Friday (8.30pm), with other highlights including a stint at Dante’s Rock and Metal Club (6.30pm) and an interactive ‘rock-a-oke’ style set in Square One (11.45pm) on Saturday.

“I did something similar at the Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival recently and I’m up for the challenge,” explained Tom.

“Volume PR suggested it a while ago and we thought we’d try and raise some money for St Luke’s along the way.

“I’m quite excited about the Dante’s one, I’ve got a set of rocky covers ready and it will go one way or another.

“We’ll have some fun with the interactive one. People can shout out some covers and I’ll probably murder a few songs!”

Tom will wrap up his marathon run, complete with a full band, at the Festival Finale featuring Ben Montague at The Box on Bank Holiday Monday (5.30pm).

With three songs on the Radio 2 playlist over the past 12 months and handpicked as tour support by acclaimed guitarist Joe Bonamassa, Montague has found himself catapulted from playing small clubs to audiences of thousands.

They’ll be joined by sensational singer-songwriter Lotte Mullen, Crewe band The Retrospective, Photo Booth Smile and further guests for just £2.

It’s also something of swansong for Tom as he prepares to study at Sir Paul McCartney’s LIPA, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

“The Box gave me my first chance of playing to big crowds of all ages,” continued Tom.

“So it’s great to see the venue doing so well now.

“Without Volume, I wouldn’t have got half the work I’ve had and that’s why I want to do everything I can to make this festival as good as possible.

“I’m hoping the Finale with Ben will be a bit of a send-off really. It will be the last local-based festival gig I play before I move away to study.

“I’m going to need to focus all of my attention on those three years but I still need to be gigging because it’s become such a big part of my life now.”

For all information on the festival, visit www.crewelive.co.uk