I've long bemoaned the absence of a recognised arbiter of tastes, a respected influencer with a sizable impressionable audience.
Since we’ve all retreated into our respective niche pigeonholes it seems
unlikely that such a person or programme will ever exist – there will be genre
specialists and there will be Jools Holland (in the absence of other
big-station live music programming). The rest of it is down to all of us,
individually and collectively, peer-to-peer is the only recommendation
worthwhile.
So while I’ve also mocked the annual parade of prophets
lining up to give us their verdict on the big new talent, there is little more
to do than actually join them. I’ve come to accept that you don’t have to be
the first to spot something;
it’s valuable enough to join in the chorus. With this in mind, I give you
George Barnett.
Even if you don’t like the style of music it’s impossible to
deny the promise and potential in a performance and a song like this. Without
doubt you need more than talent. Thankfully, as Robin Valk has pointed out,
there seems to be a fair amount of nous at work too. This is only my first tip
for 2013. There will be more – old and new thoughts and talent - to see here
this year. Stay tuned, as they used to say when tuning was a necessity.
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