- EXCEPT WHEN I AM BEMIS - in which I am half, with Ritchie Leo, my partner.
- but yeah, if it's a solo thing, it is mostly me and my acoustic seagull.
- more and more though, it's Bemis songs on the profile and Bemis gigs on the listings.
Influences
Influenced by Michael Hedges, Rory McLeod, The Men They Couldn't Hang, Adrian Belew, The Bears, Ani Difranco, Ben Harper, Richard Thompson, Stephen Stills, Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin, Tracy Chapman, Billy Bragg, REM, Warren Zevon, Steve Earle, Kings X, Paul Simon, Martin Carthy, Bob Dylan, Barenaked Ladies, Bruce Cockburn, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Paul Weller, Roy Harper, Loudon Wainwright 3 and John Martyn mainly - although that's just the main ones.
It's an impossible task, saying your influences, if you're as obsessed as me - but you can hear these people occasionally drifting past in my stuff - hopefully not so they drown out my personality! LOL - the mix hopefully ensures that.
- and my sound has evolved over the years anyway. The article that was written about me in "Folk on Tap" magazine in 1992 mentioned the "angry young man" side to me a lot - that's still there but sitting with the hopeless romantic. (maybe they're the same thing)
Sounds Like
Impossible question to answer really - too subjective...
Ultimately, I guess, it's the list of influences combined in one massive musical biscuit.
THIS IS US IN THAILAND DOING ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER:
THIS IS US IN WINCHESTER DOING A SONG I WROTE CALLED "THE JIGSAW SONG"
- and THIS IS US IN BOURNEMOUTH DOING "THE BATTLE IS OVER":
Currently I am in Bemis - an acoustic duo with a big sound!
"’ you’ve gotta see bemis. the songs churn into little hurricanes, the sweet parity of their vocals so reminiscent of latter day CSN&Y’ paul simmonds/the men they couldn’t hang
"BEMIS are a folk duo from Portsmouth with mesmerising lyrics, great vocal harmonies and lots of enthusiasm." - The Hive Bar in London
I started off on the folk club scene in a duo called "Before and After", becoming a kind of resident at the Railway FOlk Club in Portsmouth but travelling to other bits of Hampshire and Sussex to play too. That duo lasted a couple of years.
Nowadays, I am getting my name known, having played support for The Men They Couldn’t Hang, appearances on the radio and frequent jams with people, happy to harmonise.
As well as the solo appearances you will see me do, there is also my current duo, BEMIS - working with the lovely Ritchie Leo, man of sweet voice and massively versatile guitar.
a quote about BEMIS:
"The second Special guest was Bemis who also performed for 1 hour. It was a great set with plenty of enthusiasm from both the duo and enormous crowd who turned up to see Gareth and Ritchie demonstrate their great songwriting skills, tight harmonies and brilliant guitar work. Well done and good luck for 2007." Nick Courtney
In July 2007, Bemis played at the Catch Beachclub in Phuket, Thailand for 5 weeks - 6 nights a week, four hour sets each night. We loved that experience and have used it to develop our style and our repertoire.
"Thank you Bemis for your excellent performance during your one month residency at our outlet ’Catch Beach Club’ in Phuket, Thailand. Our guests enjoyed their visits very much. Your friendly and warm approach to the audience as well as to music made many come back for more. Again thanks and best wishes for your musical careers.
Miguel Kirjon
Director of Entertainment
Twinpalms Phuket Resort
CHECK OUT THE BEMIS CD "TIME ENOUGH AT LAST" NOW AVAILABLE ONLY £5 FROM US
Despite my solo work and my work in Bemis being the most "me" of all my work, there are a few other things I can tell you about;
In "Before and After", we had the fortune to play in front of people like John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, Roy Bailey, Lee Collinson and, on many occasions Show of Hands.
In fact, Show of Hands were a great support to us when we played.
We also had a fantastic day playing in the Gosport Folk Festival in 1992.
We did well with our cassette "Trial by Tradition" until we split in August 1992, as John Dilloway my partner realised he’d had enough.
"The Sotchek Guitar Duo" was an, up to now, one off recording project that started with a work colleague and very good friend Arran Toomer getting together with me to try some improvised guitar duos. What was interesting for me was that Arran is a very accomplished classical guitarist with a completely different approach to me and I was intrigued to see how it would come out.
The result was a CD called "World Without Mirrors" that we sold in a specialist shop consistently until the shop was sold. As the CD sounded more classical than folky, finding another venue for selling it was hard but I am extremely proud of this CD nonetheless.
The Mod Con Trio was a recording project that lasted a few years - basically a chance for me to grow as an instrumentalist - as we were playing improvised music with no rules - and the 3 of us had completely different styles - the rock guitar of Simon Henderson, the classical piano of Steve Le Poidevin and my more folky guitar (and bass) - we all benefitted from the experience but decided to call it a day a few years ago - i’ve been concentrating solely on my songwriting since then.
My frequent appearances with Dirty Hippy (Del) last year are likely to get reprises - one planned for the end of the year...
I have been given a new lease of life in 2006 and have written a lot as a result of this - I think the sound is still there but like any writer, i’m finding new ways to express myself.
I am on the lookout always for new places to play - hope to see you in one of them soon!!!
This is the myspace page for BEMIS - www.myspace.com/bemisuk - please check out the page and listen to the songs - I love working with Ritchie - we’ve known eachother for years but it’s only this year we’ve actually got round to working with eachother.
I recommend the station anyway for it’s great selection of music - Steve is good at finding stuff to play and does interesting interviews too...
I RECORDED IN 2006 A CD CALLED "BY CHOICE" - IT’S 13 TRACKS AND WAS RECORDED AT SOUNDCHECK STUDIOS IN FARLINGTON.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY PLEASE BUY ONE FROM ME IN PERSON FOR A FIVER OR CLICK ON THE PAYPAL LINK BELOW FOR A COPY TO BE SHIPPED - IT’S A BLANKET PRICE AS IT WOULD BE EASIER, EVEN IF SOME DISTANCES ARE A HIGHER POSTAGE COST. THANKS LOADS.
GARETH HOWELLS - BY CHOICE 2006
THIS IS A COMMENT ABOUT THE ALBUM FROM MANU, SINGER SONGWRITER FROM GUILDFORD: "I went to work today one tired bunny after spending half the night lying in bed with my headphones on mesmerised by Gareth Howells ’By Choice.’...With a voice not too disimilar to Weller, your songwriting tells a story just like Mayer (lyrics on ’Displacement’ particularly sticking in ones mind)....as you say: "it might not be as glossy as yours" but what you lack in finished article, you certainly tower above me in soul....’heavy soul’ you might say.
Hi. As you're on our friends list, I just thought I'd let you know that we have a 25% off Summer Time Special Offer on all Acoustic recordings from now until the end of August. That's just £7.50 an hour all inclusive. Also if you're interested in doing any live Acoustic gigs next year, please let us know. Cheers, Glenn and Anne.
Fans of Bemis in Portsmouth, can now buy tickets for the Portsmouth gig supporting Martin Newnham on Tuesday 8th July here or direct from Bemis although numbers are limited.
Fans of Bemis in Portsmouth, can now buy tickets for the Portsmouth gig supporting Martin Newnham on Tuesday 8th July here or direct from Bemis although numbers are limited.
