What Good Is A Songwriter?

Recently I saw a post on Twitter from the songwriter Dan Wilson, asking the question; ‘what good is a songwriter today’? The post received 51 replies stating, amongst others, that a songwriter is a ‘truth teller’, a ‘flashback’ a ‘prophet’ or ‘bard’, someone who can put ‘feeling into words’ where others can’t. All wonderfully vivid. This post started a train of thought for me. In answering Dan’s question on Twitter I asked myself, can you separate the song and the songwriter, and if you do, what is the purpose of a songwriter? Especially in this day and age

Why do children love George Ezra's Shotgun?

They're the hit of children's parties and end of term discos, but the plague of parents. Why do some songs prove so popular with children they are played seemingly perpetually

Anna Neale and Mary Beard visit Pompeii

The Museum of Classical Archaeology is usually in the business of making the Greek and Roman world visible. But on Friday April 26th the Museum is going to be striking out into the world of contemporary music in order to make the ancient world audible. In an hour’s double act with Professor Mary Beard, Anna Neale is going to be singing numbers from her recent album ‘River Man’. Copryight 2011 John Milton www.thattake.com (48 B)‘River Man’ is a collection of songs influenced by the life, times, loves and legacy of Pompeii. It chronicles universal themes of love and knowledge, as relevant today as they ever were, and takes the listener on an epic musical odyssey through Roman history. Anna’s aim is to make these themes reverberate around the gallery’s galaxy of images bringing back to life these resonant presences from the classical past

Time travelling: an evening with Anna Neale Festival of Ideas 2013: University of Cambridge

Museum of Classical Archaeology, Sidgwick Avenue, CB3 9DA Join us for a glass of wine, acoustic performances, an intimate tête-à-tête with songwriter Anna neale and conversation with dr susanne turner, curator. explore the tension between the ancient past and the present. Event: 179, Map: 13, Adults, Performance, Talk, Ticketed, Pre-book, email: [email protected], tel: 01223 33040

Women in Music: MTV and White Lilies at The Balmoral‘ - EDIMS (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Music Studies) Open Forum at University of Portsmouth

Anna’s paper is about perceptions of women in music, personal experience and explores the reasons why there is a lack of gender diversity in the music industry. Anna also discuss current initiatives to try and level the playing field and the role of mentorship is overcoming structural barriers

River Man

Anna's award winning album ‘River Man’, (2012) also produced withJez Larder, took the listener on an epic musical odyssey through Roman history and heralded a change of musical direction. Voted one of RnR (Rock n Reel) Magazine’s albums of 2012, River Man features guest performances from Gary Brooker (Procol Harum), Patch Hannan (The Sundays, The Audience), and world-renowned Senegal virtuoso Jali Fily Cissokho. Influenced by the life, times, loves and legacy of Pompeii, Anna Neale’s ‘River Man’ enthralled listeners with songs that chronicled universal themes of love and knowledge, as well as the eternal question of the human spirit and human identity. Part of the 'River Man' tour in 2013 saw Anna and her band performing at The British Museum as part of their 'Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum' exhibition, and at the University of Cambridge with Classics Professor, Mary Beard

Wide Sky

Annas 2018 album 'Wide Sky', co-produced with Jez Larder (Amy MacDonald, Estelle, David Bowie) was released independently in 2018 and received a 5 star review in national music magazine RnR. (Rock n Reel). The album features performances from Syrian musicians, as well as singers from English National Opera (ENO). Fusing together Middle Eastern music with Western pop, and continuing the world music theme featured in her pervious album 'River Man'.'Wide Sky' has been funded through Pledge Music, the campaign reached 275% of its target funding in three days

Songs from 'River Man' Up late in Pompeii: a night out in the Bay of Naples The British Museum

Surrey-based singer-songwriter Anna Neale and her band perform tracks from her latest album 'River Man', a collection of songs influenced by the life, times, loves and legacy of Pompeii. Anna will introduce the songs by describing what inspired them, from an imagined observer of Mt Vesuvius' eruption to the influence of the Roman feast of Lemuralia

8 Seconds: Getting to grips with song in a technological world

How do we get to grips with song? What is a song, and how do we define it? In this papers Anna disseminates some of her research showing ways of being able to understand the concept of song in an academic environment

Music and Migration Workshop: national humanities festival Being Human 2018

Music and Migration: Huguenot Museum in Rochester on 24 November 2018 from 11.00 – 12.30. Bringing together Rami Merhi, a Syrian virtuoso of the darbuka drum, and songwriter and musician Anna Neale from the University to explore the way music moves across landscapes and culture as people migrate. The workshop explored the origins of some of the music we hear today by looking at the journey music makes with its people when they migrate. Working with Syrian darbuka virtuoso Rami Merhi and songwriter and musician Anna Neale from the University of Kent, ‘Music and Migration’ will aims to recreate this journey exploring different Arabic and Western rhythms, creating a new fusion in musical composition in a relaxed setting