Jenny Colquitt, ‘Something Beautiful’ Album Launch at The Jacaranda Club, Liverpool, Saturday 27th November 2021 

“The ‘something beautiful’ we all have inside, embracing our uniqueness and not listening to people who tell us we can’t, sums up this album and what it’s about”…Jenny Colquitt. 

Tonight, we’re attending a special event. It’s the album launch of “Something Beautiful“, the gorgeously talented Jenny Colquitt’s debut album. In Liverpool once again, it’s cold, it’s going to snow tomorrow and boy can we feel it tonight as we make our way from Lime Street station to our venue. Nonetheless, the streets are busy, a hive of activity – people out and about, enjoying the diverse nightlife this most historic and culturally diverse city offers. 

Our venue is the famous Jacaranda Club, situated on Slater Street, originally part of the Rope Walks area of town. Coming from Liverpool’s maritime history, the street was laid out in 1790, and still retains most of its original Georgian architecture.  It was once home to roperies, counting houses, and merchants’ housing. The Jacaranda Club is a great venue.  It’s well known and is a brilliant place to catch live music and a pretty cool place to hang out too. First opened in 1958 by The Beatles’ first manager, Allan Williams, in a former watch repair shop at number 21 Slater Street and offering the city’s first espresso machine and an American style Juke box, it soon became known as the cool place to hang out and was the place to be for the youth and Bohemians of the day. Offering live music, it soon became integral to the booming Mersey music scene and was affectionately known as ‘the Jac’. The legendary Lord Woodbine used to hang out and perform here, providing inspiration for local creatives and musicians. Allan Williams himself described the Jacaranda Club as “The black hole of Calcutta set to music”. It was one of the UK’s first multi-cultural venues and was surely ahead of its time.  Throughout the 60s it became a firm base for early incarnations of the Beatles and was frequented by many soon-to-be household names. To the present day, the Jacaranda Club remains an operational record label, music venue, bar, and record store.  It still has that ‘cool place to be’ vibe, and is quirky and filled with nostalgia and memorabilia. It has a real eclectic, vintage, and welcoming feel in the bar and the basement performance area is the perfect setting for intimate-feeling live gigs. It’s a real hub – it oozes character and really is the perfect setting for tonight’s event.

Support Act – Meg Shaw, Meg – lead vocals and guitar, Ben – guitar, Charlotte and Libby – backing vocals

Meg Shaw_Credit: Warren Millar

With a lovely personal introduction from Jenny Colquitt herself, we’re off to the perfect start with tonight’s support act, Meg Shaw. With an electric acoustic set and accompanying band members, there’s such a Bohemian, folk vibe to this set. Tambourine beats, 2 guitars, and 2 backing vocalists which so perfectly complement Meg’s own vocals, this all weaves together very well indeed. It gives off a real late 1960s hippie, Coachella, summer of love feel, but with country flavours, and we have that indie-folk twist.  The harmonies are uplifting, melodic, and heart-warming. It’s lilting, it’s light, it’s joyous. Each song is seemingly different from the last, but all fit together superbly. Meg has the loveliest voice; it’s like honey; it’s sweet, warm, and comforting, and you could listen to these three harmoniously blended voices all day long. It’s such a good set to watch, really setting the tone for tonight.  Tremendous performance. Great audience interaction, genuine, identifiable, and very likable as a band. The most recently written song ‘How to feel’ stems from months and months of writer’s block, surely any songwriter’s nemesis. Whilst Meg was already going through a tough year, as she explains: “the song is almost a reflection on myself and what’s happening over the year, and how you can sometimes become numb to what’s happening around you and lose your sense of meaning.”  The song has only been performed at a few select gigs so far. Accompanied by two rhythmically driven guitars, it’s apparently still in its early stages. Meg hopes to progress it and let it evolve into a single in the coming New Year. This will be interesting to hear and is certainly to be looked forward to. I for one shall be eagerly awaiting its release!  A lovely, very gentle, harmoniously beautiful, and very enjoyable set. It felt truly quite special.  Thank you, Meg, and your equally magnificent band.

Setlist: Simple lives, November wind, What you deserve, Run, How to feel, the Escape, Favourite part

Jenny Colquitt –“Something Beautiful” – headliner

Jenny Colquitt_Credit: Warren Millar

Jenny Colquitt – vocals/guitar/harmonica/keys, Liam Kent – guitar, Peter Muldoon – bass, Josh Roscoe – drums, David Gorst – special guest guitarist and album producer

Tonight is the launch of Jenny Colquitt’s debut solo album, ‘Something Beautiful.’  This is the perfect venue for a special gig like this. It’s intimate, surrounded by family, friends, supporters and the people who’ve worked alongside her to create this album. It feels very personal and very special indeed. Jennie is very personable and friendly and happily interacts in a very down-to-earth and genuine manner throughout tonight’s event, chatting happily and explaining the various themes and back stories to each song, citing inspirations, and helping us fully understand and be immersed in every track.  This genuinely makes us feel a true part of what tonight is about. It’s like an insight into the genius behind the song writing.  It’s a great touch, a true joy to be part of, and I feel very honoured to be a part of this.  It’s clear to see how much this means to Jenny and she reiterates this fact throughout, constantly thanking everyone for being here.  It’s to be in two parts tonight: the first set being a stripped back, solo, acoustic, alternating between keyboard then guitar, and harmonica. The second is a full band lineup, the first time these songs have ever been performed with a full band.  We really are in for some treat! 

I’ve seen Jenny perform before as part of the band Ely, so I know the great things she’s capable of, but this solo material has a whole different feel. As a solo acoustic performer Jenny is truly captivating, very natural with a real ease about her, relaxed, and very at home on stage. The passion that’s been poured into both song writing and performance is immense. It’s brimming with emotion, it’s such heart and soul stuff. Jenny s voice is sometimes light, hushed, or bright and breezy, then other times rich, full and loud, then can be high and sweet.  Notes are held effortlessly for extended periods without faltering.  It’s a pleasure to listen to: feelings of country, folk, slight blues influences, and even rock are all present; slow tempo, soulful material with meaningful lyrics. It’s lilting and lullaby, and then it switches to powerful and strong.  The music takes you to exactly where the themes of each song lie – melancholy, often dark, themes, but breathtaking and fascinating. We’re completely engulfed by this. 

Jenny Colquitt_Credit: Warren Millar

Starting with older material, we are then gifted with the performance of each and every song from this new album. ‘Little Boy Blue’ is a song about dreaming, about wanting to escape and live the dream. Jenny explains that this is quite a personal song that only just made it onto the album and she is now very glad she made the decision to include this track. It’s perfect for this debut album, being about dreams and living out goals. It’s a very heartfelt performance. The feelings and emotions are conveyed wholeheartedly. The soft sprinkling of drumbeats and soft guitar lines are an absolute pleasure. It’s creative, it’s emotional and it’s beautiful. A wide range of topics or themes are covered: songs about mental health issues caused by social media; moving songs about lost friends, to more positive themes like ‘Dirty Town’ about living dreams and escaping overarching negativity.  

As has been mentioned, the theme behind this debut album is one of dreams, goals and self belief.  Jenny’s smooth and full bodied voice lends itself seamlessly to the more intense, dark themes too.  One such song ‘I am Yours ‘ – Jenny says: “I am yours is about addiction, it’s the voice of addiction talking to the addict; it is dark and is one of many real and human topics on the album.  Although not written from a personal perspective, it can be related to toxic thoughts which most people will experience in their lives.” Very thought provoking, and the performance of this song gives me goose pimples!   The full band behind this makes for a really atmospheric sound and it’s an epic performance. You just don’t want to miss a single second. A completely enthralling performance from start to finish, including a guest appearance on guitar from Dave Gorst, the producer of the album, in the final song and title track ‘Something Beautiful.’ An inspiring, well written, beautifully sung album, very likable, very listenable, and well worth investing in. It’s been a heartwarming, enthralling, and brilliant performance and event.

Jenny Colquitt_Credit: Warren Millar

I finish on the same quote I began with, as this to me in Jenny s own words is the ethos of her debut album… “Something beautiful we all have inside, embracing our uniqueness and not listening to people who tell us we can’t.”

Thank you so much, Jenny Colquitt – you are inspirational. Here’s to inner beauty, to life goals, to belief, to dreams, and most of all to never thinking it can’t be done…..to “Something beautiful”.

Setlist: True to Me, Wide Open Spaces, Tell me where the Light is, Life Boat, This Side, Little Blue Boy., God the Father,  Same Old Story,  Poetry of You, 1964, You are Loved, How do you Feel, Dirty Town, Shape – Band songs, I am Yours.