Don McLean

Timings:

Don McLean is a talented singer-songwriter who began in folk music, performing free on behalf of Pete Seeger’s efforts to clean up the Hudson River.  His first album had been turned down by several labels because of his insistence on retaining his own publishing, but Tapestry ’70 was issued on Media Arts, soon taken over by UA; of the songs “And I Love You So” was covered by Perry Como for a Top 30 hit ’73, while his performance of “Empty Chairs” inspired “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox) a Grammy winner and a huge hit for Roberta Flack ’73.

Second album American Pie ’71 incl. irresistibly catchy title track, said to have been inspired by the death of Buddy Holly, but also a sentimental song about America that could be embraced by everybody as the USA reeled from Vietnam and Watergate: the 8.5 minute track as a two-sided single was no.1 for seven weeks and even pulled the first LP into the charts.   “Vincent/Castles In The Air” from the same LP was a no. 12 hit and “Vincent” (no.1 in theUK) was being played daily in the entrance to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

Third album Don McLean ’72 was a no. 23 LP, incl. top 30 “Dreidel”.

“Playin’ Favorites”  ’73 got back to folk/country roots and did not chart in the USA, but incl. “Everyday”, top 40 single in the UK.

Homeless Brother  ’74 was a no. 120 LP, incl. “The Legend of Andrew McCrew”, a true story about a black hobo who died aged 13, was exhibited in carnivals as a ‘petrified man’, not buried until ’73.

Two-disc, Solo  ’76 incl. all the hits, followed by a switch to Arista label for Prime Time ’77.

With the coast clear he had hits again on Millenium label: top 30 LP Chain Lightning ’81 incl. no. 5 cover of old Roy Orbison hit, ‘Crying’ (no. 1 in theUK), also top 30 hit, ‘Since I Don’t Have You’.

Believers  ’82 made top 200 LP’s incl. new top 30 version of ‘Castles In The Air’ (also minor hit in theUK).

Dominion  ’83 on EMI/UK was two-disc set made in concert atLondon’s Dominion Theatre.

Love Tracks ’87 was on Capitol (incl. ‘Eventually’).

Classics, Headroom and The River of Love  were on Curb CD’s.

Don McLean was asked by President Clinton to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on New Year’s Eve 1999 and attended to the Founders Dinner at the White House, honouring artists and industrialists.

“Starry, Starry Nights”  was a PBS TV special filmed at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, with guests incl. Nanci Griffith and Garth Brooks and first broadcast in 2000.

Don formed Don McLean Records in 2001: first releases were Don McLean Sings Marty Robbins and 2-CD Starry, Starry Night from the PBS special.

Madonna had covered ‘American Pie’ for a huge international hit in 1999 and Weird Al Yankovic rewrote it as ‘The Saga Begins’ to send up Star Wars.  Some people were surprised that Don allowed Yankovic’s record, as though he didn’t have a sense of humour; in fact a cultural artefact can only be used for this kind of affectionate satire if it is deeply loved in the first place.

Finally, ‘American Pie’ was named the fifth greatest song of the 20^th Century by the NEA-RIAA (after, ‘Over The Rainbow’, ‘WhiteChristmas’, ‘This Land Is My Land’ and ‘Respect’).

Honours continued to follow:IonaCollegeconferred an honorary doctorate on Don in 2001 and a year later “American Pie” was finally inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 2004 Don McLean was inaugurated into the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. His award was presented by Garth Brooks who paid this tribute:  “Don McLean his work, like the man himself is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem American Pie is a cultural phenomenon, and people are still trying to decode it after 35 years! He wrote other great songs like, And I Love You So, If We Try, Wonderful Baby, Winterwood, and my personal favorite Empty Chairs, which just kills me as a fan and a songwriter.”

In 2007 Don McLean shared his life story for the first time in Alan Howard’s book “The Don McLean Story: Killing Us Softly with His Songs”.

In 2011 Don performed on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival  (“The veteran singer-songwriter’s take on “American Pie” , with multiple extra choruses, was another heartwarming, communal high” – The Independent).

Also in 2012 Don was awarded the BBC Folk Music Lifetime Achievement Award and performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A busy year also saw the release of “American Troubadour” on CD and DVD and a full colour coffee table book biography of the same name. The DVD charting Don’s life and career has subsequently been broadcast on TV worldwide (regularly on Sky Arts in theUK).

In 2014 Don performed for 30,000 at the Stagecoach Festival – one of the premier country music events in the US. According to the Daily News “the audience went wild, screaming, jumping, dancing. Even after the song was over, the audience still lingered, basking in the afterglow of the performance”

Support – Chelsey Chambers

Chelsey Chambers remembers the music of Johnny Cash being popular in her house as she grew up in Moneymore, a small farming town in the heart of Mid-Ulster. She remembers being impressed by Johnny Cash’s classic story-in-a-song approach to song-writing.

She picked up her first guitar at the age of 9, encouraged by her Uncle who would frequently play at family occasions. After learning to play the guitar she quickly found a passion to write her own songs. Later, while at the Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt, her vocal ability and love for singing was discovered when she qualified for singing lessons. Chelsey competed in various local singing competitions including the ‘Stars in Yer’ Eyes’ contests. After getting through to the finals of the competition she got a taste for performing her own songs  and went on to record her first original track at the age of 14 entitled, ‘Turn Back Time’, which was very well received all over the county.

“Every song I write is from experience so it will generally always come from a lyrical idea first,” Chelsey says, when asked about her approach to song-writing. “The time it takes to write the song changes, sometimes it can take at the quickest 20 minutes which is how I wrote ‘Braveface’ and ‘I’m Falling.’ However sometimes I can write most of the song but not have a chorus or a bridge, this was the case for ‘Back Home’.”

Chelsey says her influences are many but a few that stand out are: Shania Twain; Taylor Swift; Sheryl Crow; Johnny Cash and Lady Antebellum. She lists, ‘Missing You’ by John Waite; ‘Suspicious Minds’ by Elvis Presley and ‘Up’ by Shania Twain as amongst her favourite singles and Eric Clapton and John Lennon as her favourite musicians. Nathan Chapman is the record producer she most admires.

Chelsey attended the ‘Making Music Workshop’ in 2012 at the Burnavon Theatre, Cookstown. During this 5 day workshop Chelsey and 20 other young performers joined up to write songs and perform in front of an audience at the end of the week. It was at this concert that Chelsey met Linley Hamilton.  Linley was immediately impressed with Chelsey’s song writing ability and her singing. He set up the recording of her debut EP, ‘I’m Falling’, which include ‘Braveface’ and ‘Turn Back Time’ along with the title track. The EP featured Gareth Dunlop, John McCullough and members of Foy Vance’s band and was recorded at the Hill House Studios, Newtownards. Since the release of ‘I’m Falling’, the EP, and the quality of her song-writing has started to open doors for Chelsey. BBC Radio 1 played ‘Braveface’, a track from the EP, and BBC Radio Ulster has been very supportive.

Also on the strength of her songs, and her performances, Chelsey has been invited to be special guest on American legend Don McLean’s Spring 2015 tour of the UK and Ireland.

“My lyrics are generally fact, as I enjoy telling stories in my songs from times in my life, whether it’s good or bad times,” Chelsey says. “I think in other artists I look for the same thing, a story or experience that they are sharing. I think that’s how I really relate to songs.”

Eat before the show

Gig Food Menu

This menu is subject to change on the day
All at £9.75

Freshly made to order

Char grilled steak burger with melted mozzarella, chunky chips and onion rings
Deep fried plaice filet sandwich with tartar sauce, mange tout salad, chunky chips and crispy calamari rings
Pan fried spicy bean burger on focaccia topped with grilled Portobello mushroom and a roasted vegetable salad V
Char grilled chicken tikka served in toasted pita bread with papadoms and a yogurt, mango and mint dip

Side orders
£3.00

Potato wedges with garlic, lemon and thyme mayo
Mixed leaf and crunchy vegetable salad with a French mustard dressing
Seasoned chunky chips

Please order & pay for food at the bar

Food service finishes 45 min before the main act. 

All our dishes are freshly prepared and cooked to order in our kitchen.
Wherever possible we use locally sourced ingredients supporting local suppliers.

Train:
We are 5 min walk to Bexhill station for last trains to Brighton/Hastings/London.

Please check train times for summer timetable. At the time of writing the train times are :

• Last scheduled direct train to Eastbourne + Brighton 23.31.
• Last train to Hastings 23.40
• Last train to London St Pancras + Victoria 22.38

Car:
Free parking along the sea front and in the Rother District Council car park next to the Pavilion after 8pm

Bus:
Eastbourne to Bexhill to Hastings www.stagecoachbus.com/routes-98-99.aspx

A list of B+Bs in Bexhill and Hastings can be found here : www.discoverbexhill.com

Please note that Booking Fees apply on the following transactions:
Online: £1 per ticket + £1.50 postage or free collection at the Box Office
Telephone: £2 per transaction + £1.50 postage or free collection at the Box Office
In Person: £2 per transaction (applies if using credit card only) Debit card/Cheque/cash is free