Shannen Bamford at Studio 2, Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Shannen Bamford is nobody’s fool and the sweet reflections of life she offers wherever there is a microphone with the right properties to care for her haunting and sensual voice should be heeded with big smiles of enjoyment and truth of life thrust into any day.
Shannen Bamford, Unity Theatre, Liverpool. 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
One of the great finds on the Liverpool acoustic circuit in recent years is arguably Shannen Bamford. A voice that resonates like an angel tempting the music lover with a shot of adrenaline and comforting words when all around is filled with sorrow and pockets of despair.
Even though Ms. Bamford has other commitments that keep her disappointingly away from the venues on a full time basis, both for her and for the legion of fans that she has built up in Liverpool, when she comes on stage the realisation of just what she brings to the acoustic table is enough to stir the music passion once more.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
In Chevasse Park in Liverpool One, the first hopeful sounds of a Winter many will dread overpowers the senses, the heady aroma of Christmas is clinging in the air. The sound of children being treated by their parents to try their luck in the hope of winning an overstuffed bear or the thrill of a ride being undertaken with much glee follows suit and a cold November evening feels as biting and as forced as commemorating the end of the First World War with a supermarket advert for chocolate.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
They say there is strength in unity; it can, however that strength can be a double edged sword for in a lot of places the pride in which the artistic scene clubs together is all well and good but it doesn’t flourish because the nature of the sprawling city is not geared up to recognise the distinctiveness that resides at its heart.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Shannen Bamford’s E.P., Paper Planes, was one of the surprise wonders of 2013. The intensity in which she put together a cracking set of songs was gently effective and musically comfortable, a real find.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
For a taste of the ethereal, the subtle and gentle tones of a woman in harmony with her music and seeming comfortable with her place at the start of what hopefully is a long and industrious career, listeners could do worse than take in Shannen Bamford’s E.P. Paper Planes in which the young woman gives an absolute corking display of her talent.
The E.P. has become the de rigour of getting a young musician’s art out there without having to confine themselves too tightly to the rigidity and constricting emotional turmoil that recording a full blown album can do when first setting out on what can be at times a long lonely path.