Dream come true for Welsh brothers

By Geoffrey RowlandsHaving their performance marred by an egg-throwing viola player turned out to be nothing like so harmful as initially feared by classical singing duo Richard and Adam Johnson.The Welsh brothers had won through to the 2013 final of Britain’s Got Talent. They were nearing the end of their rendition of The Impossible Dream when television viewers were stunned by the actions of a member of their backing orchestra. Natalie Holt put down her viola and picked up a box of eggs which she threw at the show creator Simon Cowell. “We were devastated,” admitted 23-year-old Richard. “The woman walked straight between us and started throwing the eggs at Simon. We thought she’d ruined any hope we had of winning.”“We were shocked and didn’t really know what to do,” added Adam, 19. “I suppose the old adage of ‘the show must go on’ took over and we kept singing. But seeing her throwing the eggs and then the security guy hustling her offstage were things we’ll never forget.”The incident certainly didn’t help Richard and Adam’s chances. The boys finished third behind second place teenage comedian Jack Carroll and the victorious shadow dance troupe Attraction.“We thought our dream of becoming recording artists had been ended by the egg thrower,” Richard remarked. “But everyone was very sympathetic and Simon told us to keep working hard because he felt sure everything would come good for us. He was absolutely right. We were offered a record deal by Sony Music and started recording our debut album in June.”Their LP, appropriately entitled The Impossible Dream, has shot straight to number one on the UK chart.“It’s almost impossible for us to believe how well the album has done,” Adam smiled. “We’ve been overwhelmed by all the support and can’t say a big enough ‘thank you’ to everyone who has bought a copy. Just to have an album out was our dream come true. But it was extra special to have been able to tell our mum, dad and particularly our nan that we were number one.”Their grandmother (nan), 70-year-old Lorna Slack, joined Richard and Adam onstage after their Britain’s Got Talent audition. She captured the hearts of theatre and TV audiences as she couldn’t contain her pride in the boys.“Nan is our biggest fan,” Adam laughed. “We’ve always sung for her and still feel like we’re doing so even when she’s not in the audience.”Although there are no rules to specifically ban professional artists, Britain’s Got Talent is essentially aimed at providing a possible route to stardom for gifted amateurs. The fact that Richard and Adam had previously sung professionally did not sit well with some viewers.“We said we worked part-time in our parents’ sandwich business,” Richard stated. “This was true. But we also sung semi-professionally as The Johnson Brothers. We’ve done some work on cruise ships and been low end of the bill performers in shows starring artists such as Ken Dodd and Joe longthorne. We even self-produced a CD of songs to sell after these gigs. But we never earned enough money from this work to end our involvement in the family business.”If the popularity of their album is any indication, Richard and Adam won’t be making any more sandwiches for a while. As acts such as Jonathan & Charlotte, Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli have proved, there is an enormous audience who enjoy a mix of classical, pop and show songs sung in a classical manner.“It would be wonderful to become really successful,” Richard reflected. “But we realise we’re just at the start of our career. Getting a number one album was beyond our wildest dreams. In many ways, you could say anything else we might achieve would be a massive bonus.”in briefLovelifeAnyone familiar with grit pop band Viva Brother will know four of the five members of Lovelife. Singer Lee Newell fronts the band alongside Ally Young, formerly of Brighton-based synth-pop quartet Mirrors. Viva Brother’s three other musicians make up their backing group.Lovelife’s music is much more akin to that of Mirrors. This is no bad thing considering the torrent of abuse which eventually led to Viva Brother’s demise.The band had been touted as the future of rock and reached number 34 on the UK chart with their 2011 debut album, Famous First Words. But the same critics who initially lauded them quickly turned on the band. So venomous was the outpouring of hatred that Viva Brother disbanded less than a year after releasing their album.After rebranding as Lovelife and changing their musical style, the boys moved from London to Brooklyn where they have become popular members of the New York music scene. Two EPs have previously been issued with a third set for release on October 1.Lead single, Midnight Swimming, is available to hear now. It is one of 21 songs posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/lvlf/tracks. Links from this webpage offer free downloads of Lovelife’s first two recordings, The Fourth Floor EP and El Regresso EP, plus eight remixes of songs by other artists.XNYXNY are also based in Brooklyn. Consisting of guitarist/singer Pam Autuori and drummer Jacob Schreiber, the duo have just released their second album, Orange. The video for lead single, Jaw, can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=M32A23wWtOw. It is among 16 song, live performance, behind-the-scenes and interview videos posted at www.youtube.com/user/XNYofficial. More songs plus a free mp3 download of Burn Out, can be accessed from (no www.) soundcloud.com/xny.Kyle AndrewsYou may know the music of Kyle Andrews. His songs were used in world-wide television commercials for Holiday Inn and Dell computers. But Nashville-based Kyle has still to enjoy a commercially successful single or album. Perhaps this will change with his recently released fourth full-length album, Brighter Than The Sun. All 10 tracks are available to hear at (no www.) kyleandrews.bandcamp.com/album/brighter-than-the-sun-2. Links from this webpage offer access to much more of Kyle’s work.His latest single, Crystal Ball, can be downloaded for free from (no www.) soundcloud.com/thekyleandrews/03-crystal-ball. The video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BXWqKrdDgU.Several more of Kyle’s videos can be found on YouTube. Check them out at www.youtube.com/user/kyleandrewsofficial.Migos and Rich the KidAtlanta rap trio Migos have teamed up with solo performer Rich the Kid to create a 25-song mixtape, Streets On Lock.Also featuring an array of guest artists such as Kevin Gates, Soulja Boy and Twista, the entire recording is available to hear and download for free at www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/23409/migos-rich-the-kid-streets-on-lock.html. Another mixtape by Rich the Kid and several more by Migos can be heard and downloaded from the livemixtapes website. Gain access by typing their names in the search box.