Music Matters: Beer and bands – the perfect combo!

This weekend sees the 10th Emsworth Beer, Wine and Cider Festival take place at Emsworth Community Centre – the event runs from Friday, September 25 to Sunday, September 27 and will be a real treat for lovers of cask ale with around 25 different beers available from local and national breweries. There will be an excellent selection of wine and cider available too!

All profits raised from the ticket and bar sales will go towards supporting WemsFest – a volunteer-run community interest company that delivers world class music in local venues across the West Sussex and East Hampshire areas.

The festival also features live music with Andy Beaumont playing on the Friday night while Southampton Ukulele Jam will be doing their thing on Saturday afternoon and Spinnaker Shanty will be performing on Saturday night.

Tickets are available from Emsworth Community Centre, Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth and also from The Westbourne Café. You can also purchase tickets online at WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

My musical gem: There is not long to go until the classic 1965 album ‘Rubber Soul’ by The Beatles gets reissued in a new super deluxe remastered format. The reissue includes unreleased session recordings and home demos of songs including ‘Drive My Car’, ‘Norwegian Wood’, ‘Michelle’ and, my favourite, ‘In My Life’.

The album will be available in standard 1CD and 1LP versions and also in 2CD and 2LP vinyl Deluxe and 4CD and 5LP Super Deluxe editions. The Super Deluxe editions come with an 88-page hardbound book that features a new introduction by Paul McCartney along with rare photographs.

‘Rubber Soul’ is considered one of the great albums in the history of The Beatles as it saw the band bridge the gap between their earlier rock ‘n’ roll sound and their later psychedelic influenced work. The reissued album is released on 2 October and would make an excellent Christmas present for The Beatles fan in your life!

Listen to Duncan Barkes on Nation Easy Radio, Monday to Friday nights from 10pm. Nation Easy Radio can be heard on DAB digital radio, via the Nation Player app and on your smart speaker – just say “Play Nation Easy Radio.”