Feb 7 – Simon Taylor + Lesley Roley

Simon Taylor is a singer-songwriter from Newcastle upon Tyne whose music combines elements of rock, funk, pop and Latin with influences ranging from Leonard Cohen to Serge Gainsbourg. Simon began his performing career in 2011 with his Latin/ funk/ jazz 5-piece Simon Taylor & The Sundowners. They performed at the Mouth Of The Tyne & VAMOS Festivals plus the Boiler Shop in Newcastle on three occasions and their music featured regularly on BBC Introducing. Following a headline gig at the O2 Academy Newcastle in 2018 Simon began to perform solo, releasing two EPs during the pandemic that were entirely self-recorded. On hearing the second of these, Simon’s 2022 mental health-themed e.p “Survival” on Bandcamp, the British Library Sound Archive asked him to send over his back catalogue for storage in the archive. In 2021 Simon also reached the Semi-Finals of the UK Songwriting Contest with his ballad “Bad Times Are Through”. Simon was accepted by Help Musicians for their Recording & Releasing Music funding scheme in 2023 and is constantly working on new recording projects while working away on re-forming a band after a seven-year hiatus.