Paul Golder writes for the Brentwood Gazette

It’s been a while since we were involved in live music – the pandemic definitely put the brakes on that and we have less live sessions and put on less events as a result of it.

So it was great to be out last week in Romford – on the fringes of our FM coverage area – and the Mercury Mall to organise an event with Brentwood’s Hermit Club in one of the shop units.

The event – Rock Jam – was set up to promote young musicians and artists, something which both Phoenix FM and the Hermit have been doing since we both started.

The event had a big helping hand from Natalie Bays, who is not only one of our presenters but also deputy centre manager at the Mercury. Natalie and her Arts Programme partner Claire Gevaux put together a varied mix of music of all genres and some poetry too courtesy of our own Drive presenter Stewart Pink.

Another Phoenix FM presenter, Kev Piggott – who also runs our successful Open Mic Night every Monday at the Essex Arms – was on hand with sound duties too.

I came down to watch some of the acts, including young local band Apollo, who played some original compositions and some covers. It’s always good to hear a bit of Nirvana, and it wasn’t “the obvious one” either.

We hope to organise another event in the New Year so if you’re a young aspiring artist, please get in touch with us via www.phoenixfm.com.