Saturday, 1st February, was one of the dates for Later with Jools Holland inspired music night at The Room in Norfolk town, Gorleston-on-Sea. Much to the surprise of the audience, soul singer and Brit Award winner Rag’n’Bone Man took to the stage to serenade the Ocean Room with his chart hits.
Rag’n’Bone Man, real name Rory Graham, played only with a piano to 600 attendees in the town where his father (Tony Graham) lives. He was asked by Howard Marshall, event organiser, to be the mystery guest for The Room’s annual show and Mr Graham has said that the performance is a way to “payback” everyone who supports the local music scene. Marshall has known Rag’n’Bone Man for years, and spoke to him at a festival in 2019 about potentially making an appearance.
A mix of hits and new songs were played, including breakout song ‘Human’ and 2019 Calvin Harris collaboration, ‘Giant’. Marshall said that it had “always been an ambition to get a really big star” and guests were, of course, very pleased. This one will be hard to top! One audience member, Johnny Saggs, said “Rag’n’Bone Man is cool and his is so powerful when he is playing live”.
The event was seen across five stages which held the other acts: The Coronation Kings, Riddle, The McGuilty Brothers, and The H-Gang. While usually put on every year, The Room has three shows set up for this year, Saturday being the first, followed by one in June and one in September. Prior to the performance date, a mystery guest had been teased, but not formerly announced; some attendees had a feeling that the guest might be Rag’n’Bone Man as his father lives in the area, but many were none the wiser.
Rag’n’Bone Man began as an MC for a drum and bass group in Uckfield and Brighton, before working with both writers and producers to find his own sound as he supported artists, including Joan Armatrading. When he released his single ‘Human’ in 2016, it went to number 2 on the UK singles chart and received an astounding reception from listeners, video now at 1 billion views. The artist has recently returned from Nashville where he has been writing and recording new music, which we can hope to hear soon.
The singer-songwriter, whose musical style has evolved from hip-hop to neo blues and soul, only has one full length studio album at present, ‘Human’, titled after his single. The album was released under Columbia records, though he had previously released several EPs. His father, mentioned earlier, was his inspiration when starting out in music at a young age.
Fans will be excited to hear that Rag’n’Bone Man has been announced as the headliner for PennFest 2020 as well as having four other UK gigs planned and a festival in Barcelona, Cruïlla. The Gorleston crowd was lucky enough to hear new songs, which may be performed on these occasions.
