Heather McClelland // Mike Reinstein + Reina James-Reinstein
Free tickets are available for low-income households
Heather McClelland
From performing with her family at an Irish busking festival aged six, to appearing with her vocal harmony trio The Sugar Sisters on BBC Radio 2 and at the Royal Albert Hall, Heather McClelland's whole life has involved music and singing.
Raised in an alternative background which included Irish and West African musical influences, as well as several years spent travelling the country with her family in a converted postal van, her teenage years saw her love of Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills & Nash create an obsession with vocal harmonies that lasted through her university years (where she toured Ireland supporting Mad Dog Mcrea with her band at the time) and the three years she spent in Brazil, studying music and performing with some of Brazil's leading musicians. On returning to the UK in her mid-twenties, she continued to perform Brazilian-influenced music (appearing at Festinho, The Royal Festival Hall and Favela Chic) as well as collaborating with other artists (including champion beatboxer Bellatrix, Wah Wah 45's Stac, and Ninja Tune's Submotion Orchestra) but found her own musical interests leading to a more folk and electronic-influenced style. Stripping back her instrumentation and experimenting with vocal harmonies, she has developed an atmospheric and ethereal sound, drawing on a wide-range of influences including Bjork and Agnes Obel as well as all the music of her youth, brought together by her uniquely pure-toned and fragile voice.
Mike Reinstein
Mike has been writing and performing songs all his adult life. Moving from London to Sussex with his wife Reina in 2006, he found a home for his music on Brighton's Irregular Records label. He now has three critically acclaimed albums to his name, More To Be Revealed, A Long March Home and Acts Of Love. A new album will be released later in 2023. After training as a teacher, Mike had a varied career, writing reviews for Melody Maker and City Limits, teaching English and Drama in a London secondary school and working as dramatherapist for the NHS. During the past 25 years he's been a music teacher for primary age and special needs children. As well as music for grown-ups, Mike has written lots of songs for children many of which can be found on the albums, The Tommy Tomato Songbook, The Blewdle, Wobbly Tooth and The Cat Asked Everyone To Tea, Except Me.
Find out more about Mike Reinstein
Reina James-Reinstein
Reina, daughter of Sid James, started her musical career when she was five playing the ukelele...then became a singer, songwriter and pianist in folk and rock bands in the 60s and 70s. After some years working as an actor and musician in theatre, she changed tack and became a writer. Her first novel, This Time Of Dying won The Society Of Authors' McKitterick prize. She followed this with The Old Joke, both published by Portobello Books. She's just finished writing her latest novel and still loves to sing with Mike, contributing keyboards and vocal arrangements to his albums.