Lisa Mills at Langley Village Hall

A few years ago Nigel Hammill said that he had a female musician friend staying with them as a guest for a day or two while she was touring our Country on gigs and that he had asked her to perform for us at our village hall. Her name was Lisa Mills, all the way from Mobile, Alabama. What a treat she turned out to be and although the locals were not familiar with her reputation, Lisa had a following in the northwest and the concert was soon sold out. In fact she was so popular that on the third visit to our area, the concert was transferred to a bigger Sutton Scout Hut! We in Langley were gutted, we had lost her.

But the tables turned and for her visit this October she returned to our village hall to a sold out crowd. Lisa isn’t only a fantastic vocalist and acoustic guitar player, described as a full throated female Otis Reading, she is a lovely natural woman with looks to match.

Unfortunately, a few days before her appearance, Nigel who had worked so hard to put the show together, was rushed into intensive care, seriously ill. Fortunately though, the concert went ahead with the help of a few local friends and fellow musicians. On the night, on stage, Lisa made a mobile call to Nigel and wished him well and the audience all shouted their love and get well wishes to him. The day before, Lisa had visited him in hospital and said that he was looking quite well and even joined in in the harmony during his bedside serenade.

To make the evening even more special, Irish singer and superb acoustic guitarist Martin Moylan, performed original and traditional songs from Ireland, he is so talented and what a storyteller! One of his songs ‘Hello Little Man’ tells of his thoughts at the birth of his son, beautifully observed and would bring an empathetic tear to anyone’s eye. Martin was well known in the 1980’s, and it was a real privilege to get him to Langley Village Hall

Then the moment we had all been waiting for, Lisa Mills back on our postage stamp stage. She played to a packed and very appreciative audience singing country blues and southern soul but also gave us a good helping of popular songs such as ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ and had us all singing along. In between she told us about the background of her songs and stories of her wacky family and her mothers love of Elvis who paid her the highest compliment by saying she sung like Elvis and that she didn’t really like female singers. She admitted she sang better after a snifter of Jamiesons but she learnt that it was taboo to ask for it when in Scotland! Her next album will be made up of songs she found written down in her late mothers notebook all familiar to her since her childhood.

After the show as we were stacking the chairs along the walls I spoke to a couple who had come all the way from Leigh, Lancashire to see her. We look forward to her return to Langley Village Hall and the return of good health to Nigel.

Viv Warrington