Intimate is a great word to describe the bar of the Cheltenham Playhouse. Amidst an array of posters for productions of plays (Death of a Salesman and Guys and Dolls), a series of low tables are placed around the room with seats littered around them. Welcome to Calmer!

Chilled Out:

The Calmer evenings have been going since March 2003 and have proved a very popular addition to the Cheltenham music scene. After Martin Williams had achieved no little success with his band, Silverman, playing more chilled out gigs around the country, he thought he would try to replicate the atmosphere by setting up Calmer.

It is a winning formula and, as a result, he is keen to keep the standard as high as possible. There is a huge concentration on quality control. He doesn't say it, but it's clear that riff-raff will not be welcome. Good!

Carry on Leo:

The first act on is Leo Saunders. There is a beautiful, tender vibrato in his voice. His opening song is not one of his own but he is 'not sure who it is by'. Helpful, to say the least.

Regarding his own songs, there is a great deal of sophistication. They range from observational lyrics such as 'In my eyes you see a child' to a rather startling songs about 'being in the mind of a pyromaniac'.

He is the God of Hell and Fire.....

The Pyromaniac Song, as it probably isn't called, is a rather worrying affair. Leo Saunders would be ill advised to play it too often otherwise he will cause a lot of worry among his friends. 'Give me the flame/all things burn the same' is just one lyrical case in point.

The songs are delivered with a variety of moods, temperaments and styles, even within the space of the same tune. One moment yelping, the other letting his voice soar, the next just singing gently. At times it is peaceful, at others he sounds as if he is in agony - albeit a tuneful, harmonic kind of agony.

Musical Craftsman:

Leo Saunders treats his guitar - and through that his songs - with the delicate love of a father for his child, even when his lyrics are angry:

'You drove me in then pushed me away/what the hell am I supposed to say?' runs one line of 'Sleep' the last song of his set. For an evening that has been given the name "Calmer", this man is anything but. Passionate and witty, but hardly calm.

Getting On Your Goat!

Next up comes Susanna Waters. There is a beautiful simplicity to her music: just her pure voice and a gently plucked guitar. Although afterwards, she tells me that she's looking to broaden her sound by adding a piano and cello to the mix.

Her songs are often 'rants about things that get my goat'. One such example is "Shopping". There's a jazzy syncopated rhythm to it - with just a hint of Aimee Mann lurking in the background. 'You may think you're making choices/but they're getting you to spend, spend, spend,' she sings.

Other ranty songs featured are "Obsession" ('We've all got them,' she adds, by way of introduction) and "Move in the Dark" (about not being able to be with the one you want to be with all the time).

Life in the Slow Lane:

Her set ends with "Change Down a Gear", a series of pithy bits of advice for the Prozac Generation: 'Worry not about the bills that come in' and 'Stand tall on your own/knowing anywhere can be your home'. It is, by her own admission, a song as much for herself as for anyone else. 'Taking your own advice is always the hardest thing,' she explains. It may be clichéd, but like most clichés, it's true.

Well Travelled:

Talking to Susanna afterwards, it transpires that she is well travelled. She comes from Oxford originally, but started singing in Newcastle and is now based in Bristol.

She has played a variety of festivals and concerts and is looking forward to playing at the Glastonbury Festival later this year. 'It's not like I'm on the main stage or anything,' she says. 'I'm just playing in one of the pubs, nearby.'

Beautiful Girl:

"Just" is not a good word. Especially when it comes from a talent such as Susanna. She has proved to be a popular performer here at Calmer. With her CD "Beautiful Boy" available to buy now, another album due out by the end of the year and a plethora of festival and concert performances in the near future, there will plenty of opportunity to become familiar with this songstress.

Talk of the Town:

Next comes Earnest Cox. The headliners. Being a chilled out affair, the band find themselves seated on the rather small platform in front of us. Christmas lights bedeck the drum kit adding an untimely festive feel.

Tonight, the ranks have been swelled by Rhianne on backing vocals and Barnabus Morse-Brown an Oxford based Cellist and frontman of his own band. His Cello playing adds a profound sadness to the already deeply sad songs of Earnest Cox's repertoire, but it also lifts some of the more upbeat songs too.

The set list has been designed to celebrate the recently released E.P. "The Trouble With Love". All three of the E.P.'s tracks are featured, along with "Oh Happy Day" and "Two Can Play" from last year's debut.

Calm but Funky:

Despite the prerequisite quietness that Calmer calls for, the band do up the ante a little, offering some of their funkier tunes into the mix. "Scratchin'" is as good an example as any. It's all about 'things that get under your skin', La, the vocalist, explains. 'Scratchin' the Same Old Itch' go the song lyrics.

There's a funky busy-ness to it as the guitars chug their way beneath La's singing. This is hardly Calm either. Perhaps Mr. Williams should consider changing the name of these gigs. The song "Two Can Play" is subdued - but only slightly.

According to guitarist Marc, they weren't going to do it tonight, but during a rehearsal he was playing with the bass riff when guest Cellist, Barnabus, joined in. The result was good, so here it is.

Shiny Happy Coxes?

It's a surprisingly upbeat affair. True, miserabilists are catered for in the haunting, poignant songs such as "World of Snow" and "The Trouble With Love", but there are plenty of smiles as well - particularly in the form of "Coldwater Music", an upbeat, positive song. Is this really Earnest Cox we are listening to?

For an encore, we get "Stuntman Shoes". Why this song was not featured on the E.P. Will remain a mystery. It is a gorgeous song: 'Don't tell me I'm the one who's winning when I've got so much to lose,' La sings in his vulnerable, crack-at-any-moment voice.

A Good Thing:

It must be good. People are closing their eyes, listening to the lyrics intently. Either that or they've just dropped off into a quick snooze. I hope not.

And with that, the evening is over. It has been beautiful, poignant and all together lovely. 'We're doing a good thing here,' says Martin Williams as he makes his final MC speech. Who can argue with that?

26/04/04 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire under this link