Callum Pickard and the Third Look
by Pete Clemons
The main body of the church may not have survived the years but its adjoining tower, Christchurch Spire, still stands proudly as one of Coventry’s ‘three spires’ when viewed as a part the city skyline.
Today, within its gothic arches, ornate structures and cavernous ceiling, you can find a unique café bar. It is the aptly named ‘Inspires’. And on most Saturday evenings the venue plays host to some of the finest bands and artists Coventry has on offer today.
Hosts, Electric Church Music, recently staged a superb gig by Callum Pickard and the Third Look. The band consisting of Callum (guitars / vocals), Daniel Duveen (Drums and Keys), Daniel Murtagh (Lead Guitar), Laurence (Loz) Pettit (Synths / Guitars / Vocals) and Mathew Sharkey (Bass) is sounding very impressive now.
The bands confidence is growing by the gig and a good example of this is demonstrated by the improvisation within the songs. The music is strangely relaxing and very laid back and, at the same time, there really is some sublime soloing happening. But when music needs to tighten up again they all pull together as a unit.
The Third Look’s set list, which was really slick and included tunes such as Lampshade, Driving Through Empty Skies, Hoard the Pieces, Latest Rivalry, Follow the Sign, Revise the Moments, Forever Never, Lonely Boy And Girl and ended with the Callum’s latest single, June. The audience, some familiar with the songs, appeared to be really tuned into the group.
Incredibly, Callum has been writing songs and playing guitar for almost ten years now and he is still only 21. The bands reputation also appears to be growing. Gigs in Birmingham, for example, are being arranged on a regular basis. And several festivals have approached the band.
Callum, along with some of the other band members, has recently returned from a 15 day visit to the United States. While there they met, at first hand, Brian Joseph the producer of his latest single and CJ Camieiri and Shane Leonard who also collaborated in it.
Now these names might not be instantly recognisable over here but in the U.S. they are well known by fans of the likes of Paul Simon, Bon Iver, The Staves and Sufjan Stevens as these all assist in the production of the music by these artists. And now Callum has caught their collective attentions.
After flying out to New York on they moved on to Minneapolis for a short while then took the bus to the Eau Claires festival. After the festival they spent time in Chicago for a couple of days before returning home.
I am not big on bold predictions but, when listening to Callum and his band play live, I can’t help but think that it is only a matter of time now.
Finally, as unique a place it is, gigs in venues such as Inspires, will hopefully continue to serve the local music scene for a long time to come.
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