Meet the artist:
South Wales based Singer-songwriter Frankie Wesson started writing songs and performing in her hometown of Abergavenny at the age of 16. Raised on artists like Alanis Morisette, Eva Cassidy and Stevie Nicks. Wesson also takes inspiration from a mix of contemporary artists such as Deaf Havana, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Gabrielle Aplin. Producing intimate, emotionally raw, yet laid-back music with a pop/folk/rock feel. Her versatile vocal range and talent for emotive, relatable song writing makes for captivating live performances and songs that’ll soon become part of your musical diet. Frankie’s original songs have been featured on BBC Radio 6 and BBC Introducing as well as Spotify’s ‘Chilled Pop Hits’ and ‘New Music Friday’ playlists. Frankie and her band performed at Monmouth Festival, How The Light Gets In – in Hay On Wye and London, Coleford Music Festival, Swansea Fringe, Abergavenny Pride, AMFest, Abergavenny Arts Festival, Rock The Barn and many more as well as live on numerous radio stations and countless gigs in and around Wales and England.
As far as musical cliches go, I have met Frankie Wesson in a classical A&R style. I entered a random pub and there she was entertaining the crowd, with the charismatic guitar player Ruby Ravelle by her side. The duo were absolutely on fire that night, having wrapped the entire audience around their fingers, serving a mix of covers and original tunes. Every time Frankie initiated a well-known song, the venue followed in unison, at times drowning her vocals out. Own compositions were being listened to with due attention and loud ovations at the end. I don’t know many musicians who can command the crowd with such an ease.
Fierce and bold on stage, Frankie turned out to be soft spoken and almost shy when we met after the gig. She and Ruby settled into a corner sofa sharing a drink and exchanged post performance observations in a melodic, strong Welsh accent. For some reason Frankie reminded me of young Cerys Matthews that night. More “Sweet Catatonia” than “Road Rage” but no doubt she was on her way to become an artist you cannot just forget.
I’ve been reminded of our small history recently as Frankie released the new single to round off a busy year. And I love these late in the year records because there`s only so many Christmas songs one can bear. Give me original and well produced songs any time of the year and I`m a happy camper.
“Just Friends” is a great way to get into Frankie Wesson`s music if you haven’t had the pleasure yet to be introduced to this Abergavenny singer-songwriter. It brings together all the elements that make her such a force of nature: passion, vocal abilities, lyrics derived from real life and an almost superhuman ability to connect with the listeners.
Cinematic and lyrical, the song tells a story of falling for your (straight) best friend. You are always there for them, rushing to their help at any given moment and before you know it – bang, you are in love. Now how do you let them know? This is obviously a universal problem but it does get more complicated for gay, les, non-binary and bi/pan folks out there. Same sex attraction is a constant theme in Frankie`s works – trying not only to enshrine it in music and lyrics but also analyse it from artistic point of view. Believe it or not, we are still not having that many songs that deal with LGBTQ+ subject matters, even less written by members of our community. So, in a way “Just Friends” fills quite an important gap in the heteronormative industry.
Frankie has been described as Welsh Tracy Chapman and I can see why. She tells her stories from the heart and perspectives of ordinary, often working-class people. There is charm in the straightforward approach, which is not only a signature feature of Tracy Chapman, but also other great artists such as Bruce Springsteen (think “Human Touch”) or Billy Joel (think “Uptown Girl”). But don’t be fooled into thinking that Frankie is simplistic is what she does. Her songwriting is layered, often including tempo changes, choruses and harmonic chord progressions. She not only has a keen eye for observation and talent for putting feelings to words, but she is also a damn good guitarist herself. Like other multi-tasking women on stage (Paul Cole, Natalie Merchant, Ayo or Joan Osbourne) Frankie brings to the table a multitude of skills and ideas – beautifully executed, captivating and fresh.
“Just Friends” has been recorded in AR Studios in Herefordshire (The Archivists, Tarion) and was produced by Ryan Jordan. He also contributed drums and percussion to the track. Electric guitar and bass were performed and arranged by Ruby Ravelle. I have already mentioned her in this review, but what you may not know about Ruby is that she is one of the best guitarists of her generation on the indie circuit and she could easily compete with her sisters in shredding such as Claire Genoud (Glytsh) or Becky Baldwin (Hands Off Gretel). She could tour with international acts if she wished to with the same ease as she plays local pubs. Don’t underestimate if you ever have the opportunity to share stages with her. Ruby is also experienced tarotist and astrologer, which would surely make her instant friends with Bonnie Bloomgarden of Death Valley Girls, who runs a podcast about the paranormal (damn, now I want these two to make something together, that would be a hell of a rock and roll podcast).
“Just Friends” is promoted with a video that shows Frankie running a grass roots venue (in real life it is a wonderful Kahve Café in Abergavenny – we have been and we recommend), organizing an open mic night and finding love at the same time. Not only a heart-warming love story with a moral (creepers are shown their place) but also an important message. Local pubs and venues have been facing an onslaught for a long time from developers and noise complaints. But in Wales they also serve as common rooms for the community, places of meetings for generations and taking them away means not just loneliness of inhabitants of the Welsh villages but also damaging the artistic fabric in society in a country that is called the Land of the Song. You think Cool Cymru appeared out of thin air? Think again. The video was directed and filmed by Honey McKenna (“Charlie”, “From South America to South Wales”).
People tend to sneer at Welsh music, but there is nothing to laugh about. On the contrary – the current Welsh scene offers some of the best music around and in my book performs better than many established scenes around the country. They don’t live in the past and do not bicker among themselves – they create amazing music and they share it with the world. Like Frankie Wesson does.
And having written all of the above now I have a bad case of hiraeth.
You can follow Frankie Wesson and her band on socials:
http://www.frankiewessonmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/frankiewessonmusic
https://twitter.com/FrankieMayJones
https://www.instagram.com/frankiewesson/
https://soundcloud.com/frankiewesson
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZWxoAHLNVfiTH0IzRaSs2A
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3SBpmZcOOC9HkUEJVR11QT
Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 
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