Bright Spark...

Photo by Jason R. Burgess

Heather Enid Wells (bass), Pete Allen (drums) and John Bartram (guitar)

Bright Spark formed in 2004 on Guy Fawkes' Night, 5th November (hence the name) and began gigging two months later. We have two identities, one as a working live band with a busy date-sheet, playing mainly functions, clubs and festivals, and the other as studio recording artistes, writing, arranging and producing our own original tracks for release on Travelling Records. You can get an idea of both sides of Bright Spark from our video presentation by multimedia artist Jason R. Burgess.

Our live playlist consists mainly of well known songs and instrumentals, centred on the 1950s-60s and featuring instrumental and vocal harmony work typical of that era, but also encompassing other times and styles such as rock'n'roll, blues, ballroom, ballads, country and skiffle.

Our debut album, Here Comes the Rain, Mama! with twelve original tracks and a glossy full-colour 12-page booklet of artwork, lyrics and info, was launched in March 2007, to excellent reviews (see Linda Barrington-Smith's four-star review from the EDP Event magazine below!). On the Bright Spark CD page you can play clips of all the tracks, read more reviews, and buy this and other CDs via Paypal. Tracks from the CD have featured on BBC Radio Norfolk and several other stations, also on web-based radio. We also have our own MySpace and NorwichCore pages, and a page and music on international music download site SoundClick, where we've had three different songs from our album in the Top Twenty of their respective genre charts.

Listen now! Click the title of any track you'd like to hear, and choose hi-fi for broadband, or lo-fi if you're on dial-up. At present these songs are also still available for free mp3 download.

Here Comes the Rain, Mama! The title track of the album, which reached No.14 out of 2,360 songs in the BritPop chart on SoundClick.

Don't You Know Who I Am? John Bartram's heart-rending but witty ballad with a great melody, harmony-building choruses and two-guitar solo break reached No.2 in the Pop:Ballad chart on SoundClick.

The Imposter Bluesy guitar instrumental. This version, from our Golden Years album, was recorded on a Gibson 335. There's a different version on a Telecaster on the Here Comes the Rain, Mama! album.

The World Sings for You An unusual track, part song, part instrumental, written by John Bartram after the loss of a dear friend. The closing track of the Here Comes the Rain, Mama! album.

Evie (demo version) A melodic instrumental featuring electric and acoustic guitars. This was written by John to celebrate the arrival of Pete's first grandchild, and the completed version will be on our next CD.

Bright Spark are one of the busiest and most versatile bands in the area, and we'd love to see you at any of our public gigs, or to come and play for you and your guests at your private function. We are proud of our reputation, not only for our professional attitude and standard of musicianship, but for our reliability, versatility and adaptability at a competitive price. Unlike many other function bands whose ability has to be taken on trust, Bright Spark are happy to be seen playing in public by prospective clients. So, when you need a band for your wedding, your parents' or your own anniversary, a birthday, retirement party, a dinner-dance, club-night or other function, please request a promo-pack by emailing .

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