Bearded’s Guide To… Devon

23 year old Ben Howard is one of England's best kept folk secrets; his blend of dream weaving lyrics and powerful guitar chord progressions provide the listener with a mixture of emotions that sends them into a state of pure bliss. Currently on an extensive tour of Europe (soon to play various venues and festivals in France and Netherlands) Ben is well on his way to becoming a top choice for UK festivals such as Hop Farm or Glastonbury.

Heavily influenced by artists Joni Mitchell, John Martyn and Jeff Buckley; it's strange how he hasn't become more of a known artist, his beautiful live performances with cellist India Bourne, and percussionist Chris Bond are awe inspiring; his interaction with his fellow members as well as audience members shows that this young beach side surfer is truly a kind soul that simply wants to show the world what he was born to do.

Supporting some of his personal favourite artists such as Xavier Rudd, Angus and Julia Stone and playing a set with Jason Mraz; Ben can do no wrong at this moment in time. Acoustic tracks such as ‘The Wolves’, ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Old Pine’ hit hard to the audience when they listen upon the young traveller. With hints of artists like Stephen Fretwell and Elbow in his tunes, Ben Howard may be deemed as entirely folk at this moment and throughout his career but until his debut album is released only then can we tell what his true sound is. Whether he adapts and drags in influences from other artists is simply unknown as of now.

Ben's debut EP These Waters is available on Itunes, Amazon, Play,com and other music distributed websites. He can also be found on Myspace.

Exeter is still blaring out artists of the hardcore punk degree; next is one of southwest's best punk bands at the moment The Computers. Forming in 2006, The Computers have excelled at a great rate in the hardcore punk scene; playing the Lock Up stage at Reading Festival, and supporting many artists and bands across the country, they show no signs of slowing down until they are considered one of the best that the genre provides to the world. Having just finished supporting Gay for Johnny Depp on tour, and supporting The Buzzcocks in Milton Keynes in April, The Computers should prepare themselves for bigger things a lot sooner than they first thought.

A lengthened career for this band is definitely on the cards; their live shows are ones to watch, expect mosh pits, extreme dynamics, larynx destroying screaming, and crowd participation, their gigs create a real buzz. Soon to play Camden Crawl, and promote the release of their latest single ‘Group Identity’ The Computers have no fear about being shunted out of the punk scene.

Find them at www.myspace.com/thisisthecomputers as well as their website www.thisisthecomputers.com