Blur guitarist headlines at Birmingham's English Originals Weekend

May 13 2010 by Andrew Coleman, Birmingham Post

Blur guitarist Graham Coxon has something of an identity crisis. He fronts his own band – but is not necessarily a frontman.

The 41-year-old musician is using this weekend’s English Originals festival in Birmingham to give one last outing to his acclaimed 2009 album, The Spinning Top, with his Power Ensemble headlining Saturday night’s show at the Town Hall.

In Blur, Coxon said he felt comfortable just being the guitar player, leaving frontman duties to Damon Albarn.

“I’ve grown in confidence a little bit,’’ he admits when asked about fronting his Power Ensemble.

“But I’m not really a performer in that way, I’m not really a showy frontman. My confidence will never be as huge as Damon’s. It’s just not me. I like to give people a really good blast of sound rather than be Max Boyce or someone.

‘‘I know there are frontmen who are really great who are guitar players – Paul Weller and the chap from Muse – but I don’t know whether they do an awful lot of stirring up the audience, or a lot of talk. I think it’s about performance with guitar players.”

Coxon adds: ‘‘I think the Birmingham show will be the last one of its kind, a chance for me to give it a go again then say goodbye to the album. It will be mainly acoustic but with some interludes of electric mayhem.’

‘‘I started the album with just a core group of a jazz drummer, a jazz bass player and me. I slowly expanded the band till last November when I did big shows in Manchester, Edinburgh and London.”

On stage with Coxon and his seven-strong Power Ensemble will be big hitters Martin Carthy and Robyn Hitchcock.

‘‘Martin is a big inspiration for me and Robyn is a kindred spirit, being a slightly awkward English folk, psychedelic kind of obsessive.