Page, but no plant!

Short of striking us all deaf, Steve Sutherland wonders whether there’s anything more the Gods might do to kill of music forever. Then he discovers the Swamp Ash

- Steve Sutherland

If it’s true that the devil really does have all the best tunes, Him or Her Upstairs has been pretty darn slow doing anything about it. Until now, that is...

Covid – the modern-day equivalent of the Biblical plague of locusts or The Flood – has obviously pretty much done for live music – venues are shut, many never to reopen, nightclubs being circled by property developers keen to build more pricey flats and carparks.

The recording industry’s not going such great guns either, with pressing plants under the Covid cosh and studio schedules disrupted by the rules dictating who and how many can gather together in confined spaces. Not to mention the shops, mostly shuttered to the public, so unless you’re one of the lucky ones who’s found a way to make money from online sales, you’re nigh-on scuppered. And now, on top of all this, it seems the Supreme Being has finally delivered his/her ultimate coup de gras by putting the kibosh on the Swamp Ash.