Since first appearing on the scene with their Gallagher brother posters last October, the lads behind Supersonic have come to embody the burgeoning ambition in our local scene. After a few months of their popular Britpop club night, they successfully expanded in February with their first foray into the realm of live gigs. And this fortnight, on top of welcoming the legendary Mani to our shores (see p73), they’re launching their new Acoustic Sessions series with an unplugged appearance by Englishman Jersey Budd.

While Budd’s connections (he’s down with Britpop heavyweights and fellow Leicesterites Kasabian as well as Noel Gallagher, you know) and his overgrown, ear-obscuring tresses might suggest something more in line with classic Oasis or Blur, the 25-year-old singer and guitarist’s sound is not so much Brit as American – a Springsteen-, Mellencamp- and Tom Petty-esque brand of classic rock that comes authenticated by a bluesy North American vocal twang, as well as a name every bit as memorable as his stylistic predecessors (although he’s only ‘Jersey’ by virtue of deed-poll, which is a lot more rock’n’roll than his original name: Joe).

On the back of his debut album, 2009’s Wonderlands – a record his fans helped pay for via the phenomenon of Bandstocks  (www.bandstocks.com) – Budd has graced the hallowed British fields of Glastonbury, has continued to nurture a growing live rep, and is planning to join Scottish songstress Amy MacDonald on a series of UK dates before he hits up the summer fests.
But The Melting Pot is his next destination, where he’ll join Chochukmo and Of Moths & Stars. If Supersonic’s ambition is anything to go by, it’s the kind of promising line up we should start getting used to.

Mark Tjhung

Tickets: 9616 2075, www.supersonic-hk.com.

Jersey Budd plays Supersonic: Acoustic Sessions on March 3 at The Melting Pot.