Tessa Bickers profile picture

Tessa Bickers

I talk too much

About Me

"Bickers's Tracy Chapman-inflected vocals are engaging enough, but it is her more understated material that is most striking" Venue Magazine
"There are many singer songwriters that are highly entertaining, there are a good number that can move me. There are significantly less that are capable of doing both to a high degree. Tessa Bickers is in that small number" www.fatea.freeserve.co.uk
In the Dark "would bring a tear to a glass eye" NME Magazine
On Pot Luck:
"This haunting, ethereal collection of songs with surprisingly mature, thoughtful lyrics is my favourite CD by a female singer/songwriter in many, many moons. Southwest England’s Tessa Bickers is the female Damien Rice and competition for Tori Amos." PartyinKingston.com

"Pot Luck" shows an artist that is starting to fulfill her promise. Fatea Records
On The Hangover Sessions:
"Rather than face the world, Tessa sat down with her guitar, and a cider enduced headache, to write what I think is one of the finest songcycles I've heard in a while." Fatea Records.

TESSA'S MUSIC:
Tessa Bickers interviews celebrities by day and tries to be one by night!
Inspired by artists including Tracy Chapman and Eva Cassidy Tessa went out and bought a guitar between two lectures at Bournemouth University and taught herself to play. Now, at the age of 26, she’s decided to take it seriously.
Signing up to indie record label Smalldog, owned by fellow singer/songwriter from Bristol, Caroline Martin, Tessa released her debut album Pot Luck, which has received rave reviews from fans and magazines alike. NME Magazine said it “would bring a tear to a glass eye”, while PartinKingston.com said it was their “favourite CD by a female singer/songwriter in many, many moons.” She’s also building up quite a following on the live music scene having spent the past year gigging in every available venue from churches to children’s parties, with a few festivals in between.
Tessa’s already had the honour of supporting artists including Nick Harper, Judie Tsuke and The Inspiral Carpets and was one of a few UK artists to be flown out for Holland’s Acoustic Music Festival in April. She was voted one of the top 15 Unsigned Aritsts of 2006 by listeners of 'From the Underground' and her song 'Chasing Shadows' was one of the requested on their radio station. Her song 'Under the Skies' reached the final ten of the folk section in O2 Unsigned, and her anti war song 'In the Dark' was used by George Galloway’s political party, Respect, for its campaign.
Tessa is the granddaughter of World War II Fighter Ace Sir Douglas Bader made infamous by the film based on his life, Reach For the Skies. When she’s not gigging you can normally find her at the bar drinking cider. The results of that can be heard on her self-released EP The Hangover Sessions.
Tessa has now teamed up with the incrediby lovely, incredibly talented Mr Al O'Kane to perform and record a duo album. When they're not playing you can normally find them both at the bar drinking cider!
ABOUT TESSA:
I love music, I like musicals, I like Amsterdam, I love cider, I like cats & dogs (people say you have to like one more but I like both equally), I like walking, I like taking pictures of the sky and the sea, I love my friends and family, I love my Fender guitar (she's called Adah and is the most beautiful guitar in the world), I hate changing the strings on my guitar, I love watching gigs, I dislike watching bad gigs and having to pretend to like them, I like chicken, I love writing songs, I like writing poetry, I prefer autumn and winter to spring and summer, I like the smell of fires burning (not ones I've started, I'm not an arsonist, I mean log fires), I love stripes, I love Dusty Springfield, I love Sylvia Plath, I love morris dancers, I love Converse trainers, I love my imac computer, I love my CD collection, I like buying presents for my dog and watching him play with them, I dislike giving humans presents and watching them pretend to like them, I love The Alchemist, I love The Little Prince, I dislike George Bush, I dislike seeing someone I care about upset, I like seeing someone I care about smile, I love toast, I love bed, I love afternoon naps, I love my hot water bottle, I love hot Ribena, I like orchids, I love Bob Geldof, I like Burberry perfume and I'm ashamed to admit I like Britney's too, I love all types of tea, I love The Notebook, I love Shadowlands, I love Memoirs of a Geisha , I love seeing old couples holding hands, I like meeting new people, I love the feeling of falling in love, I dislike having my heart broken, I like that having my heart broken makes me write more songs, I dislike that I can't write happy songs, I like that I surprise people because they always think I'm miserable because I write sad songs when I'm actually very happy, I love Ani DiFranco's lyrics, I love to laugh, I love to make people laugh, I love text messages, I especially love soppy text messages, I like watching people (not in a creepy way), I like sitting in cafe's on my own, I like watching people watch me sit on my own as they try to work out what's wrong with me and why I'm on my own, I like wearing rings and chunky bracelets, I like it when people make me friendship bracelets (yes that's a hint), I love being made mix cds, I dislike any type of discrimination, I love the innocence of children, I love cookies, I love driving, I love that my friends hate my driving, I liked my car (it was yellow and it was called Maisie), I dislike that I had to sell my car to move to London, I love The L Word, I like walking on beaches, I dislike getting sand in my eye, I love buying jackets, I love the book I'm reading right now 'Dalai Lama, An Open Heart' it's cool, I like walking down empty streets, I dislike being told something when I can tell the person saying it doesn't mean it, I love getting my haircut, I dislike it when hairdressers hands smell of cigarettes, I love the pub, if I'm drunk I will probably tell you I love you... that might not always be true.
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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/15/2006
Band Website: tessabickers.com
Band Members:
ALBUM:

Pot Luck

Track listings:


1. Slide 2. Don't Hold On 3. Leave it Behind 4. Pick Me Up 5. Pot Luck 6. Chasing Shadows 7. Waiting 8. Take Me Away 9. False Promise 10. Under the Skies 11. Twenty four

11-track CD. Released on Smalldog Records
£10.00 GBP/$19.45 USD/14.75 EUR/24.8 AUD (postage & packaging included)

Click on the PayPal button below to place your order


A drawing of me by the very talented singer songwriter Mr Jack Bird during a weird gig in Glastonbury

Here's another drawing by the very talented Jen Leonard

Now for the alternative cover for Pot Luck designed by the wonderful Evil Gazebo

And a great one by Robert Sandford

If you'd like to draw me a picture for my myspace page please get in touch!
Influences: Anyone who's hurt me, anyone who's made me smile, love, life, everything in between, cider, hangovers, insomnia, a walk in the fields, an evening with friends, a drive in my car, Caroline Martin, Sylvia Plath, Heather Nova, The Dalai Lama, my mum
Sounds Like: I spend my life getting my heart broken and then sit in my room and write about it, when really I just can't write happy songs!
Record Label: Smalldog
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

A Day in the Life...

I was asked to write a 'brief' day in the life about my current job but I got a little carried away. Thought I'd share it with you just for fun....There's nothing worse than hearing the words "Tessa, ...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:43:00 PST

Songs and things!

Eugh, I'm so glad it's half way through the week. It's dragging by but maybe that's because I'm switching between shifts and the weekend seems a very long way away. Should be a good one though. It was...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:59:00 PST

THREE NEW SONGS - DOWNLOAD FOR FREE

Yay!!! Pestering really does pay off! I now have copies of three new songs Al and I have recorded and they're up on my page to download for free. Please do comment and let me know what you think of th...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:17:00 PST

New songs, new gigs, new start...

Hello, I know I've vanished off the face of the earth recently but I intend to be back with a vengeance very shortly!! It's weird how life can suddenly distract you from the things that really matter ...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:24:00 PST

Glastonbury, a wedding and a funeral...

A lot of you have been messaging to ask me how Glastonbury Festival was so rather than reply to you all in person (except you Rob - I'll do that after this!! ha... favouritism!) I thought I'd do a lit...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:27:00 PST

Busy busy bee bee...

Helloooo... is there anybody out there.... I'd be surprised as I have pretty much vanished off the face of the earth and for that I truly apologise. I started a new job and I've let things slide and l...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:26:00 PST

Change, change, change...

"You're horrible when you're bored, I'd forgotten"... those were the words of my mother last night when I popped in to say hello. It's true. I am vile. Which is unfortunate as last Monday I began a mo...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:52:00 PST

The Band Name.... Revealed!!! (For now...)

Firstly hello and thank you for all your lovely, amusing, ingenius suggestions for what Al and I should name our band. We've so far performed two gigs as "Tess and Al" or "Al and Tess" (we can't even ...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:58:00 PST

Oh no... she’s hyper again!!

Goooood morning, afternoon, evening, depending where you are in the world and what time it is when you read this (you could have probably worked that out for yourself, couldn't you?!) I hope you all h...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:37:00 PST

Christmas Songs

I'm sitting at home in my woolly hat and scarf because our heating's packed up and yet I still have a warm glow inside because it's Christmas... or perhaps because I just drank a cup of hot Ribena?! E...
Posted by Tessa Bickers on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:47:00 PST