This gig at Temperance was Chloe Josephine’s first since she left Brave Rival at the end of 2024, and as she commented this was a rebirth and start to the new musical chapter in her life. In this she is supported by her husband Jon Parkins on guitar.
Here is my Full Image Gallery of Chloe Jon & Thomas performing.
She didn’t disappoint and put on a spectacular show showing her more sensitive and emotive side of her but with brilliant vocals with brilliant range and dexterity.
She had released a solo album in 2023 called ‘Colours’ but most of this material was written in 2019 before COVID delayed its release. She hopes to release an EP/album later this year with the lots of the new material.
So, the show included a couple of numbers from the ‘Colours’ album but the rest was mostly newly written material in the blues and soul style, along with a couple of covers.
Before Chloe came on stage, to a room filled with Brave Rival and other interested supporters, Thomas Heppell took to the stage.
Thomas’s profile has been raising during the last couple of years and he (and his band) gave a very raw and enthusiastic performance at the UK Blues Challenge in late 2024.
He has a great blues voice to go with his bluesy slide guitar playing and he thrilled the crowds with songs such as ‘Don’t Get My Blues’ with its slower pace and ‘Hey Victoria’ which is a story about a girl that did not replicate his feelings back.
He gave the audience a song played live for the first time with ‘What the World Wants’ with its soulful and passionate vocals. As ever the showman Thomas got the crowd involved with ‘John the Revelator’ and finished with a BB King song ‘Every Day I got the Blues’ which showed his great vocal dexterity.
After a short break, Chloe & Jon took to the intimate stage where Chloe told the audience she was vulnerable and a bit nervous but ready for this new chapter.
The first song ‘Keyboard Warrior’ was inspired by friends who struggled with online dating and inappropriate messages, which demonstrated her passionate and powerful vocal style superbly backed by her husband Jon on guitar. Jon, as he said, is not a professional musician and this gig was the longest he had ever been on a stage, but he didn’t disappoint supporting Chloe’s vocals.
As Chloe told the audience 2025 was the year she was going to look after herself more, after over 125 nights away in 2024 with Brave Rival. The next song ‘Recognise’ was about having healthier boundaries with a nod to the Brave Rival song ‘Stars Upon My Scars’, the song had passionate vocals and echoey guitar from Jon.
One of the great things about Chloe is her stage presence and facial gestures and vocal range, which was demonstrated well on the Joan Armatrading song 'The Weakness In Me' with Thomas Heppell joining on second guitar.
As Chloe then commented ‘I have finished the heartache section and we're now onto the soppy songs, as I am a very romantic person and tree hugger!’
Then we had the first of the songs from the ‘Colours’ album with ‘Mind Up’ with its great blues/soul vocals and was about the time she was single and going out with several people, and as part of that, met and fell in love with Jon. This included being brave and travelling all by herself to Melbourne, Australia and New York, USA where Jon was away on business over a six-month period.
After getting back together and moving in together in the UK, they wrote ‘Temporary’ which is a slow and passionate song showing the passion between them, showing Chloe’s vocal dexterity with Jon on acoustic guitar.
Chloe then read out a poem she wrote called ‘Artist and a Mother’ which is about her daughter, and both suffering from COVID, before touring again with Brave Rival after only 8 weeks after childbirth. This led into ‘Motherhood’ and the journey through mothering a child and coping with life. A slow song with lovely echoey vocals and melodic guitar.
The next section had two older songs with the first about an old friend battling cancer and another friend who lost her husband sadly from what turned out to be COVID. ‘Breathe Like Me’ is a slow, soulful plaintive, passionate song with electric guitar backing the vocals perfectly. This was followed by another sad song ’See Me Now’ about a friends Dad who struggled with mental health and alcoholism, with the song lyrics powerfully sung by Chloe.
With reference to the second Brave Rival album ‘Fight or Flight’ the next song ‘In the Cards’ was about the tarot cards brilliantly created by Alice Armstrong on the album’s cover and about how Chloe was portrayed as Flight. The song had blues/soulful vocals with echoey guitar from Jon.
For the final few songs, Thomas Heppell joined again and on the first song ‘Getting Friendly’ both guitarists with slide on an upbeat song which Chloe sang with passion. Next was what Chloe called a mental song with ‘Different Set of Bones’ with the two guitars complimenting her bluesy/soulful voice.
We finished with the sassy song ‘I wear What I want To’ with great audience participation, which had a standing ovation before the encore of ‘Feels Like Forever’.
