AT the request of Funeral For A Friend Jonah Matranga's Onelinedrawing will be opening for the Bridgend rockers in Newport City Live Arena next month.

The night before, theyre playing a headline date to warm up, on Friday, May 7. The venue for this has yet to be confirmed but keep a look-out on www.thevolunteers. com.

Far from Funeral For A Friend's Iron Maidenesque jigs, Onelinedrawing are a delicate acoustic affair.

Songs like But It Was Close are desperately sensitive but nicely displayed, like Coldplay with a touch of the Badly Drawn Boys. The band began as an outlet for the artist's more silent, heartfelt moments as he fronted the Sacramento-based proto-rock band Far in the late 90s.

After releasing the achingly honest Visitor (Jade Tree) in 2002 Matranga spent a full year on the road, touring non-stop with the likes of emo heart throbs Thursday, youth crew prog-rockers Coheed and Camberia, and an ever-wistful Dashboard Confessional.

He released a second album, The Volunteers, on Jade Tree, on Monday, April 12, to some acclaim.

Jonah describes it as "Somewhere between Nick Drake and Cheap Trick, or like a boy Sinead O'Connor before all that Pope business, which I actually thought was really cool, though it seems like everyone hated her for it. I enjoy mistakes and embarrassing passion."

Jonah will play solo. Expect long faces from some of the metal crowd. Onelinedrawing support Funeral For A Friend in Newport City Live Arena on Saturday, May 8.