Marina Allen
The Crescent, York
Sunday 12th February, 7.30pm
LA singer-songwriter Marina Allen is coming to York for the first time in February.
Marina Allen is a once-in-a-decade five-tool musician: She writs beautiful melodies and brilliant lyrics, expresses her ideas with an unusual voice of extraordinary depth and range, thinks in fanciful arrangements, and constantly navigates the knife-edge between too much and too little. Allen's fully formed and astonishingly confident debut, Candlepower is a suite of seven songs that was released on Fire Records to critical acclaim.
A rare and super talented newcomer, Marina embarked on her first UK tour last year and across the US has ben touring with Waxahatchee, Chris Cohen, Billie Marten, Mega Bog and Bedouine along with some special performances at this year's SXSW festival in Austin.
Based in Los Angeles, Allen is difficult to categorise, drawing influences as varied as Joanna Newsome, The Beach Boys, loft jazz, Meredith Monk and the New York avant-garde, Joni Mitchell, Karen Carpenter, Karen Dalton and Fiona Apple. Her music is intricate, fierce, soulful, mesmerising, warm and bold.
"I went into writing Centrifics knowing I wanted to give myself permission. I was fed up with hiding myself and a fierceness started to enter the songs, which I leaned into. The entire time I was writing, I just kept saying "yes", that was my only rule. In a way, these songs became a bridge for me to get to the other side and so Centrifics became aspirational. I threw the stone into the ocean as far as I could and then figured out how to swim to it. Instead of trying to get it perfect, the album works as a ladder to confront and hoist myself over all the hurdles, walls, setbacks and suffering. In that way imagination became a tool I desperately clung to rather than a place to recede."
A rare and super talented newcomer, Marina embarked on her first UK tour last year and across the US has ben touring with Waxahatchee, Chris Cohen, Billie Marten, Mega Bog and Bedouine along with some special performances at this year's SXSW festival in Austin.
Based in Los Angeles, Allen is difficult to categorise, drawing influences as varied as Joanna Newsome, The Beach Boys, loft jazz, Meredith Monk and the New York avant-garde, Joni Mitchell, Karen Carpenter, Karen Dalton and Fiona Apple. Her music is intricate, fierce, soulful, mesmerising, warm and bold.
"I went into writing Centrifics knowing I wanted to give myself permission. I was fed up with hiding myself and a fierceness started to enter the songs, which I leaned into. The entire time I was writing, I just kept saying "yes", that was my only rule. In a way, these songs became a bridge for me to get to the other side and so Centrifics became aspirational. I threw the stone into the ocean as far as I could and then figured out how to swim to it. Instead of trying to get it perfect, the album works as a ladder to confront and hoist myself over all the hurdles, walls, setbacks and suffering. In that way imagination became a tool I desperately clung to rather than a place to recede."
Tickets for this show are £9 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Shovel Dance Collective
Quinie
The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
Monday 13th February, 8pm
This young London-based group have just released their debut album - simultaneously traditional and experimental seems the perfect description.
Shovel Dance Collective are a group of nine musicians brought together by a communal passion for the folk musics of the British Isles, Ireland and beyond. They nurture and synthesise this material with sensibilities drawn from drone, free improvisation, contemporary classical and metal, weaving this through with a deep sense of the ways in which traditional music holds queer histories, proto-feminist narratives and the voices of those who by their labour create the wealth of the world. They are simultaneously traditional and experimental, seeing folk music not as an archaeological artefact to be unearthed, but as a living communal activity, inviting and generous to those it speaks to.
Tickets for this show are £10 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Sweet Baboo
Clémentine March
Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
Friday 3rd March, 7.30pm
Sweet
Baboo is the alter ego of North Walian musician and songwriter Stephen
Black. His career has spanned over 2 decades and has seen him release 6
albums to date to critical acclaim.
Listen to swoon-y new song 'Hopeless' here.
Listen to swoon-y new song 'Hopeless' here.
He is currently putting the finishing touches to a new record, his first in over 5 years which will be released in early 2023.
Sweet Baboo has not performed live since End of The Road Festival 2018 but that's not to say Black hasn't been busy. Most recently in Jan 2022 releasing and touring his second album as Group Listening entitled 'Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works Vol 2.' with pianist Paul Jones.
It’s been a long while and it’s exciting to finally have Sweet Baboo back.
'Beautifully judged (electronic) psych-pop record that hums with warmth'
Uncut magazine on 2017 Wild Imagination (Moshi Moshi Records)
'With a blend of humility and affection, Stephen Black, [is] a honey-voiced man with a goal of becoming the Harry Nilsson of Snowdonia.'
The Times on 2015 The Boombox Ballads (Moshi Moshi Records)
Sweet Baboo has not performed live since End of The Road Festival 2018 but that's not to say Black hasn't been busy. Most recently in Jan 2022 releasing and touring his second album as Group Listening entitled 'Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works Vol 2.' with pianist Paul Jones.
It’s been a long while and it’s exciting to finally have Sweet Baboo back.
'Beautifully judged (electronic) psych-pop record that hums with warmth'
Uncut magazine on 2017 Wild Imagination (Moshi Moshi Records)
'With a blend of humility and affection, Stephen Black, [is] a honey-voiced man with a goal of becoming the Harry Nilsson of Snowdonia.'
The Times on 2015 The Boombox Ballads (Moshi Moshi Records)
Clémentine March
French born British songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Clémentine March has released two albums so far on Lost Map Records, Le Continent (2020) and Songs Of Resilience (2021), both reflecting her multicultural roots (childhood spent in France, music learning in Brazil) and her preoccupations, loss, love and transcendence. Her music loosely reunites Caetano Veloso's melodies and Béla Bartók's chord progressions, Pavement and cheesy tunes from a late 20 Century TV set. Clémentine is currently preparing her third album, due to be released in 2023.
Clémentine also has played (mostly bass) with artists the likes of Dana Gavanski, Alabaster dePlume, Snapped Ankles, Floating World Pictures, Naima Bock, and many others.
Tickets for this show are £12.50 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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“A triumph” ★★★★½
“Remarkable" ★★★★
“Extraordinary”
You can get tickets online from here.
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Nadia Reid
Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds
Monday 6th March, 7.30pm
*This show is now sold out, thanks everybody!*
Acclaimed
New Zealand musician Nadia Reid is praised the world over for her
intimate, complex songwriting. She is described by The Guardian as ‘an
understated, wise guide through uncertain territory’ while her lyrics
are called ‘allegorical...brutally honest’ by The Revue. What brings
Reid's lyrics to life is her unique voice and accompanying soundscapes
that seem to at once evoke the rugged beaches and mountains of Aotearoa,
the Port Chalmers harbour of her home, and the roaming, open territory
of the road.
In March of 2020, Reid released her third full-length album ‘Out of My Province’ via her own label Slow Time Records in New Zealand and Spacebomb Records for the rest of the world. The Line of Best Fit declared it Reid’s “most polished album to date” with Uncut calling it "her best album yet”, awarding it 8/10. In New Zealand, Reid was then shortlisted for Silver Scroll Award (Top 5), 3 NZ Music Awards and most recently the Taite Music Prize (for the third time).
Reid has completed three European tours with long-time collaborator Sam Taylor, performed several times in New York City, and completed countless tours of New Zealand and Australia. In between recent Covid-19 lockdowns, she completed an Opera House & Theatre tour of Aotearoa with her 6-piece band, and a 20 date “Reid & Ruins” tour with Tiny Ruins’ Hollie Fullbrook. The Revue said of Reid “Whereas pop and rock stars may hear raucous cheers and shouts during their concerts, Reid hears only silence because every person is gazing at her and lost in her stories. This is a power that few artists possess”.
Reid is currently working on her fourth studio album.
In March of 2020, Reid released her third full-length album ‘Out of My Province’ via her own label Slow Time Records in New Zealand and Spacebomb Records for the rest of the world. The Line of Best Fit declared it Reid’s “most polished album to date” with Uncut calling it "her best album yet”, awarding it 8/10. In New Zealand, Reid was then shortlisted for Silver Scroll Award (Top 5), 3 NZ Music Awards and most recently the Taite Music Prize (for the third time).
Reid has completed three European tours with long-time collaborator Sam Taylor, performed several times in New York City, and completed countless tours of New Zealand and Australia. In between recent Covid-19 lockdowns, she completed an Opera House & Theatre tour of Aotearoa with her 6-piece band, and a 20 date “Reid & Ruins” tour with Tiny Ruins’ Hollie Fullbrook. The Revue said of Reid “Whereas pop and rock stars may hear raucous cheers and shouts during their concerts, Reid hears only silence because every person is gazing at her and lost in her stories. This is a power that few artists possess”.
Reid is currently working on her fourth studio album.
Press:
'Reid is a remarkable talent, assured, clever and confident singer-songwriter.....a devastating youthful wisdom that gives her songs a feeling of lasting profundity.'
The Guardian
'For a new artist, her confident grace is all the more remarkable.'
Pitchfork
'...a young New Zealand singer-songwriter you'll feel you've known forever.'
MOJO
'Reid is a remarkable talent, assured, clever and confident singer-songwriter.....a devastating youthful wisdom that gives her songs a feeling of lasting profundity.'
The Guardian
'For a new artist, her confident grace is all the more remarkable.'
Pitchfork
'...a young New Zealand singer-songwriter you'll feel you've known forever.'
MOJO
Tickets for this show are £14 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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The Dream Syndicate
Acoustic Rain Parade
Thursday 9th March, 7.30pm
Band On the Wall, Manchester
Tuesday 14th March, 7.30pm
After several reissues of vintage recordings, The Dream Syndicate recently revealed they had signed to indie institution and ‘international guardian of wonky psychedelia’ (Uncut), Fire Records.
Set to release their new album this summer ‘Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions’ features singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Wynn, drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton, lead guitarist Jason Victor plus their newest member Chris Cacavas on keyboards (you remember him from the 1980s Los Angeles band Green On Red).
Watch / Watch / Watch
Set to release their new album this summer ‘Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions’ features singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Wynn, drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton, lead guitarist Jason Victor plus their newest member Chris Cacavas on keyboards (you remember him from the 1980s Los Angeles band Green On Red).
Watch / Watch / Watch
When the Dream Syndicate emerged in the early 80s, frontman Steve Wynn declared that “we’re playing music we want to hear because nobody else is doing it” – he added, “I’ll comprise on what I eat or where I sleep, but I won’t compromise on what music I play.”
Both were true, although their template of Velvet Underground meets Crazy Horse may seem commonplace today (and let’s not forget, the Syndicate spawned many imitators), their raw twin guitar, bass and drums approach was not common during an era when slick polished MTV bands ruled. The band were uncompromising. But before MTV switched to reality shows, The Dream Syndicate of The Days of Wine & Roses were no more.
We could spend a whole page just talking about the original Dream Syndicate and their debut album The Days of Wine & Roses – but suffice to say that the NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Rolling Stone, et al – all loved it.
Decades later, in 2012 they remerged with a slight change in line-up, guitarist Jason Victor joining two original members Steve Wynn (singer/songwriter/guitarist) & drummer Dennis Duck and long-time bassist Mark Walton (a member since 1984) - and after a blaze of touring, they recorded their first album in decades, How Did I Find Myself Here?
“The kind of comeback you always want your favorite band to make.” MOJO
The album was surprisingly fresh (the addition of former Green on Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas provided lush textures previously unknown in their guitar-based music) and more surprising was a vocal cameo from co-founding member, the long- lost chanteuse Kendra Smith.
More touring (joined by now official member Cacavas) followed quickly by another album These Times – which refined the sonic landscapes explored on How Did I Find Myself Here?
This band is not regurgitating old albums and previous glories, but developing with the same urgency that a pack of youngsters would.
Any fan who has been paying attention already knows the Dream Syndicate aren't going to make another album that sounds like The Days of Wine and Roses (they haven't since 1982), and it's foolish to expect that. But they don't really need to when they're capable of making music as good as These Times; this is passionate and rewarding music from artists still exploring new territory with truly satisfying results. - AllMusic
That was followed by the experimental free-form psychedelic The Universe Inside. Just look at the song lengths; 20:27, 7:36, 8:56, 9:55 and 10:53. Building off of the legacy of their earlier “John Coltrane Stereo Blues” of 9 minutes with live versions well over the ten-minute mark.
However, when one thinks of the Dream Syndicate, it’s not just the wild abandon with which singer/guitarist Wynn, drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton, and lead guitarist Jason Victor perform – it’s the carefully constructed song writing of Wynn that comes to mind and by now every rock critic in the world has predetermined who they feel the Dream Syndicate reminds them of and what they think of that style of music – but, This time, don’t!
The Dream Syndicate’s new album ‘Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions’ is released 10th June on Fire Records. Alongside the release there will be a number of live shows across Europe and some very special performances at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin and Loaded festival in Oslo.
Both were true, although their template of Velvet Underground meets Crazy Horse may seem commonplace today (and let’s not forget, the Syndicate spawned many imitators), their raw twin guitar, bass and drums approach was not common during an era when slick polished MTV bands ruled. The band were uncompromising. But before MTV switched to reality shows, The Dream Syndicate of The Days of Wine & Roses were no more.
We could spend a whole page just talking about the original Dream Syndicate and their debut album The Days of Wine & Roses – but suffice to say that the NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Rolling Stone, et al – all loved it.
Decades later, in 2012 they remerged with a slight change in line-up, guitarist Jason Victor joining two original members Steve Wynn (singer/songwriter/guitarist) & drummer Dennis Duck and long-time bassist Mark Walton (a member since 1984) - and after a blaze of touring, they recorded their first album in decades, How Did I Find Myself Here?
“The kind of comeback you always want your favorite band to make.” MOJO
The album was surprisingly fresh (the addition of former Green on Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas provided lush textures previously unknown in their guitar-based music) and more surprising was a vocal cameo from co-founding member, the long- lost chanteuse Kendra Smith.
More touring (joined by now official member Cacavas) followed quickly by another album These Times – which refined the sonic landscapes explored on How Did I Find Myself Here?
This band is not regurgitating old albums and previous glories, but developing with the same urgency that a pack of youngsters would.
Any fan who has been paying attention already knows the Dream Syndicate aren't going to make another album that sounds like The Days of Wine and Roses (they haven't since 1982), and it's foolish to expect that. But they don't really need to when they're capable of making music as good as These Times; this is passionate and rewarding music from artists still exploring new territory with truly satisfying results. - AllMusic
That was followed by the experimental free-form psychedelic The Universe Inside. Just look at the song lengths; 20:27, 7:36, 8:56, 9:55 and 10:53. Building off of the legacy of their earlier “John Coltrane Stereo Blues” of 9 minutes with live versions well over the ten-minute mark.
However, when one thinks of the Dream Syndicate, it’s not just the wild abandon with which singer/guitarist Wynn, drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton, and lead guitarist Jason Victor perform – it’s the carefully constructed song writing of Wynn that comes to mind and by now every rock critic in the world has predetermined who they feel the Dream Syndicate reminds them of and what they think of that style of music – but, This time, don’t!
The Dream Syndicate’s new album ‘Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions’ is released 10th June on Fire Records. Alongside the release there will be a number of live shows across Europe and some very special performances at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin and Loaded festival in Oslo.
Tickets for these show are £22.50 in advance.
You can get tickets online for Leeds here & Manchester here.
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You can get tickets online for Leeds here & Manchester here.
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Personal Trainer
Rowan + Vehicle
Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
Friday 10th March, 7.30pm
This show is now sold out, thanks all!
Personal Trainer is a rock collective around singer/songwriter Willem Smit. Live, they have an ever-shifting line-up with members from bands like Canshaker Pi, Pip Blom, Bull, Steve French, The Klittens, Home Counties and many more. Personal Trainer balances between a spontaneous and fun interaction between musicians being thrown together on a stage without having rehearsed too much, and playing well composed catchy and noisy pop songs with a rock attitude. They were described as “a manic indie rock orchestra that taps into the wayward spirits of Car Seat Headrest, Silver Jews, The Fall and LCD Soundsystem, with Smit playing the role of everyman poet and ringmaster” and “Perfectly organized chaos.”
On record, Personal Trainer is a collaboration between Willem Smit, who records and writes most of the music at home, and producer Casper van der Lans (responsible for the production of some of The Netherlands’ greatest releases of the last couple of years, like The Homesick’s The Big Exercise, Petersburg’s Show), who helps Willem refine the productions and mixes.
On record, Personal Trainer is a collaboration between Willem Smit, who records and writes most of the music at home, and producer Casper van der Lans (responsible for the production of some of The Netherlands’ greatest releases of the last couple of years, like The Homesick’s The Big Exercise, Petersburg’s Show), who helps Willem refine the productions and mixes.
In May 2019 they put out their first 7-inch “The Lazer / Stormchaser Of The Month” on Sports Team’s label Holm Front, followed by a second one “Total Total / You Better Start Scrubbing” on Paradiso Vinyl Club in September. They joined Pip Blom on their Europe/UK tour and in May 2020 they put out their third 7-inch “Edible Plastic / Issue Box / The Industry” on Dutch quality label Subroutine Records. Their first EP “Gazebo” was released by Holm Front February 2020.
During the pandemic 2021 personal trainer set out to be the first band to play for 24 hours straight and the first band to ever play two shows at the same time. They played a 24 hour show at Paradiso, but the latter hat to be cancelled due to covid restrictions..
During the pandemic 2021 personal trainer set out to be the first band to play for 24 hours straight and the first band to ever play two shows at the same time. They played a 24 hour show at Paradiso, but the latter hat to be cancelled due to covid restrictions..
Tickets for this show are £10 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Hollow Hand
Elkyn + Rory & The Nature Kids
The Fulford Arms, York
Wednesday 15th March, 7.30pm
"The attitude of the album is definitely DIY" says Max Kinghorn-Mills of Hollow Hand's 3rd album. "About just doing everything yourself and not needing to rely on anyone. That's the one thing I love about doing this: no one has any answers for you, you are your own boss and it's YOUR OWN ADVENTURE. It's down to you.”
This independent spirit that propels the creative process is also one that gave birth to its title: Your Own Adventure. "The title is kind of a mantra to summarise my philosophy when writing and recording the album," he says. "I grew up immersing myself in all kinds of Fantasy genres and I loved the choose your own adventure game-books of Joe Dever. Other kinds of books I was reading throughout the writing process pointed me towards a kind of ‘belief in the self' - there's no definitive, correct way to live this life."
Watch / Watch / Listen
This independent spirit that propels the creative process is also one that gave birth to its title: Your Own Adventure. "The title is kind of a mantra to summarise my philosophy when writing and recording the album," he says. "I grew up immersing myself in all kinds of Fantasy genres and I loved the choose your own adventure game-books of Joe Dever. Other kinds of books I was reading throughout the writing process pointed me towards a kind of ‘belief in the self' - there's no definitive, correct way to live this life."
Watch / Watch / Listen
Despite the creative drive and singular determination behind the album, it's also one that has welcomed some outside input. "I'm very excited to have some guests on the album as I admire each of these musicians so much," says Kinghorn-Mills, referring to the input of Tim Smith (Midlake, Harp), Spencer Cullum, Holly Macve, Ryan Pollie and Oliver Newton, with the album being mixed by Chris Cohen in Los Angeles. "At some level it's a bit nerve wracking [bringing in other people] because this is something that you spend so much time building up and making sure that all the pieces are correct," he says. "Bringing people in can be like, 'oh god is this going to work?' I don't really ever collaborate much but when I do it's because I trust them."
Whether it was sitting at home and obsessing over every detail independently or adding some pedal steel all the way from Nashville, the ethos of the album remained rooted in trust, intuition and exploration - a sense of letting go and seeing where the project takes you. "I just decided I needed to more open minded, which was exciting, he says. "All the little parts of my imagination which had been activated in the past slowly came through. I guess that's again about freedom and your own adventure. Like, just let it happen. Whereas in the past I've been a bit more self-aware. I've definitely let my guard down on this record and not been afraid of the path ahead."
Whether it was sitting at home and obsessing over every detail independently or adding some pedal steel all the way from Nashville, the ethos of the album remained rooted in trust, intuition and exploration - a sense of letting go and seeing where the project takes you. "I just decided I needed to more open minded, which was exciting, he says. "All the little parts of my imagination which had been activated in the past slowly came through. I guess that's again about freedom and your own adventure. Like, just let it happen. Whereas in the past I've been a bit more self-aware. I've definitely let my guard down on this record and not been afraid of the path ahead."
Tickets for this show are £6 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Lisa O'Neill
Seamus Fogarty
Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Thursday 16th March, 7.30pm
The Black Swan, York
Friday 17th March, 7.30pm
*SOLD OUT*
Over the years Lisa O'Neill has quietly built a reputation for herself on the Irish and international scenes and now has a growing following with her unique folk sound, strong song-writing and distinctive voice.
Her debut release ‘Has an Album’ was followed in 2013 by Choice-nominated ‘Same Cloth Or Not’. Her third album ‘Pothole in the Sky’ was released to critical acclaim and is filled with tension and emotion, contextualising themes of love, loss, heartache and sorrow today through referencing tales from the past with beauty, honesty and defiance. Lisa’s last release on the Rough Trade imprint River Lea, ‘Heard A Long Gone Song’ has garnered huge acclaim both at home and abroad. It was Choice Nominated has a 5/5 star review from The Guardian on release and a coveted ‘Best Folk Album of 2019’ from the same publication.
She was also been nominated in 4 categories at the 2019 UK Folk awards and 5 categories at the 2019 Irish Folk awards, winning one for best original folk song. ‘Blackbird’, a song from the last album has also recently been featured in Peaky Blinders winning Lisa lots of new fans.
Her debut release ‘Has an Album’ was followed in 2013 by Choice-nominated ‘Same Cloth Or Not’. Her third album ‘Pothole in the Sky’ was released to critical acclaim and is filled with tension and emotion, contextualising themes of love, loss, heartache and sorrow today through referencing tales from the past with beauty, honesty and defiance. Lisa’s last release on the Rough Trade imprint River Lea, ‘Heard A Long Gone Song’ has garnered huge acclaim both at home and abroad. It was Choice Nominated has a 5/5 star review from The Guardian on release and a coveted ‘Best Folk Album of 2019’ from the same publication.
She was also been nominated in 4 categories at the 2019 UK Folk awards and 5 categories at the 2019 Irish Folk awards, winning one for best original folk song. ‘Blackbird’, a song from the last album has also recently been featured in Peaky Blinders winning Lisa lots of new fans.
Press:
'At a time when sameness threatens to drain the world of charm and surprise, Lisa O’Neill stands tall for difference, as an outlier with a mission to frame the world as she sees it and to perform it accordingly. Her voice is her own. No small achievement.'
The Irish Times
'Uncompromising, stunning, soul-shaking stuff.'
The Guardian’s Folk Album of the Year
'At a time when sameness threatens to drain the world of charm and surprise, Lisa O’Neill stands tall for difference, as an outlier with a mission to frame the world as she sees it and to perform it accordingly. Her voice is her own. No small achievement.'
The Irish Times
'Uncompromising, stunning, soul-shaking stuff.'
The Guardian’s Folk Album of the Year
Tickets for these show are £15 in advance.
Both of these shows are now sold out.
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Both of these shows are now sold out.
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Brigid Mae Power
The Black Swan, York
Thursday 23th March, 7.30pm
A co-promotion with our friends at The Black Swan Folk Club.
Celebrated Irish singer songwriter Brigid Mae Power paints expansive songs that are effortless, hypnotic and folk-oriented like Judee Sill, Bill Callahan and Sharon Van Etten. After two lauded albums for Tompkins Square, Power signed to Fire Records and released her acclaimed third album Head Above The Water in Spring 2020. A coming of age opus and an aching beautiful body of work, Power's songs are like an overhead lament.
Set to release a new album in 2023, Brigid Mae Power will be performing at intimate venues across the UK; From garden cafes to folk clubs, these limited run of shows are the perfect setting for the “delicious tension between the ethereal succour offered by her voice and the turmoil these thrumming songs are processing” The Guardian.
Celebrated Irish singer songwriter Brigid Mae Power paints expansive songs that are effortless, hypnotic and folk-oriented like Judee Sill, Bill Callahan and Sharon Van Etten. After two lauded albums for Tompkins Square, Power signed to Fire Records and released her acclaimed third album Head Above The Water in Spring 2020. A coming of age opus and an aching beautiful body of work, Power's songs are like an overhead lament.
Set to release a new album in 2023, Brigid Mae Power will be performing at intimate venues across the UK; From garden cafes to folk clubs, these limited run of shows are the perfect setting for the “delicious tension between the ethereal succour offered by her voice and the turmoil these thrumming songs are processing” The Guardian.
Press:
“Stunning”★★★★
“Stunning”★★★★
Pitchfork
“A triumph” ★★★★½
Uncut Magazine
“Remarkable" ★★★★
Mojo Magazine
“Extraordinary”
The Sunday Times
Tickets for these show are £12.50 in advance.
You can get tickets online here.
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You can get tickets online here.
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Elanor Moss
The Howl & The Hum (solo)
Friday 31st March, 7pm
Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
Saturday 1st April, 7.30pm
Growing up in the fens of Lincolnshire before moving to Yorkshire to study Medieval Literature, Elanor Moss is one of Britain’s most exciting emerging songwriters. After a period quietly working on her own music while writing and collaborating with artists including Benjamin Francis Leftwich, The Howl & The Hum, Memorial and Rosie Carney, Moss decided it was at last time to share her indie-tinged and remarkable music with the world.
Her music found its way to Blue Raincoat Music (Phoebe Bridgers, Christian Lee Hutson, Arlo Parks) who quickly began working with Moss on her debut EP ‘Citrus’. Following the release of ‘Citrus’ in spring 2022, Moss has found herself championed and playlisted across BBC 6 Music, on tour opening for artists like Christian Lee Hutson, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Cassandra Jenkins and performing on the stages of festivals including Green Man, Deer Shed, How The Light Gets In, Gold Sounds, Pitchfork London & Mutations. Her second EP ‘Cosmic’ will be released in Feb 2023.
Growing up in the fens of Lincolnshire before moving to Yorkshire to study Medieval Literature, Elanor Moss is one of Britain’s most exciting emerging songwriters. After a period quietly working on her own music while writing and collaborating with artists including Benjamin Francis Leftwich, The Howl & The Hum, Memorial and Rosie Carney, Moss decided it was at last time to share her indie-tinged and remarkable music with the world.
Her music found its way to Blue Raincoat Music (Phoebe Bridgers, Christian Lee Hutson, Arlo Parks) who quickly began working with Moss on her debut EP ‘Citrus’. Following the release of ‘Citrus’ in spring 2022, Moss has found herself championed and playlisted across BBC 6 Music, on tour opening for artists like Christian Lee Hutson, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Cassandra Jenkins and performing on the stages of festivals including Green Man, Deer Shed, How The Light Gets In, Gold Sounds, Pitchfork London & Mutations. Her second EP ‘Cosmic’ will be released in Feb 2023.
Press:
'Yorkshire songwriter Elanor Moss has a stark subtlety that bowls you over in its intensity.'
Clash
Clash
Tickets for these show are £12 in advance, York here and Leeds here.
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Rory & The Nature Kids
Green Gardens + Rowan
Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
Saturday 8th April, 7.30pm
Absolutely perfect triple bill of brain tickling, art-y, alternative, word-y guitar music.
Tickets for this show are £5 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Frances McKee
(The Vaselines)
Peter Dale
(Milky Wimpshake)
The Crescent, York
Monday 10th April, 7.30pm
Monday 10th April, 7.30pm
Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly founded now legendary DIY pop band The Vaselines in the mid-80s.
They were part of a fertile Glasgow scene alongside friends The Pastels, Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits and The Jesus & Mary Chain.
Kurt Cobain was a big fan of the band exclaiming them to be 'My favourite songwriters in the whole world!', they'd go on to open for Nirvana who would in turn cover The Vaselines classics Molly's Lips & Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam.
The band released the fab Dum-Dum and a couple of great EPs for The Pastels label before soon calling it a day. They reformed in 2010 for a couple more albums and are always a real treat live if ever you might get the chance to watch them play.
It's pretty exciting for us to have Frances come and play a wee seated show in The Crescent on Easter Monday.
They were part of a fertile Glasgow scene alongside friends The Pastels, Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits and The Jesus & Mary Chain.
Kurt Cobain was a big fan of the band exclaiming them to be 'My favourite songwriters in the whole world!', they'd go on to open for Nirvana who would in turn cover The Vaselines classics Molly's Lips & Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam.
The band released the fab Dum-Dum and a couple of great EPs for The Pastels label before soon calling it a day. They reformed in 2010 for a couple more albums and are always a real treat live if ever you might get the chance to watch them play.
It's pretty exciting for us to have Frances come and play a wee seated show in The Crescent on Easter Monday.
Pete Dale
Pete is the singer in Newcastle indie-pop outfit Milky Wimpshake, played in Red Monkey and founded great label Slampt releasing early records from The Yummy Fur, Kenickie among others.
Pete Dale has been leading Milky Wimpshake for thirty years this year, as the band’s singer and songwriter.
His lyrics are often semi-comical, occasionally silly and sometimes quite politically provocative. Milky Wimpshake has many albums and singles under its belt, including five on the Fortuna Pop label (Martha, Allo Darlin’, Withered Hand, etc.).
Pete does not often play as a solo act but will do so for this gig, offering a selection of songs from the Milky Wimpshake back catalogue as well as some unreleased songs and a couple of folk tunes that he enjoys singing. For fans of Billy Bragg, Buzzcocks and Brilliant Corners.
His lyrics are often semi-comical, occasionally silly and sometimes quite politically provocative. Milky Wimpshake has many albums and singles under its belt, including five on the Fortuna Pop label (Martha, Allo Darlin’, Withered Hand, etc.).
Pete does not often play as a solo act but will do so for this gig, offering a selection of songs from the Milky Wimpshake back catalogue as well as some unreleased songs and a couple of folk tunes that he enjoys singing. For fans of Billy Bragg, Buzzcocks and Brilliant Corners.
Tickets for this show are £15 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
Pigs Pigs Pigs
Me Lost Me
"One of the best new hard rock bands in the UK.'
Uncut Magazine
'Double dipped in acid wit and nightmarish visions.'
Metal Hammer
'Momentous.'
Kerrang!
'A gloriously horrible morass of pummelling drums, doom-laden riffs.'
The Times
The Crescent, York
Thursday 20th April, 7.30pm
Thursday 20th April, 7.30pm
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are Matthew Baty, Sam Grant, John-Michael Hedley, Ewan Mackenzie and Adam Ian Sykes. The band have recently completed work on their soon to be announced fourth studio album, recorded and mixed at Blank Studios, Newcastle upon Tyne and mastered at Abbey Road Studios. The band’s most recent album, 2020’s ‘Viscerals’ was lauded across the board with reviews and coverage from the Guardian, Mojo, Uncut, The Line of Best Fit, Louder Than War and more, and featured the BBC Radio 6 Music A-Listed singles ‘Reducer’ and ‘Rubbernecker’.
"One of the best new hard rock bands in the UK.'
Uncut Magazine
'Double dipped in acid wit and nightmarish visions.'
Metal Hammer
'Momentous.'
Kerrang!
'A gloriously horrible morass of pummelling drums, doom-laden riffs.'
The Times
Tickets for this show are £15 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Holy Moly & The Crackers
The Buffalo Skinners
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Friday 21st April, 7.30pm
Holy Moly & The Crackers are the innovative and fiery folk-rockers from Newcastle-Upon Tyne (UK), who bombastically mash together unique flavours of americana, rock and indie with a circus-punk edge, and have become renowned for their blazing live shows.
Watch / Watch
Holy Moly & The Crackers are the innovative and fiery folk-rockers from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North-East UK, who bombastically mash together unique flavours of americana, rock and indie with a circus-punk edge, and have become renowned for their blazing live shows.
Building a loyal and enthusiastic fan base over the years, the six-piece first tasted success with the release of their album Salem on their own Pink Lane Records, when lead single ‘Cold Comfort Lane’ was picked up by Hollywood and used in the vibrant, stick-it-to-the-man blockbuster Oceans 8 in 2018. Since then, they have sold out shows across the UK and Europe and graced the stages of innumerable festivals, including Glastonbury and Colours Of Ostrava in Czech Republic.
Working again with Salem producer Matt Terry, they recorded and released their follow up album Take a Bite in 2019, described as a “swaggering album that showcases a riotous blend of styles” by Louder Than War. Once again Holy Moly & The Crackers hit the road in full throttle, joining ‘shanty punks’ Skinny Lister on tour around Europe, before appearing at over 30 festivals, and finally undertaking a victorious headline lap of the UK, culminating in selling out their biggest show to date at Sage Gateshead on the banks of the Tyne.
2020 saw the band blasting out of the blocks with their new single ‘Road to You’, “a shot of espresso, that comes loaded and ready to work in a short, sharp shock”. They were set to play 27 dates across 10 countries on their biggest European tour to date, as well as support Frank Turner across France and Germany, and return to Glastonbury for its 50th anniversary. But, well, you know what happened next.
Across the pandemic the band built their own studio where they self-produced and recorded the most recent single ‘Cry Wolf’, which found its way onto the prestigious Blues & Roots Rock Spotify playlist. In late 2021 the band managed, among the chaos, to head on tour, performing to capacity crowds across the UK.
2022 sees Holy Moly & The Crackers retreat into their crazy chocolate factory to record their new album, working with Netherlands producer Wessel Oltheten (Dewolff) and six times Grammy award-winning mix engineer, Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton), with releases and tours across UK and Europe planned for next year and beyond.
Press:
'a riotous blend of styles'
Louder Than War UK
'One of Newcastle’s finest'
Crack Magazine UK
'Deliciously gravel-throated'
Rockshot UK
Smoky vocals over precise, versatile percussion, mesmeric rhythms, electrifying guitars and violin, vaudeville accordion and outrageous trumpet intermezzos'
American Blues Scene UK
'Unique flavours of rock, indie and gypsy folk'
Blues Matters UK
'Turn it on and turn it up. This one’s a rager'
No Depression USA
You can get tickets online from here.
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Watch / Watch
Holy Moly & The Crackers are the innovative and fiery folk-rockers from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North-East UK, who bombastically mash together unique flavours of americana, rock and indie with a circus-punk edge, and have become renowned for their blazing live shows.
Building a loyal and enthusiastic fan base over the years, the six-piece first tasted success with the release of their album Salem on their own Pink Lane Records, when lead single ‘Cold Comfort Lane’ was picked up by Hollywood and used in the vibrant, stick-it-to-the-man blockbuster Oceans 8 in 2018. Since then, they have sold out shows across the UK and Europe and graced the stages of innumerable festivals, including Glastonbury and Colours Of Ostrava in Czech Republic.
Working again with Salem producer Matt Terry, they recorded and released their follow up album Take a Bite in 2019, described as a “swaggering album that showcases a riotous blend of styles” by Louder Than War. Once again Holy Moly & The Crackers hit the road in full throttle, joining ‘shanty punks’ Skinny Lister on tour around Europe, before appearing at over 30 festivals, and finally undertaking a victorious headline lap of the UK, culminating in selling out their biggest show to date at Sage Gateshead on the banks of the Tyne.
2020 saw the band blasting out of the blocks with their new single ‘Road to You’, “a shot of espresso, that comes loaded and ready to work in a short, sharp shock”. They were set to play 27 dates across 10 countries on their biggest European tour to date, as well as support Frank Turner across France and Germany, and return to Glastonbury for its 50th anniversary. But, well, you know what happened next.
Across the pandemic the band built their own studio where they self-produced and recorded the most recent single ‘Cry Wolf’, which found its way onto the prestigious Blues & Roots Rock Spotify playlist. In late 2021 the band managed, among the chaos, to head on tour, performing to capacity crowds across the UK.
2022 sees Holy Moly & The Crackers retreat into their crazy chocolate factory to record their new album, working with Netherlands producer Wessel Oltheten (Dewolff) and six times Grammy award-winning mix engineer, Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton), with releases and tours across UK and Europe planned for next year and beyond.
Press:
'a riotous blend of styles'
Louder Than War UK
'One of Newcastle’s finest'
Crack Magazine UK
'Deliciously gravel-throated'
Rockshot UK
Smoky vocals over precise, versatile percussion, mesmeric rhythms, electrifying guitars and violin, vaudeville accordion and outrageous trumpet intermezzos'
American Blues Scene UK
'Unique flavours of rock, indie and gypsy folk'
Blues Matters UK
'Turn it on and turn it up. This one’s a rager'
No Depression USA
You can get tickets online from here.
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Junior Brother
Rowan + J Halliday
Press:
'Wry songs of anxiety and frustration'
The Guardian ★★★★
'[An] unfiltered acoustic mix of neuroses, loss of innocence and religious oppression...Truly unforgettable'
Mojo ★★★★★★★★
'Junior Brother’s The Great Irish Famine captures the range of feelings we face when learning our place in an increasingly shaky world built on a foundation of tragedy.'
PopMatters
'More ambitious than his debut, an ambition met'
The Thin Air ★★★★
'The songs of 'The Great Irish Famine' are from a shaken world, songs that can be both cathartic and comic, personal and universal'
Songlines ★★★★★★★★
'Magnificent...A strange but wonderful trip'
Hot Press ★★★★★★★★
The Crescent, York
Sunday 23rd April, 7.30pm
An idiosyncratic, challenging and richly lyrical singer/ songwriter, Junior Brother is the pseudonym of Co. Kerry, Ireland singer Ronan Kealy. Chosen as The Irish Times’ Best Irish Act of 2019 and nominated for the 2019 Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year, Junior Brother has built a rabid following thanks to unmissable live shows, and music both excitingly forward-looking and anciently evocative. His strange stories unfold with reckless abandon upon a distinctive guitar and foot tambourine accompaniment, influenced as much by the avant-garde as music from the Middle Ages and his home place in rural Ireland.
In addition to earning a Choice Music Prize nomination, Junior Brother's trailblazing debut album “Pull The Right Rope”, also saw Kealy garner two nominations at the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, for Best Folk Album and Best Emerging Folk Act. Similarly, vigorous approval from modern-day Irish figureheads such as the Rubberbandits and Cillian Murphy has furthered Junior Brother's stock, the latter playing Junior Brother several times on his BBC Radio 6 Music Show. Along-side further airplay, his television performances include appearances on RTÉ’s the Tommy Tiernan show, Other Voices and the Choice Music Prize Awards night in Vicar Street.
Sunday 23rd April, 7.30pm
An idiosyncratic, challenging and richly lyrical singer/ songwriter, Junior Brother is the pseudonym of Co. Kerry, Ireland singer Ronan Kealy. Chosen as The Irish Times’ Best Irish Act of 2019 and nominated for the 2019 Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year, Junior Brother has built a rabid following thanks to unmissable live shows, and music both excitingly forward-looking and anciently evocative. His strange stories unfold with reckless abandon upon a distinctive guitar and foot tambourine accompaniment, influenced as much by the avant-garde as music from the Middle Ages and his home place in rural Ireland.
In addition to earning a Choice Music Prize nomination, Junior Brother's trailblazing debut album “Pull The Right Rope”, also saw Kealy garner two nominations at the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, for Best Folk Album and Best Emerging Folk Act. Similarly, vigorous approval from modern-day Irish figureheads such as the Rubberbandits and Cillian Murphy has furthered Junior Brother's stock, the latter playing Junior Brother several times on his BBC Radio 6 Music Show. Along-side further airplay, his television performances include appearances on RTÉ’s the Tommy Tiernan show, Other Voices and the Choice Music Prize Awards night in Vicar Street.
Press:
'Wry songs of anxiety and frustration'
The Guardian ★★★★
'[An] unfiltered acoustic mix of neuroses, loss of innocence and religious oppression...Truly unforgettable'
Mojo ★★★★★★★★
'Junior Brother’s The Great Irish Famine captures the range of feelings we face when learning our place in an increasingly shaky world built on a foundation of tragedy.'
PopMatters
'More ambitious than his debut, an ambition met'
The Thin Air ★★★★
'The songs of 'The Great Irish Famine' are from a shaken world, songs that can be both cathartic and comic, personal and universal'
Songlines ★★★★★★★★
'Magnificent...A strange but wonderful trip'
Hot Press ★★★★★★★★
Tickets for this show are £10 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection
Rich Ruth
Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
Tuesday 25th April, 7.30pm
A very welcome return to stage for steel guitar wizard and all round star Spencer Cullum who's bringing his full band to Hyde Park Book Club in the spring as he releases album number 2!
Spencer was half of hot Nashville session duo Steelism, plays in Caitlin Rose's backing band and has guested with loads of superstars (Dolly Parton, Kesha, Deer Tick, Miranda Lambert) and who's fellow singing and writing partners include Erin Rae, Andrew Combs, Caitlin Rose, Sean Thompson, James 'Skyway Man' Wallace & Annie Williams.
Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2, sees the Nashville-based musician step further from the pedal steel and towards centerstage. Released on the evergreen Full Time Hobby label, this new collection of tracks is a kaleidoscopic collection of folk, jazz, and pop, cut though with immaculately-rendered songwriting.
Romford to Nashville is hardly the most well-trodden of paths, but for Spencer Cullum it was a way of getting to the essential heart of pedal steel, what was then and remains to this day his musical raison d'être. Growing up in the large East London town brought him early exposure to classic pub rock by way of his father such as Dr. Feelgood and Thin Lizzy, and farther-flung music by way of his mother, such as Talking Heads and Lou Reed. However, it was learning pedal steel from legendary English player B.J. Cole that set him on the path he still walks today. After touring with Nashville-based groups and hearing tales of “seasoned Nashville steel players”, the young musician upped sticks and found a “nice little crowd of weirdos” in his chosen city.
Cullum has always maintained a somewhat silent presence - even now saying “I still want to hide behind my pedal steel in fear” - but 2020 saw him release his debut solo effort, Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection. Despite his project with Jeremy Fetzer, Steelism, showing off more of his talents, never before had he felt the limelight so firmly on him.
Although...Coin Collection’s modus operandi was "a very quintessential English folk record, but with really good Nashville players”, Cullum says of ...Coin Collection 2 that “I wanted to be different. I wanted to try and pull away from wearing my influences on my sleeve... I was trying to pick out ideas that were new to me. You can never escape your musical influences but I wanted them to be more hidden sub-consciously than upfront.” Though you can pick out the odd similarity to other things here and there - The Beach Boys’ Friends LP, perhaps, or The Incredible String Band, or Joni Mitchell - the thing is decidedly Cullum’s own. What’s also reassuring is that there hasn’t been some giant sonic leap from ...Coin Collection, rather that the beautifully sun-kissed, English country garden, bees-buzzing-round-lager atmosphere has remained, but complicated, weirded, deepened.
Much in the same way that the album doesn’t wear its influences (Amon Duul II, Skip Spence, Ennio Morricone, Chu Kosaka, Michael Chapman) lightly but rather is steeped in them and toys with them, Cullum brought in a host of guests to turn...Coin Collection 2 loose from being a purely solo effort. Yuma Abe provides fractured, low-register chorus vocals that accentuate the ever-so-slightly mournful air to ‘Kingdom Weather’, while Dana Gavanski provides beautiful harmony lines in ‘What A Waste Of An Echo’. Despite the number of collaborators and players (also including Rich Ruth, Erin Rae, and Caitlin Rose) things never seem too crowded or brimming with too many ideas. Instead Cullum marshalls each moving party expertly.
Another reason ...Coin Collection 2 feels so seamless is down to how quickly it was recorded. The album was tracked in two days (in Nashville, naturally), then vocals and strings were added afterwards. Cullum says “I like moving quickly. If you procrastinate the naivety is lost.” These songs, despite being somewhat calm and considered, have a certain essential precision to them. ‘Cold Damp Valley’ is light on its feet, deftly switching from intro to verse to chorus to post-chorus like the best of that gorgeously lazy Arthur-era Kinks. Likewise, ‘What A Waste Of An Echo’ has a constantly burbling undertow anchored by pattering drums and a scorching guitar solo. It’s this sense of undertow that is key in unlocking this album’s delights. In the same way that Cullum provides the pedal steel undertow of many huge artists’ music - Kesha, Lambchop, and more recently Angel Olsen - the genius in ...Coin Collection 2 is in its subtlety, in what it murmurs rather than shouts.
Indeed, due to Cullum’s languid Romford burr (pitched somewhere between Robert Wyatt and Ray Davies), it only becomes clear when listening closely that some of the lyrics deal with weighty themes like dementia and violence. Cullum says that “I sat for a long time with the songs and wanted to find my own identity”, and ...Coin Collection 2 suggests you do the same.
Romford to Nashville is hardly the most well-trodden of paths, but for Spencer Cullum it was a way of getting to the essential heart of pedal steel, what was then and remains to this day his musical raison d'être. Growing up in the large East London town brought him early exposure to classic pub rock by way of his father such as Dr. Feelgood and Thin Lizzy, and farther-flung music by way of his mother, such as Talking Heads and Lou Reed. However, it was learning pedal steel from legendary English player B.J. Cole that set him on the path he still walks today. After touring with Nashville-based groups and hearing tales of “seasoned Nashville steel players”, the young musician upped sticks and found a “nice little crowd of weirdos” in his chosen city.
Cullum has always maintained a somewhat silent presence - even now saying “I still want to hide behind my pedal steel in fear” - but 2020 saw him release his debut solo effort, Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection. Despite his project with Jeremy Fetzer, Steelism, showing off more of his talents, never before had he felt the limelight so firmly on him.
Although...Coin Collection’s modus operandi was "a very quintessential English folk record, but with really good Nashville players”, Cullum says of ...Coin Collection 2 that “I wanted to be different. I wanted to try and pull away from wearing my influences on my sleeve... I was trying to pick out ideas that were new to me. You can never escape your musical influences but I wanted them to be more hidden sub-consciously than upfront.” Though you can pick out the odd similarity to other things here and there - The Beach Boys’ Friends LP, perhaps, or The Incredible String Band, or Joni Mitchell - the thing is decidedly Cullum’s own. What’s also reassuring is that there hasn’t been some giant sonic leap from ...Coin Collection, rather that the beautifully sun-kissed, English country garden, bees-buzzing-round-lager atmosphere has remained, but complicated, weirded, deepened.
Much in the same way that the album doesn’t wear its influences (Amon Duul II, Skip Spence, Ennio Morricone, Chu Kosaka, Michael Chapman) lightly but rather is steeped in them and toys with them, Cullum brought in a host of guests to turn...Coin Collection 2 loose from being a purely solo effort. Yuma Abe provides fractured, low-register chorus vocals that accentuate the ever-so-slightly mournful air to ‘Kingdom Weather’, while Dana Gavanski provides beautiful harmony lines in ‘What A Waste Of An Echo’. Despite the number of collaborators and players (also including Rich Ruth, Erin Rae, and Caitlin Rose) things never seem too crowded or brimming with too many ideas. Instead Cullum marshalls each moving party expertly.
Another reason ...Coin Collection 2 feels so seamless is down to how quickly it was recorded. The album was tracked in two days (in Nashville, naturally), then vocals and strings were added afterwards. Cullum says “I like moving quickly. If you procrastinate the naivety is lost.” These songs, despite being somewhat calm and considered, have a certain essential precision to them. ‘Cold Damp Valley’ is light on its feet, deftly switching from intro to verse to chorus to post-chorus like the best of that gorgeously lazy Arthur-era Kinks. Likewise, ‘What A Waste Of An Echo’ has a constantly burbling undertow anchored by pattering drums and a scorching guitar solo. It’s this sense of undertow that is key in unlocking this album’s delights. In the same way that Cullum provides the pedal steel undertow of many huge artists’ music - Kesha, Lambchop, and more recently Angel Olsen - the genius in ...Coin Collection 2 is in its subtlety, in what it murmurs rather than shouts.
Indeed, due to Cullum’s languid Romford burr (pitched somewhere between Robert Wyatt and Ray Davies), it only becomes clear when listening closely that some of the lyrics deal with weighty themes like dementia and violence. Cullum says that “I sat for a long time with the songs and wanted to find my own identity”, and ...Coin Collection 2 suggests you do the same.
Tickets for this show are £10 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
Cindy
The Illness
Wharf Chambers, Leeds
Friday 28th April, 7.30pm
We're teaming up with real good egg Geddy Lawrence to bring dreamy San Franciso band Cindy to Leeds for the first time this April!
Cindy is a band built around the singing and guitar playing of Karina Gill. She became a musician only recently, having sat on the sidelines while ex-partners and friends made their stabs at it. Gill describes a chance encounter with an abandoned Squire Strat left in the basement by a previous tenant, “mummified in electrical tape with the remnants of a burrito on the head stock”, that led her to begin carefully strumming her way through simple chords and making her own songs. After one interesting self-released LP, still finding their footing, the band made the masterful and buzzed-about Free Advice, which went from a limited cassette on local SF label Paisley Shirt to vinyl pressings on Tough Love (UK) and Mt St Mtn (USA).
Cindy’s third LP arrives in quick succession, the quietly devastating 1:2. Jesse Jackson on bass, Simon Phillips on drums and Aaron Diko on keyboards weave the perfectly thin web behind Gill’s slow Velvety strums and murmured melodies. The rhythm section brings the crude flow, while the keys add subtle and surreal counterpoint to the withering world Gill depicts in her lyrics. “Just as a mood is made by everything taking part in a pattern of association, so the songs tie together seemingly disparate things by the logic of mood,” Gill tries to explain. This isn’t dream-pop sunshine bliss; half-closed black drapes hang on the window where the narrator stares into the middle distance. “Sometimes you say you’re feeling small/You plan all day for your own funeral”, she intones in Party Store. Gill has a way of halting her phrasing that makes it feel like her thoughts are gently tumbling into the abyss. It’s this unsettling quality mixed with the hazy atmosphere that makes Cindy’s new LP 100% addicting and the perfect antidote to comfort listening.
Press:
'Gill doesn’t use that guitar anymore, but Cindy’s songs still possess a quality similar to that rickety old axe—held together by the most delicate of bonds, they feel like they could scatter to the wind if a single piece falls out of place. But, handled with care, they still sound beautiful.'
Bandcamp Daily
'Velvets minimalism with an evocatively British-style, introspective indie.'
4/5 Uncut Magazine
'The soft, dreamy San Francisco indie rock band Cindy have been around for a few years now, and they already have two albums to their name. This fall, they’ll release 1:2, their third LP. The first single is called “To Be True,” and it’s the kind of song that’s so overwhelmingly pretty that it might make you feel slightly dizzy. Cindy’s whole style reminds me of how Low sounded back in the ’90s, when they were inventing slowcore and when they were at their most rapturous.'
Stereogum
Cindy’s third LP arrives in quick succession, the quietly devastating 1:2. Jesse Jackson on bass, Simon Phillips on drums and Aaron Diko on keyboards weave the perfectly thin web behind Gill’s slow Velvety strums and murmured melodies. The rhythm section brings the crude flow, while the keys add subtle and surreal counterpoint to the withering world Gill depicts in her lyrics. “Just as a mood is made by everything taking part in a pattern of association, so the songs tie together seemingly disparate things by the logic of mood,” Gill tries to explain. This isn’t dream-pop sunshine bliss; half-closed black drapes hang on the window where the narrator stares into the middle distance. “Sometimes you say you’re feeling small/You plan all day for your own funeral”, she intones in Party Store. Gill has a way of halting her phrasing that makes it feel like her thoughts are gently tumbling into the abyss. It’s this unsettling quality mixed with the hazy atmosphere that makes Cindy’s new LP 100% addicting and the perfect antidote to comfort listening.
Press:
'Gill doesn’t use that guitar anymore, but Cindy’s songs still possess a quality similar to that rickety old axe—held together by the most delicate of bonds, they feel like they could scatter to the wind if a single piece falls out of place. But, handled with care, they still sound beautiful.'
Bandcamp Daily
'Velvets minimalism with an evocatively British-style, introspective indie.'
4/5 Uncut Magazine
'The soft, dreamy San Francisco indie rock band Cindy have been around for a few years now, and they already have two albums to their name. This fall, they’ll release 1:2, their third LP. The first single is called “To Be True,” and it’s the kind of song that’s so overwhelmingly pretty that it might make you feel slightly dizzy. Cindy’s whole style reminds me of how Low sounded back in the ’90s, when they were inventing slowcore and when they were at their most rapturous.'
Stereogum
Tickets for this show are £8 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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The Dream Machine
Sun King
The Fulford Arms, York
Thursday 4th May, 7.30pm
The Dream Machine take their name from ‘Dream Machine’, an invention that recreates hallucinations similar to psychedelics without taking substances, with their music being portrayed as enigmatic, mysterious and very psychedelic.
Formed in 2021, the band have already gained widespread support including Steve Lamacq, Radcliffe & Maconie and Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6 Music, John Kennedy on Radio X, Gary Crowley on BBC Radio London, Dave Monks on BBC Introducing in Merseyside as well as repeat plays across Amazing Radio.
The Dream Machine eschews a playful take on 60s and the current wave of psychedelic acts.
Formed in 2021, the band have already gained widespread support including Steve Lamacq, Radcliffe & Maconie and Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6 Music, John Kennedy on Radio X, Gary Crowley on BBC Radio London, Dave Monks on BBC Introducing in Merseyside as well as repeat plays across Amazing Radio.
The Dream Machine eschews a playful take on 60s and the current wave of psychedelic acts.
Watch
Tickets for this show are £9 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
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You can get tickets online from here.
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Amy May Ellis
Wanderland
Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds
Friday 26th May, 7.30pm
The Crescent, York
Sunday 28th May, 7.30pm
A'A soundtrack for anyone looking to reconnect with the wild, a portable countryside retreat for anyone with an open mind, from the busiest city to the most rural spot imaginable.'
For The Rabbits
'Amy reaches hr arms around the world with a gentle strength that is soothing and inspiring.'
Willy Mason
Raised in a remote dale in the middle of the North York Moors, Amy May Ellis invites you on a journey through the history and mysticism of this wide-open landscape. Now based in Bristol, Amy’s warm and delicate folk-leaning songs are steeped in the culture, scenery, folklore and wildlife of the countryside that surrounded and shaped her as a child.
Her second single for Lost Map Records, out now as part of the PostMap Club postcard subscription service as well as via digital platforms, is ‘Wild Geese’ – a song with circling guitar patterns and soaring vocals gazing skyward at the allegorical magic of flocking birds in flight. Following the release in January of ‘Rain From the East’ (“a gorgeously muted affair” – For The Rabbits), it’s the latest taster of Amy’s mesmerising forthcoming debut album Over Ling and Bell, which is due for release on limited-edition eco-friendly 12” vinyl and digital platforms on May 12, 2023.
Amy will play live around the UK in May, together with her band – see above for a full list of dates.
For The Rabbits
'Amy reaches hr arms around the world with a gentle strength that is soothing and inspiring.'
Willy Mason
Raised in a remote dale in the middle of the North York Moors, Amy May Ellis invites you on a journey through the history and mysticism of this wide-open landscape. Now based in Bristol, Amy’s warm and delicate folk-leaning songs are steeped in the culture, scenery, folklore and wildlife of the countryside that surrounded and shaped her as a child.
Her second single for Lost Map Records, out now as part of the PostMap Club postcard subscription service as well as via digital platforms, is ‘Wild Geese’ – a song with circling guitar patterns and soaring vocals gazing skyward at the allegorical magic of flocking birds in flight. Following the release in January of ‘Rain From the East’ (“a gorgeously muted affair” – For The Rabbits), it’s the latest taster of Amy’s mesmerising forthcoming debut album Over Ling and Bell, which is due for release on limited-edition eco-friendly 12” vinyl and digital platforms on May 12, 2023.
Amy will play live around the UK in May, together with her band – see above for a full list of dates.
Watch / Watch
About ‘Wild Geese’, Amy writes:
“Inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem ‘Wild Geese’, and a man called William Lishman, and a flock of geese that flew over my house in Bristol. The day I saw the geese I had opened my window to try and hear them calling but they were too far away. Later, when my dad called from Yorkshire, he told me he had also seen a flock, though they had been so close he said he could have reached out and touched their wings. There is an ancient magic to the way geese retain and pass down their migratory routs. The arrow formation in which they fly adds to this magic a sense they are trying to guide us somehow.”
Brought up singing around the house with her mother, Amy May Ellis was first inspired to start writing songs aged 15 on a ukulele bought for her by her grandad. She began making her mark as a musician through support slots for touring artists including Michael Chapman, Alessi’s Ark, Hiss Golden Messenger, Tiny Ruins, Ryley Walker and Willy Mason at her local music venue The Band Room in Farndale. “Having artists from all over the world come and play in the tin shed at the bottom of the hill was pretty special,” she reflects. Since 2018, with the support of a growing band of friends, collaborators and fans, Amy has released a series of four EPs, each exploring an element – Weathered by Waves, We Got Fire, Where My Garden Lies, and When In The Wind. She has received support from BBC 6 Music, BBC introducing, Uncut Magazine and Rough Trade, and has played headline tours around the UK and Ireland, as well as performed at Brighton’s Great Escape festival.
Inspired by centuries of human habitation on the ancient North York Moors, Over Ling and Bell was written in a secluded farmhouse there, mostly alone but sometimes with friends. It represents the fullest, finest, and most complete manifestation yet of Amy May Ellis’s nourishing nature songs. Opener ‘Rain From the East’ is a song about “feeling unsteady and the weariness that comes with grief”, formed in time with the shoveling of coal under a gathering storm. Shaped by sinister folktales, ‘Aud Mother’ celebrates witches, mothers, and the power of friendship. Set to softly tumbling percussive loops, ‘Miner Farmer’ references Amy’s grandmother and her sister, who would walk from their dale over the hill to the neighbouring valley, carrying their dancing shoes for a night of revelry in the village hall. ‘Maybe We’ll Wake Up’ is a gently unfurling torch song written together with fellow singer-songwriter Uma Bunnag, while the album’s stunning, shimmering, dreamlike closer ‘Mondegreen’ was written with and produced by Sam Griffiths of York indie rock band The Howl and The Hum. Over Ling and Bell is fresh and youthful and yet crafted in a grand folk tradition, interrogating legend and turning the soil in search of meaning, healing and purpose. A scuttle of coal to light the long dark winter nights.
“It’s named after two types of heather that grow on the Moors,” writes Amy, of the story behind Over Ling and Bell. “When I started writing for this album I went for walks with my uncle around the dale and unearthed a whole load of history which rooted itself in the songs. I’d always thought of the Moors as wild, but during that time I started to see how they had been tamed by everyone who had lived on them. From the miners, farmers and peat diggers to the Mesolithic hunters who settled on the hilltops.
“The history of the Moors led me to think about the taming of the wild things and everything we have done as humans to gain a sense of control over our surroundings and our lives. I wondered what we have lost with this taming. A lot of the songs are about illness, an inevitable product of a world where rest is a privilege and crisis is a constant. During the making and recording of the album, I had periods of feeling very lost and paralysingly scared. I found solace in ideas around navigating rather than taming wildness, and became obsessed with maps. I read Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain, Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways and dipped a toe into various philosophies. I still feel lost sometimes, but I’ve started finding things to orientate myself with.”
Wanderland
London and Yorkshire based Wanderland began life as the songwriting project of duo Matt Robinson (Snowpoet) and Natalie Wildgoose. After setting up in a remote old mill next to a waterfall in the north of the Yorkshire Dales, the duo wrote and recorded their debut EP ‘Songs, I’ over six months. The introspective and isolated setting became an incredibly generative time. They dubbed the project Wanderland intentionally as it was born out of the exploration of the wilderness.
The two records ‘Songs,I’ and ‘Songs,II’ were both written and recorded in North Yorkshire. Some songs were written only hours before recording, capturing something deep and open-hearted, you can hear the rainy days and the star speckled nights. Collaborators and friends also show up across the EP including guitarist Tara Cunningham (Tenderhost), drummer Dave Hamblett (The Magic Lantern) and bassist's Max Luthert (Zara McFarlane and Moses Boyd) and Tom Mccredie (Seafarers).
Several Wanderland songs have been played on BBC Radio 1 The Chillest Show and Annie Mac's Power Down playlist as well as BBC Introducing, BBC 6 and a live session for BBC York, who nominated their release as Record of the Week.
Watch / Watch
About ‘Wild Geese’, Amy writes:
“Inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem ‘Wild Geese’, and a man called William Lishman, and a flock of geese that flew over my house in Bristol. The day I saw the geese I had opened my window to try and hear them calling but they were too far away. Later, when my dad called from Yorkshire, he told me he had also seen a flock, though they had been so close he said he could have reached out and touched their wings. There is an ancient magic to the way geese retain and pass down their migratory routs. The arrow formation in which they fly adds to this magic a sense they are trying to guide us somehow.”
Brought up singing around the house with her mother, Amy May Ellis was first inspired to start writing songs aged 15 on a ukulele bought for her by her grandad. She began making her mark as a musician through support slots for touring artists including Michael Chapman, Alessi’s Ark, Hiss Golden Messenger, Tiny Ruins, Ryley Walker and Willy Mason at her local music venue The Band Room in Farndale. “Having artists from all over the world come and play in the tin shed at the bottom of the hill was pretty special,” she reflects. Since 2018, with the support of a growing band of friends, collaborators and fans, Amy has released a series of four EPs, each exploring an element – Weathered by Waves, We Got Fire, Where My Garden Lies, and When In The Wind. She has received support from BBC 6 Music, BBC introducing, Uncut Magazine and Rough Trade, and has played headline tours around the UK and Ireland, as well as performed at Brighton’s Great Escape festival.
Inspired by centuries of human habitation on the ancient North York Moors, Over Ling and Bell was written in a secluded farmhouse there, mostly alone but sometimes with friends. It represents the fullest, finest, and most complete manifestation yet of Amy May Ellis’s nourishing nature songs. Opener ‘Rain From the East’ is a song about “feeling unsteady and the weariness that comes with grief”, formed in time with the shoveling of coal under a gathering storm. Shaped by sinister folktales, ‘Aud Mother’ celebrates witches, mothers, and the power of friendship. Set to softly tumbling percussive loops, ‘Miner Farmer’ references Amy’s grandmother and her sister, who would walk from their dale over the hill to the neighbouring valley, carrying their dancing shoes for a night of revelry in the village hall. ‘Maybe We’ll Wake Up’ is a gently unfurling torch song written together with fellow singer-songwriter Uma Bunnag, while the album’s stunning, shimmering, dreamlike closer ‘Mondegreen’ was written with and produced by Sam Griffiths of York indie rock band The Howl and The Hum. Over Ling and Bell is fresh and youthful and yet crafted in a grand folk tradition, interrogating legend and turning the soil in search of meaning, healing and purpose. A scuttle of coal to light the long dark winter nights.
“It’s named after two types of heather that grow on the Moors,” writes Amy, of the story behind Over Ling and Bell. “When I started writing for this album I went for walks with my uncle around the dale and unearthed a whole load of history which rooted itself in the songs. I’d always thought of the Moors as wild, but during that time I started to see how they had been tamed by everyone who had lived on them. From the miners, farmers and peat diggers to the Mesolithic hunters who settled on the hilltops.
“The history of the Moors led me to think about the taming of the wild things and everything we have done as humans to gain a sense of control over our surroundings and our lives. I wondered what we have lost with this taming. A lot of the songs are about illness, an inevitable product of a world where rest is a privilege and crisis is a constant. During the making and recording of the album, I had periods of feeling very lost and paralysingly scared. I found solace in ideas around navigating rather than taming wildness, and became obsessed with maps. I read Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain, Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways and dipped a toe into various philosophies. I still feel lost sometimes, but I’ve started finding things to orientate myself with.”
Wanderland
London and Yorkshire based Wanderland began life as the songwriting project of duo Matt Robinson (Snowpoet) and Natalie Wildgoose. After setting up in a remote old mill next to a waterfall in the north of the Yorkshire Dales, the duo wrote and recorded their debut EP ‘Songs, I’ over six months. The introspective and isolated setting became an incredibly generative time. They dubbed the project Wanderland intentionally as it was born out of the exploration of the wilderness.
The two records ‘Songs,I’ and ‘Songs,II’ were both written and recorded in North Yorkshire. Some songs were written only hours before recording, capturing something deep and open-hearted, you can hear the rainy days and the star speckled nights. Collaborators and friends also show up across the EP including guitarist Tara Cunningham (Tenderhost), drummer Dave Hamblett (The Magic Lantern) and bassist's Max Luthert (Zara McFarlane and Moses Boyd) and Tom Mccredie (Seafarers).
Several Wanderland songs have been played on BBC Radio 1 The Chillest Show and Annie Mac's Power Down playlist as well as BBC Introducing, BBC 6 and a live session for BBC York, who nominated their release as Record of the Week.
Watch / Watch
Siv Jakobsen
The Howl & The Hum (Solo)
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Sunday 28th May, 7.30pm
*This show is rescheduled from February 10th at Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds. All original tickets remain valid*
Norwegian
singer-songwriter Siv Jakobsen quickly became a favourite of the
indie-folk world with her first EP ‘The Lingering’. Tours supporting
Bear’s Bear’s Den, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Damien Jurado followed
before Jakobsen then truly delivered on that early promise with the
arrival of her debut album The Nordic Mellow. The 10-song collection
was a testament to Siv’s bold lyricism and stunning vocal ability,
transporting the listener into her world from the very first note.
In
2020 she released her widely-acclaimed sophomore album, ‘A Temporary
Soothing’, which as well as receiving incredible reviews from the likes
of Line of Best Fit, Clash Magazine and Under The Radar, was also
nominated for a Norwegian grammy, a Spellemann. The vulnerability of her
work has gained her many listeners across the world with Jakobsen
having accrued 35 million streams to date. She’s spent the last few
months supporting the likes of José González, The Lumineers and Susanne
Sundfør, and is now preparing to share her latest body of work with the
world.
Siv Jakobsen’s third album, ‘Gardening’, will be released in January 2023 via The Nordic Mellow. Produced by Hans Olav Settem and Simen Mitlid, mixed by Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, Hand Habits, Sylvan Esso, The Tallest Man On Earth), and featuring instrumental contributions from Emma Gatrill (This Is The Kit, Nick Cave, Lucy Rose) and Marcus Hamblett (Laura Marling, James Holden, The Staves).
Siv Jakobsen’s third album, ‘Gardening’, will be released in January 2023 via The Nordic Mellow. Produced by Hans Olav Settem and Simen Mitlid, mixed by Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, Hand Habits, Sylvan Esso, The Tallest Man On Earth), and featuring instrumental contributions from Emma Gatrill (This Is The Kit, Nick Cave, Lucy Rose) and Marcus Hamblett (Laura Marling, James Holden, The Staves).
Tickets for this show are £10 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
Rose City Band
Rosali
The Crescent, York
Sunday 3rd June, 7.30pm
Rose City Band’s country psychedelic rock evokes the wide-open spaces of the American west and free spirits who call it home. The project of acclaimed guitarist and vocalist Ripley Johnson, Rose City Band has extended beyond the studio and lives in tandem as a live ensemble featuring some of the finest players in contemporary rock: pedal steel guitarist Barry Walker, keyboardist Paul Hasenberg, bassist Dewey Mahood (aka Plankton Wat) and drummer Dustin Dybvig.
Garden Party is a celebration of summer and all it brings: communal gatherings, the respites offered by nature, and an appreciation for even the simplest beauty, from 12-foot sunflowers to a contorted carrot planted in the spring. Freedom, contentment, and joy were the sources for the songs. From the soaring guitar solos, to the driving rhythms, the elegant pedal steel lines to the organ grooves, Garden Party has a live band’s energy captured in exquisite detail.
At its inception Rose City Band focused on what songwriter Johnson calls “porch music”. Recorded largely at Center for Sound, Light, and Color Therapy in Portland and mixed by John McEntire, Garden Party features guest appearances by Moon Duo bandmates John Jeffrey on drums and Sanae Yamada on synths, as well as Rose City Band live performers Hasenberg on keyboards and Walker on pedal steel.
With the musicians in his life in mind, Ripley’s porch has opened up for each player to step into. Despite being tracked primarily as a solo endeavor the recordings capture the twists and bends of a fully realized ensemble, and in a nod to bands such as the Grateful Dead it doesn’t stop there. “The songs won’t really be finished until we play them on the road,” says Johnson.
Garden Party’s carefree attitude is layered with subtle turns and melodic gems which push the easygoing spirit towards transcendence. The interplay of Johnson and Walker’s guitars is nothing short of radiant. Opening track “Chasing Rainbows” finds the two casting out lines back and forth, carefully weaving around and through one another before basking into a wash of texture and twang. “Slow Burn” drives Johnson’s signature cosmic sound into the roots of the earth, twisting more grounded phrases and homespun bends around the rollicking rhythm section. Walker’s range as a pedal steel player is on full display throughout with classic licks dancing in tandem with Johnson’s voice.
Watch / Watch / Watch
Album centerpiece “Porch Boogie” was written with the live ensemble in mind while Johnson was out on one of his regular walks, with only rhythmic ideas setting the pace for an extended groove that the group could stretch and relax into. The shifts in tone and feel on “Mariposa” and “Moonlight Highway”’s transition into “El Rio” are indicative of the expansive and unexpected directions Rose City Band are able to roam as the players follow one another from tender ballads to folk rambles to loping riffs. The sizzle of “Moonlight Highway” translates the unpredictable and invigorating energy of the band’s road gigs into a song tailor made for dancing, speckled with the gleaming starlight of night drives across the country.
Like all great music, Garden Party taps into the listener’s emotional center and takes them to their happy place – their sunny spot. The album is an invitation to recalibrate, a joyous ride where the band’s sounds surround and embrace you. Ripley says it best: “I always like when an album starts in one place, and ends in another” What a beautiful journey it is.
Garden Party is a celebration of summer and all it brings: communal gatherings, the respites offered by nature, and an appreciation for even the simplest beauty, from 12-foot sunflowers to a contorted carrot planted in the spring. Freedom, contentment, and joy were the sources for the songs. From the soaring guitar solos, to the driving rhythms, the elegant pedal steel lines to the organ grooves, Garden Party has a live band’s energy captured in exquisite detail.
At its inception Rose City Band focused on what songwriter Johnson calls “porch music”. Recorded largely at Center for Sound, Light, and Color Therapy in Portland and mixed by John McEntire, Garden Party features guest appearances by Moon Duo bandmates John Jeffrey on drums and Sanae Yamada on synths, as well as Rose City Band live performers Hasenberg on keyboards and Walker on pedal steel.
With the musicians in his life in mind, Ripley’s porch has opened up for each player to step into. Despite being tracked primarily as a solo endeavor the recordings capture the twists and bends of a fully realized ensemble, and in a nod to bands such as the Grateful Dead it doesn’t stop there. “The songs won’t really be finished until we play them on the road,” says Johnson.
Garden Party’s carefree attitude is layered with subtle turns and melodic gems which push the easygoing spirit towards transcendence. The interplay of Johnson and Walker’s guitars is nothing short of radiant. Opening track “Chasing Rainbows” finds the two casting out lines back and forth, carefully weaving around and through one another before basking into a wash of texture and twang. “Slow Burn” drives Johnson’s signature cosmic sound into the roots of the earth, twisting more grounded phrases and homespun bends around the rollicking rhythm section. Walker’s range as a pedal steel player is on full display throughout with classic licks dancing in tandem with Johnson’s voice.
Watch / Watch / Watch
Album centerpiece “Porch Boogie” was written with the live ensemble in mind while Johnson was out on one of his regular walks, with only rhythmic ideas setting the pace for an extended groove that the group could stretch and relax into. The shifts in tone and feel on “Mariposa” and “Moonlight Highway”’s transition into “El Rio” are indicative of the expansive and unexpected directions Rose City Band are able to roam as the players follow one another from tender ballads to folk rambles to loping riffs. The sizzle of “Moonlight Highway” translates the unpredictable and invigorating energy of the band’s road gigs into a song tailor made for dancing, speckled with the gleaming starlight of night drives across the country.
Like all great music, Garden Party taps into the listener’s emotional center and takes them to their happy place – their sunny spot. The album is an invitation to recalibrate, a joyous ride where the band’s sounds surround and embrace you. Ripley says it best: “I always like when an album starts in one place, and ends in another” What a beautiful journey it is.
Tickets for this show are £13.50 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
LOVE with Johnny Echols
The Crescent, York
Sunday 2nd July, 7.30pm
LOVE with Johnny Echols make a welcome return visit to the UK this summer!
LOVE with Johnny Echols sees Arthur Lee’s longest serving band return to the UK to perform classic songs from Love’s first four albums Love, Da Capo, Four Sail and of course Forever Changes as well as some special deep cuts.
Following their farewell tour in 2019 the band hadn’t anticipated a return, but as founding member and guitarist Johnny Echols explains, “the unprecedented times in which we currently find ourselves has made us realise more than ever that what the world needs now is LOVE. We have missed playing for our fans in the UK whom we dearly love. How could we turn down the opportunity to come back and do it again?”
Joining Johnny Echols on stage is Baby Lemonade who from 1993 until Arthur’s death in 2006 performed as his band and became an essential part of the renaissance of LOVE’s music. This iteration of LOVE saw many sold-out tours, as well as back to back Glastonbury performances and an appearance on Later with Jools Holland.
LOVE is:
Johnny Echols: Guitar, Vocals
Rusty Squeezebox: Lead Vocals, Guitar
Mike Randle: Guitar, Vocals
David “Daddyo” Green: Drums
James Nolte: Bass
A Brief History
Johnny Echols and Arthur Lee were childhood friends whose families both moved from Memphis to Los Angeles. Teenage Johnny & Arthur teamed up to form the groups Arthur Lee & The LAG’s and the American Four before they formed LOVE in 1965. The classic LOVE line up featuring Johnny disbanded in 1968. Johnny reunited with Arthur Lee in 2005 to perform with LOVE once more.
Baby Lemonade formed in 1992 by Rusty Squeezebox, Mike Randle, David “Daddy-O” Green, later adding Dave Chapple to the mix. In 1993 the band landed the gig of a lifetime opening up for LOVE. That show was the last for that incarnation of LOVE as Arthur replaced them with the four Baby Lemonade members. Baby Lemonade released records on Sympathy for the Record Industry, Munster and Big Deal between 1993 and 2001.
Upon their return from a LOVE tour of Europe, in 1996, Baby Lemonade was shocked to find that Arthur had been sentenced to 12 years in prison on a weapons charge.
After nearly 6 years in prison, Arthur’s case was overturned and shortly after, at his request, Baby Lemonade began rehearsing for what would be non-stop LOVE touring throughout North America, UK, Europe and Australia between 2002 and 2005 where they enjoyed unprecedented success with sold out tours, back to back Glastonbury performances, Roskilde and Benicassim festival, two sold out shows at the Royal Festival Hall that spawned a live album, and an appearance on the Later with Jools Holland TV Show.
In 2005 the LOVE line up once again featured Arthur’s childhood friend and founding member Johnny Echols on lead guitar who returned after a 37-year absence.
In July of 2005, Arthur was diagnosed with Leukaemia and after a brave battle he passed away one year later. Arthur’s last show was with Baby Lemonade and Johnny Echols on June 23rd at San Francisco’s Cafe Du Nord. The world had lost a true music legend.
In 2022 LOVE featuring Johnny Echols returned to the UK to celebrate the 55th anniversary release of Forever Changes. Back again in 2023 the band once again to celebrate the music of Arthur Lee & LOVE in a specially constructed greatest hits show.
LOVE with Johnny Echols sees Arthur Lee’s longest serving band return to the UK to perform classic songs from Love’s first four albums Love, Da Capo, Four Sail and of course Forever Changes as well as some special deep cuts.
Following their farewell tour in 2019 the band hadn’t anticipated a return, but as founding member and guitarist Johnny Echols explains, “the unprecedented times in which we currently find ourselves has made us realise more than ever that what the world needs now is LOVE. We have missed playing for our fans in the UK whom we dearly love. How could we turn down the opportunity to come back and do it again?”
Joining Johnny Echols on stage is Baby Lemonade who from 1993 until Arthur’s death in 2006 performed as his band and became an essential part of the renaissance of LOVE’s music. This iteration of LOVE saw many sold-out tours, as well as back to back Glastonbury performances and an appearance on Later with Jools Holland.
LOVE is:
Johnny Echols: Guitar, Vocals
Rusty Squeezebox: Lead Vocals, Guitar
Mike Randle: Guitar, Vocals
David “Daddyo” Green: Drums
James Nolte: Bass
A Brief History
Johnny Echols and Arthur Lee were childhood friends whose families both moved from Memphis to Los Angeles. Teenage Johnny & Arthur teamed up to form the groups Arthur Lee & The LAG’s and the American Four before they formed LOVE in 1965. The classic LOVE line up featuring Johnny disbanded in 1968. Johnny reunited with Arthur Lee in 2005 to perform with LOVE once more.
Baby Lemonade formed in 1992 by Rusty Squeezebox, Mike Randle, David “Daddy-O” Green, later adding Dave Chapple to the mix. In 1993 the band landed the gig of a lifetime opening up for LOVE. That show was the last for that incarnation of LOVE as Arthur replaced them with the four Baby Lemonade members. Baby Lemonade released records on Sympathy for the Record Industry, Munster and Big Deal between 1993 and 2001.
Upon their return from a LOVE tour of Europe, in 1996, Baby Lemonade was shocked to find that Arthur had been sentenced to 12 years in prison on a weapons charge.
After nearly 6 years in prison, Arthur’s case was overturned and shortly after, at his request, Baby Lemonade began rehearsing for what would be non-stop LOVE touring throughout North America, UK, Europe and Australia between 2002 and 2005 where they enjoyed unprecedented success with sold out tours, back to back Glastonbury performances, Roskilde and Benicassim festival, two sold out shows at the Royal Festival Hall that spawned a live album, and an appearance on the Later with Jools Holland TV Show.
In 2005 the LOVE line up once again featured Arthur’s childhood friend and founding member Johnny Echols on lead guitar who returned after a 37-year absence.
In July of 2005, Arthur was diagnosed with Leukaemia and after a brave battle he passed away one year later. Arthur’s last show was with Baby Lemonade and Johnny Echols on June 23rd at San Francisco’s Cafe Du Nord. The world had lost a true music legend.
In 2022 LOVE featuring Johnny Echols returned to the UK to celebrate the 55th anniversary release of Forever Changes. Back again in 2023 the band once again to celebrate the music of Arthur Lee & LOVE in a specially constructed greatest hits show.
Tickets for this show are £20 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
The Minus 5
The No Ones
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Friday 7th July, 7.30pm
The Minus 5
The Minus 5 is yet another band featuring Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck, where a three-decade collaboration started. The friends have shared vans (with occasional bus) with R.E.M., Tuatara, Baseball Project, Filthy Friends, Tired Pony, CeDell Davis, Robyn Hitchcock/Venus 3, The No Ones (and no doubt a few others). But The Minus 5, with its floating (and frankly ridiculous) membership, remains the core of what they do, which is whatever they want, most of the time. Over the course of at least 13 (?) albums, 30+ singles/compilations, and countless live line-up fluctuations, the band-that-wasn’t-meant-to-be-a-band has toured with both Wilco and Tweedy, and appeared on Conan O’Brien and The Late Show/David Letterman.
Their newest release will be Calling Cortez (Neil Vol. 3), a continuation of tributes to the greatest, Neil Young, starting with 2020’s Scott The Hoople NEIL (Vol. 1) out this June. One would assume that there will be a Vol. 2 as well. On the new record, Neil songs share equal space with songs written by Scott McCaughey, but inspired by Mr. Young. The album features contributions from Minus 5 favorites like Kurt Bloch, Joe Adragna, Mike McCready, Linda Pitmon Wynn, Debbi Peterson, Jenny Conlee-Drizos, Jeff & Spencer Tweedy, Casey Neill, Jim Talstra, and Pauly Pulvirenti.
Watch / Listen
The No Ones
The No One's upcoming album, My Best Evil Friend is being released on Yep Roc on March 31, 2023. The No Ones are Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen and Frode Strømstad. Consisting of members from R.E.M., The Minus 5, The Baseball Project, and I Was A King, the bi-continental collaborators share their third collection of songs, My Best Evil Friend, paying tribute to the artists that inspire them and populate their turntables. Through their upbeat '60s-style indie sound infused with psychedelic flourishes, The No Ones honor Nick Lowe, Pamela Polland, George Harrison, Jenny Lewis, and Phil Ochs, among others. The group enlisted contributions from friends Debbi Peterson (Bangles), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), and Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) for backing vocals, Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven) on bass, and strings from Marin Stallemo Bakke.
The Minus 5 is yet another band featuring Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck, where a three-decade collaboration started. The friends have shared vans (with occasional bus) with R.E.M., Tuatara, Baseball Project, Filthy Friends, Tired Pony, CeDell Davis, Robyn Hitchcock/Venus 3, The No Ones (and no doubt a few others). But The Minus 5, with its floating (and frankly ridiculous) membership, remains the core of what they do, which is whatever they want, most of the time. Over the course of at least 13 (?) albums, 30+ singles/compilations, and countless live line-up fluctuations, the band-that-wasn’t-meant-to-be-a-band has toured with both Wilco and Tweedy, and appeared on Conan O’Brien and The Late Show/David Letterman.
Their newest release will be Calling Cortez (Neil Vol. 3), a continuation of tributes to the greatest, Neil Young, starting with 2020’s Scott The Hoople NEIL (Vol. 1) out this June. One would assume that there will be a Vol. 2 as well. On the new record, Neil songs share equal space with songs written by Scott McCaughey, but inspired by Mr. Young. The album features contributions from Minus 5 favorites like Kurt Bloch, Joe Adragna, Mike McCready, Linda Pitmon Wynn, Debbi Peterson, Jenny Conlee-Drizos, Jeff & Spencer Tweedy, Casey Neill, Jim Talstra, and Pauly Pulvirenti.
Watch / Listen
The No Ones
The No One's upcoming album, My Best Evil Friend is being released on Yep Roc on March 31, 2023. The No Ones are Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen and Frode Strømstad. Consisting of members from R.E.M., The Minus 5, The Baseball Project, and I Was A King, the bi-continental collaborators share their third collection of songs, My Best Evil Friend, paying tribute to the artists that inspire them and populate their turntables. Through their upbeat '60s-style indie sound infused with psychedelic flourishes, The No Ones honor Nick Lowe, Pamela Polland, George Harrison, Jenny Lewis, and Phil Ochs, among others. The group enlisted contributions from friends Debbi Peterson (Bangles), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), and Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) for backing vocals, Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven) on bass, and strings from Marin Stallemo Bakke.
Tickets for this show are £22.50 in advance.
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
You can get tickets online from here.
__________________________________________________
Holy Moly & The Crackers
Band On The Wall, Manchester
Thursday 30th November, 7.30pm
Holy
Moly & The Crackers are the innovative and fiery folk-rockers from
Newcastle-Upon Tyne (UK), who bombastically mash together unique
flavours of americana, rock and indie with a circus-punk edge, and have
become renowned for their blazing live shows.
Watch / Watch
Holy Moly & The Crackers are the innovative and fiery folk-rockers from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North-East UK, who bombastically mash together unique flavours of americana, rock and indie with a circus-punk edge, and have become renowned for their blazing live shows.
Building a loyal and enthusiastic fan base over the years, the six-piece first tasted success with the release of their album Salem on their own Pink Lane Records, when lead single ‘Cold Comfort Lane’ was picked up by Hollywood and used in the vibrant, stick-it-to-the-man blockbuster Oceans 8 in 2018. Since then, they have sold out shows across the UK and Europe and graced the stages of innumerable festivals, including Glastonbury and Colours Of Ostrava in Czech Republic.
Working again with Salem producer Matt Terry, they recorded and released their follow up album Take a Bite in 2019, described as a “swaggering album that showcases a riotous blend of styles” by Louder Than War. Once again Holy Moly & The Crackers hit the road in full throttle, joining ‘shanty punks’ Skinny Lister on tour around Europe, before appearing at over 30 festivals, and finally undertaking a victorious headline lap of the UK, culminating in selling out their biggest show to date at Sage Gateshead on the banks of the Tyne.
2020 saw the band blasting out of the blocks with their new single ‘Road to You’, “a shot of espresso, that comes loaded and ready to work in a short, sharp shock”. They were set to play 27 dates across 10 countries on their biggest European tour to date, as well as support Frank Turner across France and Germany, and return to Glastonbury for its 50th anniversary. But, well, you know what happened next.
Across the pandemic the band built their own studio where they self-produced and recorded the most recent single ‘Cry Wolf’, which found its way onto the prestigious Blues & Roots Rock Spotify playlist. In late 2021 the band managed, among the chaos, to head on tour, performing to capacity crowds across the UK.
2022 sees Holy Moly & The Crackers retreat into their crazy chocolate factory to record their new album, working with Netherlands producer Wessel Oltheten (Dewolff) and six times Grammy award-winning mix engineer, Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton), with releases and tours across UK and Europe planned for next year and beyond.
Press:
'a riotous blend of styles'
Louder Than War UK
'One of Newcastle’s finest'
Crack Magazine UK
'Deliciously gravel-throated'
Rockshot UK
Smoky vocals over precise, versatile percussion, mesmeric rhythms, electrifying guitars and violin, vaudeville accordion and outrageous trumpet intermezzos'
American Blues Scene UK
'Unique flavours of rock, indie and gypsy folk'
Blues Matters UK
'Turn it on and turn it up. This one’s a rager'
No Depression USA
You can get tickets online from here.
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Watch / Watch
Holy Moly & The Crackers are the innovative and fiery folk-rockers from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North-East UK, who bombastically mash together unique flavours of americana, rock and indie with a circus-punk edge, and have become renowned for their blazing live shows.
Building a loyal and enthusiastic fan base over the years, the six-piece first tasted success with the release of their album Salem on their own Pink Lane Records, when lead single ‘Cold Comfort Lane’ was picked up by Hollywood and used in the vibrant, stick-it-to-the-man blockbuster Oceans 8 in 2018. Since then, they have sold out shows across the UK and Europe and graced the stages of innumerable festivals, including Glastonbury and Colours Of Ostrava in Czech Republic.
Working again with Salem producer Matt Terry, they recorded and released their follow up album Take a Bite in 2019, described as a “swaggering album that showcases a riotous blend of styles” by Louder Than War. Once again Holy Moly & The Crackers hit the road in full throttle, joining ‘shanty punks’ Skinny Lister on tour around Europe, before appearing at over 30 festivals, and finally undertaking a victorious headline lap of the UK, culminating in selling out their biggest show to date at Sage Gateshead on the banks of the Tyne.
2020 saw the band blasting out of the blocks with their new single ‘Road to You’, “a shot of espresso, that comes loaded and ready to work in a short, sharp shock”. They were set to play 27 dates across 10 countries on their biggest European tour to date, as well as support Frank Turner across France and Germany, and return to Glastonbury for its 50th anniversary. But, well, you know what happened next.
Across the pandemic the band built their own studio where they self-produced and recorded the most recent single ‘Cry Wolf’, which found its way onto the prestigious Blues & Roots Rock Spotify playlist. In late 2021 the band managed, among the chaos, to head on tour, performing to capacity crowds across the UK.
2022 sees Holy Moly & The Crackers retreat into their crazy chocolate factory to record their new album, working with Netherlands producer Wessel Oltheten (Dewolff) and six times Grammy award-winning mix engineer, Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton), with releases and tours across UK and Europe planned for next year and beyond.
Press:
'a riotous blend of styles'
Louder Than War UK
'One of Newcastle’s finest'
Crack Magazine UK
'Deliciously gravel-throated'
Rockshot UK
Smoky vocals over precise, versatile percussion, mesmeric rhythms, electrifying guitars and violin, vaudeville accordion and outrageous trumpet intermezzos'
American Blues Scene UK
'Unique flavours of rock, indie and gypsy folk'
Blues Matters UK
'Turn it on and turn it up. This one’s a rager'
No Depression USA
You can get tickets online from here.
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