The Boatswain’s Refuge EP – Released 20th May
Many months after we were snowed into The Crypt Studio in Crouch End, the release of the The Boatswain’s Refuge EP is finally here. You can buy it here via Folkroom Records, either in digital format or the physical CD with beautiful cover art from Mademoiselle Sevadijan The Flying Fish Commando. It’s also available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. We hope you enjoy it.
Photo: Nigel Lupton
We’re absolutely over the moon (like the cow, remember the cow that jumped over the moon? That’s us right now…) to announce that we’re signing Folkroom Records and we’re going to be releasing our debut EP with them in May. We’ve been hanging out with these guys so much over the past month it made sense to just tie the knot and officially jump into bed with them, so that’s just what we’re doing. Over the next couple of months we’ll be hard at work with Ben Walker recording and producing the record, culminating in a massive great big party to celebrate the release….meanwhile though we’ll make sure you have enough teasers to keep you eager and interested.
Gig listings updated for 2013 too….be lovely to see you soon.
Patch X
Sunday 16th December
The Gallery Cafe, Bethnal Green
3pm – 10pm
It’s our LAST show of the year and because it’s been such a bloody good year and all we’re getting together with our chums at Before The Gold Rush and Folkroom Records to present a big party featuring some of the finest acts who’ve played at our respective events throughout 2012…sixteen of them to be precise. Entry is free before 6pm, £5 thereafter. Expect music, warmth, tacky jumpers, mistletoe and a feckload of Christmas tat.
The next Sunday Fete is on 25th November and is the last of 2012. As the winter draws in and the fires are being lit, we’ve chosen a rich, dark and beautiful complement of acts to warm you through on this Sunday afternoon as you remain within the cosy walls of The Boogaloo drinking mulled cider and smelling freshly cooked pizza.
Doors at 3pm, £3 entry.
This ensemble of passionate musicians creates a thrilling spectacle that injects a shot of adrenaline into the traditional folk sound. Green Diesel are a group of Kentish folk musicians determined to inject their own dose of electricity and youthful exuberance into the folk scene. Raised on the classic folk-rock sounds of Fairport Convention, Oysterband and The Albion Band, the band’s rich sound draws on a wide range of influences, as funk and klezmer sit side by side with Morris tunes and ancient murder ballads. Reviews of the band’s early EPs have praised their outstanding musicianship and imaginative arrangements of traditional songs and tunes, while their original compositions bring to life ancient tales from the Kentish past. The band has recently completed their debut album ‘Now Is The Time’ which was released on the 11th of August 2012.
We discovered these wonderful musicians in a Dalston church a few months back whilst attending the album launch of a previous Sunday Fete act. No better way to describe them than these words: ”Although Dear Winesburg are a folk band, they purvey in a sound few others have attempted to approach; frontman Chris’ dark alternative voice rages across every track, in stark contrast to the backing vocals, which lend a complimentary hand but in turn get everyone to simmer down and be quiet. The closest comparison I can think of is that of a suicidal Noah and the Whale, but to be honest I’ve never been their biggest fan, and this I love, so the two must be quite different. Perhaps the best way to describe Dear Winesburg is, “completely original”, and leave it at that.”
(Drunken Werewolf)
The Lost Cavalry are a London-based alt-folk six piece formed in 2009 by Mark West, formerly the guitarist in Fanfarlo. Their debut EPs ‘Waves Freeze to Rolling Hills’ and ‘Snow City Radio’ were praised for their swirling melodies and captivating and spirited storytelling, with track ‘The Tower’ featuring as Q Magazine web site’s Track Of The Day, and ‘Desert Tracks’ winning the 405 Readers’ Poll Sing Of The Week. Their debut album, due for release in early 2013 promises a more mature complement to their earlier releases, brimming with inviting melodies, thoughtful lyrics, and carefully orchestrated treats. The Lost Cavalry’s well-crafted songs are thing of beauty, brought to life on stage by Mark (vocals, concertina, ukulele), Nick (guitar), Toby (guitar, ukulele), Derek (cello), Oliver (bass) and Jonny (drums).
Mighty Blight Pop Folk, alternative and unhinged, Troubadour Rose formed on a cold November morning in 2009 at a dusty violin workshop in Stoke Newington. The fortuitous meeting comprises of Gary Bridgewood, violinist and workshop proprietor, multi-instrumentalist Lizzy O’Connor who was working as a part time cleaner, and wandering, out of work songstress Bryony Afferson, searching for a few band mates. A strange and thrilling mix; Smokey mountain harmonies, Irish Sessions and bold sumptuous melodies leaving you all set for the unraveling and longing for more.
Fast-establishing herself on the London folk-circut, Sophie pens simple, intimate songs that try to paint pictures with gentle vocals, evocative lyrics and intricate guitar plucking.
On Sunday 28th October we are throwing ourselves into Oxjam Music Festival and turning the Sunday Fete into a big and bountiful Oxjam party, featuring all the usual ingredients except this time, every penny goes to Oxfam.
Oxjam is Oxfam’s month-long music festival. It runs all through October with hundreds of events around the UK, all organised by volunteers who know and love their local music scene, all raising money to save lives around the world. Local music, global impact.
The Boogaloo from 3pm on Sunday 28th, £5 entry.
We made a bit of a preview video last week at Oxfam DIY in Camden…just to give you a taster of what’s to come. We have a million people to thank and had enormous fun making this video. Love you all guys!
Please ignore the two idiots talking at the start…
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Line-up:
Skiffle and the Piffles Old time tunes, banjos and a good time to be had by all! Inspired by the rockabilly, folk and bluegrass of the 50s and 60s, 8 piece Skiffle and the Piffles formed in 2010 as part of the Nu-Wave Skiffle movement (current membership = one). Taking inspiration from the greats like the Carter Family and Wanda Jackson, they stir up a mix of girl group harmonies, stomping rhythms and finger pickin’ riffs in their own unique style that is sure to have you singing along and dancing on tables. Dusting off the washboard, accordion and box drum, expect a contemporary take on some old classics and many brand new tracks from their recent “Bones in the Ground” EP and beyond. Lazy Heart Parade
Lazy Heart Parade are a 6 piece alt. folk band started by guitarist and singer Colin Smith as a soapbox on which to tell his confessional stories about a life spent as a geographical and emotional drifter. Their debut EP, ‘Every Mistake You’ve Ever Made’ is available on Spotfy + Bandcamp http://lazyheartparade.bandcamp.com/ Tiny Birds
Tiny Birds splice indie-folk sounds with classic pop songwriting throughout debut album, Hymns for the Careless. Its eight tracks are short, sweet and relentlessly endearing, suggestive of good indie stock like Hefner, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, The Wave Pictures and Port O’Brien. Follow up singles “The Photographs That You Took”, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Your Anger” and “Jeff Goldblum” raise the bar even higher. Previously dubbed ‘sad songs with happy music’, Tiny Birds never so much as set foot in a minor key, but their smatterings of ukulele and thick daubs of techicolour banjo nestle alongside lyrics of nostalgia and regret. If you like simple pop melodies and complex folk arrangements then you’ll love this. The cold-hearted need not apply. Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker
Those who have been following the folk revival movement will already know about Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker. Both classically trained, Josienne’s voice and style has been compared to June Tabor, and Ben’s vintage guitar and mandolin lends the perfect musical tact. Leading lights of the emerging folk scene, reviewers for the NME were already talking about their ‘exceptional talent’ before they won the 2012 Isambard Folk Award and the wider world started to take notice. For Folk’s Sake said: Josienne’s songs are traditional and sound like they could be from the sixties or seventies, or long, long before – which really means they are classic and absolutely means you should listen to them. The latest EP, Homemade Heartache, was released in July 2012. Inti Rowland
Inti plays hypnotic, haunting and beautifully crafted songs, often about birds. Joined sporadically by a cello heavy, singing string section and a flugelhorn, Inti’s music will send you into a very welcome reverie with his subtle, skilful guitar playing and purer than pure vocals. His latest EP, Eyes of a Starling, was recorded in a barn in Wales (and all the better for it) – it’s available here: http://intirowland.bandcamp.com/ Julie Hawk |
Greetings. So it’s getting slightly darker and colder and people are wearing slightly more jumpers and drinking slightly less Pimm’s and more warming winter ale. We have some good stuff planned for the autumn and are hatching some excellent plans for Christmas. All will be announced soon.
Next up we have the Sunday Fete, now in it’s 9th incarnation we have a wonderfully raucous line-up prepared for Sunday 30th September featuring City Shanty Band, The Bara Bara Band, The Ouse Valley Singles Club, Dirty Duncan and the Herrings and Russell Swallow and the Wolf.
Full details available on The Sunday Fete page or on facebook.
On 16th October we have the eagerly anticipated Folkboat Fete at Tamesis Dock which we’re teaming up with Folkroom Records for, featuring our friends Keston Cobblers’ Club, Freddie and the Hoares and Worry Dolls. Advance tickets on sale now here.
On 20th October we’re playing at The Wilmington Arms, returning to Before The Gold Rush and on 28th October we have our Oxjam Special Sunday Fete. But we’ll write more about that soon…lots more…lots lots more. If you’re feeling keen and charitable however, reminder that tickets are now on sale here!
In other news, I (Angie) have decided that Patch alone is just not enough so I’ve been lending my horn and accordion services to some of our friends including Dave Gerard and his Watchmen…having embarked on a wonderfully ambitious project to record a new song every week for the rest of time, or something like that, Dave’s been collaborating with various musicians to create some new sounds. Here’s what I did last week anyway, more to come.
I’m also playing in Inti Rowland‘s band at St Pancras Old Church on 2nd November, a church being the perfect setting for his beautifully crafted songs and arrangements featuring double cello and violin along with guest flugelhorn and vocals from yours truly. Come, it’ll be really special. https://www.facebook.com/events/421734847885112/
We’re delighted too that in November we will be re-joined by our absent cellist Sara, who has been off riding her bicycle across mountains, seas and generally very unfriendly terrain. We’ve been following her progress eagerly on their blog Spicycle meanwhile.
See you soon folks…
Angie / Patch X
…kind of. Well actually the boat is permanently moored and we’re not going to be sailing it.
We’re teaming up with the great people at Folkroom Records to create something wonderful which will be happening on 16th October at London’s Tamesis Dock. We’ve always talked about playing on boat and now we’ve decided to ruddy well do it so we’ve asked our lovely friends from Keston Cobblers’ Club, Freddie and the Hoares and Worry Dolls to come and join us as we rock that folk-boat for all it’s worth.
Advance tickets available here at a bargain price of £4.
A lovely end to July we had with our Barfly show and yet another glorious Sunday Fete (with big thanks to Folkroom Records for curating the line-up).
So we have a few weeks off now to sleep, eat and finish working on some new songs…then we will be undertaking a rather ambitious but terribly exciting makeshift 3-day tour of the south of England, starting with a London headline show on Friday 24th August at Surya with the wonderful Keston Cobblers Club and our great friends Lazy Heart Parade (in fact we’re basically family now our Liam and their Louise have set up camp under the same Hackney roof) then on Saturday 25th August we open the main stage of Watchet Music Festival at lunch time, hot foot it down to the New Forest in time for tea, where we’ll play at Festibelly….before legging it back up to London to give you the next Sunday Fete at The Boogaloo on Sunday 26th August, featuring yet another stonking line-up. More details can be found here.
Meanwhile, look what we did a couple of months ago with The Moon, The Son and The Daughters for The Davenport Collection…
We’re returning to the Barfly and bringing some very special friends with us. Expect the grittiest, most raucous, flamboyant and debauched boot stomping folk music Camden has ever seen…and for one night only. We cannot wait.
Advance tickets available here.
Hand-picked by yours truly, the stupendous line-up features:
Felix Hagan & The Family
Felix Hagan is a composer and musician from London. He is the lead singer of the bands Rocketeer, Felix Hagan & The Family and leader of the hip-hop outfit known as The F-Bomb. He also writes contemporary musical theatre. The family are a very special outfit, bringing the most fabulous make-up, singing, dancing and very special trousers (so we’re told) to the stage. Felix and family have promised us a theatrical and folked-up set including a rare appearance from Felix’s banjo.
Freddie & The Hoares
Sunday Fete veterans Freddie and the Hoares have been gestating for a few years and were finally born in early 2011. The merry bunch play their own raucous brand of Folk ‘n’ Roll – featuring close harmonies, accordion, violin, and poetic lyrics all to make your heart sing and your blood boil.
Dirty Duncan & The Herrings
Formed from the ashes of Edinburgh based Ceilidh group “Deep Fried Fiddle”, Dirty Duncan brings together a blend of Scottish fiddle tunes and folk songs from across the land. Featuring blazing Western Isles fiddler Sarah Holliday alongside the husky tones of Edinburgh raised guitarist and singer Louis Rive, lowland beats from percussionist Gabriel Merryfield and of course their token English girl, Iona Collins on violin and viola. Get your dancing shoes on and prepare for a night of the best highland flings you’ll find in London!
IN OTHER NEWS….
Patch and The Giant are also exceedingly happy to announce the recruitment (well, theft might be more accurate) of a new member – Mr Gabriel Merryfield who will be providing us with a complement of Scottish fiddling, drumming and other sounds which we’re yet to decide. You may recognise him from other such outfits (from which we stole him) The Moon, The Son and The Daughters (get their wonderful EP here) and the aforementioned Dirty Duncan & The Herrings.
Welcome to the dark side, Gabe.
