bluecrow music: Frogbelly & Symphony UK/Ireland April 2015 Tour (a few dates left)

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Frogbelly & Symphony UK/Ireland April 2015 Tour (a few dates left)

Frogbelly & Symphony

Frogbelly and Symphony are born of the clash and fusion that characterised the late 20th century. Disparate influences from the Old World to New York are brought together in the furnaces of Sheffield and Brooklyn, revealing a stylistic repertoire that injects the indigenous workingman’s soul into the periphery of the bohemian metropolis. Academically trained in traditional instrument playing and constantly experimenting with production techniques, the band systematically processes every imaginable acoustic influence.

Coming from an experimental post-punk and noise approach on their first record, Frogbelly and Symphony have now put the material for their first full length album together. Song arrangements, the recording of the instruments and the environment in a technical and cultural sense are bound together. A progressive rock sound echoes in folk landscapes. Urban poetry, pop melodies and repetitive chants cast a rousing wave of contemporary performance.

Frogbelly & Symphony Live in New York

Frogbelly and Symphony have played over 100 shows in Europe, UK and US. Their sets usually feature a theatrical rock show, often involving the audience in pieces of improvised performance. However, paying tribute to their roots in folk music the band has also played a series of shows with acoustic instruments in pubs, clubs and rather intimate environments. The band performed their first series of shows in New York in early 2013, followed by 2 tours throughout 2013 across continental Europe and the UK. In the midst of their 2013 road schedule, Frogbelly and Symphony released an EP entitled “the EYE” (Labelship, UK).

In September 2014 the band toured the east coast and midwest US, road-testing their new songs and performance featured on their forthcoming full length album. The tour was well received and was followed by several press appearances. WFUV Radio picked their pre-release Track “Patch of Blue” for the UK/NY shows and the band played an official CMJ showcase in NYC. The new album is by now set for release in April 2015.

With a typically uncompromising approach to production values, the band has utilised the abilities of sound-engineer and producer legend Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Dresden Dolls, Bill Laswell) and tracked the album in the fabled BC studio in Brooklyn. It was subsequently finalised and mixed at The Laundry Rooms Studio in Sheffield, UK.

Frogbelly & Symphony

Meet the band:

Liz Hanley – Vocals, keyboard, violin. From a Boston Irish family Liz expanded on her roots by studying classical violin at NYU and now lives in Brooklyn. She is a member of various traditional folk ensembles and can often be found at sessions around the globe.

Tom Hanley – Vocals, bass, composition, production. Pendular between Sheffield, UK and Brooklyn NY he collaborates with engineers and studios on both sides of the pond in order to achieve the stylistic variety which has become the hallmark of Frogbelly and Symphony.

Ben Trott – Guitar. Ben studied classical and jazz guitar in Sheffield, UK and is an integral member of the traditional folk music scene in the UK. He cross-links traditional playing, jazz rooted improvisations and brutalist rock barrages into a sound that is as distinctive as it is versatile.

Ray Rizzo – drums. From Louisville, KY to Brooklyn, NY he has lent his skills as a drummer to artists like like Julia Stone, Trixie Whitley, Bonnie‘Prince’Billy, Glen Hansard, Ben Folds and Michael Shannon. He is also the initiator of Louisville’s Motherlodge festival.

For Liz, Tom, Ben and Ray this band has become a canvas of their collective experiences and intellectual exchange. Often their ideas have previously been articulated by great writers throughout the ages. Frogbelly and Symphony idiosyncratically appropriates, shares and recreates words and tunes. They are not afraid to quote what has already been said perfectly:
John Clare's An Invite to Eternity, Rumi's Ache and Confusion have left their imprints on their writing as well as fragments of Joseph Heller's Catch 22 and Langston Hughes' Vari-Colored Songs.

Tom Hanley: " ... nowadays we're blessed with the possibility to take the inspirational tint from centuries of musical and lyrical repertoires. You may describe our work as a subjective look on an inexhaustible miracle."

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