The Handsome Family UK/Ireland Tour March 2015

There May Be Trouble Ahead!

Just face the music and dance!

New Year's Eve With Mama Liz, Stamford.

New Year Ceillidh with the Little Big Band

Soul Weekender Peterborough 20/21 December.

Check Out The Three Blokes Blues Band @ The Tap House Gainsborough Fri 19 Dec.

Rita Payne Spring Tour 2015

The Moral of the Elephant fRoots Critics Choice Album of the Year 2014.

The Moral of the Elephant fRoots Critics Choice Album of the Year 2014  We are thrilled to announce the 2014 fROOTS Critics Poll Album of the Year : Martin and Eliza Carthy's 'The Moral of the Elephant'. The album is available at a special price until the end of the year, though there are only a few days left to place your order and receive a prize from our special offer Lucky Dip. The recent BBC TV ghost drama 'Remember Me' with Michael Palin had a plot centred around 'Scarborough Fair'. You might have heard Martin Carthy singing the song during the film's closing credits. His definitive recording from 1965 can be found on his influential debut album. Thank you for continuing to support Topic and very best wishes to you all for 2015.

Topic Records Ltd. · 7 Fernie Court, Station Road · UPPINGHAM, Rutland LE15 9TX · United Kingdom

Frog belly and Symphony April 2015 Tour.

FROGBELLY & SYMPHONY (UK / IRELAND) APRIL 2015 TOUR, BOOKING NOW 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." For all enquiries, availability and tour bookings for APRIL 2015 in UK and IRELAND please contact: GAIL COOKE  LAUGHING DOG MUSIC  +44 (0) 7905 952374  gail@laughingdogmusic.co.uk

Look Out; It's The Broombusters

Look out it’s

THE BROOMBUSTERS

The greatest Rock’n’Roll, Blues & Ska Party

On this – and probably any other – planet

Born in the heart of Big City Birmingham, fronted by the wild, wacky – and not a little scary – Charlie Wolfman Sylvester, this five piece combo generates enough power onstage to blast off into space, which can happen on a not irregular basis.

 Wolfman is the band’s secret weapon, and it’s not surprising that the man has a background - and what a background.

Remember the exuberant and colourful JALN Band that seemed to inhabit – alongside Kool & The Gang and Chaka Khan - the Top of the Pops Studio throughout the 70s and 80s with a seemingly endless run of disco soul hits? 

Managed by pop guru Pete Waterman the band toured the world for some 25 years and clocked up hit after hit. And that’s where The Wolfman came from, the star of The JALN Band.

 

Then The Wolfman decided to return to his roots – and The Broombusters were born.

Extravagant, entertaining, infectious enthusiasm and danceability in spades – that’s The Broombusters.

Coming at you.

Don’t duck, just dance.

For more information please contact

Big Bear Music, Po Box 944, Birmingham, B16 8UT
Tel: 0121 454 7020 - admin@bigbearmusic.com