King King; Hoodies and London

King King Hello! We have two things to say day today - Hoodies and London. Well three actually - get your Hoodies in London! These garments make splendid sartorial additions to any persons winter wardrobe. Quality black Gildan 'Heavy Blend' Unisex Hoodies logoed back and front and available now at gigs or from our website for only £30 in sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL. Our Headline London show is fast approaching tomorrow, at the Islington O2 Academy. A special night - this one is not to miss! Plus we have Ben Poole as support too! Its been great to meet so many of you, thanks so much for your support. And with Planet Rock playlisting 'Hurricane' it has made our month! See you soon!   King King PRESS "Alan Nimmo's guitar playing is dazzling, his full-bodied voice passionate.....rounding off the first night at Maryport Blues King King left in a new crown!" "  Fi Exon, The Cumberland Times "King King set the night on fire as they blazed into the finale with a superb set of one great song after another......A brilliant performance by the whole band."  Sue Hickling, Blues in Britain, Newark Blues Festival "...a performance that should, without doubt, put them firmly up with the best on the British circuit and probably the european circuit too"  Blues on the Farm Festival, Blues Matters UPCOMING SHOWS O2 Academy Islington London, UK Wed Nov 11 2015 07:00 PM Tickets Artrix *SOLD OUT* Bromsgrove, UK Thu Nov 12 2015 07:30 PM   Sale Waterside Arts Centre Sale, UK Fri Nov 13 2015 08:00 PM Tickets > See More / Details LINKS  Facebook       Facebook       Facebook       Artist Website

The Latest News and Special Offers From Topic Records.

You never heard so sweet Following on from our Voice of the People series offer earlier in the year, during November, we have four more volumes at a very special price – edited by Reg Hall and with selections and presentations made by Shirley Collins, Steve Roud and Rod Stradling, the four collections issued in 2012 continued the high standard set by the original 20-volume treasury of traditional songs and music.  This could be your perfect opportunity to catch up with records you are missing from your collection or purchase a gift for a friend. TSCD671   YOU NEVER HEARD SO SWEET TSCD672D   I’M A ROMANY RAI TSCD673T   GOOD PEOPLE, TAKE WARNING TSCD674  SARAH MAKEM ~ The Heart Is True   We have begun to make available free downloads of the transcribed notes for several of the songs from SimpsonŸ∙CuttingŸ∙Kerr’s ‘Murmurs’ album. Click on the following link to access the notes for the banjo transcription of The Lads of Alnwick  and the fingerstyle guitar transcription of The Plains of Waterloo: SCK Transcriptions More songs will be uploaded to this location in the next couple of weeks.   We continue our monthly choice of CDs at a very special price with 4 more great Fledg’ling titles:     FLED 3031  HELEN WATSON ~ Lifesize FLED 3085  HOME SERVICE ~ Live 1986 FLED 3091  The Complete JOHN KIRKPATRICK BAND FLED 3092  IAIN MATTHEWS  & EGBERT DERIX ~ In The Now Also on offer this month for only £10.00 is the limited 180g vinyl LP edition of the classic Bob & Ron Copper album originally released on the EFDSS label, ‘Traditional Songs from Rottingdean’.     * * * STOP PRESS * * * Warehouse find – a few copies available of Davy Graham’s classic EP ¾ AD, the Topic 2013 Record Store Day edition, new and sealed. These will not be repressed, so buy while you can at this price.   Only £7.50 November tour news   In early November Eliza and Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson will join Peggy Seeger and Neill and Calum MacColl, plus a wonderful line-up of musicians, for a few special concerts celebrating the songs of Ewan MacColl, marking 100 years since his birth. Find details of the ‘Blood and Roses’ concerts here: http://www.ewanmaccoll.co.uk/blood-and-roses-live-tour/   (photograph by Phil Carter) After a very successful tour with Dom Flemons, Martin Simpson starts a November/December solo tour on Thursday 12th November at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club. More tour dates here: http://www.martinsimpson.com/gigs/

Emily Portman - Seed Stitch; New Single, Video & Tour

EMILY PORTMAN - SEED STITCH; NEW SINGLE, VIDEO & TOUR

2 track digital single from Furrow Records. Cat. No.: FURR010. Release date: 13th Nov.
2015. Barcode: 5051565305388 Publisher: Wipe Out Music, Distribution: Cadiz.
"Entrancing and unsettling. A marvellous, original work"
✭✭✭✭ Observer
"Coracle is, without doubt, one of the folk albums of the year."
✭✭✭✭✭ Songlines
"Dark, dark is the considerable beauty of Emily Portman's
work”
✭✭✭✭✭ fROOTS.
"Spooky and surreal”
✭✭✭✭ Guardian
"A bold album"
✭✭✭✭ Telegraph 'Best Folk Albums of 2015’
"Coracle is a triumph...Delicate as a spider’s web, yet tough
as memory, this is a rich and remarkable record.”
✭✭✭✭✭ R2 Magazine

Seed Stitch is the new single from BBC Folk Award-winner Emily Portman, released
alongside a new video by a fellow Liverpool-based animator Laura Sparks, and coinciding
with a live tour from 6th-15th November.

Emily Portman’s latest album Coracle has received a multitude of rave reviews
since its release in June. It was recently named a 'Best Album of 2015' by the Telegraph
and put Emily on the cover of fROOTS magazine. Coracle has received plentiful airplay,
with accolades from the likes of BBC R3’s Late Junction and Jarvis Cocker on 6 Music.
Emily Portman will be joined by special guests to play a BBC live session for Mark Radcliffe’s
Folk Show on 4th November, which will coincide with the Seed Stitch video premier
by Folk Radio UK.
Seed Stitch showcases two stand-out songs from Coracle that subtly spin together
folk motifs with personal reflections on motherhood and bereavement. Emily describes the
title track as ‘a knitting pattern for DNA’; her beguiling voice rings out over a soundscape of
metronomic fiddles, with pulsing wurlitzer, electric guitar, glitch-laden electronics and percussion.
Haunting, yet silver-lined Seed Stitch shows Emily’s finely crafted songwriting at
its most poignant. The single also features ‘Nightjar’, a beautifully atmospheric song featuring
harp, brooding strings and drums, that lyrically captures the last moments of a loved
one’s life. Joining the acclaimed Emily Portman Trio on Seed Stitch are guests Sam
Sweeney on strings (Bellowhead), M G Boulter on guitars (Lucky Strikes) and Classical
percussionist Toby Kearney (BBC Young Musician of the Year 2006). Emily will be touring
live with this expanded line up as Emily Portman and the Coracle Band in 2016.
November Tour Dates

• 6th Foundling Museum LONDON
• 7th Sugar & Spice BOURNEMOUTH
• 8th Kitchen Garden Cafe BIRMINGHAM
• 9th The Greystones SHEFFIELD
• 10th Forest Arts Centre NEW MILTON
• 11th Howard Assembly Rooms LEEDS
• 12th Lincoln Drill Hall LINCOLN
• 13th Ashcroft Arts Centre FAREHAM
• 14th Arlington Arts Centre ARLINGTON
• 15th Philharmonic Hall LIVERPOOL
www.emilyportman.co.uk PR: james@jameshsoars.com Agent:sarahcoxson@btinternet.com (ABM)

Emily Portman - Biography
‘Casts a powerful spell’ Uncut
‘A mouth-watering collaboration’ Mojo
[on The Furrow Collective]
‘Eerily magnificent, bizarre and wonderful’ fRoots

Emily Portman is a folk singer, banjo-player and songwriter hailed as ‘one of the new
British folk scene’s most beguiling presences’ (Uncut). Emily is winner the BBC Radio Two
Folk Award for Best Original Song and now she’s back with Coracle, a vivid tour de force
of finely-crafted songs that spin together folk motifs with personal reflections on motherhood
and bereavement. Coracle has already caught the attention of Jarvis Cocker, received
rave reviews and propelled Emily onto the cover of fROOTS. The Emily Portman
Trio are joined by a stellar cast of guests to create a darkly magical album that takes Emily’s
fine-spun lyricism to new heights. Emily performs live with the Emily Portman Trio,
alongside the talented musicians Lucy Farrell (voice,viola and saw) and Rachel Newton
(voice, harp and fiddle) who have become known for their “inventive arrangements using
twinkling harp, brooding strings and chiming vocal parts” (Observer).

www.emilyportman.co.uk

The Emily Portman Trio are at Lincoln Drill Hall on 12th November

Tickets for Lincoln Drill Hall from 01522 873894 www.lincolndrillhall.com

The Buzzcocks @ Lincoln Engine Shed 29 November

The Buzzcocks @ Lincoln Engine Shed 29 November

Get in there for your tickets now complete with some fine support from Lincoln's Suburban Toys - spread the word punklings!

Tickets from...

www.solidentertainments.com 01472 349222

Midge Ure & India Electric Company - Breathe Again - 22 October @ Lincoln Drill Hall.

Midge Ure & India Electric Company - Breathe Again

Thursday 22 October 8pm @ Lincoln Drill Hall

Lincoln Drill Hall are delighted to welcome back the brilliant Midge Ure to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his platinum selling album. Midge & India Electric Company will perform the entire album alongside a selection of his other solo & Ultravox material

Tickets: £22.50 from 01522 873894

Autumn Greetings from Grant Maloy Smith

Grant Maloy Smith Autumn Greetings from Grant I've been real lucky in the last 6 months to be able to perform at SXSW in Austin, the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, and at a wide variety of venues in Hollywood, New York, London, and Glastonbury. Whew! My horse is tired from all that running around, and ready for a break. But he's going to have to wait, because I have a LOT of shows planned for November, in NY, Nashville, Rhode Island, Arizona and Los Angeles! I hope I can meet you somewhere and play you some music. Speaking of Dust Bowl, I am very excited to announce that this album will be released in June 2016 on Roven Records. They distribute to stores, catalogs, and of course the on-line stores like iTunes, Amazon, et al. I will be doing some album release shows around the USA. If you can't catch me live, you can see some recent performances on my youtube channel, which is at www.youtube.com/americanrootsgrant If you're on Twitter, please connect with me twitter.com/grantmaloysmith And on facebook you can find me at www.facebook.com/americanrootsgrant I started a new thing on my website where anyone who registers as a fan will get something autographed in the mail. Could be a picture, a CD, or whatever! I have a very active imagination.... Here is that link if you're interested: www.grant-maloy-smith.com/Fans Upcoming Shows view all 11/07 Leftfield New York, NY 11/08 The Bitter End New York, NY 11/14 Mesa Music Fest Mesa, AZ 11/18 Coffee Gallery Backstage Altadena, CA Press view all "Going headlong into the album, the first thing you experience is the pronounced Midwestern drawl ever present in Grant’s voice and the amazing banjo work on “The Boy Who Built The Moon,” a song that is in and of itself a fun and faithful bluegrass tune that sets Yellow Trailer up for success right away. Smith’s lyrical work is just as impressive from track to track, staying true to folk style storytelling in music while keeping it sounding fresh and enjoyable. The elements of ld and new combine so well that fans of country and bluegrass will find it an easily addictive sound, while the small pop seasoning gives it a kick for a more modern taste. The two best songs on the release are the title-track and the conclusion, “Hold On To Moments.” Both present themselves with the most charisma and personality derived in the songwriting, and possess the vital pieces, including mandolin, fiddle, banjo, slide/resonator and acoustic guitar, in the most subtle of ways. In a Word: Crea"  — Joe Cirilo, The Aquarian Weekly

Zombie Fest 2015

Touring Artists from Laughing Dog Music 2015 / 2016

RAGGED UNION BLUEGRASS (Colorado, USA) 7 - 23 October 2016 Ragged Union’s hard-driving bluegrass, with a tinge of the traditional and a healthy dose RAGGED UNION BLUEGRASS (Colorado, USA) 7 - 23 October 2016 Ragged Union Bluegrass Ragged Union’s hard-driving bluegrass, with a tinge of the traditional and a healthy dose of the blues is infectious and mesmerising. And since their inception a couple of years ago are becoming a firm favourite with music lovers up and down the land! “This is your grandfather’s bluegrass music but NOT his lyrics or subject matter. These tunes are ‘traditional’ in their approach and in RU’s presentation, but the subject matter of the lyrics is wholly modern; that is, they deal with modern angst, problems, even fixations in both a literal and metaphorical way. And this is the crux: that’s entirely different than how bluegrass music has been ‘updated’ to date. It is beyond appropriate; it is fresh and innovative while preserving through their instruments the things one likes about bluegrass music.” Some pretty powerful words for a band who is just now releasing their first album. The music coming from this six-piece Colorado based ensemble, lead by husband and wife Geoff and Christina Union, is memorable and provides a platform for players performing original tunes and off-the-beaten path standards, winning fans in the process. There is an intimacy and tightness surrounding the vocals, with award-winning instrumental work, a powerful rhythmic drive, and up tempo arrangements giving way to the edgy, outsider songwriting that has become an earmark of their style. 'Hard Row to Hoe' was recorded in the fall/winter months of 2014 in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Former Rebecca Frazier/Hit and Run banjoist, and current player for Finnders and Youngberg, Aaron Youngberg, engineered and mixed the project consisting of thirteen tunes, eleven singers, two instrumentals, ten originals and three covers. Band members Christina Union (lead and tenor vocals), Jordan Ramsey (mandolin, vocal), Chris C-Bob Elliot (Banjo), Pat Hoeper (fiddle), and Michael Sivcovich (upright bass), have created a sound that is masterful in the hands of seasoned musicians and with an appeal that is infectious. BOOKING NOW FOR A SHORT UK & IRELAND TOUR 7 - 23 OCTOBER 2016 CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO MAIA (Leeds, UK) New album launch tour Spring 2016 MAIA The eagerly anticipated new album by MAIA will be out in the new year and it's a corker as you'd imagine. MAIA are self-proclaimed sci-fi folk evangelists and have spent the last 3 years touring and playing festivals and as a result have morphed and matured into what has been described as "Harmonic psychedelic sci-fi folk and disco rock....". Winners of the Yorkshire Gig Guide award for ‘Outstanding Live Band’ in 2014, MAIA are taking a break from recording to play a string of dates to showcase some of the new material from their forthcoming album to be released in the Autumn. Their genre busting mix glides easily from sweet stunning vocal harmonies to complex blissed out grooves; punctuated by echoing banjo, shimmering mandolin, spooky brass and captivating vocal melodramas. Tour dates available in Spring 2016 Click here for VIDEO GUY DAVIS & BROOKS WILLIAMS (USA) - 10 - 28 November 2016 Guy Davis & Brooks Williams A special debut and UK 'Inside the Delta' tour for New York blues legend GUY DAVIS and Statesboro, Georgia born roots and americana singer-songwriter BROOKS WILLIAMS, ranked one for the top Acoustic Guitarists of all time. Two beautiful guitarists displaying a level of skill and humanity that makes audiences smile wherever they perform. GUY DAVIS Whether Guy Davis is appearing on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” or nationally syndicated radio programs such as Garrison Keillor’s, “A Prairie Home Campanion”, “Mountain Stage” or David Dye’s,“World Café”., in front of 15,000 people on the Main Stage of a major festival, or teaching an intimate gathering of students at a Music Camp, Guy feels the instinctive desire to give each listener his ‘all’. BROOKS WILLIAMS Brooks writes groove-laden songs and delivers them with an easy-going vocal style and monstrous guitar chops. Walking the line between blues and Americana, Williams has worked stages worldwide for over 25 years, amassing a staggering back-catalogue of songs, recordings and tales. With nearly 20 CDs to his name – and more on the way – this Statesboro Georgia native is, according to americanaUK, “impossible not to like." Click here to see Brooks performing 'Top of the World' on his cigar box guitar at The Ram Club, Thames Ditton, England (November 2014). Click here to see Guy performing 'Shaky Pudding' CURTIS ELLER (USA) - April 2016 Curtis Eller Lace up your dancing shoes here comes Curtis Eller! Banjo player, songwriter and rock & roll singer..after beginning his show business career at the age of seven as a juggler and acrobat, the Detroit native turned to the banjo and headed for New York City where he rose to obscurity as "New York's angriest yodeling banjo player". Siting Buster Keaton, Abraham Lincoln and Elvis Presley as his primary musical influences, Eller became a staple of the beer halls, burlesque houses and underground theaters of the eastern seaboard. Fame proved elusive. ​ Having spent years toiling in the musical sweatshops of the industrial north, Eller uprooted his family and resettled in some faded, tobacco town in the North Carolina Piedmont to begin the arduous task of assembling a new version of his band, The American Circus. The latest version of the ensemble is a brutish and inelegant rock & roll outfit specializing in banjo music for funerals, gospel tunes for atheists and novelty dance fads for amputees. A lavish, Hollywood, dance sequence unfolding on the floor of a Chicago meatpacking plant in 1894. Eller's numerous compositions describe a dreamlike vision of American history where all points in time have collapsed into one. Past recordings have seen a ghastly parade of historical luminaries, from Abraham Lincoln and Buster Keaton to Amelia Earhart and Joe Louis, sharing the spotlight with a host of Civil War generals and corrupt 19th century politicians. The group's latest phonographic recording, "How to Make It in Hollywood", is a compact collection of glittery show tunes, sentimental tear-jerkers and rock & roll rave-ups whose lyrics are populated with two-bit prize fighters, Hollywood has-beens, lapsed gospel singers and forgotten pop stars. Eller relentlessly tours the US and Europe with an expanding and contracting cast of misfits. Coming to a UK town near you in April 2016 for 10 days only! Click here for VIDEO DAVE FORMULA & THE FINKS (UK) - Autumn / Winter 2015 Dave Formula & The Finks Keith & Dave Angel, Andy Seward and Dave Formula have formidable individual and collective musical backgrounds that they have brought together to form their classic, groove organ outfit - Dave Formula & The Finks. Influences on the band from New Orleans, Memphis, Chicago & Philadelphia, are re-interpreted through the music of genuinely legendary artists: The Meters, Booker T & The Mg’s, Curtis Mayfield & Jimmy Smith. When all this is mixed in together & combined with their storming original tunes, they create uniquely exciting music & a psychedelic soul-sound like no other band playing on the planet today. At a recent club show the promoter had to ask the packed crowd to stop dancing and sit down, as the whole floor of the Victorian warehouse-venue was moving so much he was afraid it would fall through to the storey below. Dave Formula is the keyboard player, songwriter and soundtrack composer from Manchester, who is perhaps best known for his work with Magazine, long regarded as one of the most significant & influential British bands. He also played & wrote for New Romantic ensemble Visage as well as world music band, The Angel Brothers. It was during the 1960’s in his first band, The St Louis Union, that he developed his love for the Hammond organ and a great dance groove. Dave rejoined his Magazine colleagues for a run of sold-out shows in February 2009 to great critical response and in summer 2009 Magazine played European festivals and a sell- out show at London's Royal Festival Hall. The band closed the year with a headline appearance on Later with Jools Holland and BBC’s Electric Proms. They released an acclaimed new album & toured again in 2011. Live dates available in October / November / December 2015 Click here or VIDEO For all enquiries, availability, interview requests, promo CDs etc please contact: GAIL COOKE LAUGHING DOG MUSIC (UK) gail@laughingdogmusic.co.uk Click here for LAUGHING DOG MUSIC Click here for RAGGED UNION Click here for MAIA Click here for CURTIS ELLER Click here for GUY DAVIS & BROOKS WILLIAMS Click here for DAVE FORMULA & THE FINKS