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PLAYING OUT LOUD! Hayseed Dixie - Guilfest, Guildford -
Friday - July 14 & The Brook, Southampton - Monday July 17. The band are best known for their stirring versions of AC/DC
material, but they also include their own special versions of other hard rock
classics and original material. One thing is true though, Hayseed Dixie have built up a huge reputation as a sensational live act since they formed in 2001. They don't just do AC/DC covers - after their debut album sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, they went back into the studios to record some of their own songs. The result was "A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love" an inspired exploration of one of the primary reasons for drinking, cheating, killing and going to hell. The next development in the career of Hayseed Dixie was hearing some songs by the band Kiss and realising they were kindred spirits. So in February 2003 they spent two inspired days in the recording studio to produce their third album "Kiss My Grass - A Hillbilly Tribute To Kiss." There followed a joint tour with Kerosene Brothers followed including over 100 shows all over the USA and Australia which included much heroic drinking. Feeling the need to plough some fresh fertile fields, the boys began to focus on getting to the UK and Europe as well. In 2004 they released "Let There Be Rockgrass" and the first UK tour took place. According to Hayseed Dixie, the full spectrum of hell was raised and "Rockgrass" became an international phenomena. Now they're back on tour in the UK again and as lead singer Barley Scotch says: "We ain't even started drinking yet. We've just been on a recon mission so far. Now we know where the party people around the world are, and we're coming back to close the deal!” Hayseed Dixie are:
Barley Scotch - singer, guitar & fiddle, Don Wayne Reno - banjo, Dale Reno -
mandolin and Jason D. Smith - bass. Tony Joe White - The Brook, Southampton
- Sunday July 23. Tony Joe White first found fame In 1969, when the man from Louisiana had a US Top 10 hit with his classic swamp rock song "Polk Salad Annie, later recorded by Elvis. Then in 1970, Brook Benton's soulful rendition of his classic song "Rainy Night In Georgia confirmed his talent. In late September 1973, White was recruited by producer Huey P. Meaux to sit in on the legendary Memphis sessions that became the landmark "Southern Roots" album of Jerry Lee Lewis. By all accounts, these sessions were a three day, around the clock party, which not only reunited the original MGs (Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson Jr. of Booker T. and the MGs fame) for the first time in three years, they also featured rockabilly icon Carl Perkins, Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders), and Wayne Jackson and The Memphis Horns. Throughout the '70s and '80s White toured in support of artists including Creedence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor. His chart career was revived In the 1990s when Tina Turner recorded four of his songs for her multi-platinum selling album “Foreign Affairs,” including the world-wide hit "Steamy Windows.” With the advent of that project, White formed an alliance with Turner's manager, Roger Davies and his career began to soar. In 1991 he signed with Remark, issued the “Closer To The Truth” album and spent the next two years touring Europe in support of Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker among others. He cut two more albums for Remark, 1993's “Path Of A Decent Groove” and 1995's “Lake Placid Blues,” the latter garnering the first of two nominations for "Best R & B Album" from the Nashville Music Awards. French audiences eagerly embraced White as the 'Swamp Fox' and in 1998, he became the subject of a French produced documentary: “Tony Joe White-The Man From Down South.” In 1999, White went back to his roots and recorded “One Hot July” in the swamps of Louisiana. He then toured Australia and Europe once again in support of the critically acclaimed album. In 2001, Audium and Koch Entertainment released “The Beginning,”- a stripped-down acoustic album that received worldwide recognition and five star ratings in virtually every country. Throughout his career Tony Joe White has had songs recorded by dozens of major artists as well as Elvis, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Hank Williams Jr, Tim McGraw, John Mayall and Waylon Jenningshave recorded his songs. His most recent CD release is “Heroes and Heroines” on his own label, Swamp Records which he formed with his son Jody White, so that he could continue to produce music his way.
Eddie and The Hot Rods - The Joiners Arms, Southampton
- Thursday July 6 . Along the way in their long career the Hot Rods have played to packed audiences in most of the major UK,US and European venues. Many times they have made front page news in the music press and have graced the music industry with anthems such as "Teenage Depression", "Do Anything You Wanna Do", and "Quit This Town", plus doing credit to a number of classic covers such as Van Morrisons' "Gloria", Bob Segars' "Get Out Of Denver" and of course, Domingo Samudios' "Woolly Bully". The Hot Rods thunder onward with a new found energy in this new millennium with their own style of high energy R & B, each and every time leaving an ecstatic audience yelling for more. Along with a new album that has just been released through Voiceprint Records, the band have recently recorded a live DVD from a sell out show from at The Mean Fiddler in London, and are working on their next studio album due to be released around the Autumn of 2006. Last year saw the band undertaking a 12 date tour of the West Coast of the USA, numerous dates in Italy and Germany, as well as all the UK shows. This year looks to be even bigger and better for the Essex band with tours of both sides of the USA booked along with extensive dates throughout Europe, Japan, the UK and Scandanavia. The band lines up with Barrie Masters on vocals, guitarists Dave Higgs, Pete Wall and Rob Steel and Steve Nichols (aka Steve Nicol) on drums. Originally arriving during the waning days of pub rock, Eddie & the Hot Rods helped usher in punk rock in the United Kingdom. Working from the same bluesy, Stonesy three-chord foundation as contemporaries like Dr. Feelgood, the Hot Rods were faster, tougher, wilder and louder than any other pub-rock band. And they still are!
Playing support at The Joiners are The Deads, who play a ferocious blend of
garage rock & roll.
Cerys Matthews - The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth -
Friday July 21. Cerys (pronounced 'Kerris') was born on April 11 in 1969 in Cardiff. The daughter of a surgeon, Cerys was brought up in Swansea and Pembrokeshire. She has cited her childhood heroes as being Pippi Longstocking and The Wombles due to their love of recycling! She had a reputation of being a bit of a troublemaker and loudmouth, but at the same time generous and loyal, and always ready to stick up for her friends. She learned to play the guitar in her early teens - a period where she described herself as being "a bit of an obnoxious bitch" - teaching herself blues and rude Irish folk songs. After a stint in Spain as a nanny, where she learned to speak Spanish and Catalan Cerys worked as a cleaner on a beach. She later became involved with the local music scene, befriending - amongst others - Mark Roberts, a singer with whom she would later move in and form a relationship. The band Catatonia was formed in 1992, reputedly after Roberts heard Cerys busking in a street in Cardiff city centre (this later turned out to be a story fabricated by the band's press officer, as Cerys had known Mark for some time, although they did often go busking). She subsequently sang lead vocals on the band's hits, including "You've Got A Lot To Answer For", "Mulder and Scully", "Dead From The Waist Down", and "Road Rage", and played guitar on the earlier material before second guitarist Owen Powell joined the band. She also performed a single with the band Space called “The Ballad of Tom Jones,” which tells the story of two lovers who want to kill each other, but then hear a Tom Jones song that defuses their homicidal feelings. In addition, she collaborated with Tom Jones himself to record a version of Frank Loesser's “Baby, It's Cold Outside” on Jones, album “Reload”. Cerys was once voted the Sexiest Female in Rock by the now defunct magazine Melody Maker. Cerys announced her departure from Catatonia after bouts of exhaustion and anxiety, and a spell in rehab due to problems brought on by excessive drinking and smoking. The remaining members of the band continued their career together, under a different band name. A rejuvenated Matthews moved to Nashville in early summer 2002 in search of a new beginning. She had already collected 76 traditional folk songs with the idea of making an album of folk covers, but meeting Bucky Baxter changed all that. On her arrival in America, Cerys handpicked Baxter, who had played lap steel guitar for Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams. Her debut album, “Cockahoop,” was recorded in seven months and was released in 2003. She toured the album around Britain but with minimal promotion as she was heavily pregnant at the time. Its stateside release followed in October 2004. Cerys now lives in Nashville with her husband Seth Riddle, whom she married in February 2003, and their two children, Glenys Pearl Y-Felin and Johnny Tupelo Jones. In December 2005, Cerys Matthews recorded a new version of the classic 60's hit "1-2-3" in Nashville, Tennessee. She released it as a single with all profits going to a children's charity. Her current tour precedes a new album release later this year.
The Lazy Jumpers - Forest Arts, New Milton - Saturday
July 8. Featuring two Catalan Spaniards and two wild Serbians, The Lazy Jumpers are a top attraction at European clubs and festivals with their straight ahead swinging blues influenced by the likes of T-Bone Walker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Tiny Bradshaw. The Lazy Jumpers feature the vocals and harmonica of Blas Picon and the guitar heroics of Mario Cobo, driven by the powerhouse rhythm team of Ivan Cavacevic on double bass and Milos Milosavljevic on drums. The band`s second album, “Bad Luck - Turn My Back on You” is a blues best seller in Spain. A series of sensational live shows during last year`s Starbucks Birmingham International Jazz Festival has started to spread the word that this is one hot band destined for bigger things. Recent quotes include “First Rate rockin` Rhythm & Blues, the hottest new roots blues band in Europe” in Blue Suede News, USA, and “The best group I`ve heard since France`s Bo Weavil” in Now Dig This Magazine, UK. The band lines up with Dan Friel on vocals, keyboards, guitar, and electronics, BJ Warshaw on bass, vocals and electronics and Joel Saladino: drums and electronics
Parts & Labor - Talking Heads, Southampton -
Thursday July 20. Parts & Labor combines primitive, minimal electronics with an anthemic, rhythmic barrage. The Brooklyn trio formed in early 2002 with BJ Warshaw and Jim Sykes adding bass and drums to Dan Friel's solo keyboard/electronics experiments (described by Time Out New York as "Strange and wonderful, and best of all, unlike anything we can think of." In August 2002 Joel Saladino replaced Sykes on drums just in time for a string of local shows with Lightning Bolt, Les Savy Fav, Melt Banana, Enon, Oneida, Thurston Moore, and Jim O'Rourke. These performances included collaborations with vocalist Damo Suzuki (of the legendary Krautrock band Can), bagpiper Matt Welch, and video/film artists, Viduo and Harry Rosenblum. In February and March of 2003 Parts & Labor embarked on a month-long national tour in support of Groundswell, their debut CD on JMZ records. Since then, P&L have added guitar and vocals to their arsenal while continuing to perform around NYC. Another full US tour with Tyondai Braxton just ended in late November last year. Also on the bill are Hunting Lodge from Bristol, Yolk from Dunkerque, France and Action Beat from Milton Keynes.
Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart - Larmer Tree Festival -
Saturday July 15. Stacey and Mark first met in 1991 at a songwriters night in Nashville Tennessee. They knew that night it was one of those things that was just meant to be. They were married in 1992 while raising two children from Stacey's first marriage. "When we got married I knew Mark understood he was marrying all three of us and on that day he did," says Stacey. Stacey and Mark already both had their own solo carriers that started to make a move by opening their own Indie record label Gearle Records in 1998 with the release of Stacey's “Simple Gearle” album followed by Mark's 1999 release “Songs From A Corner Stage,” and continuing with Stacey's 2002 “Dancing With Them That Brung Me,” before Stacey and announced their husband and wife duo in 2001 with the release of their double live CD “Must Be Live.” Stacey is of course the sister of Steve Earle, and her first show was on an arena stage in Sydney, playing rhythm guitar in her brother's band, Steve Earle & the Dukes "The Hard Way" tour in 1990. "I would learn a lot from him; first of all I was allowed to grow up understanding what a songwriter was,” says Stacey. "I got a major crash course in touring as a musician. She spent about a year and a half on tour with her brother, and then returned to Nashville to start a career of her own as a country/folk singer/songwriter. It was there she found she had a lot more to learn. She felt she had a lot against her. "I was 30 years old and asking seeking a recording deal in Nashville at that age was like asking god to turn back the world clock. She would later land a staff writing position with the Publishing Co Ten Ten Music. Mark Stuart went to the finest of Music schools. He started his schooling listening and admiring his uncle's guitar playing and his Dad’s fiddling. Learning and listening to the greats, Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, John Fogerty, The Beatles and many more players and singers of all genres. He would find himself playing in the School of Honky Tonks and beer joints in and around Nashville by age 15 in his Dad’s band. By managing to stay awake in high school after playing late nights polishing every riff and bend and vocal chord he would go on by age 17 to form his own band make a record and still find the time to play on the road as lead guitar and vocals for acts like Freddy Fender and others taking him into his 20's. Mark was in off the road when he met Stacey and that very night that he would play the first note of her music never leaving her side. Mark still somehow found the time to work on his own music recording his solo record and touring, including a spell with The Dukes in the 1990s. Like Stacey, he recalls it as a time of glamour: appearing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," doing gigs with Neil Young. "I had someone tuning my guitar, strapping on my guitar," he said. "Now we carry our stuff three flights up in the Red Roof Inn." Stacey and Mark over the years have lived and learned so much from each other. They have always found themselves inseparable from the beginning. It is playing music day in and day out together that locked in the sound and love they could not unlock if they tried. Their songs are the diaries of their life good times and bad, completing the love they have. They live in Ashland City, Tennesse west of Nashville but call home from the road most of the time. "Our children are all grown so we left home" for the past three years. They've gone on to release their duo albums together, “Never Gonna Let You Go” and "S&M Communion Bread.” |
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Southampton's No 1 recording studio
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Voted
the best festival band in the UK last year, American hillbilly rockers Hayseed
Dixie are back to play Guilfest on July 14 and The Brook in Southampton on July
17.
“The
Swamp Fox,” otherwise known as Tony Joe White, makes a welcome return to The
Brook in Southampton on Sunday July 23, which just happens to be his 63rd
birthday.
Eddie
and The Hot Rods are an Essex band who have been on the live music circuit for
over 30 years. The band who have produced an astonishing 16 singles, 6 vinyl
albums and 14 CD's return to The Joiners Arms in Southampton on Thursday July 6.
Cerys
Matthews needs no introduction to fans in the South. The former lead singer of
Catatonia, now a singer/songwriter, plays a gig at the Wedgewood Rooms in
Portsmouth on Friday July 21.
The
hottest, rockingest jump blues band from Spain (and possibly Europe) is set to
visit Forest Arts in New Milton on Saturday July 8. Based in Barcelona, The Lazy
Jumpers are anything but lazy, according to reports.
“Noise
Annoys” is the title of a gig at Southampton’s Talking Heads music venue on
Thursday July 20. Topping the bill are a band from Brooklyn called Parts & Labor.
Husband
and wife team Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart bring a touch of Americana to this
year’s Larmer Tree Festival on Saturday July 15.
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All content is provided on a "as is" basis & no responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies. |