Glastonbury Launch of 3rd Album Campaign
We were very busy at Glastonbury 2016. We played four times from 22nd to 26th June as this was the official launch of our Crowd Funding campaign with Pledge Music to raise funds for our the recording of our third album "We Happy Few". There was a lot of excitement from the crowds, especially as we started throwing our special Pledge Music beer mats at them from the stage! See more on our Albums page or go to the Pledge Music page.
Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza
There was great disappointment for a lot of people when Joan Armatrading had to cancel her appearance at this event. But it turned out to be an opportunity for us. The programme had a gap and we were asked on Saturday afternoon if we were able to fill in supporting the Shires and Ray Davies! Michael Eavis has followed the band since it formed, and we have played a few events for the Glastonbury Festival organisation before. But obviously never quite on this scale!
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It was probably lucky that we had only a couple of hours notice before we had to get to site for sound checks, so no time to dwell on the size of the occasion. In the event it all went smoothly and we had the crowd of around 9,000 people dancing and clapping along. It was such an honour to be called upon by Nick, The Glastonbury Festival Office and of course Michael, and then the audience were just fantastic, and embraced us with an enthusiasm worthy of Priddy Folk Festival (!!).
Larmer Tree Breakthrough Music Awards
photo by Alan Ewart
We have been keen to play the Larmer Tree Festival from the beginning, so in March we entered their 2015 Breakthrough Music Awards contest. We were delighted when we got through to the semi-finals, but we needed a strong public vote to get us through to the finals. Luckily all of you rallied round and voted, and presumably press ganged your friends, postmen, etc to vote as well. Special thanks to Priddy Folk Festival, Stogumber Festival and Priston Festival who's FaceBook pages also got behind our campaign.
The finals were on 11th April at 60 Million Postcards, a club in Bournemouth. Were up against some great bands, Dorey The Wise, Cate Ferris, Villanovas, Papa Truck and the Al O'Kane Band. This meant we had a great evening of entertainment as we watched the other bands, but meant the judging was nerve wracking as we couldn't be sure who would win!
It was a great moment when the judges called our name first and we were presented with our disc trophy. This means we are booked to play the Larmer Tree Festival. Hope to see you there.
The finals were on 11th April at 60 Million Postcards, a club in Bournemouth. Were up against some great bands, Dorey The Wise, Cate Ferris, Villanovas, Papa Truck and the Al O'Kane Band. This meant we had a great evening of entertainment as we watched the other bands, but meant the judging was nerve wracking as we couldn't be sure who would win!
It was a great moment when the judges called our name first and we were presented with our disc trophy. This means we are booked to play the Larmer Tree Festival. Hope to see you there.
A Tale Of Sound and Fury - Our 2nd Album
We have had a fantastic summer of festivals, including Priddy, Glastonbury, Village Pump, and Sidmouth. Whilst really looking forward to Universitywe started work on our second album. The first album was Emma Britton's album of the week on BBC Somerset was described by fRoots as "a rattle round the rafters!". For the second album we are working with professional musicians Will Lang and Tom Wright.
We used a Pledge Music campaign to give people opportunities to buy merchandise, or advanced copies of the album. You can find out more at the Pledge Music website or our own "Albums" page, and you can see our Pledge Music video. We also got support from the Wells Rotary Club and from The Queen Victoria pub in Priddy after whom we named the last track of the album.
The album was printed in Poland by Takt and arrived on Christmas eve 2014. The official release is not until spring, but pre-release copies are available from us and we are sending review copies to the wise of the folk world to ciriticise (please be kind!).
We used a Pledge Music campaign to give people opportunities to buy merchandise, or advanced copies of the album. You can find out more at the Pledge Music website or our own "Albums" page, and you can see our Pledge Music video. We also got support from the Wells Rotary Club and from The Queen Victoria pub in Priddy after whom we named the last track of the album.
The album was printed in Poland by Takt and arrived on Christmas eve 2014. The official release is not until spring, but pre-release copies are available from us and we are sending review copies to the wise of the folk world to ciriticise (please be kind!).
A - Levels!
We had to focus a bit on A levels in the final year. All proved worth it on results day (15th Aug) when we confirmed that we had achieved the grades we needed to get to our chosen Universities! We are both going to study Music, but Ford is off to Sheffield and Alex is off to Southampton. We will keep in close touch and plan to continue gigging when we are both home.
Guests of The Today Programme R4
On Saturday 8th Feb Mishal Husain came to Taunton with the Today Programme Radio 4, to do an outside broadcast about the effects of the floods on Somerset. They wanted to do a final piece about how the arts could cheer the people of Somerset and they asked us along for cheering music. The tune we played was "The Devil's in the Kitchen" . It was short but sweet as we played out to the pips!
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Sing For Syria
On Saturday 19th Jan we were proud to be part of a Save The Children fundraiser for Syria. We were part of an evening's entertainment that included singing from The Wells Cathedral Voluntary Choir, and music from the Mendip Ensemble and the West Gallery Band. We can confirm that £6,000 was raised for a very good cause. The Pilton and District Save The Children have also been donated a number of ceramics which they are selling for the cause.
The AFO Acoustic Talent Slot
We got the opportunity to play at the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) Conference in Derby on 16th November. A great opportunity to meet and play in front of hundreds of people from the industry, and we also got to see Nizlopi play!
We are hoping this session will help us with festival bookings for next year. Thanks to Steve Heap and Lioux for the opportunity. It was also interesting to go to some of the sessions and hear some of the challenges for organisers. We need you, so we wish you luck!
We are hoping this session will help us with festival bookings for next year. Thanks to Steve Heap and Lioux for the opportunity. It was also interesting to go to some of the sessions and hear some of the challenges for organisers. We need you, so we wish you luck!
Songs from the Shed Session
We have been chatting to Jon Earl about doing a session in his Songs from the Shed for some time. Finally diaries came together on 15th October, and we travelled to the fabled shed. It was a little chilly(!), but we recorded three tracks, and they should appear before Christmas.
Thanks Jon, we love what you are doing, and are proud to have been part of it!
Thanks Jon, we love what you are doing, and are proud to have been part of it!
Our first Television appearance (on a fishing programme!)
In December 12 we were invited to take part in a National Geographic Channel TV programme. Not because we are an endangered species, but instead we were taking part in a programme called "King Fishers". Now we are not known for our piscatorial arts, so we were quite relieved when we found out we only had to play as part of the entertainment in a three way international competition, where the entertainment was part of the contest.
Hence we found ourselves playing for an enthusiastic Gambian and an energetic Norwegian in The Crossways Inn a 14th century English pub in Somerset! The results were broadcast at the beginning on 5th August 13 on the National Geographic Channel, and we even got a mention in the Credits! Well played Dom, and thanks to Jaime from The Crossways for inviting us.
Hence we found ourselves playing for an enthusiastic Gambian and an energetic Norwegian in The Crossways Inn a 14th century English pub in Somerset! The results were broadcast at the beginning on 5th August 13 on the National Geographic Channel, and we even got a mention in the Credits! Well played Dom, and thanks to Jaime from The Crossways for inviting us.
Glastonbury 2013
The band that almost opened Glasto 13 !
We had a blast! It is difficult to find a way into playing at Glastonbury, so we are immensely grateful to Lisa for taking a chance on us and booking us to play at the Avalon Café (twice). She also helped get us a gig at the Bandstand (thanks Steve) where we were the second official act of Glasto 2013 ("everybody remembers the band who almost opened Glastonbury!").
The weather was fabulous (mostly) and the crowds were really appreciative. We managed to get an interview with BBC Introducing West (hi Jess!) and they played some of our music too.
But the unexpected bonus was a shout out on Radio 2 by radio 6 legend Steve Lamacq on the Jo Whiley and Dermot O'Leary show covering Glastonbury. Lots of friends desperately tried to tell us about it at the time, but in the madness that is Glasto we didn't hear about it until later that night.
The weather was fabulous (mostly) and the crowds were really appreciative. We managed to get an interview with BBC Introducing West (hi Jess!) and they played some of our music too.
But the unexpected bonus was a shout out on Radio 2 by radio 6 legend Steve Lamacq on the Jo Whiley and Dermot O'Leary show covering Glastonbury. Lots of friends desperately tried to tell us about it at the time, but in the madness that is Glasto we didn't hear about it until later that night.
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Halsway Manor Hothouse and Songs From the ShedWe were particularly excited to be invited to take part in the Halsway Manor Hothouse Festival on the 6th April 13. Halsway Manor is the national centre for the promotion of Folk Arts, and it is in Somerset (yey!). Our friend and mentor Will Lang is a tutor at Halsway and booked us to play, and we also met up with Jamie Smith and Adam Rhodes from JS Mabon who were performing in their Manx band Barrule. We also met up with Jon Earl who recorded us for the legendary "Songs From The Shed". You can see the clip here
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Bright Young Folk review our Album!
And it's a good review. In fact positively glowing
"The Album (or what you will) is a feast of an album for those
who enjoy tradition at its finest and who aren’t averse to a few surprises along
the way...." brightyoungfolk Feb 2013. Read the full review at this link
"The Album (or what you will) is a feast of an album for those
who enjoy tradition at its finest and who aren’t averse to a few surprises along
the way...." brightyoungfolk Feb 2013. Read the full review at this link
Christmas with Emma Britton
We were invited to play on Emma Britton's show over Christmas. Emma even joined us as a session musician for one of our numbers! Click on the photo to hear the results:
Reindeer Parade in Wells
On Suday 2nd December we were the headline act (after the Reindeer themselves!)at the Wells Roundtable Reindeer Parade. Ford was a bit off colour, but the show went on and even the reindeer seemed to enjoy it!
Emma Britton's Album of the week
Our humble little album was picked up by Emma Britton on BBC Somerset and made "Album of the Week" for the last week in November. We got some great feedback from this, but our favourite was the comment from Stoney who texted into the show "awesome band, right proper lush"! Thank you Emma, and thank you Stoney!
Jamie Smith's Mabon
They were on the tour to launch their fabulous new album "Windblown". We were the warm up act. The Village Hall was full and we had got fantastic energy from the crowd. Not to be outdone we launched our own album at this gig. A limited edition of handcrafted CDs which we sold out in 5 minutes at the intermission! Then we could just sit back and enjoy the mayhem that is JS Mabon :{D
Malmesbury Acoustic Club - One Year On
Our first paying gig was when we played the opening act at the first ever Malmesbury Acoustic Night (Neil booked us as we walked off the stage at Priddy, our first ever gig). So it was great to go back again on the 5th October.
It was a great evening and we made friends with two other acts who had us in stithes "Way Out West" and "The Mighty Peas".
We wonder what the next year will bring!
It was a great evening and we made friends with two other acts who had us in stithes "Way Out West" and "The Mighty Peas".
We wonder what the next year will bring!
Wells Night On The Town
We were invited to play on the Main Stage for the Wells NOTT event (13/9), sharing the stage with such luminaries as "The Mend" (of X Factor fame) and I Am Tich, plus our old friend Rich Maya. The sound check was slightly delayed but we managed to still get an interview on the BBC Somerset Bus with Emma Britton on the Ben McGrail show before we went on stage. Great crowd, with some wild dancing!
Wells Moat Race
Bank Holiday weekend was one of our busiest weekends of the year. We performed at two great parties and then the Lions had asked us to perform on the Bandstand after the Moat Races. Bank Holiday weather struck and we were left with a very bedraggled looking audience! If the weather had been good it would have been a great gig, but the races were fun and we enjoyed the experience of playing on the Band Stand (and we were able to keep dry!)
Sidmouth Folk Week
In August we were also invited to play at the venerable Sidmouth Folk Fest. We were playing in the Anchor Gardens, but we had a lovely long day in Sidmouth in glorious sunshine (so rare this summer!)
Farm Fest
On the same farm as the Sunrise festival, but in different fields and without the rain! There was a bit of a theme of hats for the day :{D
Pop Up Hoe Down
In the shortest notice we have ever had for a gig we got an e-mail on a Monday afternoon, and by 7:00pm we were in Bristol setting up to play for Mark and Charlie as they served up some sizzling Southern Fried Chicken. The SPices obvioulsy went to Alex's head as he ended up dancing on the tables!
Priddy Folk Festival 2012
July 9th 2011 was where it all started at Priddy. July 7th 2012 we came back, this time to Eastwater Stage and celebrated our first anniversary as The Drystones. We even wrote a tune for the occasion, the "Eastwater Dance".
We filled the tent and people listened to our set from outside because we were full! Alex was moved to take a photo of the adience! But what a great festival. We saw old freinds Dyer Cummings, the royalty of Folk Spiers & Boden, foot stompng mad people like Urban Folk Quartet, Walsh & Pound, etc and Danced to Jamie Smith's Mabon as they announced they were doing a gig with us in October.
What can we say except "Badger!!"
We filled the tent and people listened to our set from outside because we were full! Alex was moved to take a photo of the adience! But what a great festival. We saw old freinds Dyer Cummings, the royalty of Folk Spiers & Boden, foot stompng mad people like Urban Folk Quartet, Walsh & Pound, etc and Danced to Jamie Smith's Mabon as they announced they were doing a gig with us in October.
What can we say except "Badger!!"
Ashcott Beer Festival
Our third Beer Festival this summer, and we still can't drink! We headlined the Friday night at Ashcott (big thanks to Clive and Gary for booking us). The rain held off and people were in the mood for a dance (including Ford!). We picked up loads of good feedback from this gig, so it sounds like people enjoyed it as much as us :{D
Headlining the Spit N Sawdust at Sunrise
We played the Spit N Sawdust stage at Sunrise on Sunday 24th June. They had a lot of rain that weekend, but Sunday was dry, and by the time we got on it was sunny, and people were in the mood for some mud dancing!
Thanks to Vicki, and to Matt for incredible sound!
Thanks to Vicki, and to Matt for incredible sound!
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The Diamond Jubilee Weekend
Focus before we were on!
We were actually in the middle of our GCSEs, but felt we could take a break for a great series of parties, events, and of course live music!. First we were invited to play at the Priddy celebrations on Sunday. It was a wet night, but spirits were not dampened, and we had loads of people up and dancing!. We were supporting Dragonsfly, so we got to hear some great stuff too! It was a great day organised by the Priddy Freindly Society, thanks for letting us play :{D
On Monday we were asked to play in the Wells Jubilee celebrations. The weather was warm and we played on a trailor facing the Cathedral. There was a bot of a rush in the setting up, with so many bands playing (six in total). But we got there in the end (big thanks to the sound team). We also got to hear some great Ska music from the Communicators and a set from our freind Ritch Maya. Big thanks to Ollie for organising the event!
On Monday we were asked to play in the Wells Jubilee celebrations. The weather was warm and we played on a trailor facing the Cathedral. There was a bot of a rush in the setting up, with so many bands playing (six in total). But we got there in the end (big thanks to the sound team). We also got to hear some great Ska music from the Communicators and a set from our freind Ritch Maya. Big thanks to Ollie for organising the event!
Hello Glastonbury!
Got a call saying Michael Eavis would like us to provide the music for a video he was making, and play at a function he was holding in his house! Yes the Michael Eavis of Glastonbury Festival fame!! Well we didn't have to think long and hard about this, so on Friday 20th April we turned up at the Tythe Barn in Pilton, met Michael and then went on to play for the Pre School fundraiser he was holding. It was a great evening, and Michael is a great guy. We really enjoyed it, but the icing on the cake was when we found ourselves on the front page of the Glastonbury Festival Website!!! There is a video of us playing on the Glastonbury website. Thanks to John for organising and Mandy for the video, but big thanks to Michael for making us feel so welcome!
Photo Shoot in Priddy
It was a lovely day on 25th March so we went out into the wilds of Priddy to play some music and get some pictures for publicity materials. We had a laugh and entertained a few cyclists, and a random rambler got the benefit of a impromptu concert in a field!
Invested in some kit!
We have invested in a PA system to let us play our music ridiculously loud! On Thursday 23rd February we hired Priddy Village Hall for a few hours and rattled the windows (not sure what the cows thought of it!). Even did some jamming with spoons! We are very happy right now!
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Live Interview at Glastonbury FM
We had about half an hour with Steve Bilsborough on Thursday Live at Glastonbury fm on Thursday 19th January. Chatted and played some tunes. Great fun, and a big thanks to Steve :D
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We won Battle of the Bands!
On 23rd October 2011 we took on rock, rap, techno and grunge bands and won the Somerset Battle of the Bands!!!
