Danny & The Champions Of The World hit the UK (& Paris)

Come to the best tour of the Autumn* Danny & The Champions Of The World hit the UK (& Paris on the 17th). Also unlisted is a great all dayer in Winchester on the 18th at SXSC http://www.sxsc.org/

*Other tours are available (I can’t guarantee the same level of enjoyment for you at those though)

Wenstock 2011 announced

The (possibly) 20th & hopefully not final Wenstock one day folk festival will be on 17th April at the mighty Wenlock Arms. Acts to be announced soon. Can they top last years road closing acts? Wait & see.

(Slightly less than) A week in my music life

I’ve been to four gigs this week, half of which are contenders for my musical moments of the year (& the other two were bloody good too).

I’m still trying to come to terms with just how special this years Betsy’s Winterlude was:

With apologies to the great unmentioned acts that played before, but the stand out performances were by The Rockingbirds, and the new lineup, new songs, new style Danny & The Champions Of The World.

Alan Tyler showed us what a great front man he is as the Rockingbirds played old & future classics.

Danny & the Champs pulled of that rarest of things – immediately winning over  a crowd of fans of their old stuff with a set of new songs & rocking style of great power & poise. This show will be spoken of in hushed tones through the years by those there as one of them ‘You should have been there” moments.

How Bobby Bare Jnr is not a household name will always baffle me. Funny, clever, sharp songs of love & despair (well mostly despair but in a fun way).

Laura Veirs never fails to enthral, and the Union Chapel is perfect for her hauntingly sparse songs.

How do Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo do it??  They just keep getting better & better, but the thing is, they were bloody great to begin with. Last nights show at St Giles proved to be quite the quiet thing of wonder. Guest performances from the multi talented Ted Barnes, a rhythm section, horns. Amazing harmonies from Emily , Jo, Gill & Anna filled the church of awed fans. At times I found myself breathless by the sheer beauty of it all.

I feel very lucky to have had the opportunities for such joyous a musical week.

Andy

 

Live Review – The Wilders 1/2/11 The Slaughtered Lamb

The Wilders are from Kansas City, and they are proud of that fact. During their show to a happy vocal crowd in the basement of The Slaughtered Lamb we were entertained not just by the tightest honkytonk/bluegrass imaginable, but also with happy banter & asides about ‘the great State of Missouri’.
Somehow they managed to get the normally reticent London crowd all to sing along to spirituals & country classics. We danced, we sang, one of us cried (not me of course). All are stunningly talented, comfortable on stage & funny, but fiddler Betse Ellis stands out. They are in the UK for the next couple of weeks, so if you know anyone out in the sticks give them a treat & tell them to get along to see the best band from Kansas City that they have never heard of.

Andy

The best band you've never heard of from Kansas City

Touring all over this Country

New Emily Barker single ‘Calendar’ out today

Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo have a new single out today “Calendar”. They’ll be back in these parts on tour soon, but in the meantime you cannot spend a better 79p today.

Why are we called Notes From Mt.Pleasant?

Mount Pleasant is a small part of London at the very southern borders of Islington. Supposedly ironically named after the heaps of rubbish dumped there in days of yore, nowadays the area is dominated by the large postal sorting office. The surrounding streets are populated by little pubs and bars where we regularly enjoy some truly wonderful music.

This is where many of our paths first crossed, originally through Alan Tyler’s Come Down & Meet the Folks, hosted at The Apple Tree on Mount Pleasant, or just down the road, partaking in the wonderful hospitality and music at the Betsey Trotwood served up by their fabled friendly staff and owners.

It’s an area that brought us all together and we hope it’ll be a place you can come and share.  There’s plenty of room!  So pull up a comfy chair, and enjoy the show.

Notes From Mt.Pleasant it is. We like it and hope you do too. Come join us x

Tales from the road

I recently had the great pleasure of tour managing Nashville’s Elizabeth Cook round the UK.  Here is a nice review from The Independent:

Elizabeth Cook, The Borderline, London (Rated 4/5) – by Matilda Battersby – Thursday, 13 January 2011

Greeting us with a characteristic “Hey, y’all”, Elizabeth Cook delivered a piece of Nashville to London last night. Like a life-size Barbie doll in a figure-hugging dress and cowboy boots, she tossed her blonde mane and clapped her hands together girlishly before wrapping her glossed lips around a set more emotive than the EastEnders baby-swap plot.

Cook’s not joking when she says her family provided her with “plenty of material”. Her mother was a “hillbilly singer” from Charleston who met her moonshine-runner daddy soon after he left Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Her music is filled with tributes, both stark and humorous, to her kin.