Advertisement
For this edition we’ll be going up north! Neil Bob Herd: Until recently Guitarist / vocalist / songwriter in The Coal Porters
now a solo performer, presenting original material in the roots/Americana vein, but with a distinct brogue - taking a tip from the Proclaimers and singing in an unvarnished caledonian brogue (two polished shoes would later become available) Played in a selection of Scottish outfits, came to London and hooked up with various acts on the busking / alternative cabaret scene, spent a few years as “Scots Billy Bragg” before deciding to focus on music after an unnamed Scottish comedy producer unwisely suggested abandoning the guitar.... formed pre-grunge power trio Handsome, crowdfunded an EP before the concept fully existed.
Other musical adventures included co-ordinating 25 ‘Louie-Louie’ playing guitarists for comic & provocateur Mark Thomas. An untreated steel guitar habit precipitated a memorable summer spent in the Hank Williams bio-musical Pills Thrills & Backaches (“Hank” being Steve Delaney aka Count Arthur Strong...) A brief tini-tenure in loud suit-rockers Avalanche followed (“Marti Pellow meets the Bad Seeds...”). The lure of the rural beckoned and a new outfit “The Trophy Husbands” were cleft, playing proper twanging country music, which eventually led to co-option into Sid Griffin’s Western Electric and The Coal Porters. After playing acoustic bluegrass for nearly two happy decades, A first solo release Every soul a story saw some plugging in and turning up as The Dirty Little Acoustic Band along with fellow ex- Porter and multi-instrumentalist Paul Fitzgerald and seasoned Kentish / Caledonian rhythm section Glenn Lamberton (bass) and Gary Smith Lyons (drums). Guest players Lucy Edwards (accordion, ex-Well Oiled Sisters) and Gemma White (fiddle, another ex-Porter)
www.neilbobherd.com
Tony Beacock: Tony Beacock is a 28-year-old musician UK Country singer-songwriter from Hull, East Yorkshire first picking up a guitar at 9 years old and started singing at 14 he now plays the harmonica and banjo. Tony performs solo as well as with his band on the local circuit. He has been influenced by most types of country music from Hank Williams to the more modern artists such as Charley Crockett, Sturgill Simpson and Coter Wall but his main influences are Townes Van Zandt, Blake Foley and Guy Clark as he loves the storytelling in their songs, and not forgetting that Bruce Springsteen has always been a big part of his life and influences.
Advertisement
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Dukes of Highgate, London, United Kingdom
