From: Different Strings Mailing List [differentstrings1=blueyonder.co.uk_at_mail25_dot_wdc03_dot_rsgsv_dot_net] on behalf of Different Strings Mailing List [differentstrings1_at_blueyonder_dot_co_dot_uk]

Sent: 13 January 2016 16:26

Subject: More musical treats for 2016!

 

what musical delights will the new year bring...

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A belated happy new year to you. I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable festive season. 2015 had its moments especially for Steve Tilston who found himself sharing the red carpet with Al Pacino of all things! There were hugely successful tours for the new collaborations Tilston & Lowe and Gregson & Simcock and a welcome return after a 2-year absence, by Canadian Stephen Fearing.
2016 promises more musical evenings to remember plus new album releases on the horizon from Three Cane Whale (this week!), Dana & Susan Robinson, Melissa Greener and Stephen Fearing, though we'll have to wait until 2017 for that one!. Plus an extra special happening from a momentarily reformed Plainsong, celebrating the music of Richard Fari?a. 
See below for news of all this and more from Different Strings artists in 2016.
We hope you'll find the perfect something to include in your upcoming programme.
Just call or email and we'd be delighted to discuss options with you, send demos etc. Looking forward to working with you and to another amazing year of music in 2016...
all best wishes
Lorraine

lorraine_at_differentstrings_dot_co_dot_uk | 07929 135744 | 0117 904 1870
 


 

Truth to Tell one of the Telegraph's best albums 2015
Winner BBC Radio 2 Folk Award - Best Original Song
As seen on the BBC Later with Jools Holland & Songwriters' Circle
Inspiration for the Hollywood movie Danny Collins starring Al Pacino (own it on DVD now!)

Steve in retrospective mood Grass Days
 
"Classy, thoughtful, folk? I suspect Lennon would have approved." **** The Guardian

"Steve Tilston shows no sign of faulting on delivering class music that is at once timeless, intelligent and built to last." **** Northern Sky Magazine

"?another tour de force from one of the finest songsmiths and guitarists that the English folk scene has produced over the last 40 odd years." Folk Radio UK Album of the month August
 

What a year 2015 was for Steve... strolling down the red carpet with Al Pacino at the premier of Hollywood movie Danny Collins and all the razzmatazz that went with it; a great new album in Truth to Tell enjoyed by fans and media alike, and a fantastic new duo project Tilston & Loe with Jez Lowe. The year was nicely rounded off by winning the best male vocalist of 2015 accolade in the Fatea Awards!

 
Perhaps best known for his song-writing prowess, Steve is also a blinding, dazzling guitarist with a style echoing the elaborate rhythmic "folk baroque" of Bert Jansch and Davy Graham, but also drawing from folk, blues and roots music to create a sound that has been called quintessentially Tilston. Truth to Tell shows even after 45 years in the business, he's still got it... in fact he's on fantastic form.


Steve meets Al Pacino on the One Show

Writes & Songs in association with Oscar Music Agency

Now booking February/March & November 2016 & festivals
other times considered... please ask

 

"The formidable duo?" Cornwall Folk Festival
 
"Absolutely fan-tabulous gig last night." The Ram Club

"They work so well together - 2 of our best songwriters & singers, understanding and enriching each other's songs. The audience loved them." Mike Harding

 

Their debut tour last November was a resounding success with Steve and Jez having a ball and audiences loving it too. 
Two of the UK Acoustic/Folk scene's finest songwriters join forces for a series of concerts filled with songs and music, chat and banter and intimate insights into their approach to their craft. Head to head, neck and neck (guitar necks, that is!) listen in as they rekindle the spontaneity of their late-night living-room song-swaps. Questions, answers, anecdotes and anarchy? and a very special evening of music.
A masterclass in songwriting and a perfectly formed songwriters event tailor-made for any musical programme!
 


 

CLIVE GREGSON 
2016 availability from mid-March to November

Last year was busy for Clive Gregson too, including rural touring success with 3 Boxes; a tour with Liz Simcock breathing new life into the Gregson & Collister material celebrating a new deluxe edition of Home & Away and a new album and tour with Any Trouble. 
Usually based in Texas these days, it's a pleasure when Clive returns to the UK; as always there will be brand new songs as well as the old favourites from this prolific writer and entertaining performer.

"?a powerful and vital force in contemporary music." fROOTS

 

GREGSON & SIMCOCK
Clive Gregson & Liz Simcock
Home & Away & Back Again...

A Gregson & Collister tribute - Clive revisits the Gregson & Collister back catalogue with singer guitarist Liz Simcock to superb effect. The November tour last year went down so well and Clive & Liz had such a great time, they're keen to do more...


"We had a great night with Clive & Liz. The music was stunning and it was great to hear some songs that I have loved for years performed in the mill." promoter Black Dyke Mills

 

3 BOXES
Clive Gregson, Andy Roberts, Mark Griffiths
Now booking June 2016
Following their hugely successful rural touring outing last year, 3 Boxes guitar trio are back sharing their eclectic musical repertoire with strings attached.

"Between these three you have masterclass playing combined with a studied refusal to take yourself too seriously that only the truly talented ever really master." Taplas
 


SUNJAY
new album launch tour autumn 2016 & March 2017

other dates also possible, please ask
Winner of Wath Festival Young Performers Award
Nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award
Exposure Music Awards & British Blues Awards nominee

This young man has quickly become known as one of the UK's rising stars on the acoustic circuit. His new album Black & 
Blues as the title implies, focuses on the blues, and features 10 traditional blues song arrangements, showcasing Sunjay's powerful vocals and masterful guitar playing: preview St James Infirmary on soundcloud.
You could be forgiven for thinking at first listen singer/guitarist Sunjay is older than his years. With a relaxed and confident manner, vocal style and mastery of his instrument he walks onto a stage and addresses the audience as though he is sitting down to play music with a group of close friends; a completely natural approach for a young man who picked up the guitar when he was just four years old and hasn't put it down since. He's an impressive live performer and engages the audience like an old pro.
Official video Ghost Train, a new song destined for a new release this summer.

"Deft finger picking and sonorous vocals." Acoustic Magazine

"One of the UK's finest young Blues stars." Iain Anderson, BBC Radio Scotland

IAN SHERWOOD (Canada)
Now Booking May/June 2016
This amazing Canadian performer will be back in the UK again, next year after impressing the rural touring circuit.
Named 2012 Male Artist of the Year by the International Acoustic Music Awards, plus Music Nova Scotia's 2008 and 2010 Musician of the Year - Ian Sherwood's music has been described as "Traditional singer/songwriter style at its essence."
Ian plays guitar and saxophone and I wondered how he was going to incorporate the two instruments into his live solo set; with clever use of looping techniques he pulls it off superbly without overplaying it, making for an extremely entertaining show.
His latest CD Everywhere to Go has been getting great reviews too.
 
"A talented performer, instrumentalist and natural storyteller with an easy relaxed approach which audiences love. He sings songs from the heart achieving a fine balance of music and stories influenced by his East Coast Canadian roots. He is a gem of an act, easy to deal with and very professional. You don't even realise until after the event just how polished his performance is, as everyone is too busy enjoying themselves." Barbara Slack, Co-director Highlights

 

CORINNE WEST (USA)
Now booking UK Tour May/June 2016 only
Whisky poets & angels, cowgirls & bluebirds, West's characters chart the tides, test the winds, and weather severe storms; all given life by her compelling stage-presence and luscious voice. West's deep Americana sound, informed by nomadic-roads traveled, continues to radiate her respected reputation within the roots scene around the world. The songs on West's latest recording came about after a year-long sabbatical in Austria, which culminated in the new disc. "Starlight Highway is my first completely self-produced record," West says about the sessions. "I wanted to create a body of songs that moved my music forward in new directions, while paying tribute to the music I have done in the past. This influenced my decisions regarding the instrumentation; piano, organ, acoustic rock angles, heavy harmonies, the deep-drive of drums, the laid back floating ballads."

"?an album of roots-based quality and really very accomplished, affecting song-writing and performances that are really well worthy of attention and dissection. A lovely listen." Ian Fildes, Americana UK

"She has spirit, integrity and talent." says Bob Harris of BBC Radio, who hosted West on his show, helping to introduce her music to European listeners. "I am a massive fan."

Corinne's recent music as well as photos, videos and some of her past catalogue that she will be touring while in the UK can be found here

 

KRISTINA OLSEN (USA)
UK Tour July & November 2016
A superb multi-instrumentalist and award-winning songwriter with a big bluesy voice. Her mix of powerful songs - sassy bottleneck blues to lilting ballads to swing jazz to "raunch & roll", as well as her hilarious story-telling, makes for a very entertaining evening. There's no-one else quite like Kristina!

 

DANA & SUSAN ROBINSON (USA)
Now booking September 2016 and November 2017

Always get tremendous feedback when Dana & Susan tour here and they are on fantastic form. Listen to a demo version of a new song inspired by their last UK tour here: Going North... and destined for their new release out later this year.
Guitar-playing, banjo-frailing, fiddle-sawing and harmony-singing interpreters of the American experience. Their unique blend of contemporary song writing and traditional Appalachian music bring to their performance a deep understanding of American's musical heritage. Very popular with UK audiences too.

 

STEPHEN FEARING
UK new album tour 9-21 February 2017
Sadly we have to wait until next year to see Stephen back touring in the UK. He'll be here briefly this summer with a return visit to Shrewsbury Festival with the magnificent Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, back by popular demand. But this time he'll also have an opportunity to play a solo set. 
Plans for 2016 include a two week stint at The Banff Centre mentoring young performing arts students and working on songs for a new album which will be recorded in the summer and released in Europe in the autumn. This new album will take another musical turn, featuring Fearing's latest musical incarnation, The Stephen Fearing Trio. The rest of  the year will be spent playing solo shows and festivals in Canada as well as rejoining Blackie & the Rodeo Kings on a major tour in support of their new album Kings and Kings to be released this spring. Throughout 2017 plans are afoot to tour the trio format across Canada and Europe solo.

 

Karen Tweed
Now based in Ireland, UK concert bookings can be arranged to fit with regular teaching here.
Alongside diverse ensembles, Karen explores music as a solo performer. From her beginnings in Irish music, through travels to Scandinavia and back to the UK, she has a wealth of inspirations to share and continues to repaint a whole new landscape for the accordion with her compositions and reworking of traditional ideas and stories. One woman, one instrument ... her touch and musicality is quite extraordinary, breaking accordionesque preconceptions and boundaries. She has a box full of musical treasures to share.
 
"I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed folk-music as much?"
Paul Pledger, Allgigs.co.uk
 


 

**A PLAINSONG SPECIAL**
Iain Matthews, Andy Roberts & Mark Griffiths 
For a few dates only in the UK 30 June - 4 July
Plainsong returns with Reinventing Richard a new album performing the music of songwriter, author and counter-culture icon Richard Fari?a. Tragically Fari?a was killed in a motorcycle accident fifty years ago, he is largely remembered for two magical albums recorded with Mimi (younger sister of Joan Baez), which helped to create folk-rock. Long-time champions of Fari?a's songwriting, with Reinventing Richard Plainsong have produced a classic album that imagines how his songs might have sounded if written and recorded in a 21st century electro/acoustic setting. Ever inventive and sonically stunning, Reinventing Richard is a fitting tribute. To mark the anniversary of his death, Plainsong will be touring in the USA in April and the UK June/July.
 


 

Nashville Folk Crooner - UK Tour October/November 2016
Streets of Abiline work in progress... co-write with Guy Clark.
She's stunning check her out!

Her songs captivate with refreshing, quirkily crafted lyrics, dynamic melodies and loads of groove, supported by vocal that simultaneously devastate and command. 
Transistor Corazon is her third studio release, exploring complexities of the heart - the circuitry versus the soul, the mana versus the machine. 

 

 

HANNAH JAMES & TUULIKKI BARTOSIK 
(UK/Estonia/Sweden)

Enquiries for Autumn 2016 and festivals
There's a refreshingly joyful musical relationship at the heart of the new album Chatterbox, by accordionists Hannah James and Tuulikki Bartosik. Two women known in their respective countries for resisting the confines of musical tradition, they've created a piece of work which is bold, exciting and completely original. Showcasing the accordion's versatility through assured musical interplay, improvisation and new compositions, and marked by a genuine sense of adventure, this is not like any accordion music you've ever heard.

"...a gem of an album that I think will be near on impossible to top in the accordion world. A wonderful celebration of accordions." FATEA

 

THREE CANE WHALE
Album #3 Palimpsest released 15 January....
Multi-instrumental acoustic trio Three Cane Whale comprises Alex Vann (Spiro), Pete Judge (The Blessing) and Paul Bradley (Scottish Dance Theatre). It combines the influences of folk, minimalism, classical and film music to produce something "fascinating, remarkable, and impressively original" (The Guardian), in which "the aroma of muddy leaves and old nettles is almost tangible" (The Observer). "Perfect. A glorious adventure into new folk" (Cerys Matthews) "Quietly, utterly enchanting" (Songlines) "Delightfully eccentric & beautiful"(Irish Times).
 

 



Different Strings Music Agency represents:

STEVE TILSTON TILSTON & LOWE * DANA & SUSAN ROBINSON
CLIVE GREGSON
  * GREGSON & SIMCOCK * 3BOXES * SUNJAY
STEPHEN FEARING
 * IAN SHERWOOD* BUDDY MONDLOCK * REBECCA PRONSKY 
KAREN TWEED
 MAY MONDAY * KRISTINA OLSEN * CORINNE WEST
Also: MELISSA GREENER * THREE CANE WHALE * IAIN MATTHEWS
HANNAH JAMES & TUULIKKI BARTOSIK

 
You may wish to know more, discuss options, request demos etc. and we'd love to hear from you. Simply reply to this email, or telephone 07929 135744 or 0117 9041870...
 


 

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