Sally Spring band
Hi Fredheads,
On Friday 1st of June Grateful Fred is co-hosting the appearance of The Sally Spring Band from Nashville, USA at Cafe D’Art in Formby village.
We were unable to arrange for Sally to play at Grateful Fred’s as our dates didn’t’ coincide but Kevin at the Cafe D’Art was able to arrange for her to play there.
It’s a great opportunity to hear a real stalwart of the American acoustic music scene in person in a really intimate atmosphere.
If you were at the Cafe last month when we had the wonderful Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart playing you’ll know how intimate the atmosphere was.
WARNING!! The Cafe D’Art is a small venue so I’d recommend you get there handy to ensure you get a good spot.
Entry is FREE and Sally will appear at 9.00pm.
Here’s a recent video of Sally appearing at Gerdes Folk City 50th Anniversay Concert in New York City.
Liverpool Acoustic Friday 25th May….
The next Liverpool Acoustic Live event is on Friday 25th May, and the line-up looks really great.
This month Graham and all at Liverpool Acoustic welcome the return of Lizzie Nunnery three years after she last performed for us.
In support they’ve got Dan Whitehouse from Wolverhampton, Dayve Dean from Cheshire, and The Science of the Lamps.
Tickets are £5 in advance from wegottickets.com/liverpoolacoustic or £6 on the door.
Doors open at 8.00pm with music starting at 8.30pm sharp. The night finishes at 11.15pm
You can hear all of the artists on the latest edition of the Liverpool Acoustic Spotlight.
Hiss Golden Messenger
Hiss Golden Messenger
In the world of roots and acoustic music, there is always a new surprise around the corner. One new sounds creeping out of America is that of shape-shifting MC Taylor, sometimes known as Hiss Golden Messenger. Fans of BBC Radio 3′s Late Junction will probably have heard DJ Max Reinhardt play some of his songs on the programme recently.
So who is Hiss Golden Messengeror MC Taylor or whoever they are? Well Hiss Golden Messenger are actually the performing name of Mr MC Taylor and his band mate Scott Hirsch, plus a bunch of other musicians who occasionally join in. Although he sounds like he might be a Southerner born and bred he’s not. If you’re picturing an old timer playing banjo or Texas holdem on his porch, he is actually a Californian, so really a dab hand a studio wizardry and possibly even partypoker rather than the older lower-tech arts of the South.
Despite this urban start, Taylor first studied folklore in San Francisco, before moving to North Carolina to really mine the heart of the American roots tradition. Back home in San Francisco he recorded with a band called Court and Spark, but his recent output has included EPs called Bad Debt and Country Hai East Cotton and an album by the name of Poor Moon.
His voice has that ‘croaky but honeyed tones’ to quote the Guardian and his lyrics have a off-beat motel blues tinge to them. To give you an idea, have a listen to Jesus Shot me in the Head which you can hear on SoundCloud. It is the sort of lyrics that Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen might have written when they were residing in Nashville. An outsider’s droll take on country. Two albums he cites as particular influences are Fairport Convention’s Full House and Traffic’s The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys. So, his influences even stretch to this side of the Atlantic.
