Bellowhead„Burlesque“

(Westpark Music 87132)

“Astonishing. I mean, I’ve had a drink but this soundsto me like a landmark ... Bellowhead are taking themusic forward with a flair and urgency rarely heard inthese parts and I, for one, can’t wait for them to makea proper album.“COLIN IRWIN – fRoots Magazine

And - here it is. ‘Burlesque’ out via Westpark Music. Not so much a Big Band as a small independent country,Bellowhead is an 11 piece busy pushing the boundaries of English roots music into regions where few havepreviously dared to tread.

Bellowhead’s debut gig took place at the first Oxford festival in April 2004, brought together by theacclaimed folk duo John Spiers & Jon Boden. They dreamt up the band while stuck in traffic somewhere onthe M25. John & Jon phoned Paul Sartin, Benji Kirkpatrick and Giles Lewin who all agreed to form the coreof the new band while the duo were still on said motorway. The idea was to have an English traditional folkband at the heart of the collective, also capable of switching between a big band sound, funk styles, and a

string section. The first gig was an instant success de-spite the fact that Bellowhead had only managed tospend one afternoon, in a scout hut, rehearsing. Laterthat same summer, Bellowhead managed to inspire suchenthusiasm, on a balmy night at Sidmouth Festival, thatan invigorated crowd broke the dance floor.

Interest in the band developed beyond the immediatefringes of the folk scene immediately after the independ-ent release of the ‘E.P.Onymous’, a 5 track demo whichwas initially produced to send to promoters and sell afew at gigs. The response to the EP was so great thatthe band were persuaded to release it officially and itpromptly got a 5 star review in MOJO magazine:

“Though only a five-track EP, the first offering of theBoden & Spiers big band is just too good to be allowedto skulk in the shadows. The likes of Paul Sartin (fid-dle) and Benji Kirkpatrick (guitar/bouzouki) join a fullblooded horn section to nudge the already formidableBoden & Spiers energy quota to overload and they re-work tracks.. into a thrilling frenzy.

2005 saw the band play at the prestigious Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow and then sweep upBest Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, where they gave a stunning performance at the televisedceremony.

Westpark MusicPostfach 260227, 50515 KölnTel.: 0221 24 76 44WestparkMusic@netcologne.dewww.WestparkMusic.de

A plethora of festival appearances have since followed suggesting that Bellowhead are on their way tobecoming one of the most popular bands on the live music circuit. The audience are left in no doubt as tothe range and sheer virtuosity of this band and at prestigious events around the country - including Sum-mer Sundae, Beautiful Days and Cambridge folk festival – they have rapidly aquired new admirers acrossgenerations and genres.

‘Burlesque’, is Bellowhead’s much anticipated full length album. The album includes 13 songs and tunesinspired by a dazzling array of material from the Napoleonic Wars (‘Rigs of the Time’), the Americanminstrel movement (‘Jordan’), sea-shanties from Brazil (‘Across the Line’) and the spirit of the East Anglianstep dance tradition ‘Sloe Gin’. The lead singer, Jon Boden, struts and emotes much like a grandson of MickJagger and the ensemble playing of all of the musicians is superb. It is not simply the technical ability of theindividual players that impressess but also the sheer musicality of the arrangements.

By 2006, the band had long since tran-scended the idea of simply being a folkband with some brass players. They havehoned a unique style, which sets themapart. Deeply rooted in the English folkdance tradition, they also merge a joy-ous, uplifting cacophony of sound witha slightly sinister, distorted collision ofmusic hall, Lotte Lenya, Robert Wyattand pure theatre.

Among others, Bellowhead played TheBig Chill, Larmer Tree, TFF Rudolstadt,Roskilde Festival, Summer Sundae,

Beautiful Days, Cambridge Folk Festival and Womad UK too.

Cast:

Jon Boden – lead singer / fiddle / tambourine (other line-ups Spiers & Boden / Eliza Carthy & theRatcatchers / solo album) - Influences: Peter Bellamy, Tom Waits

John Spiers – melodeon / midi-melodeon / concertina / backing vocals (other line-ups Spiers & Boden /Eliza Carthy & the Ratcatchers) - Influences: Morris Dance music, John Kirkpatrick / 70’s funk / disco

Benji Kirkpatrick – guitar / bouzouki / mandolin / banjo / backing vocals (other line ups: Faustus / withSeth Lakeman / Oysterband big session) - English folk background

Rachael McShane – cello / fiddle / (co-singer on tracks Jordan and Death & The Lady) backing vocals(other line-ups: Crosscurrent) - Rachael has just completed the Newcastle University folk degree courseand comes from an Irish music background

Paul Sartin – fiddle / oboe / backing vocals (other Line-ups: Faustus / Belshazzars Feast) - English folkbackground

Giles Lewin – fiddle / bagpipes / backing vocals (other line-ups: The Dufay collective / The CarnivalBand / Giles Lewin & Vivien Ellis) - From Oxford, Giles is not only an Irish fiddler with a great trackrecord, he has also studied Arabic music in Cairo.

Pete Flood – percussion / frying pan / glockenspiel / wind-up toys / megaphone - A delightfully eccen-tric percussionist at the heart of the band (other line-ups: The Farmyard Animals / Van Eyken)

Gideon Juckes – susaphone / tuba - Very much in demand as one of the best tuba players of his gen-eration on the Folk/world scene. Plays the sousaphone only under duress as he think’s it’s too heavy.(other line-ups: (include) Eliza Carthy & the Ratcatchers / Farmyard Animals / Brasshoppers)

Brendan Kelly – saxophones / bass clarinet (other line-ups: Farmyard Animals - Brendan is single &available

Justin Thurgur – trombone - Justin mainly specialises in Cuban & African music (other Line-ups:Motimba)

Andy Mellon – trumpet / flugelhorn (other Line-ups: Fantazia / Bad Manners)

Produced by Ben Mandelson and Rob Keyloch.

www.bellowhead.co.uk

Booking:MONEYPENNY, Nigel Morton, tel. ++44-1377-217 815, e-mail nigel@adastey.demon.co.uk