New Telling the Bees EPK

Check out the new Telling the Bees EPK (Electronic Press Kit).

Duotone launch Oxford

Here's some photos from last night's extraordinary Duotone album launch gig in Oxford (I've got the album on repeat play and it is incredible). Not a TtB gig, but we all played in various other combinations: Colin Fletcher & Jane Griffiths, Wod, and Jane playing with Barney in his string section, the Quintones.

Nomi McLeod performed her stunning aerial show, Owl, to a specially written string piece by Barney. Here she is in the run through.




Here's Colin and Jane during their sound check. Shhh, don't tell anyone, but after eleven years and not a little cajoling from the rest of us, they've finally recorded an album. Think it'll only be availabe at gigs for the time being but I can assure you it's stunning.


Backstage before the gig.



Poet and MC Alan Buckley getting his glad rags on.


What's that you say? Looks like an amazing gig? Well, you can come and see Telling the Bees supporting Duotone this thursday 20th October at Bridport Electric Palace. Details on our website.

We went to Glastonbury, yes we did

Here's some photos of our trip to play Glastonbury Assembly Rooms. One full car (and that's before the double bass):


Colin looking scary before we went off to rehearse at Factory Studios in Bristol...teacher, leave them kids alone!


Jane, loving having her photo taken (no. 1):


Jane, loving having her photo taken (no. 2) just before the gig:


Monsieur Centime...


Gentlemen prefer hats...


Ready to roll:

The Wytham Harvest

Our next gig, coming up fast!

Telling the Bees in Bath!

Telling the Bees will be playing at the legendary Bell pub, Walcot Street, Bath, on Sunday 14th August, from 1pm, as part of the Bath Folk Festival. It's free (donations to magic hat) and last time we played there it was a truly folkgasmic experience for all concerned (we've got the tapes to prove it).

And it'll be a chance to see our spanking new, groovetastic, five piece line-up.

Do come down and add your vibes to what promises to be a most convivial afternoon of post-folk strangery.

The Worship of Trees

It's always a pleasure to see people in the audience singing along to your songs but now we've had our first cover. Seems like The Worship of Trees has become something of a favourite amongst modern day Druids, as you can see from this recent video, performed by Damh the Bard and friends to a very appreciative crowd. Enjoy!

New line-up

Well, it's all change in this activated city (as the mighty Hawkwind used to say), and more changes are afoot here in the hive. We're delighted to announce that not only have we been joined by Mr Barney Morse Brown on cello (see previous post), but just this week Jim Penny (currently playing with Andy and Jane in sister-project, Wod) has stepped in to fill the hitherto unnoticed hexagonal-shaped, and indeed concertina-sized hole, in the Bees' sound.

We've only had one rehearsal as a five-piece, but the magic is there and we're all most excited. So, here, as an appetite-whetter, are two recordings made at that rehearsal. They were done with two mics placed in the centre of the room, so you get to hear everything from foot-taps, to string-slaps, to the occasional cheeky remark. The sonically-curious might like to know that the reason why my voice occasionally lurches from left to right is that the mics were arranged in a classic X-Y formation, and are consequently respond rather oddly to my usual bodily gyrations. Good. I'm glad we sorted that out.


Beautiful-rehearsal-demo by andyletcher

Wood-rehearsal-demo by andyletcher

News, gigs and ting

Things have been a bit quiet, here at Telling the Bees HQ, but the warm spring sunshine is waking us up from our winter torpor and we're ready to take flight again.

So the big and wonderful news is that in the wee hours of yesterday morning, Josie gave birth to Rueben, her second son. Mother and baby are doing well and I'm sure you'll join us in wishing them both well.

This means, of course, that Jos won't be playing with us for some time to come, but we're delighted to announce that Mr Barney Morse-Brown, he of Duotone and Imagined Village fame, has stepped into the breach and will be playing with us this summer. It's gonna be tasty.

Our first gig of the season is tomorrow, at Lougborough University (tickets still available). Then we will be playing friday night, May 20th, at Wood festival and on Sunday August 14th at the Bell, Bath, as part of the Bath Folk Festival.

Not many gigs, I know, but in this alien world of promoters and publicity and managers, getting gigs as an independent band can be a thankless task, especially if what you do is slightly different and can't easily be slotted into tidy categories. So if you'd like us to play at an event near you or think that there's a festival where we'd be welcomed, then do please let us know, or even better, badger the organisers. It makes all the difference, believe me.

Meanwhile, do check out mine and Jane's side project, Wod, a trio for Brythonic dance, on pipes, concertina and fiddle.

It's truly heartening to see that people are checking in here from countries across the world, are sharing our music and getting where we are coming from. Thank you for all your support. We'll keep posting news and stuff here when we have it, but for more up to date info on what's happening in the Bee-related universe, do check out Andy's blog.

Cheerio for now xxx

Andy's blog

Andy has just given his blog a facelift - do check it out for musings on music, bagpipes, tune-writing, paganism, shamanism, psychedelics and more.