Dead blog

We're no longer updating this blog. For all the latest Telling the Bees news head to our facebook page. For regular Bees-related blogging go to Andy's blog, the Bosky Man.

Cheers xxx

Sidmouth

Delighted to announce that we've just been booked for Sidmouth Folk Week. We're doing two gigs on August 9th.

Devon - yay!

Top gig at the Green Note

We played down at the Green Note cafe in Camden on Sunday night to a packed and enthusiastic house. Here's a video of 'Wood' - we'll try and get more up when I can.




The Green Note is our kind of cafe, intimate, welcoming and offering fine food. When we arrived in the afternoon a rebetiko band was playing to hushed audience of, I'm guessing, the Greek and Italian diaspora. The atmosphere was intense, heady even, and we immediately felt at home. Many, many thanks to fRoots for hosting us. It's the kind of gig we dream of.

Andy interview

See an interview with Andy, with a solo version of Wood here:

Dalla and Wod in Oxford

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.

English & Welsh Diaspora

We've just been booked to play at what looks like is going to be a fascinating conference in April 2011. The English Welsh Diaspora conference, held in Loughborough, will be of interest to folkies, pagans and anyone interested in the perennial themes of Englishness, Welshness, landscape and memory. The ever wonderful Ronald Hutton is one of the key speakers, and other performers include Ceri Matthews, Chris Wood and Hugh Lupton. Miss it if you dare!

Not Playing

Alas we won't now be playing at Cabaret Clandestino this saturday as Andy is ill with shingles. Sorry to disappoint! xxx

Wedding

One reason why things have been a bit quiet of late, here at the Hive, is that I've been busy getting married. It was a gorgeous day, all heart, or, as one friend put it, a 'candlepowered wedding.' I wasn't expecting to play but the Bees insisted and so here we are, playing Uncle Tom and Aunt Sally as part of the mini-Catweazle we held in the evening.









With so many musicians present there were spontaneous sessions happening through the day (the observant acid-folk fan will spot old friend, Sharron Kraus).


And gor blimey, if that isn't Rima Staines bashing out a tune on the old squeeze box, with Huff and Puff, and Jackie Singer from Jabberwocky days.


A quick An Dro in the corridor with Jane, Chris, also from Jabberwocky, and Jim of Red Dog Green Dog fame.


And here I am with the misses, the wonderful Nomi, cats that got the cream - a gorgeous happy day.


All photos by Kate Raworth and her team.
Andy xxx

The Amazing Race

If you look very carefully you can see Andy playing pipes at 3.25. Watermelon's revenge at 6ish. No one in the UK has heard of this show - think reality, international, It's a Knockout. Without Stuart Hall, Eddy Waring or the Joker.

This is the Kit

A rare chance to see the wonderful This is the Kit here in Oxford, with our very own Josie Webber in support playing with the equally wonderful, mesmeric and mercurial Zoe Bicat. If that's not enough they'll be joined by Duotone, featuring the looped guitar and cello of Mr Barney Morse-Brown.

Sheffield gig

We're going oop north me doocks, for an alternative harvest supper at a pub I used to go to back in my student days. Gonna be a cracker.