Kerfuffle

Andy did a guest spot with young folk superstars, Kerfuffle, at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. You can watch them here:

Watching you

One of the weird things about being in a band is that outside of gigs you have absolutely no idea who is listening to your music. I mean, we send CDs off around the world, but what happens to them then?

Yesterday I installed a statistics tracker on this blog, really to give us an idea of who, if anyone comes to visit: the blogosphere can feel lonely, like casting bottled messages out into the ocean. As the great Pink Floyd once put it, 'is there anybody out there?'

Now I admit that the amount of info actually tracked is a bit creepy, but it's fascinating to know that in the last 24 hours we've had visits from Milton Keynes, Vienna and California (hello!). It's oddly comforting to know that you are reading this, that our music is getting out there, reaching the people who want to hear it.

So thanks for dropping by. I'll do my best to keep posting.

Andy xxx

Wheatsheaf Gig 20th September

Monday 20th Sept @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford

Pindrop Performances Presents:

Eric Chenaux (Constellation Records virtuoso guitarist and song writer)
Telling The Bees (Oxfordian drone folk ensemble)
Dead Rat Orchestra (experimental weird folk)
Braindead Collective (improvised soundscaping, touring new album Smoke & Mirrors)

Ticket link £6 adv (£7 on the door)
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/90711

Eric Chenaux is one of Toronto's most prolific and respected musical iconoclasts, an experimental guitar virtuoso with over two decades of dedicated and diverse service to an artistic community that encompasses postpunk, lo-fi, folk, multi-media composition and performance (chiefly in collaboration with modern dance) and free and improvised music. Warm Weather With Ryan Driver is Eric's third album for Constellation, which has been the conduit for his primary song-oriented solo work since 2006. Building on his fruitful collaboration with piano/synth/melodica player Ryan Driver – whose key role on the new album is signaled by his inclusion in its very title - the new record is without doubt Chenaux's most accomplished and focused work of forward-looking, contemporary balladry.

Plus weird folk outfit Dead Rat Orchestra, Oxford based drone roots ensemble Telling The Bees and experimental improv band Braindead Collective, touring new album Smoke & Mirrors.

Bee Day at Barracks Lane

Our next gig is coming up soon, a Bee Day at Barracks Lane Community Garden. Should be sweet (arf).

July 10th 2010
BEE DAY AT THE GARDEN - and a SPECIAL EVENING OF MUSIC AND STORIES
After a day of honey tasting, bee keeping workshops and kids activities, (11 am untiil 5) the garden will be hosting what promises to be a delicious evening featuring


6:30pm-8pm
What the Bee Knows - suitable for adults and young people aged 10 or over. not suitable for younger chidlren
Well known story teller Eric Maddern with his provocative look at the roots of our current global crisis, threaded around the story of the bee.
8:30pm: our favourite band, Telling the Bees, will perform songs inspired by folklore, Engish landscape and the politics of protest.

£7/£5. Advanced booking advised, email: barrackslanegarden@yahoo.co.uk or call 01865 236 088.

Cellar photos

Some great photos of our Cellar gig, c/o the wonderful Kate Raworth, here.

Meanwhile, Andy and Jos are off to Glastonbury - expect to see them jamming somewhere in a Green Field cafe...

Radio 4

We're gonna be on the radio next week! The programme is called 'Open Mic Night - No Electrickery Required', about Oxford's legenadry Catweazle Club, and we were interviewed for it as that's where we all met.

Programme goes out on tuesday 15th June at 11pm, Radio 4, and will be available on iPlayer for a week afterwards.

Next gig!

Brickwork Lizards + Telling the Bees + Matt Sage. The Cellar Bar, Oxford, Friday June 18th, 8pm, £5.

Eclectic mix of hip hop, north African and Arabic folk, blues and jazz from Brickwork Lizards, plus dark, psychedelia-tinged English folk from recent Oxford Punt stars Telling The Bees. 60s pop and world sounds from Matt Sage in support. Followed by Fresh Out The Box, with resident DJs playing house, garage and electro.

See you there chaps!