Last night I had the pleasure of attending one of the best shows that I’ve seen in a long time. I was looking forward to going to The Jericho Tavern for a change – as opposed to the Carling Academy now the O2 Academy in Oxford. Actually, after listening to Baskery’s music on their MySpace page and watching one of their videos, I was quite surprised that their show was being held at the smaller venue, The Jericho.

From what I had heard before seeing them live, I thought either the Swedish band isn’t quite known here yet and the venue won’t be very busy on a Tuesday night, or the place will be packed to the rafters with fans. Unfortunately the place wasn’t very busy – but made for an intimate night of music.

Stevie One Bloke, One Mandolin opened the show. His name speaks for himself – except that “harmonica” isn’t included in the title. Stevie seems like an interesting character, with his colourful stories about life and friendship along with his descriptive lyrics and the unique combination of mandolin and occasional harmonica. It’s no surprise that he has a busy tour schedule this year.

InLight was next. The Oxford based band was stripped down to an acoustic set with just two members, Charlie Cooke and Mike Riddle. I’m not sure why they used the term acoustic though, since they were playing electric guitar and keyboard. Mike played an acoustic guitar for a couple songs – maybe that warranted the term? They sounded good, with witty banter at times, nice vocals and instrumentation. “Bridges” was a stand out song. I would look forward to seeing the full band at some point.

After their set, my anticipation high, I looked around the room and was surprised to see that people weren’t flooding in for the final act, Baskery. I had to keep reminding myself that they’re a new band and that not many people know about them yet.

As the girls were on stage, tuning up their instruments, something caught my eye. Why was the banjo player, Greta, setting up the snare drum on its side, on the floor, next to the kick drum? Well, as I soon found out, get this, she plays SLIDE banjo while sitting at the drums, playing the kick drum and the snare with her bare feet, sometimes while playing harmonica, and sings brilliant harmonies alongside her equally talented sisters, Stella on upright bass, and the youngest, Sunniva Bondesson on acoustic guitar.

The minute they started playing and singing their self-described “High voltage, Killbilly, Banjopunk, Blues-grass, Mud-country” music, with the tightest harmonies that I’ve ever heard live, I knew that I was in for a startlingly great night of music. That anticipation that I was feeling before they played was there throughout the set, after each song. Sometimes they would switch lead vocal parts, but thankfully, would always come back to those harmonies – harmonies so good that if you could see them, they might have looked like gold dust sparkling in the air.

That night we were treated to a Grammy Award winning performance by a very talented band that hopefully a lot more people will know about in the near future.

Baskery on amazon.co.uk

Baskery on amazon.com

Baskery Official Website
MySpace

By: Jenny May – Band Weblogs

The Baskery review is also featured on Oxford City Guide

Coo Coo Club Presents: The Long Insiders, Little Lost David, Jim Driscoll & Jenny May at Jericho Tavern, Oxford Saturday 13th September, 2008.

Tickets can be purchased at WeGotTickets

The Long Insiders

The Long Insiders rise up to meet us from the darker underbelly of the clean crisp spires of Oxford to bring us songs of gin, lies, cold women and guilty men in smoke filled bars. A new incarnation of the long term musical collaboration between the Brother’s Kenny (Nick and Simon) and drummer, Dan Goddard, was born when Nick met Sarah (Vocals) in the corner of a theatre bar, the start of a fractious coming together that saw the re-emergance of some of Oxford’s finest musicians. A look through a half empty martini glass at a world of Ennio Morricone-inspired spagetti westerns and emotional alt surf melodies with a guitar style that is characteristically Long Insiders.
“a unique blend of tremelo surf guitar and breathy female vocals”

The Long Insiders MySpace

Little Lost David

Sheffield based singer/songwriter David Roch, isn’t little, or lost, but he does make highly personal, beautifully aching music. His self-titled EP – out now – was overseen by Arctic Monkeys producer Alan Smyth, and has received plaudits from Jonathan Ross, Q magazine, The Guardian to name but a few. Compared to the likes of Antony Hegarty and Rufus Wainwright – all three are influenced by the pathos of Billie Holiday and the Buckleys – but being English, David also credits such closer-to-home figures as William Blake, Simon Armitage and the painter David Shrigley for the dark, misty bent of his music. It’s a heady mix, and one that captivates those who happen across it.

Little Lost David MySpace

Jim Driscoll & Jenny May

Having played just a handful of shows in Oxford – including Iffley Lock! – Jim Driscoll & Jenny May have only been collaborating for a short time, and already there’s a buzz surrounding their music and intimate harmonies. Some may already be familiar with Jim as the keyboardist for local favourites The Drug Squad, and both Jim and Jenny have worked with members of Mercury Music Prize nominated Guillemots. Playing alternative/acoustic/folk/country. Not to be missed!

Jim Driscoll & Jenny May MySpace

The Coo Coo Club

The Jericho Tavern

The first time that I heard The Fullertons was during their soundcheck. I was outside, sitting in the back garden behind The Jericho Tavern in Oxford, and I couldn’t tell if it was the band or a DJ playing a CD.

A few minutes later when I went inside and up the stairs, I found out that it was indeed the band, and from just the soundcheck – hearing the music from quite a distance, outside with the sound coming out through an open window, I was very much looking forward to watching their show. I was also singing with a band that night (currently being renamed), and it’s always good playing your own gig and also being treated with an entertaining set by the other bands that might be playing with you.

The Fullertons put on a very entertaining show and as I’ve said before on Band Weblogs, they look and sound great. Their songs are tight, energetic and the keyboard adds a nice touch to their indie/pop sound.

This summer, they’ve been touring around the UK and have recently come back from playing in Moscow, Russia.

Frontman/singer David Chanell took some time out for an interview with me for BandWeblogs.com.

Jenny May: How long has the band been playing together?

David Chanell: The band as it stands has only been playing together for a few months, but The Fullertons started with a slightly different line up about 18 months ago.

When and how did it happen that you and your brother Chris started playing music together?

Chris is my older brother, and he had gone off to uni in Nottingham, but after the 1st term dropped out, and a year later when he tried uni again he ended up choosing the same uni as me (Leicester). This was where we began to play in a uni band together that sowed the seeds for what became The Fullertons. The band mainly then played covers at uni events, but our own stuff got us noticed enough to play with the likes of Jools Holland and Goldie Lookin Chain at the uni.

What is your songwriting process like?

Currently it’s usually the case that a song idea will come from me or Chris, and then Rich and Rik pick it up and work out a good bass line and drum part to compliment it. Then we share lyric duties and give help and tips to each others’ individual bits of the song. It’s not a one man band, and we all seem to be on the same wavelength when it comes to new ideas.

What music did you listen to when you were growing up?

Growing up, my first influence was Buddy Holly, my early teenage years were in that awful gap after britpop and before the Libertines, so I didn’t have any modern influences, until I got towards the age of 18. Bands that remained with me throughout the early years were Supergrass and Kula Shaker. The rest of the band have very diverse influences and musical backgrounds, but we can all sit together and enjoy the same stuff now.

So far, where has been your favorite venue to play?

The best venues to play are the busy ones, and then it doesn’t matter whether it’s a glorified pub or a beautiful theatre… but there’s been a few that are really nice places to play, these being Scala in London, The Orange Box in Yeovil and Club 85 in Hitchin.

You just played a few shows in Russia – how did it go?

Russia was amazing. Chris had been there before, but for the rest of us it was a new experience, and that in itself was amazing. The gig made it even better, the venue was full, and the people were friendly, and everyone seemed to really get into what we were doing. I was quite nervous about the prospect of it as the DJ was playing the best of Britpop all night, and really modern music hasn’t quite reached Russia in a big way yet. Moscow has some amazing sites, and we crammed this all in, as well as making the most of our generous hosts’ hospitality. We hope to return.

How was the audience reaction in Russia compared to English audiences?

The Russian audiences are there to dance, and probably just hope you play dancey tunes. A UK audience doesn’t want to let go as easily.

Do you have plans to release material in Russia and/or to play there again?

Releasing something over there would probably be quite successful, but you would need to play out there far more and get the radio and press support just as much as you do here. It may be slightly easier to break russia just purely due to a smaller number of bands out there.

Where else would you like to tour?

To see the world doing what you love is the best feeling, so getting the chance to do more all expenses paid travelling would be amazing – and if it was free I’d go anywhere. Despite this being in some peoples minds more boring, I would love to see and play in the US and Australia.

How often do you practice?

We try to rehearse once a week as a full band, and do writing sessions with however many of the band can make it on other nights of the week.

What was the last CD that you bought?

The last CD I bought…hmm…I really can’t remember, I’m into the whole iTunes thing…and the last few tracks I purchased there would be The Cribs “Another Number” and We Smoke Fags “Eastenders”.

Favorite movie(s)?

I’m into loads of WW2 POW films, anything that’s got a true story behind it, makes it far more exciting. The most recent film I saw was a new one called “The Bank Job” and that fits my credentials for a good film, bit of action, based on true stories, and funny.

Where was the video for “Where You Going To Now” (watch video) filmed?

Where You Going to Now, was filmed at a club in Soho, that is basically Stringfellows…but it’s been re-named.

What was it like making the video and who are the ‘club going’ girls?

The video experience was amazing, something we had never done. It was a long day, but it was really insightful to understand a little how that industry works. The girls had auditioned for the parts, we only met them on the day. We had been contacted by other girls that were hoping to be in it, and didn’t make the part..so that was all quite exciting – and The Sunday Mirror wrote about it, so that was a bonus! Check it out on our myspace (it’s a bit old now, though).

What band would you want to tour with someday?

I would love to tour with someone like Supergrass, just because I couldn’t get bored of watching them every night, but from modern bands who are breaking through, a band that would be great to tour with would be someone like Vampire Weekend.

What’s your idea of the perfect party?

The perfect party would be at a house…but not ours…with good music, a great live band, mates, and loads of free food and drink, with some kind of amazing pill that stops you getting a hangover the next day.

The Fullertons will be playing a Live Session on BBC 3 Counties radio Friday, August 1, 2008.

For tour dates, music and more, go to:

The Fullertons MySpace

Last week I had the pleasure of watching up and coming band The Fullertons play at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford.

They look and sound great – and could easily have been included in the Glastonbury lineup. Their songs are tight, energetic and the keyboard adds a nice touch to their indie/pop sound.

They’ve got the full package for mainstream success.

More information about The Fullertons:

“Halfway Out” is the infectious debut single from newcomers The Fullertons. The Watford based four piece are set to inject a well needed boost of energy back into the music scene.

The Fullertons are brothers David (vocals / guitar) and Chris Chanell (keys / vocals / guitar), Rik Blake (bass/vocals) and Rich Iles (drums).

The songs, laden with soaring vocal harmonies and timeless pop hooks, trace a lineage that takes in the driving rhythm of the Zombies, the swirling energy of The Stranglers and dusts it all off with a nod to Supergrass.

The band have already enjoyed the support of Music Week, Channelfly, XFM – recent antics while recording the video for their single also ended up with coverage in the Sunday Mirror! However, theirs is not the tabloid lifestyle just yet (!), as they are too busy building up those motorway miles supporting the likes of Good Shoes, Vincent Vincent And The Villains, The Displacements and Blood Red Shoes.

They have been tearing up sold-out venues around the country for the past year with their vibrant performances and infectious song writing nous, and will continue to do so on their forthcoming dates. “Halfway Out” was released by Sons of Stereo on the 23rd June, 2008 backed with “Find Your Own Way Out” and “Rule Of Thumb”.

The Fullertons 2008 tour dates:

Dates could be added or changed! Go to The Fullertons’ Official Website for the latest tour dates and information.

3 July 2 DJ’s Presents @ The White Heart Corby
4 July The Orange Box (14 plus) Yeovil
5 July Klub Kute @ The Cooler Bristol
11 July The Purple Turtle London
12 July Krisiz Zhanra. MOSCOW Moscow, Russia
13 July MOSCOW Moscow, Russia
14 July MOSCOW Moscow, Russia
31 July The Twist w/ The Paddingtons & Blast Colchester
1 August Live Session. BBC 3 Counties radio everywhere
13 September The Perils of Ping Pong @ The Albert 16+ Shrewsbury
20 September Ban Jam / skip skip jump @ St. Moritz. Soho London

The Fullertons Myspace

By: Jenny May – Band Weblogs