One novel way to spend the August Bank Holiday Monday is to head to the inaugural ‘Over the Hill’ festival at Cogges Manor farm. With a very strong focus on UK Americana and roots music, Over the Hill will host two stages in tithe barns on the day. Acts booked to appear at the festival are Danny & The Champions of the World, William the Conqueror, Ags Connolly, Trevor Moss & Hannah-Lou, The Niall Kelly Band, Paul McClure and Naomi Bedford & Paul Simmonds (The Men They Couldn’t Hang) with The Ramshackle Band. Continue reading “Head Over the Hill this August Bank Holiday”
Tag: William The Conqueror
William The Conqueror, the Lexington, London, 21st May 2019
“What’s up London?” Out on a 21 date tour to promote the second of his autobiographical trio of albums under the moniker of his alter ego, “William the Conqueror,” the praise continues to pour in for Ruarri Joseph’s three piece band, on a roll after a series of sold out shows at Ireland’s Kilkenny Roots festival recently. The second of the trilogy, ‘Bleeding on the Soundtrack’, marks a metaphorical journey from childhood into adolescence – with loose themes related to addiction, separation and life’s upheavals – and the battle between his older more subdued persona and his younger, more gregarious self, the band’s name a form of disguise which brings its own kind of freedom to stretch out both musically and creatively. There’s also something of a step change in terms of the musical development and confidence which exudes from this triumvirate, who appear to have an almost telepathic understanding of one another on stage. Continue reading “William The Conqueror, the Lexington, London, 21st May 2019”
Red Rooster Festival announce female-led acoustic stage line-up
As it heads towards its 6th year in May of this year, the Red Rooster festival has announced a new collaboration with the Americana Music Association UK and New York singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, who will be curating, as well as headlining, a female-led acoustic AMA UK stage on Friday the 31st of May. Continue reading “Red Rooster Festival announce female-led acoustic stage line-up”
William the Conqueror announce extensive UK tour
William the Conqueror are set to head out on the road for a 21 date stint, including 4 festival appearances. The trio of Ruarri Joseph (vocals/guitar), Harry Harding (drums) and Naomi Holmes (bass) will feature songs from their second album, ‘Bleeding on the Soundtrack,’ which follows the release of debut ‘Proud Disturber of the Peace’ back in 2017. Both albums are intended to form parts of a trilogy of autobiographical records capturing different periods in Joseph’s life. Whilst ‘Proud Disturber..’ celebrated Ruarri Joseph’s free and easy childhood spent in Cornwall, sophomore release ‘Bleeding on the Soundtrack’ tells a darker tale of addiction and divorce. Continue reading “William the Conqueror announce extensive UK tour”
Van Life – William the Conqueror
West country trio William The Conqueror have been making steady inroads on the Americana scene for a few years now with their latest album ‘Bleeding On The Soundtrack’ just released on Loose Music. Headed by singer-songwriter Ruarri Joseph, who released a number of albums ten years ago under his own name and was quite a favourite on the folk scene, William The Conqueror are altogether a different beast. Blues-driven riffs, building beautifully to full-on glorious crescendos, this is a band that utilises all three musicians to their full potential. Their sound is simple yet completely mesmeric. There is a certain bond between these guys that has clearly been built on the road. Americana UK asks Joseph how things shape up as the miles pass. Continue reading “Van Life – William the Conqueror”
Kilkenny Roots Festival announces line-up for 2019
The multiple award-winning songwriter Patty Griffin, legendary Texan roots rocker Alejandro Escovedo and former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle are heading up what can only be described as a fairly stellar line-up for the 2019 Kilkenny Roots Festival which takes place over the first Bank Holiday weekend in May (3rd – 6th) at numerous venues around the marble city. Continue reading “Kilkenny Roots Festival announces line-up for 2019”
Red Rooster returns! Full line-up for Suffolk festival is announced
What we’re learning this week is that there are quite a lot of americana festivals in the UK that feature the letter “R” – yesterday we had the Ramblin’ Roots Revue and today we have news that Red Rooster is returning at the end of May for its annual weekend-long celebration of contemporary American Roots music. Continue reading “Red Rooster returns! Full line-up for Suffolk festival is announced”
Ramblin’ Roots Revue returns! Here’s the full line up
Now in their third year, The Ramblin’ Roots Revue, one of the UK’s biggest weekends of Americana, roots and alt-country music (and there are a few of them now) have announced their line up which includes 40 acts from the across UK, USA, Canada, Ireland and mainland Europe. The full line up which takes place in Bucks from 12th-14th April 2019 is listed below but includes UK americana luminaries including William the Conqueror (much nicer than the historical figure), Curse of Lono (a curse you would actually want to be afflicted with) and Peter Bruntnell’s band featuring the superb BJ Cole. Continue reading “Ramblin’ Roots Revue returns! Here’s the full line up”
Americana Music Fest 30th January, Hackney, London
Previous showcases at the AMAUK conference had run for just a single night – expanding to two nights had more than doubled the excitement. And if the previous evening had offered some hard choices then this second night of the AMAUK showcase upped the ante by bringing in Moth Club as a venue, which meant that most time slots now offered a chance of three bands or artists. This cold wet evening started once again at Hackney Empire Bar with the superb sound of The Hanging Stars. Continue reading “Americana Music Fest 30th January, Hackney, London”
AmericanaFest UK is back in January – here are all the details
British Americana fans – that includes us dear reader – will be flocking to Hackney, East London for 3 days of their annual conference in January as AmericanaFest UK returns for its 4th year. The event consists of two days of conferences and showcases which are then topped off by a third day of events and the coveted UK Americana Awards 2019. Continue reading “AmericanaFest UK is back in January – here are all the details”