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| STORNOWAY (RECENTLY ON LATER WITH JOOLS) |
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| We are sorry but STORNOWAY
is not due to perform for a while. |
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Twisted Folk presents: Stornoway and Beth Jeans Houghton
The band consists of an ornithologist, a rusty Russian translator and a South African brotherhood. They were first united in a snow-encrusted garage in Oxford, where they instantly attracted the attention of Dr & Mrs Killjoy the neighbours.
www.myspace.com/stornoway
www.last.fm/music/stornoway
MORE ON STORNOWAY
Over the past four years, Twisted Folk Tours have become known for adventurous, hand picked line-ups representing the best in modern folk and twisted popular music. It’s Twisted Folk who put together this year’s highly successful collaboration between UK pastoral pop group Tunng and Malawian desert bluesmen Tinariwen. Who assembled Nina Nastasia, Jeffrey Lewis and William Elliot Whitmore for an extra-special special tour. Sent Howe Gelb and the Voices Of Praise Choir off on a nine-date jaunt around the UK, packaged King Creoste with Jose Gonzalez and Vetiver (then featuring Devendra Banhart) with Micah P Hinson and Vashti Bunyan. They’ve outdone themselves once again with this latest tour, showcasing two of the most talented young acts in the country – Stornoway and Beth Jeans Houghton – in what promise to be some truly unmissable shows.
Named after the Hebridean island but hailing from Oxford, Stornoway are a five-piece band of songsmiths, scholars, scientists and men of the earth. The last couple of years have seen them quietly honing their art in the shadows of the dreaming spires, and earlier this year they released their first official single; the critically acclaimed Zorbing. Their charming brand of quintessential pop, steeped in pastoral hues, won them fans across radio and press. They were booked to play an unprecedented 4 stages at Glastonbury Festival 09, Radio 1 asked them to headline their ‘Introducing Stage’ at their Big Weekend and they are one of only a few bands that both Radio 1 and 6 Music have agreed to collaborate on, granting Stornoway a shared broadcast session from the prestigious Maida Vale studios. The band, who embarked on their first tour of the UK in mid-October to coincide with their second single Unfaithful, also performed on Later With Jools Holland in November alongside JayZ and Foo Fighters. "It’s only our second time on the road and we are right chuffed to be following in the footsteps of such twisted folks, and to be performing alongside MegaBeth. We look forward to challenging her to a hand of poker and training her in the art of hackisack. There's nothing we enjoy more than playing live, playing cards, and playing hackisack." Brian Briggs from Stornoway
Beth Jeans Houghton is the Newcastle singer who, to paraphrase The Guardian, joins the dots between Gwen Stefani and Vashti Bunyan. Beth Jeans Houghton has been playing guitar since the age of 16. She’s only 19 now. In the meantime, she’s supported Tunng and Tinariwen, hobnobbed with Vetiver, the late John Martyn, Bon Iver and Joanna Newsome and recorded a single, Golden/Nightswimmer with Adem and more recent an EP ‘Hot Toast Volume 1’ with Mike Lindsay from Tunng. She was the popular hit at 2009’s Green Man festival and has been hitting the road with her band, The Hooves Of Destiny. An album is on currently being produced by Ben Hillier, the production mastermind behind Elbow’s Cast Of Thousands, Doves’s Some Cities and Blur’s Think Tank. “I plan to dip my toes into many genres before I quit this mortal coil,” says Beth. “I don't define my music and I try not to let music define me. We are two separate entities, but we get together for a shindig once in a while – and I intend to keep it that way.”
After initially dabbling in Psychadelic Punk, Comic Jazz, Rocksteady, and banana costumes, the band honed their sound and instantly attracted the attention of Adam Briggs, brother of the ornithologist. Adam’s trumpeting can now be heard on our debut single ‘Zorbing’, a song about the extreme sport invented in New Zealand by Andrew Akers and Dwayne van der Sluis. After throwing up, the band instantly attracted the attention of violinist Rahul Satija, who can be heard playing on our current single ‘Unfaithful’.
The band’s extracurricular interests include hiking trips, tandem cycling, power-kiting, nature-watching and something called hackisack. None of them have ever been to their Hebridean namesake. But Brian once got to within 37 miles of it.
'A breath of fresh air. Come join the lovely revolution.' NME
'A passionate singer makes his case and a violin holds the line, wiry, visceral guitar parts ensure the song lodges in the brain. 4/5'
'Unfaithful' review, THE MIRROR
'No-one ever said this would be problem free" sings Brian Briggs, yet this makes for two stirring singles out of two. Briggs' vocals wander around a vast range, guitars build to an exultant scream, the strings soar with a rare grace. The best new band around. 9/10'
'Unfaithful' review, PLANET SOUND
'Songs such as 'Unfaithful' and 'Zorbing' have them in danger of shaking off their 'best-kept secret' tag in the near future. 4/5' ARTROCKER
'Maybe it needs a bunch of degrees to write songs this amazing. It doesn't require anything other than working ears to realise how special they are. 5/5' THE NEWS OF THE WORLD
'Magical, majestic songs. 4/5'
Live review, THE SUNDAY TIMES
'My favourite single of the year'
'Zorbing' review, THE GUARDIAN
'Stornoway's sound is like shifting sand: a mixture of acoustic pastorals, pop balladry and folkedelia. Tomorrow, Glastonbury. Next week, the world. 4/5' THE INDEPENDENT
'It is that rare thing, a pop song so devoid of cynicism and so bathed in sun-dappled melody it is impossible not to love'
'Zorbing' review, DROWNED IN SOUND |
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