This is Johnny Dowd's new record, 'A Drunkard's Masterpiece'. The songs, welded and mangled together, fondle every style from metal/weird country ('Infidelity/Gargon vs. the Unicorn') to jazz ('Random Thoughts') to instrumental funk ('Union of Idiots').

"I wanted to do an album that was a combination of variety show and soul revue. In the mix of styles, you can see my take on American music. Also, by running the songs together rather than having silence between them, I was trying to make the album as close as possible to our live show," says Dowd. "When we tour Europe in April and May, we will be performing the album in its entirety."

The band which includes Willie B (drums and bass pedals), Michael Stark (keyboards), and Kim Sherwood-Caso (vocals) is at the top of their game. "I think this album really shows the depth and breadth of what Willie B and Michael Stark can do musically as it is filtered through my somewhat warped consciousness." Amazon UK

Uncut: "A record of seductive charm and nocturnal glower." Inform: "Last Harbour's 'Hold Fast, Pioneer' is one of those dark claustrophobic albums that uses lots of non-rock n roll instruments to tell desperate tales of love gone wrong and love just plain gone. If you enjoy the mellow drama of Black Heart Procession/Bad Seeds with the uneasy tension of Retsin and the earthy feel of The Triffids, this is the album you will be enjoying your next dark night of the soul to."

Rocksound: "Taking the traditional folk ensemble and injecting it with a much-needed contemporary twist, Last Harbour come across like the progeny of Nick Cave and the Tindersticks, with bleak, melancholy laments accompanied by soaring violin and driving acoustics that somehow make 'Hold Fast, Pioneer' fresh & utterly compelling."

If there was any justice in this world Jason Ringenberg would get the recgnition he deserves. With his band The Scorchers Jason injected a new lease of life into country rock. R. Neil

…The Ruby Suns have adopted a range of styles from Maori chants, psychedelic pop and orchestral compositions not too dissimilar to the likes of Animal Collective, or a more obtuse Grandaddy.

Like a Technicolour Dreamcoat of musical autonomy, its sleeve gives the game away, particularly after one engaging listen: Sea Lion is a palette of inspiration where songs about ancient trees ('Tane Mahuta') and New Zealand's southernmost point ('Adventure Tour') can sound like a cross between Brian Wilson taking control of New Order to floaty psychedelia like The Shins covering the aforementioned Avery Tare-fronted outfit.

All in all, Sea Lion is a sublime record that won't get much attention initially due to its (at present) low-key release, but by the time the end-of-year lists come out nine months from now, expect it to figure prominently in the hearts and minds of both critics and punters alike. Drowned In Sound

Daevid Allen was one of the founders of the British progressive rock band the Soft Machine in 1966. After recording just one album with the group, he became the founder/leader of Gong, which he left in 1973 to begin a solo career (though his first solo album, Banana Moon, was released in 1971 while he was still in the group).

Allen explored his quirky, folky take on rock throughout the '70s and '80s on albums like 1976's Good Morning and 1983's Alien in New York. His solo work also included collaborations with underground rock impresario Kramer like 1993's Who's Afraid? and 1996's Hit Men, which was released on Kramer's Shimmy Disc label. Allen returned in 1999 with Money Doesn't Make It, followed a year later by Stroking the Tail of the Bird. Nectans Glen also followed in 2000.

In 2003 Allen formed a new version of Gong with members of the Japanese collective known as Acid Mothers Temple, as well as playing and releasing material with his California-based band University of Errors. He continues to release numerous live sets and one-off collaborations in limited editions on various independent labels under his own and various group names. A best-of, Man From Gong, which only scratches the surface of his lengthy discography, appeared from Snapper Music in 2006.

THE DEBUT SOLO ALBUM FROM THOMAS WHITE, OUT JUNE 2008 ON DRIFT RECORDS!!!!
"....a mentallist 10-tracker of fuzzy acoustic psychedelia, meta-folk, futurist lo-fi, full-frequency rock, stoned beats, fantasy-surf, antique trip-hop and luscious harmonies stacked right up to heaven....an immense, sprawling beast of an album..."
Chris T-T

"As grandiose as The Killers, (so much better!) the suave 'This Gun' and punky 'King Of England' spit hummable fire, while closer '4am' elegantly distils everything that already passed." JOHN AIZLEWOOD, Q MAGAZINE (****)

"Richly layered both musically and lyrically, songs spin between vitriolic anger, witty self-deprecation and arch political condemnation. Like Kerouac and Wylie, T-T understands what is subversive about love. We should cherish such poets." ALISTAIR FITCHETT, PLAN B MAGAZINE

"Extraordinary. A terrifying and thrilling experience... as a theme, violence is less an undercurrent and more a seething torrent. Capital's London pulsates with unease."
JAMES WALSH, MORNING STAR

"Another winner. One of the finest and most consistent songwriters this country has seen this century." THISISMUSIC.COM

Ian McLagan and the Bump Band + guests

http://www.myspace.com/ianmclaganandthebumpband

http://www.ianmclagan.com/

Ian McLagan is a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool rock’n’roller. In fact, his smiling visage — he was, after all, a member of the Small Faces and the Faces — would serve as an ideal illustration in the proverbial Dictionary of What Is Truly Cool.

The man known to his many mates and even more fans and admirers as 'Mac' is the sort who shrugs off such puffery. And then he just carries on creating splendid and genuine rock’n’roll with his Bump Band as well as musically aid and abet a marquee line-up of truly blue ribbon talent that he has toured and recorded with: The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, John Hiatt, David Lindley, Paul Westerberg, Billy Bragg and Patty Griffin, to name some but hardly all of the notables that McLagan has worked with over his four-plus decade career.

He has also etched his distinctive musical talents onto the playlist of rock’n’roll history co-writing such Faces hits as Cindy Incidentally, You're So Rude and Three Button Hand Me Down. His Wurlitzer electric piano is heard on everything from Stay With Me by the Faces to the smash hit Miss You by The Rolling Stones, and Mac's trademark Hammond B-3 organ is featured on the Small Faces classic Itchycoo Park and Rod Stewart's Maggie May and You Wear It Well.

McLagan entered the music game in Swinging London in the mid-1960s, and you can read all about it in his vivid and delightful memoir, All The Rage, a book that The Express hailed as “One of the best music books in years.” He ascended from the Top of the Pops with Small Faces to the pinnacle of rock with the Faces when Rod Stewart and Ron Wood joined the band. The rollicking Faces ruled 1970s album radio and sales charts as well as the stadiums, arenas and festivals around the world, leaving countless satisfied fans, many wild tales and more than a few quivering hotel managers in their wake. Whether McLagan is singing, writing and playing his own music or as the go-to guy for a session or tour, he has been and remains the quintessence of rock’n’roll.

Since he cut his debut solo album, Troublemaker, in 1979 — with two Rolling Stones (Keith Richards and Ron Wood) and a Beatle (Ringo Starr) among the players — McLagan has been making music in his own right that carries on the British rock tradition that he helped establish with the Small Faces and Faces on the albums Bump In The Night (1980), Best Of British (2000) and Rise & Shine! (2004). “It’s all raw, up front, in your face, rollicking greasy good-time music done by a master,” says All Music Guide of Rise & Shine!

In 2006, he released a touching tribute to his old bandmate, Spiritual Boy: An Appreciation of Ronnie Lane, acclaimed by the Dallas Observer as “a lovely and comfy salute to one of rock's sadly unsung master songwriters and a must-have disc.” Spiritual Boy has garnered chart success in Mojo and leaves a trail of glowing reviews in Rolling Stone, No Depression, Uncut, and Goldmine.

Since McLagan moved to Austin in 1994, the Bump Band has come to include some of the city’s best players: Veteran rock bassist Mark Andes (Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, Canned Heat and Heart), drummer Don Harvey, whose resume boasts putting the big beat behind Martha Davis, Joe Ely, and Charlie Sexton; and 'Scrappy' Jud Newcomb, one of Austin’s busiest and best guitarists (The Resentments, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Beaver Nelson). Those not fortunate to catch McLagan & the Bump Band on tour or, when home, in their weekly residency at Austin’s Lucky Lounge can enjoy their magic on the CD Extra Live, which All Music Guide hailed as “the first real rock & roll record to be released in 2006.”

Awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for his outstanding contributions to British music and inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame in 2004, McLagan is beloved by musicians and music lovers alike. He produced the Faces four CD boxed set, Five guys walk into a bar... for Rhino Records, and received a rare honor on April 6th, 2006, when it was proclaimed Ian 'Mac' McLagan Day in Austin Texas. But rather than rest on his laurels, Ian McLagan continues to do what he has always done best: rock’n’roll.

In December of 2007 Ian 'Mac' McLagan and Glyn Johns, his old pal from Small Faces and Faces days, met at Sphere Studios in London to mix and master Ian McLagan's beautiful and emotionally raw CD, Never Say Never. The self produced and directed album features McLagan's award winning Bump Band: 'Scrappy' Jud Newcomb, Don Harvey and Mark Andes, and includes all original songs written by one of the best-loved musicians of our time. Patty Griffin graces Never Say Never with her soulful vocals and she and the Tosca Strings can be heard on the final track, the heart wrenching When The Crying Is Over. McLagan recorded and produced Never Say Never at The Doghouse Studios in Manor, Texas, and recorded Where Angels Hide on the Steinway in The Edythe Bates Old Chapel at The International Festival-Institute in Round Top, Texas.

The Musician, Clyde Street, Leicester £12 adv










		Friday May 9 @ The Musician Johnny Dowd + Last Harbour + guests http://www.myspace.com/johnnydowdband www.johnnydowd.com http://www.myspace.com/lastharbour This is Johnny Dowd's new record, 'A Drunkard's Masterpiece'. The songs, welded and mangled together, fondle every style from metal/weird country ('Infidelity/Gargon vs. the Unicorn') to jazz ('Random Thoughts') to instrumental funk ('Union of Idiots'). "I wanted to do an album that was a combination of variety show and soul revue. In the mix of styles, you can see my take on American music. Also, by running the songs together rather than having silence between them, I was trying to make the album as close as possible to our live show," says Dowd. "When we tour Europe in April and May, we will be performing the album in its entirety." The band which includes Willie B (drums and bass pedals), Michael Stark (keyboards), and Kim Sherwood-Caso (vocals) is at the top of their game. "I think this album really shows the depth and breadth of what Willie B and Michael Stark can do musically as it is filtered through my somewhat warped consciousness." Amazon UK Last Harbour: Uncut: "A record of seductive charm and nocturnal glower." Inform: "Last Harbour's 'Hold Fast, Pioneer' is one of those dark claustrophobic albums that uses lots of non-rock n roll instruments to tell desperate tales of love gone wrong and love just plain gone. If you enjoy the mellow drama of Black Heart Procession/Bad Seeds with the uneasy tension of Retsin and the earthy feel of The Triffids, this is the album you will be enjoying your next dark night of the soul to." Rocksound: "Taking the traditional folk ensemble and injecting it with a much-needed contemporary twist, Last Harbour come across like the progeny of Nick Cave and the Tindersticks, with bleak, melancholy laments accompanied by soaring violin and driving acoustics that somehow make 'Hold Fast, Pioneer' fresh & utterly compelling." Rant Magazine: "Extraordinarily beautiful, haunting and mesmerising." The Musician, Clyde Street, Leicester £10 adv. Tuesday 13 May 2008 @ The Musician Jason Ringenberg www.jasonringenberg.com If there was any justice in this world Jason Ringenberg would get the recgnition he deserves. With his band The Scorchers Jason injected a new lease of life into country rock. R. Neil @ The Musician, Clyde Street, Leicester £8 - adv. Tuesday 20 May @ Firebug The Ruby Suns + Peeping Thom and the Voyeurs + guests Firebug, Millstone Lane, Leicester http://lilchiefrecords.com/therubysuns/ http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/2985632 http://www.myspace.com/peepingthomandthevoyeurs …The Ruby Suns have adopted a range of styles from Maori chants, psychedelic pop and orchestral compositions not too dissimilar to the likes of Animal Collective, or a more obtuse Grandaddy. Like a Technicolour Dreamcoat of musical autonomy, its sleeve gives the game away, particularly after one engaging listen: Sea Lion is a palette of inspiration where songs about ancient trees ('Tane Mahuta') and New Zealand's southernmost point ('Adventure Tour') can sound like a cross between Brian Wilson taking control of New Order to floaty psychedelia like The Shins covering the aforementioned Avery Tare-fronted outfit. All in all, Sea Lion is a sublime record that won't get much attention initially due to its (at present) low-key release, but by the time the end-of-year lists come out nine months from now, expect it to figure prominently in the hearts and minds of both critics and punters alike. Drowned In Sound £5.50 adv. £6.50 door. Tuesday 27 May @ The Musician Daevid Allen and The University of Errors The Musician, Clyde Street, Leicester http://www.myspace.com/daevidallen77 www.planetgong.co.uk Daevid Allen was one of the founders of the British progressive rock band the Soft Machine in 1966. After recording just one album with the group, he became the founder/leader of Gong, which he left in 1973 to begin a solo career (though his first solo album, Banana Moon, was released in 1971 while he was still in the group). Allen explored his quirky, folky take on rock throughout the '70s and '80s on albums like 1976's Good Morning and 1983's Alien in New York. His solo work also included collaborations with underground rock impresario Kramer like 1993's Who's Afraid? and 1996's Hit Men, which was released on Kramer's Shimmy Disc label. Allen returned in 1999 with Money Doesn't Make It, followed a year later by Stroking the Tail of the Bird. Nectans Glen also followed in 2000. In 2003 Allen formed a new version of Gong with members of the Japanese collective known as Acid Mothers Temple, as well as playing and releasing material with his California-based band University of Errors. He continues to release numerous live sets and one-off collaborations in limited editions on various independent labels under his own and various group names. A best-of, Man From Gong, which only scratches the surface of his lengthy discography, appeared from Snapper Music in 2006. £8 adv. £10 door. Sunday 8th June Thomas White (Electric Soft Parade/Brakes) and Chris T-T The Musician, Clyde Street, Leicester THE DEBUT SOLO ALBUM FROM THOMAS WHITE, OUT JUNE 2008 ON DRIFT RECORDS!!!! "....a mentallist 10-tracker of fuzzy acoustic psychedelia, meta-folk, futurist lo-fi, full-frequency rock, stoned beats, fantasy-surf, antique trip-hop and luscious harmonies stacked right up to heaven....an immense, sprawling beast of an album..." Chris T-T "As grandiose as The Killers, (so much better!) the suave 'This Gun' and punky 'King Of England' spit hummable fire, while closer '4am' elegantly distils everything that already passed." JOHN AIZLEWOOD, Q MAGAZINE (**) "Richly layered both musically and lyrically, songs spin between vitriolic anger, witty self-deprecation and arch political condemnation. Like Kerouac and Wylie, T-T understands what is subversive about love. We should cherish such poets." ALISTAIR FITCHETT, PLAN B MAGAZINE "Extraordinary. A terrifying and thrilling experience... as a theme, violence is less an undercurrent and more a seething torrent. Capital's London pulsates with unease." JAMES WALSH, MORNING STAR "Another winner. One of the finest and most consistent songwriters this country has seen this century." THISISMUSIC.COM £5 adv. £6 conc. / £7 door Friday 18 July Ian McLagan and the Bump Band + guests http://www.myspace.com/ianmclaganandthebumpband http://www.ianmclagan.com/ Ian McLagan is a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool rock’n’roller. In fact, his smiling visage — he was, after all, a member of the Small Faces and the Faces — would serve as an ideal illustration in the proverbial Dictionary of What Is Truly Cool. The man known to his many mates and even more fans and admirers as 'Mac' is the sort who shrugs off such puffery. And then he just carries on creating splendid and genuine rock’n’roll with his Bump Band as well as musically aid and abet a marquee line-up of truly blue ribbon talent that he has toured and recorded with: The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, John Hiatt, David Lindley, Paul Westerberg, Billy Bragg and Patty Griffin, to name some but hardly all of the notables that McLagan has worked with over his four-plus decade career. He has also etched his distinctive musical talents onto the playlist of rock’n’roll history co-writing such Faces hits as Cindy Incidentally, You're So Rude and Three Button Hand Me Down. His Wurlitzer electric piano is heard on everything from Stay With Me by the Faces to the smash hit Miss You by The Rolling Stones, and Mac's trademark Hammond B-3 organ is featured on the Small Faces classic Itchycoo Park and Rod Stewart's Maggie May and You Wear It Well. McLagan entered the music game in Swinging London in the mid-1960s, and you can read all about it in his vivid and delightful memoir, All The Rage, a book that The Express hailed as “One of the best music books in years.” He ascended from the Top of the Pops with Small Faces to the pinnacle of rock with the Faces when Rod Stewart and Ron Wood joined the band. The rollicking Faces ruled 1970s album radio and sales charts as well as the stadiums, arenas and festivals around the world, leaving countless satisfied fans, many wild tales and more than a few quivering hotel managers in their wake. Whether McLagan is singing, writing and playing his own music or as the go-to guy for a session or tour, he has been and remains the quintessence of rock’n’roll. Since he cut his debut solo album, Troublemaker, in 1979 — with two Rolling Stones (Keith Richards and Ron Wood) and a Beatle (Ringo Starr) among the players — McLagan has been making music in his own right that carries on the British rock tradition that he helped establish with the Small Faces and Faces on the albums Bump In The Night (1980), Best Of British** (2000) and Rise & Shine! (2004). “It’s all raw, up front, in your face, rollicking greasy good-time music done by a master,” says All Music Guide of Rise & Shine! In 2006, he released a touching tribute to his old bandmate, *Spiritual Boy: An Appreciation of Ronnie Lane, acclaimed by the Dallas Observer* as “a lovely and comfy salute to one of rock's sadly unsung master songwriters and a must-have disc.” Spiritual Boy has garnered chart success in *Mojo* and leaves a trail of glowing reviews in *Rolling Stone, No Depression, Uncut, and Goldmine. Since McLagan moved to Austin in 1994, the Bump Band has come to include some of the city’s best players: Veteran rock bassist Mark Andes* (Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, Canned Heat and Heart), drummer Don Harvey, whose resume boasts putting the big beat behind Martha Davis, Joe Ely, and Charlie Sexton; and 'Scrappy' Jud Newcomb, one of Austin’s busiest and best guitarists (The Resentments, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Beaver Nelson). Those not fortunate to catch McLagan & the Bump Band on tour or, when home, in their weekly residency at Austin’s Lucky Lounge can enjoy their magic on the CD *Extra Live, which All Music Guide* hailed as “the first real rock & roll record to be released in 2006.” Awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for his outstanding contributions to British music and inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame in 2004, McLagan is beloved by musicians and music lovers alike. He produced the Faces four CD boxed set, Five guys walk into a bar... for Rhino Records, and received a rare honor on April 6th, 2006, when it was proclaimed Ian 'Mac' McLagan Day in Austin Texas. But rather than rest on his laurels, Ian McLagan continues to do what he has always done best: rock’n’roll. In December of 2007 Ian 'Mac' McLagan and Glyn Johns, his old pal from Small Faces and Faces days, met at Sphere Studios in London to mix and master Ian McLagan's beautiful and emotionally raw CD, Never Say Never. The self produced and directed album features McLagan's award winning Bump Band: 'Scrappy' Jud Newcomb, Don Harvey and Mark Andes, and includes all original songs written by one of the best-loved musicians of our time. Patty Griffin graces Never Say Never with her soulful vocals and she and the Tosca Strings can be heard on the final track, the heart wrenching *When The Crying Is Over. McLagan recorded and produced Never Say Never at The Doghouse Studios in Manor, Texas, and recorded Where Angels Hide* on the Steinway in The Edythe Bates Old Chapel at The International Festival-Institute in Round Top, Texas. The Musician, Clyde Street, Leicester £12 adv