Glastonbury 2015 - Emily Eavis Appeal - Mann Friday - Say Yeah

Glastonbury 2015 - Emily Eavis Appeal - Mann Friday - Say Yeah

To coin a phrase like Alternative Afro-Folk-Rock is pretty difficult – and quite a mouthful, but it seems Mann Friday might have done so.

Hailing from South Africa, Italy and ...wait for it ...Zimbabwe(!), and bound together by a decade on the London rock scene, Mann Friday have forged a triumphant alloy of Brit grit and African optimism.

The self-propelled rockers boast a litany of achievements including five studio albums, near sell-out performances at premiere venues such as The O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, The Forum and Islington Academy – all supported savagely by an army of loyalist fanns.

One scalp they haven’t taken though, is a lifelong dream to play at the hallowed Glastonbury Festival. Their new single Say Yeah!, out January 15th 2015 is a stirring call to action and the accompanying video an explosive appeal to Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis to book the band at this year’s festival.

Say Yeah! is the perfect combination of rock and folk that is full of energy.  It’s a blinder, combining percussion and guitar riffs into a richly layered mid-tempo melody that features a folk friendly drumbeat and rock undertones. The key is the vocal line, and not just melodically…

Let’s hope Emily Eavis jumps on board too, expect to see, hear and read a lot of buzz around Mann Friday in the coming weeks from NME to Uncut Magazine, amongst others. C’mon, there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious.

Brief Bio

The group first hit European soil in 2003 with their controversial rock opera Zimbabwe Ruins gaining critical acclaim at The Edinburgh Festival.

Tracks from the show were released on their debut album The Orchard, quickly followed by Apple Source (2005), a foray into lo-fi electronica and featuring on Sky News’ Year in Review. 

Gathering momentum, Mann Friday witnessed a groundswell of support for their live shows, spurring them towards rockier records Blue Sky Science (2006) and Waiting For the Flash (2009). BBC World News covered the band’s unconventional bid for the UK Top 40 as their ‘Week You Made Us Famous’ campaign went viral promoting the hit single Sunburn and Wonder.

The following years saw front man Rob Burrell spend more time in his homeland of Zimbabwe and it was here he forged the basis for their fifth studio album Trainrides and Radio Play. The album caught the attention of (ex-Richard Branson) V2 Records who signed the band in 2013 and helped launch Mann Friday into the Dutch Top 5.

Glastonbury Appeal Video – http://mannfriday.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MannFriday
Twitter – https://twitter.com/mannfriday @mannfriday

Johnny Lucas to announces release of new single The Best Days

Johnny Lucas to announces release of new single The Best Days 

Johnny Lucas is due to release his latest single, The Best Days, on Monday 27th Sept

This catchy - and unashamedly poppy - indie track has been going down an absolute storm at recent gigs and blew the roof off this years Glastonbury Festival. (see vid link below)

As well as Glastonbury, this year's been very busy performing at festivals all around the UK such as Cornbury, over 50 Student Unions on a Summer Ball tour (supporting the likes of Jools Holland, The Feeling, Kaiser Chiefs, Clean Bandit and Ed Sheeran), Camden Barfly, Madame JoJos and Kensington Roof Gardens amongst many more. Off the back of an incessant 2014 of touring a publishing deal is now on the table and he is looking at label partners to release an EP with a full UK tour throughout autumn to promote it.

https://soundcloud.com/johnnylucasmusic/the-best-days-1

www.johnnylucas.co.uk

www.twitter.com/johnnylucaschat

www.facebook.com/johnnylucasmusic 

The Fugitives Announce London Date ahead of Glastonbury Appearance

Award-winning Canadian indie-folk duo The Fugitives have released the brand new Sliding Doors-esque video to Wilderness Years. The song is the second teaser to be taken from the forthcoming album Everything Will Happen, following the release of the single Ring, which For Folks Sake described as “one of the more gently stunning tracks we’ve heard in a while”. 

The Fugitives were once described by a local Vancouver publication as “the missing link between Leonard Cohen and the Pogues”.  Their debut In Streetlight Communion (2007)  was nominated for a ‘Pushing the Boundaries’ of contemporary roots music at  the Canadian Folk Music Award. The follow up long-player, Eccentrically We Love (2010) was hailed by Canada’s media as “eclectic and exciting” - See, “poignant” - Uptown and “infectious” - CBC. More recently, (Summer 2013),  The Fugitives four-track Bigger Than Luck EP charted internationally on CMJ and rode the !earshot national folk charts for eight solid weeks. 

Now the duo release their third album Everything Will Happen on 30th June via Canadian label Light Organ Records.  The album includes collaborations from a range of musicians, spanning  genres from bluegrass through to jazz and including violin looping prodigy Hannah Epperson, multi-instrumentalist Steve Charles and actor Benjamin Elliot. While production cames from John Critchley (Dan Mangan, Elliot BROOD, Amelia Curran). 

The Fugitives have played diverse shows such as Vienna Literary Festival, Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival and Vancouver Jazz Festival while also remaining regulars on the Canadian folk festival circuit.   This summer they play a number of UK dates including a slot at Glastonbury Festival and the nearly announced London show at Topolski gallery and bar on 17th June.

UK TOUR:  

12th June: Sofa Sessions, Kettering, Northamptonshire

13th June: Kelvedon Institute, Essex

14th June: Ring O Bells, Chagford, Dartmoor

15th June: Square and Compass - Swanage, Dorset

17th June: Topolski (Southbank Centre), London 

18th June: The Blue Bell Inn, Hempstead, Saffron Walden

19th June: Apples and Snakes (Hit the Ode) @ The Victoria, Birmingham

21st June: House Concert, York

23rd June: The Bell Inn, Bath

27th June:  Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, Somerset

Connect with The Fugitives via: 

Website: http://www.fugitives.ca  // Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFugitives

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fugitivesmusic // YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianFugitives

Metallica announced as final Headliner for Glastonbury 2014

Glastonbury Festival have announced their third and final headliner for this year’s event, Metallica.

​After much speculation, the news was confirmed this evening (8 May), with the metal band joining the likes of Arcade Fire and Kasabian on the bill.

“They’re one of the biggest bands in the world,” organiser Michael Eavis said of the news. “And on my travels people are always asking me, ‘When are Metallica going to be playing Glastonbury?’ I was so keen to book them. They’ll be pleasing so many thousands of people.”

Responding to the evident surprise that came with the announcement, Eavis added: “We had Jay Z headlining [in 2008], and people were surprised with the Smiths in 1984. But that was the Smiths and look at them now! We put on all types of music. I’ll be there at the front of house right on the mixing desk, so I’m listening to them head on. I can’t wait for that moment.”

Glastonbury runs this year from 25-29 June.