Wednesday 29 June 2022

Gigspanner Big Band LIVE Dates 2021

May 11, 2021

Can it be true ?? Dare we even believe it ?? I type this with everything crossed after frantically running around the house, madly implementing the ancient pagan ritual used by the Celts, who believed that spirits and gods resided in trees. ( I’ll give you a moment to think about that – info at the bottom of the page if my rambling is lost on you)

Yes this ‘unique force in British folk music’ The Gigspanner Big Band has released it’s live tour dates for the coming year and suddenly there seems some light at the end of what has seemed a very dark tunnel for live music.

For those who have not experienced this “Amazing…a force to be reckoned with – they storm every stage they walk on” (Mike Harding), The Gigspanner Big Band delivers a high-energy, virtuosic performance that will appeal equally to traditionalists and to those looking for something more experimental. They have garnered praise from publications as varied as fRoots, The Telegraph and The Wire, where they were described as ‘melodically folk-rooted yet open and innovative beyond the constraints of genre’

Beginning life as a trio – the legendary Steeleye Span fiddle player Peter Knight is joined by percussionist Sacha Trochet and guitarist Roger Flack – the line-up has since been expanded to form the Gigspanner Big Band, with acclaimed multi-instrumental duo Edgelarks (Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin – BBC Folk Awards ‘Best Duo‘) and Bellowhead co-founder and melodeon player extraordinaire, John Spiers, joining the fray.

As collaborations go, it doesn’t get much more mouth-watering than this. Here’s a sneaky peak ….

While Peter Knight, as part of Steeleye Span’s classic 1970s line-up, helped invent a brand of folk rock that is still influential today, John Spiers, has had an equally profound impact on the landscape of traditional music over the last two decades. Characterised by riotous inventiveness, technically gifted individual playing and subtle collaborative interaction, this coming together of several of the biggest names on the folk-roots scene, combines a deep knowledge of roots traditions with a ceaselessly boundary pushing approach.

Taking self-penned material along with music rooted in the British Isles and beyond, with the flick of a bow, a finely chosen chord or slip of a beat, they produce richly atmospheric arrangements layered within a wealth of subliminal musical influences “with notes seemingly plucked from the stars and rhythms from the equator” according to our esteemed Editor in Chief here at Spiral Towers.

He goes on to gush …

“True creativity speaks to the heart and entertains the mind with fresh ideas and images, and what brilliant entertainment this is. Knight has a knack for identifying the essence of a tune or song, pulling it apart and presenting it back to you in a way that surprises and refreshes. Hannah Martin and Phillip Henry simply make sublime music that has an otherworld of undercurrents and motifs woven through it. Put them all together and some alchemical magic occurs” 5***** Spiral Earth

Well I happen to agree (and its not just because I want a promotion !?) The only way to find out if all our gushing holds water .. is to find out for yourself ?!

Live Dates 2021

July 28th

Theatre Severn

Shrewsbury

https://www.theatresevern.co.uk/shows/whatson/gigspanner-big-band/

July 29th

As You Like it Festival

Stratford upon Avon

https://www.costadelfolk.co.uk/as-you-like-it/

July 30th

Teignmouth Pavilions

https://www.pavilionsteignmouth.org.uk/events/gigspanner-big-band