Déjà Vega are vocalist and guitarist Jack Fearon, drummer Tom Webster and bassist Mike Newton.
Déjà Vega will play on Friday 28th February 2020 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets available here.
After forming in Cheshire, they made the short journey to Manchester, a fitting backdrop to their gritty, guitar led psychedelia. Rhythmic and rage-fuelled and boasting surging riffs, Fearon’s hypnotic slurring lyrics lurch in and out of poetic chants, battling over chaotic drums and the razor-sharp bass lines underneath.
Live, Déjà Vega demonstrate that they’re a force to be reckoned with.
Feelgood pop outfit Deco have spent the past two years building their reputation as one of the country’s most exciting bop-makers.
DECO will play on Tuesday 19th November 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
Having played to packed out crowds up and down the country with a sold out UK tour in Autumn 2018 and support slots with the likes of Declan Mckenna & Fickle Friends, their ascent shows no sign of slowing down. Their hook filled brand new single, Don’t Waste Your Time, paints the self motivating picture of the band’s leap into pursuing music full time and departing part time jobs in 2018. The track showcases their signature ear worm melodies and captivating synths. Don’t Waste Your Time takes inspiration from Eighties hitmakers including Duran Duran and George Michael, resulting in a substantial progression for Deco, a move on from Radio 1 favourites Chances and Turn Around.
Mansfield troubadour Georgie makes a welcome return with her new single ‘Too Much TV’ on February 16th. Taken from the EP of the same title which will be released a month later on March 16th, that will feature three brand new songs, highlighting her rich, powerful vocals and deft songwriting.
Georgie will play on Monday 27th January 2020 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets will be available on Friday 19th July 2019 here.
‘Too Much TV’ will be released alongside ‘Be The Fire’ and Mathew E white produced live favourite ‘Wildcat’. Georgie will supportJake Bugg across all of his upcoming UK and European dates. Speaking about ‘Too Much TV’ Georgie explains; “I’m excited to get this song out as it means a lot to me. I was inspired by my personal life and also by society and how it feels that we should all conform and belong to something, when actually doing that can make us feel very lost so we just gotta be ourselves. ”
Not always destined for a life in music, Georgie had a promising career in professional football looming ahead of her, but the sudden discovery of a guitar and her uncle’s record collection whisked her off the pitch and into her bedroom to hone her musical craft. She quickly mastered the art of blagging her way into pubs underage in order to play open mic nights, and it wasn’t long before her rich soulful voice and honest, reflective songwriting had earned her local notoriety – after one pub crowd demanded a fourth set from her in a single evening, she failed the next day’s history GCSE exam due to the exhaustion.
It wasn’t too long before her relentless graft paid off when her music caught the attention of local hero Jake Bugg, who took her with him on an intimate UK support tour. Since then she has fulfilled support duties for stars ranging from Blossoms to JackSavoretti, and was flown out to Virginia, USA to record her debut single ‘Company Of Thieves’ with the legendary Matthew E White and his Spacebomb house band.
Blending her British Grit with such an accomplished American Soul band resulted in a truly spellbinding single that earned Georgie spots on a whole host of watch lists for 2017. ‘Company of Thieves’ attracted the attention of several songwriters who requested to work with her. Eg White, Amy Wadge, Iain Archer, Jonny Wright and Fred Cox have been frequent collaborators in 2017 resulting in over twenty new songs that are earmarked for release. Following the release of ‘Hard Times’ and ‘This Ain’t Heaven’ in the autumn of 2017 and a successful UK tour, Georgie is definitely one to watch in 2018.
“We want our songs to have more punch than a prom night”
Sick Love will play on Saturday 23rd November 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
SICK LOVE deliver a high-energy, no holds barred rock show all wrapped up in the most anthemic songs. Described by Hot Press magazine as “defiantly pushing against the grain of indie and folk bands in Ireland”, they broke through with sold out shows as well as festival slots at Electric Picnic and Indiependence. The band were quickly marked by many as ones to watch, with the Irish Times preaching they are “set to join the Super League of Irish rock bands”.
SICK LOVE are no strangers to the gritty, do-it yourself Irish music scene. Having risen from the ashes of former band Sub Motion that relentlessly worked through changing line-ups and sounds that crafted a name for themselves following a number of successful self-released tracks and a series of support slots (Crazy Town, The Strypes, Fangclub, Otherkin).
The band are set to release their debut single “Are You Ready”. The track was recorded live in Herbert Place Studios, Dublin with James Darkin at helm (Kanye, Will.i.am, Rihanna, Hozier).
“We know that SICK LOVE are not the type of band to pull punches. They’re not shy about saying how they feel…” – Hot Press Magazine
“SICK LOVE are set to join the Super League of Irish rock bands”. – The Irish Times
“They arguably have the most impressive decibel busting credentials.” – GoldenPlec
Two years on from her blistering debut ‘A Suitable Girl’, Ali Barter has announced her triumphant return with ‘Hello, I’m Doing My Best’ – a revealing collection of songs that track her most formative relationships: to her body, her instincts, sobriety and the old vices it counteracts, and the people she loves most.
Ali Barter will play on Tuesday 1st October 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
‘Hello, I’m Doing My Best’ is set for release on October 18, via Inertia Music / [PIAS], today Ali also revealed her first ever love song with, ‘Backseat’ which premiered with triple j and her first ever global tour. You can pre-order the album and lock in your tickets via alibartermusic.com.
Directed by Anna Phillips (‘Ur A Piece of Shit’), the video for ‘Backseat’ also premiered today via Consequence Of Sound, and sees Ali weave through a comedy of errors with long time collaborator and husband Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy). Ali describes the treatment as being about “two awkward people that get together one night at a bar. A girl admires a boy from afar but when she meets him they are so clumsy and over eager that they end up injuring each other during a late night jam session. It’s just like love really: a mess.”
‘Hello, I’m Doing My Best’ follows Barter’s 2017 debut LP ‘A Suitable Girl’. A record that, by all accounts was critically and popularly acclaimed. Tone Deaf touted it as “an album that struck a nerve with Australia”, while Sydney Morning Herald backed her as a “star on the rise”. Ali Barter, however, wasn’t so sure. “The first record came out and for some reason I rejected it,” she says, listing the complaints she found with her own work: “it’s too polished and my voice is too high” being at the top of the list. Overcome with self-doubt, Barter pushed herself away from music, determined to never write another song.
But in the winter, a few months after the record’s release, she went out of town to clear her head, with her guitar for company. “Stuff started coming up and I couldn’t push it down,” she says, and despite feeling like she “wasn’t ready” for what these songs were saying, her and Dawson went about recording and testing the limits of her surprising new songs. She heard something in them she’d realised she didn’t need to fight anymore. “When we demoed them up, I was like, Oh, there I am. The thing I was pushing against was me”
‘Hello I’m Doing My Best’ is a sentiment most can relate to, and therein lies the undeniable pull of Ali Barter’s output. From her breakout single ‘Girlie Bits’ to recent cut ‘Ur A Piece Of Shit’ Barter spins sobering honesty through sugary pop songs, like a one-two punch of staunch self assurance and touching vulnerability, in a way that is so uniquely her own. On her method, Barter explains “I really connect to the idea that you can say something really controversial, but if you say it in a nice way people are more likely to listen to it.”
Since winning the triple j Unearthed competition and releasing her debut album A Suitable Girl in 2017, the former choir girl has enjoyed support at home in Australia from triple j, FBi Radio, The Australian, Rolling Stone and Tone Deaf, while further afield, Beats 1, Clash and The 405 have all thrown support behind the unconventional pop star.
Barter has toured relentlessly, completing two sold out headline tours, countless festival slots and supported The Rubens, The War On Drugs, The Jezabels, Stevie Nicks, The Preatures, Chrissie Hynde and personal hero, Liz Phair.
Things have been going from strength to strength for the 22 year old, with his last UK tour dates all selling out.
Joe Dolman will play on Tuesday 6th August 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
The shows were then followed swiftly by Joe Dolman’s latest single ‘Drag You Down’ which has been widely praised by fans and industry alike. Previously Joe has made festival appearances BBC’s Biggest Weekend, The Great Escape and Wilderness Festival. Joe will be playing an intimate solo show at The Sunflower Lounge in August ahead of the release of new music.
The term ‘unique talent’ is banded around in musical circles, often too freely. While it is best advised to avoid clichés, unique is the optimum word when describing Ed Geater.
Ed Geater will play on Friday 29th November 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
The Birmingham (UK) born singer, multi-instrumentalist and beatboxer combines sublime songwriting, rhythmical dexterity and technical prowess in his masterful self-produced works.
After taking time out to write and record a host of new material, Ed is back – announcing his first headline show in Birmingham, for two years.
Ed added: “Nothing beats the feeling of playing headline shows in my home town. I’ve been lucky enough to experience this a number of times and I can’t wait for this one, especially as I’ll be dropping new material. The Sunflower Lounge is one of my favourite venues in Brum, it’s gonna be big.”
With plenty more announcements in the pipeline, stay tuned for further Ed Geater updates.
“NYC blues punks Daddy Long Legs are set to lay waste to Austin, leaving booze-blessed stages and wide-eyed revellers in their wake.” – Glide Magazine
Daddy Long Legs will play on Wednesday 24th July 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
Brooklyn, NY-based trio DADDY LONG LEGS – Brian Hurd, Murat Akturk, Josh Styles – make their Yep Roc Records debut today with the release of their third studio album, Lowdown Ways.
The official video for “Pink Lemonade,” co-written with JD McPherson, premiered today at Brooklyn Vegan. Recently included in NPR Slingshot‘s ‘Best New Songs from NPR Music’, which noted the track “beams bluesy rockabilly from a distant satellite to quench thirsty ears.”
On June 19, they will take their “raucous stomping blues-punk” (All Music) on the road in support of their Yep Roc Records debut. The 23-city tour includes stops in Durham, NC, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Boston, Minneapolis, Cleveland, and New York, among others.
Fronted by harmonica-blowin’ Brian Hurd, the band’s “swagger and grime of a Delta blues band” (Big Takeover) is rounded out with Murat Akturk (slide guitar) and Josh Styles (drums, maraca).
Produced by Jimmy Sutton and engineered by Alex Hall (JD McPherson, Pokey LaFarge, Jake La Botz) at Hi-Style Studios in Chicago, the album features 12 original compositions with songwriting contributions from JD McPherson and Sutton.
Leading up to the release, Rolling Stone featured the second single, “Glad Rag Ball” as one of the ‘10 Best Country, Americana Songs of the Week, while the first single “Mornin’ Noon & Nite” premiered at WFMU.
Influenced by the likes of Son House, Captain Beefheart, Howlin’ Wolf,MC5, and Dr. Feelgood, their sound personifies garage rock and punk with a contemporary raw twist performed in their own brand of supercharged R&B. Since forming in 2010, the band has released two studio albums, a live album and two 45s on Norton Records.
Their last album was 2015’s Rides Tonight. They have toured with Jon Spencer, Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Sonics, Nikki Lane, Nick Waterhouse, amongst others.
There may only be two members with the same surname, but The Dunwells are very much a band of brothers.
The Dunwells will play on Wednesday 9th October 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
Consisting of two siblings, the hardworking duo from Leeds are set to release their new album ‘Something In The Water’ on 2nd September 2019.
Indeed, that tenacity and spirit have brought the band members a long way since their school days. Joe Dunwell and his elder brother Dave grew up in a musical household and fondly recall flipping through their dad’s Bob Dylan and Beatles records, as well as hearing their mum singing along to Motown. Bassist Rob Clayton has been Dave’s best friend since childhood—in fact it was the Dunwell brothers’ dad who taught Rob how to play bass. The Dunwells’ songwriting has grown over the years since school, enriched by extensive US and UK touring in support of the band’s 2013 debut, Blind Sighted Faith through to their extensive UK, mainland Europe and US touring in 2018. “There were so many euphoric moments on tour, and we’ve tried to capture those feelings in the new songs,” says Dave. Those memorable moments included an appearance on Late Night With Jay Leno and performances at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Fest and the Bonnaroo Festival, supporting Bryan Adams on his UK stadium tour in Summer 2017 as well as showcases at SXSW and a number of sold out shows across the UK in 2018. The duo will be back on tour this October, visiting both new towns and old haunts across the UK.
NO HOT ASHES have unveiled the brand new video for “W.Y.N.A.”, taken from their forthcoming debut album “Hardship Starship” (out 16th August via Modern Sky UK).
No Hot Ashes will play on Thursday 19th September 2019 at The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham. Tickets are available here.
“A video filmed in one day with no budget between Stockport and Levenshulme. A song which reflects on arguing with loved ones, sleep deprivation and the cyclical nature of relationships. The video addresses the everyday grind of daily life, which features Isaac and his dog ‘Trevor’ – it’s just a bit of a pisstake.”
Speaking about the video, director Sam Crowston explains “We wanted to make a video that really addressed the everyday grind of balancing a band with your regular life, so featuring Isaac going about his usual business was something we felt would resonate with the band’s audience. The fact we had no budget really added to the realism.”
A close encounter of the Northern kind, “W.Y.N.A” (or When You’re Not Around) finds the four-piece examining the abnormal, yet predictable complexities of human relationships. Once almost jettisoned from the band’s catalogue altogether, but re-visited, re-purposed, and electrified with space-age synth bleeps and rocket-fueled guitar riffs; the result is one supernova comeback single.
Speaking about the track, NHA front-man Isaac Taylor says:
“”W.Y.N.A.” is a song about kicking off with loved ones, sleep deprivation and the cyclical nature of relationships. Originally this song was written as a slow acoustic track I thought would never come to light but we were stuck for ideas one day in the practice room and tried it. Glad we did.”
‘Hardship Starship’ was produced by Chris Taylor (The Coral, Everything Everything, Ian Brown, Bill Ryder Jones) at Parr Street studios in Liverpool whom the band met in early 2018 whilst in the thick of demos and writing for the upcoming debut album, they formed an instant connection with Chris which can be felt throughout the whole record. It will be released on Modern Sky UK on 16th August 2019.
Another formidable talent to emerge from Stockport, Greater Manchester in recent times, No Hot Ashes have been making waves around the North-West and beyond for the last few years. With a string of infectious singles in their repertoire including ‘Easy Peeler’, ‘Bellyaches’, and ‘Eight Till Late’, the band have received continued support across radio from the likes of BBC 6 Music and Radio X. Soaking up major support slots with the likes of Blossoms, SpringKing, The Amazons and Prides around the UK, not to mention major festival appearances at the likes of Y NOT Festival, Isle of Wight and Kendal Calling, the band have already amassed over 3.5 million plays on Spotify. Word is spreading fast, so much so that the band were even asked to perform on hit BBC series ‘The A-Word’, Which was aired in the UK on BBC 1 and globally.
Following a landmark SOLD-OUT show at the 950 capacity Manchester Academy 2 last year (which sold out over a month before the show date) and recent sell out at Manchester’s AATMA (in which 150 tickets sold out in under 10 minutes), fans will have the chance to catch the band again in 2019 as they prepare for a spate of new UK dates and festival shows; including their biggest headline show to date at Manchester’s o2 Ritz on 27th September.
