Ranagri - Playing For Luck

Eliza Marshall

Ranagri

Dónal Rogers

Eliza Marshall

Joe Danks

Ellie Turner

23rd March 2019

The Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK

Alt folk band Ranagri are a combination of Irish and English musicians; Dónal Rogers (Vocals/Guitar), Eliza Marshall (Flutes/ Whistles), Ellie Turner (Electric Harp) and Joe Danks (Bodhrán/Guitar). Since forming in 2013, Ranagri have recorded three studio albums at Grammy Award Winning Record Label Stockfisch Records, with their latest record ‘Playing For Luck’ released in January 2019. Acclaimed previous albums are Fort of the Hare (2014) and The Great Irish Songbook with pop legend Tony Christie (2015). ‘Voices’, recorded at Real World Studios and produced by Grammy-nominated producer Graeme Pleeth, and ‘Tradition’, were both released on Goatskin Records in 2016. Festival performances include Cambridge, Gate to Southwell, Wath, Lyme Folk Weekend, Trinity, Bloom (Dublin) and Purbeck. No strangers to large venues, Ranagri have performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Fairfield Halls, The Union Chapel, Buxton Opera House and Camac Harp Festival in France to name a few. Combining their love for world music, they have collaborated with top Indian musician Kuljit Bhamra OBE, and members of Britten Sinfonia at The Bhavan Centre, London. Ranagri toured in 2017 with Justin Currie (of Del Amitri) at Islington Assembley Halls, Perth Concert Hall, Holmfirth Picturedrome and Cambridge Junction, followed by a tour of Scotland and Germany whilst writing and recording their latest album ‘Playing For Luck’ at Stockfisch Studios throughout 2018.

Dónal Rogers

Dónal Rogers (Vocals/Guitar)
 Dónal has written music for Film, TV, Radio, multimillion selling artists and is published by BMG. He wrote Tony Christie’s last release in 2017 which charted in Germany. His music has been performed worldwide in venues including The Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and many UK and European festivals.

Eliza Marshall (Flutes/ Whistles)
 Eliza is one of the most in demand flautists in the country - from performing onstage as soloist for the Royal Opera House in A Winter’s Tale to playing principal flute on numerous film scores, albums and live touring. Eliza has performed and recorded alongside Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, White Stripes, First Aid Kit and Peter Gabriel.

Joe Danks

Joe Danks (Bodhrán/Tenor Guitar).
 Joe was the winner of Ireland’s 2016 International Bodhrán Soloist of The Year. He has appeared at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and is currently ‘Musician in Residence’ at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Joe is director of Pulse Arts who specialise in music in healthcare settings working in Great Ormond Street Hospital amongst others.

Ellie Turner

Ellie Turner (Electric Harp)
 A former winner of first prize in the European Harp Competition, Ellie is currently Head of Harp at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and has graced some of the best stages in the world in Shanghai, Sydney, Berlin, London and Hong Kong. A composer and collaborator, Ellie has instigated a wide range of musical projects exploring everything from hip hop and Electronica to Indian classical music.

Emily Maguire - The Slaughtered Lamb

Emily Maguire

Emily Maguire - voice, keys, guitar
Christian Dunham - bass
+
support by
Ben Walker - guitar

15th September 2018
The Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK

Emily Maguire and Christian Dunham performed to a packed crowd at The Slaughtered Lamb in London for the last night of her 2018 UK tour.  You can see photos of the gig on Emily’s Facebook page. Emily is doing a special one-off gig on Saturday 27 October 2018 at Gaunts House in Wimborne before starting her book tour in November.  Dates and ticket links for all these gigs can be found here.

Christian Dunham

Singer-songwriter, composer, poet, multi-instrumentalist and mental health advocate, Emily Maguire is an artist like no other, her remarkable story of recovery an inspiration for those who know her music. Born in London, Emily grew up in Cambridge with no TV at home, a bookworm obsessed by her children’s history books, playing sport and music, learning the piano, cello, flute and recorder.
When she had her first breakdown at 16, diagnosed as acute clinical depression, Emily left home and dropped out of college.  A car crash that same year triggered fibromyalgia pain syndrome (FMS), a chronic nervous system disorder that causes constant pain.  By the time she was 21, Emily was on walking sticks and registered disabled. In constant pain but elated by her creativity, Emily’s mental health deteriorated until on her 23rd birthday she was taken to Fulbourn Hospital in Cambridge in a psychotic state and diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

She moved back to London, recovered from the FMS thanks to Dr Peter Fisher at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. A few months after coming out of hospital, in a strange twist of fate, she ended up on a plane to Australia to meet up with an old friend, Australian bass player and producer Christian Dunham. A three-week holiday turned into four years happily living a self-sufficient, eco-friendly life on a goat farm in the Australian bush, in a shack built by Christian from recycled wood, tin and potato sacks. There Emily recovered her mental health, helped by constant sunshine and a veggie garden, surrounded by animals on the farm and in the hills around the shack.  She started writing songs again in a wood and tin yurt built for her by Christian, and became a cheesemaker, financing her first two albums and UK tours by making and selling goats cheese on the farm.

In 2010, with a single on Radio 2 and touring the country as Caffé Nero ‘Artist of the Month’, Emily had a breakdown following a miscarriage (portrayed in her ‘achingly beautiful’ song ‘Banks of the Acheron’ on ‘A Bit Of Blue’).
She decided to go public about her mental illness by publishing an extraordinary book ‘Start Over Again’, a brutally honest and deeply intimate account of her experiences of dealing with bipolar disorder.  The book was launched on Radio 2 on World Mental Health Day generating a huge response from listeners.

Ben Walker

As an advocate for mental health, Emily speaks frequently in the media about combating the stigma of mental illness. In 2013 she was interviewed by Libby Purves for ‘Midweek’ on BBC Radio 4, talking about her book ‘Start Over Again’ and her experiences of dealing with bipolar disorder.
In 2017, she was interviewed by Coronation Street actress Cherylee Houston for a Radio 4 programme called ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’, talking about chronic pain, creativity and her bipolar condition.  She was also interviewed by Clare Balding for Radio 2, talking about her music, mental health and Buddhist faith.

In October 2017, Emily performed at the World Congress of Psychiatry in Berlin before heading to Australia in December to spend time with family and to start recording her next album.
In early 2018 she performed gigs for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust at mental health hospitals.

Emily is a patron of the mental health charity Restore.

Thank you to Mike and Gail Watts (Dr & Mrs Fizzy) for the invitation to this concert.

Mark Sullivan - Slip Into Your Head

Mark Sullivan

Date - 13th October 2017
Venue - Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK
Current Single - Slip Into Your Head (October 2017)

Future performance
21/10/2017 -  MILTON KEYNES, THE STABLES
22/10/2017 -  SHEFFIELD, THE GREYSTONES
25/10/2017 - LEEDS, PACKHORSE
06/11/2017 - ST PANCRAS CHURCH, LONDON

Mark Sullivan has crafted his art on the road with hundreds of shows that include all the expected stages for such a troubadour plus incredible experiences such as opening at Wembley Arena, performing at The Houses Of Parliament, the US ambassadors private London residence and receiving an award from Rick Wakeman.

Sullivan is now set to embark upon a UK tour ‘In The Round’ this October with Radio 2 and Country To Country festival favourites Emma Stevens & Megan O Neill plus USA’s James Fredholm making his UK debut. “Slip Into Your Head” is the highly anticipated new single by Mark Sullivan.  This earthy slice of sincerity holds the potential to skyrocket Sullivan to the pinnacle of the acoustic indie folk listener’s radar and begs the question of how far this astonishing artist can go. 

Megan O'Neill - Why I Need You

Megan O'Neill

Date - 13th October 2017
Venue - Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK
Current Single - Why I Need You (2017)

Future performance
21/10/2017 -  Bilston (UK), British Country Music Awards 2017
25/10/2017 - LEEDS, PACKHORSE
21/01/2018 - Green Note, London

Irish-born singer/songwriter Megan O’Neill is one of the most exciting Americana artists on the UK - Irish scene. A long-time musician and song-writer, Megan has previously lived in Nashville but now resides full time in London. 

She released her debut EP ‘Coming Home’ in May 2015, reaching #1 in Irish country charts & was awarded ‘UK EP of the Year’ (W21Music). In February 2017, Megan released a second record with her band ‘The Common Threads’ titled ‘Stories to Tell’ which was recorded at Mark Knopfler’s British Grove Studios with the legendary Guy Fletcher (Dire Straits, Roxy Music, Mark Knopfler) producing. 

2017 has seen Megan selected as one of the top 8 Americana songwriter’s in the UK, a performance at the Americana Music Awards in London and touring Ireland, America and the UK, sharing stages with such artists as Miranda Lambert, Kip Moore, Nathan Carter, Donna Taggart and Victoria Shaw. She’s also spent this year writing and recording her debut solo album. The first single (‘Why I Need You’) is due for release in October 2017 and the full album set for release early 2018.

James Fredholm - The poet uncaged

James Fredholm

Date - 13th October 2017
Venue - Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK
New poetry publication - Uncaged (2017)
Current Single - Oars (2017)

Future performance
21/10/2017 -  MILTON KEYNES, THE STABLES
22/10/2017 -  SHEFFIELD, THE GREYSTONES
25/10/2017 - LEEDS, PACKHORSE

Born and raised in Austin Texas, James Fredholm first discovered his passion for music through the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Johnson.  His inspiration has been drawn from his complicated life, coloured by the cultures of Texas, London and Zurich – not forgetting his time in the army and above all experiences of love.

“Growing up in vibrant music scene of Austin, Texas in the 1970’s was a defining moment for me. I got my first guitar at 14 and couldn’t put it down, it just felt right, it was in my blood. Through those years I was a regular at the music clubs, so many known and unknown talents to absorb, including Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Johnson, Christopher Cross and the whole alternative rock and country scenes. I was playing in an acoustic trio and we made a little bit of a name for ourselves writing and recording jingles for local businesses. It was always a passion, despite my fears and insecurities’’.
His music is best described as emotional and arrestingly honest, from the heart. He brings a unique perspective, which together with his 1968 J50 Gibson acoustic guitar and harmonica delivers an intimate, edgy sweetness that gets easily under the skin.

Fredholm describes himself as a poet first, then musician, many songs of the forthcoming album ‘Love Is The Answer’ taking their first steps in his book of poetry ‘Uncaged’.

We Are Bandicoot - Bouncy Ball Soup

Harvey Nowers

We Are Bandicoot
Simon Briley - vocals
Antony Grant - lead guitar
Harvey Nowers - rhythm Guitar
Lewis Osmant - bass
Matt Chesson - drums

Simon Briley

Date - 14th April 2016
Venue - The Slaughtered Lamb
Current release - Limitations (Blizzard Records, 2016)



Lewis Osmant

Upcoming dates
22/04 Oxford, The Cellar
26/04 Bury St Edmunds, The Apex
30/04 Maidstone Fringe Festival
13/05 Chelmsford, The Asylum
20/05 Milton Keynes, The Stables

Antony Grant

Kent 5 piece ‘WE ARE BANDICOOT’ have followed up their debut 2015 EP with the release of cross boundary single  ‘Limitations’.   In support of the ‘Limitations’ single release the band will be heading out on the road for a mix of headline shows and support slots, including dates with Moulettes, Broken Records and Heg & The Wolf Chorus. Lyrically, Limitations explores what lead singer Simon describes as a ‘small minded culture’ that is spreading through young people in Britain – hatred and prejudice towards certain social groups and a lack of desire to achieve greatness.
  

Matt Chesson

We Are Bandicoot push us through the mixer like an abused ingredient. Rolled in crumbs, baked gently, burnt hard, licked and grated, split and cut. Suckle my pig, depth charge emotions. Don't forget to eat me, but push it in my face, gorge on this band, so that the juices run over your cheeks and well in your ears.

 

Open and rangy, their buzz slices through with free lines, pylons that reach into the distance. The sound is a bouncy-ball soup of influences that are not worth throwing a net over here. Why capture these dancing joys.

 

Krakatoa Kinkitoa, Crackerjack smack.

 

AL.

 

 

Richard Maule - Sugar Coated Pill

Richard Maule

Richard Maule

Date - 14th April 2016
Venue -  The Slaughtered Lamb, London
Current Album - Esoteric Groove EP

Upcoming dates
EP Launch - Siren's Call
Half Moon Putney
4th May 2016

Richard Maule mixes drums, soaring synths, looped vocals and many other instruments in his ambitious stretch towards the audience. His amenable songstrokes have been championed by Radio 2's Dermot O'Leary as well as being nominated for a Shure's singer songwriter award.

 

Grapes picked one by one, the stepped rise of a stairway empire. One man, synth, pedal, wash. Breath long draw, sucked through colours, the burred change of hues. Maule washes us clean like we were aniseed balls in the mouth, he reveals the purity of white beneath. The hard shelled truth, a sugar coated pill.

 

AL.

 

 

 

    

The Lost Art - The Slaughtered Lamb

Gordo Francis - The Lost Art

Neither lost nor found Greg Hooper and Gordo Francis are somewhere in between. We love a story of the barrow boy who wins a talent show or a housewife destined for operatic glory but often these are tricks that successfully play on our heart strings rather than please the ear. It is true that Bicester duo The Lost Art are a relatively new act to ride the live music circuit but they are no strangers to their instruments nor their craft. Both Hooper and Francis play acoustic guitar, are classically trained, the former is head of music at Bruern Abbey School in Chesterton and the latter is a music tutor at Marlborough School in Woodstock. They are proud to let their music do the talking and for you to make the discovery for yourself.

Greg Hooper

They re-release their debut album in 6 weeks with a UK Tour and we caught a glimpse of what to expect at The Slaughtered Lamb (09/04/2015). Equals is the opener to the self titled album and also on this night, it is a light line, a taught straightness is its pull. Like a thick sailor's rope you can see the smaller twines, thin and light amongst a girth that is as wide as your arm.

The Passenger is a joy of broken lyrics, stop-start footsteps and galloping breezes. It has a freshness to rival the days when you could poke your head out of the train window, playing Russian roulette with tunnels and oncoming locomotives. It snakes like the twelve carriage variety too and through its windows we catch glimpses of other people's lives as we slip past undetected.

Tim Hooper

Between Gordo Francis and Greg Hooper sat Tim Hooper on box percussion but it was the guitarists' interplay that dominated the short set. Francis is the everyman in the duo, his strength is much more obvious while Hooper excels in an emotive bite. Kicking The Habit was the flex of muscle from The Lost Art. It suited the blood red glow from the Slaughtered Lamb's famous neon pentagram. It is a song worth getting your axe stuck in to, an anthem for chopping wood until the breath is loose in your chest.

AL.

The Lost Art launch their debut album with a UK tour.

4th July - Sheffield - Oakfest
16th July - Manchester - Bierkeller
20th July - Leeds - Gaslight Club
22nd July - Liverpool - Zanzibar
25th July - Charlbury - Riverside Festival
26th July - Sheffield - Tramlines Festival, The Bath Hotel
28th July - Bristol - Canteen
29th July - London – Dublin Castle
31st July - Witney - Cogges Farm
23rd August - Tunbridge Wells Forum