Fri 26th April, 2019
8:00 pm - 10:30 pm (Doors: 7:30pm)
Buy Tickets
Bookings are closed for this event.
Marshes is the new incarnation of Beth Porter and the Availables, previously a Bath/Bristol based band. Beth has moved up to Wigtown in South West Scotland where the inspiration for the name came from. The songs are dark, quirky, charming and ethereal and depict themes such as fear, confusion, money, politics, the weather and the odd cheesy love song, all carried by Beth’s pure and unaffected voice.
The new album ‘When The Lights Are Bright’ has involved many of Beth’s previous band including Jools Scott on piano (The Duckworths, The Cool Web) Emma Hooper on Viola (Waitress for the Bees), Pete Gibbs on Bass (Count Bobo) Sue Lord and Ian Vorley on Violin (Red Carousel) Paul Macmahon on Drums (Protest Crayon). Producer Luke Cawthra (The Brackish and son of Dr Feelgood’s Gypie Mayo) has brought a cool sound, warmth, clarity some awesome guitar solos to the songs from his studio in Clifton, Bristol. It is a coherent collection of charmingly orchestrated songs with a full band, strings, wind and brass.They have been said to channel Ray Davies, and have been likened to The Incredible String Band, REM, Cat Power, This Is The Kit, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Radiohead! This is due to Beth’s varied musical upbringing and all the people she has played with over the years.
Songs from the new album have been featured on BBC Radio 6Music, Fresh on the Net and The Listening Post and although Beth had a break to concentrate on being a parent to Molly Rae, she is getting back on the road with the band. Previous live gigs include Bath Folk Festival, Glastonbury, The Nest Collective (London gigs), gigs in Germany and France as well as many other venues in the UK.
Beth is the cellist for Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band and she is one half of prolific duo The Bookshop Band as well as String Quartet Red Carousel. She has played cello on over 100 records including those of The Proclaimers, Petula Clark, Newton Faulkner, Jackie Oates, Jim Moray, The Heavy. She has played and written for short films including BAFTA winning The Eagleman Stag by Mikey Please.
Beth released Open Doors her debut album for Beth Porter and the Availables in 2015
About Open Doors…
“Utterly charming – Nick McCabe, The Verve.
“Quirky, engaging and really rather brilliant” – fRoots
“A thing of beauty” – Jim Barr, Portishead
“A writer in the vein of Cat Power, Moldy Peaches and R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People” – Songwriting Magazine
‘you only need to take a listen to Who We Are, taken from the new forthcoming *Beth Porter & The Availables album, to appreciate the huge talent that she’s not only amassed but also her ability to create endearing songs which are brimming with beautiful musical intuition.’ (Folk Radio)
*now Marshes
www.facebook.com/marshesbethporter/
STANLAEY
Stanlaey is currently a quartet led by Bethany Stenning (vocals, electric guitar) with Ben Holyoake (Bass-boffin, soundscapes), Naomi Hill (violin overlord) and Oli Cocup (drum demon) where the band’s soundscape has developed in a diverse genre pool of folk/jazz/pop, being compared to artists such as Kate Bush and Dirty Projectors. The band takes you on a journey through ethereal ambient vocal/violin duets, to progressive rock jams and sometimes the odd waltz (Oli is known for his love for waltzes in his best silk kimonos).
Stanlaey has previously performed live in venues in the Southampton, Bristol, Bath, Dublin and London scenes and last year she took her 2017 album Ouroboros on a successful Girl Power Tour in celebration of female musicians where Bethany performed arrangements of the album with her Seaweed String Quartet (a live album was recorded of the tour which is available via bandcamp). Since, Bethany has been working on upcoming album and film The Human Project with the current and new line-up and have performed in exciting and packed out venues in Bristol and London.
Bethany’s experimental song-writing topics (seaweed snakes, wooden girls coming to life, growing into mountains), and soundscapes that meld genres together (Ice-chambers, vacillating folk songs, obscure melodies) are made extra special by the unique and ethereal nature of Bethany’s voice, and the nebulous developing textures of the band.
Stanlaey’s first single from upcoming album The Human Project was released in November 2018 with Bethany’s music being described as “Unique and Distinct” by Folk Radio UK. “With hang drum paddles, swelling strings and evocative vocals that are reminiscent of Joanna Newsom, this is an enveloping piece” – God is in the TV, on single Ode to Ovid:
WEBSITE: http://stanlaey.com