Julian Gaskell & Kirsty McGee

Event information

Two of the UK's finest folk performers and songwriters, Julian Gaskell and Kirsty McGee, host an evening of song from the eccentric to the bewitching...

JULIAN GASKELL
Step into a tumbledown world of gypsy-punk accordion, surf klezmer, speak-easy ragtime, intellectual drinking and protest songs, romantic piano torch ballads, sweet musette waltzes, weeping country laments, violent tangos and stomping balkan skiffle beats. Singer and songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and nomadic one-man-garage-orchestra Julian Gaskell howls and hollers his way through a global cacophony, leaping from cockney cowboy drawling to barely uttered murmurs of eloquent discontent, all delivered with a sharp, lyrical edge.

Having honed his craft with his previous punk-folk bands “Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” and “Icons of Poundland”, Julian has spent the last 2 years touring the world with Cornwall-based theatre companies “Rogue Theatre” and “Bash Street Theatre”, and has written silent movie piano scores and cabaret style show tunes for their productions to great critical acclaim. He is now returning to touring his own music with a vengeance, the stunning new album “Kind words from home” is a home-grown tour-de-force of musical and lyrical recklessness, a wall-of-thrift sound produced by Julian at home and in disused council buildings (with contributions from Thomas Sharpe and Kester Jones of Ragged Trousered Philanthropists) in late 2011.

www.juliangaskell.co.uk
mail@juliangaskell.co.uk

press quotes
“a pioneer of new wave skiffle and the use of acoustic instruments as weapons of new punk, one of Britain’s few truly original folk masters” Manchester Music

“Bits of hyper-Balkanisation bloody their noses on some crunchy Roma-jazz, and waves of speedy punkfolk ska crash in the mix on cheesy surf organ and the ghost of Cap’n Beefheart....If they’re this exciting on record then the live experience is going to be truly extraordinary.” fRoots Magazine

“The star of the show is musical director Julian Gaskell, who will be well known to music lovers in the county. A cross between Tom Waits, Joe Strummer and Rachmaninov, his repertoire of songs brought the show to life”– West Briton (Rogue Theatre review)

“One man whirlwind Julian Gaskell’s stunning musicianship and evocative soundtrack is unbelievably brilliant... his Kroke-esque percussive violin, haunting cello music and powerful expository songs, are worthy of a show in their own right” – Cornishman

“an energetic, raw, mixture of folk, rock, punk, progressive, underground style folk with influences from almost everywhere and everything, Ska rhythms, a far-east melody, French musette and some (more or less) traditional English influences.” - folkworld.de

“Very smart, very droll lyrics. Very theatrical. Very philanthropic. Lots of accordion and background shouting and roustabout rhythms. Bit of klezmer. Bit of that banjo-playing toad off Bagpuss. Bit of a lark.” - Everett True – Collapse Board

“Tom Waits and Gogol Bordello’s defiantly Cornish bastard offspring… he picks and slides on his acoustic guitar like he’s straddling Satan’s stretch rack” 24-7

“lowdown gritty stompers, gothic gypsy-blues... his voice is full of bedraggled, smoky mystery” diskant

“Blunt lyrical genius ...adventurously technical guitar work. He drops hints of gypsy-folkisms, and gives the rather unique overall effect of a folky, bluesy Damon Albarn playing a barmitsfah” – Bath Moles

“the sound of Tom Waits tossing “Fiddler on the Roof” albums into a cement mixer... there is an energy and urgency on display here that you are rarely likely to stumble upon in a lifetime’s worth of music loving “ This is Not TV

KIRSTY McGEE

Twice nominated for BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Kirsty McGee has been recording and touring to critical acclaim since her debut in 2002. Her style continues to defy categorisation and charm audiences around Europe, earning her the tag of 'cult' singer-songwriter in the UK.

Combining styles as diverse as folk, jazz, chanson and Americana, her work is held together by her distinctive lyrical style and astonishing voice, equally comfortable in dark, intimate ballads and up-tempo carny-shuffle numbers. Her shows explore a cross-section of these energies through an extensive range of subject matters and instruments. Reviews for her most recent album 'No.5' (recorded live in one take with her full band The Hobopop Collective) have been unanimous in their praise for her skilled handling of words and impeccable taste in arrangements.

Kirsty McGee is of course at the very core of The Hobopop Collective, whose full-bore sound is further complimented where necessary with contributions from a select chain-gang of revered and secretive illuminati. In this project McGee has worked with world class players from many corners of the music scene, including musicians whose CVs bristle with the likes of Guillemots, Karine Polwart, The Brute Chorus, Nitin Sawhney and Aim.
 
With a history of politics, homelessness and wanderlust, Kirsty McGee suffuses her work with a musical vagrancy that enriches her songs and styles, from "hipkat trilby swing" (acoustic magazine) to "exquisite and skeletal" (Q Magazine).

Quotes:
'Bewitching' **** - Q
'One of the greatest groups in the current music scene' **** - Maverick
'A fascinating talent' - Clash
'Rich, versatile and immaculately controlled' - Americana-UK
'Breathtaking' - Acoustic Magazine

kirstymcgee.com
facebook.com/kirstymcgeemusic
twitter.com/hobopop
last.fm/music/kirsty+mcgee