(Electric Strawbs)
Strawbs are: frontman/guitarist David Cousins, guitarist/singer Dave Lambert,
bassist Chas Cronk, drummer Tony Fernandez AND new member—keyboardist Dave
Bainbridge.
In June 2015, ROLLING
STONE named the Strawbs’ HERO AND HEROINE one of the 50 Greatest Prog albums of
all time. The magazine’s insightful writer Ryan Reed noted HERO AND
HEROINE, as the bands “heaviest, most symphonic album,” and cited leader Dave
Cousins’ “ambitious prose” as some of the album’s power.
Inspired by this new
intention, ROSFest invited the Strawbs to headline its Festival on Friday, May
6 (the fest runs May 6-8), and the band’s booked a tour around it. North
America has an amazing relationship with Strawbs, as the group has sold more
records in the USA and Canada than anywhere. In the USA the band had seven
consecutive albums in the Billboard Top 200.
Dave Cousins, founder
member, has been described by All
Music Guide as: “the most talented Dylan influenced songwriter to
come out of England.” He recently released his long awaited, and
critically acclaimed, autobiography Exorcising
Ghosts: Strawbs and Other Lives. It was listed by ALLMUSICGUIDE
writer Richie Unterberger in his “Top 10 of 2014 rock books.”
Strawbs are often
mentioned in the same breath as progressive rock bands like Yes, King Crimson,
and The Moody Blues. It is well-documented that Rick Wakeman left Strawbs
for Yes. Rick was followed by Blue Weaver - who left Strawbs to join the
Bee Gees, John Hawken – from the original Renaissance, Don Airey - now with
Deep Purple, Adam Wakeman, and Oliver Wakeman, who, like his father, left
Strawbs to join Yes!
Strawbs emerged out of
the British Folk Movement of the mid-1960s, starting life as the Strawberry
Hill Boys playing bluegrass. They moved into the mainstream in 1967 by making
the first Strawbs album, All
Our Own Work, with Sandy Denny, a full year before she recorded her
first album with Fairport Convention. The album attracted the attention of
A&M Records in Hollywood who signed Strawbs as the first British band on
the label.
Strawbs albums Hero & Heroine, Bursting At The Seams, Ghosts,
and Grave New World
define the music. The current Strawbs line-up comprises Dave Cousins, lead
guitarist Dave Lambert, bass player Chas Cronk, and drummer Tony Fernandez, who
has been in the Strawbs for the last 10 years and was first in the band in the
1970s (and Rick Wakeman’s drummer for 35 years). They are joined by keyboard
virtuoso Dave Bainbridge of Iona, a band whose mystical blend of rock, folk,
Celtic and ambient music has endeared them to audiences across Europe and North
America for the last 25 years.
STRAWBS U.S. TOUR DATES
May 5 Towne
Crier, Beacon NY
May 6 ROSfest – Gettysburg PA
May 7 Sellersville Theater,
Sellersville PA (afternoon show added)
May 10 BB King’s, New York City, NY
May 11 Strand Centre for Arts, Lakewood
NJ
May 12 Mohegan Sun/Wolf Den, Uncasville
CT
May 13 YMCA Boulton Centre, Bay Shore NY
May 14 St Ann’s Hall, Wilmington DE
May 15 Ukranian Cultural Center, Whippany
NJ
May 17 Rams Head, Annapolis ML
May18 AMP by Strathmore, N.
Bethesda ML
May 20 Arcade Theater, St Charles IL
May 22 Turner Hall, Milwaukee MN
May 24 Music Box Supper Club, Cleveland
OH
May 25 Lovin Cup, Rochester NY
May 26 Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton
MA
Contact: Anne Leighton:
718-881-8183
No comments:
Post a Comment