HATFUL OF RAIN March 4, 2013

 
We’re expecting another packed house to see this exciting four piece local band, which has deservedly been attracting nationwide attention since the release of their latest album.
 
Chloe Overton is a captivating singer and guitar player who can also trade in nifty mandolin riffs with a trio of musicians with extraordinary CVs.
 
Violin player James Shenton is a gold medal winner at the Guildhall School of Music and, before he got the folk music bug, played with the London Symphony Orchestra, and is a current member of the internationally renowned Balanescu Quartet.
 
Phil Jones comes from a different direction altogether, having ploughed his musical furrow in jazz funk, cowpunk and rock and roll, in which latter category he can currently be heard supplying vocals and electric bass to the high-energy local function band, The Spectones. With Hatful of Rain he switches between double bass and the rock-solid frailing banjo sound which is at the heart of the band’s bluegrass sound.
 
And how’s this for a name check of the groups with whom Fred Gregory has worked? Billy Fury, The Psychedic Furs, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Culture Club, Jarvis Cocker and, er, Charlie Drake  -  don’t ask. Nowadays his guitar and mandolin also features in another fine acoustic band, Porchlight Smoker.
 
As might be expected, therefore, their live shows demonstrate a high pedigree of collective musicianship across a repertoire of bluegrass and old timey classics plus a good many of Chloe’s own carefully crafted compositions.
 
Their first appearance with this line up was in our little session in November 2010 and we are delighted that they have agreed to make a return appearance.

“Captivating roots music”  Spiral Earth
“They’re very, very good”  Mike Harding Radio 2 
“Hauntingly beautiful…I love it”   Bob Harris, Radio 2 
“Beautiful!”    Roseanne Cash, via Twitter

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