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The Brian McCombe Band
If it’s rock music with emotion and a Celtic heart that moves you, then The Brian McCombe band with its propensity for both traditional and contemporary Celtic music with equal passion is tailor-made for you! Comprising a line-up of super-talented multi-instrumentalists from Scotland, Ireland, Australia and Brittany and fronted by Brian McCombe who is recognized as being “one of the greatest voices in the world of Celtic music”
Formed in 2003, the Band has made its presence well and truly felt internationally with sell-out performances in Poland, Italy, Austria, the UK and of course all over France.
Brian McCombe was born in Glasgow of Irish and Scottish parents, as well as composing his own songs, he is also an author and uilleann pipes virtuoso, winning the slow air championship on the instrument at the ‘All Ireland Fleadh’ in 1983.
Over the past 20 years Brian has sung all over Europe and the United States. Guesting on many projects, most notably (and something which we at Hard Drive Promotions are really ‘blown away’ by) - an album with Alan Stivell.
Percussionist David Hopkins.
Drawing upon and utilizing rhythms and techniques from many varying traditions, Belfast born ‘Hopi’ is quite rightly considered to be one of the foremost innovators of the bodhran
Living in Brittany for some 30 + years he has played in some very well known Breton bands (Barzaz,Bleizi Ruz, Guichen Quartet, etc). and has also worked with artists such as Didier Squiban, Pat O’May, Alan Stivell and Myrdhin, among others.
‘Hopi’ is also a composer & arranger of his own music and is well known for his passion of diverse music and instruments of the world and has amassed a (now legendary) immense private collection of instruments
Violinist, Nicola Hayes has been playing from the age of 7 and is classically trained. Her speciality is the traditional of Irish and American music, learning and honing her Irish fiddle playing skills from within the Irish immigrant communities of her homeland Australia. Nicola’s love of Irish music meant that she got to spend several years in Ireland, where she perfecting her craft whilst playing in the sessions and concerts of County Clare.
Moving to Brittany in 2001, Nicola has continued her research into traditional fiddle, becoming totally immersed in Breton music.
Guitarist Yvon Riou, another native of Britanny, is yet one more priceless gem in the Brian McCombe Band. Cosidered one of the greatest guitarists in the region, Yvon is, well known on the international traditional music scene, and is highly sought after by visiting Irish musicians for his accompaniment of traditional Irish music.
Bassist Charles Lucas is a self taught musician who, being a native of Brittany, was primarily inspired by Breton traditional music and spent more than a decade playing with the group Suner – Gwad. Charles soon developed a keenness for jazz and went on to study double bass, classical and modern music at the National Conservatory in Rennes.
Flautist Erwan Menguy is another Brian McCombe band member hailing from Brittany. A self-taught flute and Breton biniou kozh (bagpipe) player. In 2005 Erwan, along with his colleague Mathieu Méssager won the under 18s Champion of Brittany prize in the Gourin Championship and won the trophy “Matalin an Dall” in Lorient in 2008, with Daniel Le Féon becoming the youngest laureate since the contest began. Erwan also duets with Erwan Bérenguer playing traditional Irish music and is the Holder of a State Diploma as professor of traditional music.
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71 Chain
If you've been following Mary Mac Thomais' blog 'The Blue Celtic Moon', then you'll know what an impression this band has made upon her, and the fact that Hard Drive Promotions' MD Dave Holmes has been a big fan of them for quite some time!
(If you haven't checked out Mary's blog yet, then why not?)
Because of the amount of positive feedback , we thought it would be a good idea to post a shed load of info, links etc so that you can check out for yourselves what a phenomenal band 71 Chain are!..... We absolutely love these guys!
71 Chain are:
Chris Lappage: Lead Vocals, Electric/Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin.
Adam Bowden: Bass Guitar.
Paul Meech: Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin. Mark 'Mongo' Mongan: Drums.
Ryan Stevens: Electric/Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals (guesting when home from university)
These fabulous images are from the bands website.
We would really love to credit the photographer for their stunning work, but unfortunately we have no idea who they are.
Hard Drive Promotions are delighted to welcome to ‘the family’ a band that really got our attention with their fresh, energetic, fun-loving exuberance (we were out of breath just watching the video of them playing at Waterford!)
‘State of Undress’ are, and we quote “A rocky rootsy band from Dorset playing a distinctive brand of original music”. If you’re wondering just how original they are, then we have likened them to being the 'love child' resulting from if ever The Indulgers were to 'get it on' with Fleetwood Mac!"
This is a band - correction - a family of fun-loving, extremely hard-working, incredibly talented musicians who not only put their hearts and souls into giving the performance of a lifetime each time they play, but also insist on making their adoring audiences part of that experience - getting them involved throughout the gig, whether it be singing along with choruses, joining in with Charlie's high-energy dancing or simply helping out with the rhythm accompaniment with the use of freely distributed shakers and other assorted instruments. One heck of a highly infectious band who are guaranteed to make a great musical experience a truly memorable one, leaving the audience begging for more!
We are really excited to be working with ‘SoU’ and are honoured that they have asked us to organize their Scottish Tour, planned for the Summer 2015 We can't wait!
Charlie Rose –
Singer and all round musical tart!” (Her words, not ours)
State of Undress’ are:
Charlie Rose: vocals
Alan Rose: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin and vocals
Jerry Bird: electric fiddle, acoustic guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
Rob Guns Boivin / Malcolm Windett: bass and backing vocals
Keith Fletcher: drums and backing vocals
Needless to say, we will keep you informed of future gigs etc and bring you any band news 'as and when', in the meantime why not give the 'State of Undress' website a visit, where there's a whole shed-load of goodies awaiting you!
Here are the links you'll be wanting:
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Graham Brown Band
Graham Brown was born in Dundee on 24th May 1978 into a family surrounded by music and with music in its history too.
Graham's grandfather, uncles and aunties, mother and father and his 3 brothers are all deeply involved in music, It was easy to see from an early age Graham was going to be very musical and this was evident during his childhood.
Through the years Graham has been part of many projects and musical activities but he himself always says he learnt most of his trade whilst touring with his father's band from the ages of 13 to 18, during that time Graham also ran a mobile disco and a small duo act working in pubs and clubs all over Scotland, gaining a huge knowledge of sound engineering and technical understanding
of musical equipment.
A few years later, together with two of Graham's brothers (Eddie & Derek) they started a rock cover band in Dundee called Electric soup. This band was very successful and worked all over Scotland and Germany, a few visits to Germany as Graham's other brother (Danny) at this time was a leading side drummer in the world famous Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Danny went on to become Drum Major of the band and toured the world with them, only this year Danny retired from the RSDG, Danny was based in Fallingbostel in Germany for almost 17 years.
During this time Graham had started to develop a love for writing songs and found himself spending more and more time with an acoustic guitar writing down tunes and lyrics. After almost 10 years working with a cover band Graham started to look for something more creative and something he was going to satisfy his song writing with so Graham posted adverts everywhere looking for like-minded musicians to form a band to create original songs and tunes, with the hope of performing and recording. A man from Fife called David Lindsay answered one of Grahams adverts and the two musicians met in a venue called McDaniel's in Dundee around 2009. Graham and David formed a great relationship as they found they had a huge amount of musical ideas in common, the main one being Celtic rock bands such as Runrig and wolf stone. Graham and David met up several times but struggled to find other musicians to form a band with, both Graham and David decided to keep looking and stay in touch as much as possible.
Late in 2010 Graham had a phone call from a man called Micheal Callaghan (CAL) asking him to join his band as they were looking for a bass player and found one of Graham's adverts on the internet outlining the words Celtic rock. Graham joined the band CAL only to find out that the bands drummer was a man called David Lindsay.
During Graham's time with the band Cal, they recorded an EP (called CAL) and later an Album (called Turning the Tide), both had some of Graham's songs on them, but one very important song, that proved very popular very quickly with all the audiences at live gigs, the song was called (I can hear the nation) Graham tells us this song was written when he was inspired by watching the Scottish election results late after polling day in 2011 when the Scottish National party swept to power overwhelmingly, Graham said it was all he was able to think, I can hear this nations voice loud and clear tonight.
The band CAL split up in 2012 due to musical differences.
After a quiet month or two, Graham and David decided that they would start another band and continue this writing alliance that seemed to work so well, The band Amber Road was born.
Amber Road have released 3 EP's to date, the first one was called (Amber Road) the second one called (Working Man) and the third one called (Storm).
Graham left Amber Road in June 2014 and it was during this time Graham decided to put together his own band so he was able to record more of his commercial and pop songs and tunes as well as the Celtic/rock element of his song writing, this band is called THE GRAHAM BROWN BAND.
The Graham Brown Band is not long established and working hard to rehearse and perform live as much as possible, with 4 songs released thus far with another two and an EP due to be released in November 2014
At live performances with the Graham Brown band you will hear many of Graham's original songs and a few covers also,
The members of the band are:
Lead guitar and vocals...........................................Graham Brown
Drums.........................................................................Connor Brown
Acoustic guitar and accordion. (guest artist)....Eddie Brown
Bass guitar and vocals............................................George Resterick
Bagpipes, whistle and vocals.................................Davie Hunter
Main vocals..................................................................Kieran Ferguson
Electric and acoustic guitars....................................Cameron Wilson
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Steve Gifford
Steve has seen a meteoric rise in his popularity and wider public recognition, including airplay and positive feedback, with his music appealing to a growing acoustic audience who enjoy self-styled individual songwriters. These days Steve mainly tours and gigs with bass guitarist Ian Catchpole and Derek Edmond on drums.The band formed shortly after the album launch of the 3rd album 'Boy On A Beach' at the Stables.This album was tremendously received and it allowed the band to tour the UK between March and September 2008. During this time they worked on Steves' 4th studio album 'Ungodly Hour' with most of the song arrangements by Ian Catchpole and this was recorded between January 2009 and October 2009 in North London. A strong track named 'Knolls Wood' went off to be mastered at the Abbey Road Studios in St Johns wood. Some tracks draw on Steve's many influences from several contemporary song writers such as Ray Lamontagne, Damien Rice, Josh Ritter, Tom Petty and Crowded House, earlier years of listening, included Neil Young, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Carole King, Jonie Mitchell, Donovan, Jonathan Kelly, Don McLean, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Eagles. Over the last ten years Steve has appeared solo and with the band at some of the country's best known intimate venues such as The Borderline,The Musician, The Trades Club and The Stables Theatre where he supported Shawn Colvin in the summer of 2007. A recent quote by one of Steve's fans summed up his music by saying "it's like I have heard all of these songs before but at the same time I know they are original." Having played guitar since his teens, Steve worked the London music scene for over 7 years in the 1980s and with the help of three top music agencies he was working virtually full-time. After getting married he committed himself to family life. He may have thought his performing and writing days were over.However, this was far from the truth. In 2001 Steve wrote ten new songs in quick succession, helped along by his newly acquired Martin acoustic guitar. The resulting debut album 'Cut and Run' was released in September 2002. Steve's musical career was re-ignited, and included a joint album promotion with Mike Silver at the Union Chapel in Islington in October 2003. The Stables at Wavendon Milton Keynes heard the album and booked Steve successively over the following eighteen months. Here he performed with Ten Years After, Aynsley Lister and Carl Palmer. Touring Americana artists, Joe D'Urso and Stewboss also heard Steve's music and each invited him to join them for gigs on their 2004 tours. Steve's second album, 'Building Bridges', was released in March 2005 on the Smokey Rooms label. As with 'Cut and Run', the fluid melodies of 'Building Bridges' perfectly fill the contours of the heartfelt lyrics, conveying, with clarity and honesty, an emotional journey through a landscape of life experiences. The thirteen songs are intertwined with the sweet sounds of Steve's new Lowden guitar, plaintive harmonica and haunting cello, with the chilled harmonies of songwriter Nici Wilcox. The album was supported by a tour including a launch at The Stables and shows at The Borderline in London. Steve's creative flow has continued. His third and most critically acclaimed album to date, 'Boy On A Beach', was released in September 2007 with Proper Music Distribution as exclusive UK distributors. 'Boy On A Beach' was launched at a sell out gig at The Stables Theatre, Milton Keynes. Listen to the awesomeness of Steve Gifford here: https://soundcloud.com/stevegiffordband
Click on any image to
visit Steve's website
The Return
on Facebook
'Born from the muddy banks of the Strathearn delta'
"Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blues".
Band interests: Broons, beer, cider and flower arranging.
Influences: 'Deep Heat and pain killers'.
Visit The Return's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The1return?fref=ts
And see the nutters in action on our very own
Hard Drive Promotions YouTube channel
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The Return
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Imaginary Creatures
Imaginary Creatures is the brainchild of lyricist and songwriter David Scott, who has teamed up with producer and multi-instrumentalist Iain McKinna to record his own brand of classic rock. They are a 'virtual band', a studio project and 'The Butterfly’s Dream' is their debut album.
David Scott wrote song lyrics for years, for his own amusement before deciding to turn some of them into a reality. In 2013 one of his lyrics was used by US rockers ‘Blue Coupe’ (formed by Joe and Albert Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult and ex-Alice Cooper bassist Dennis Dunaway) as the basis of a track on their hit album ‘Million Miles More’
Ian McKinna has over 30 years experience in the music business, as a musician, songwriter, engineer and producer. The founder of Offbeat Studios in the heart of Edinburgh, he works with creative talents from all over the world and in every music genre, as well as being involved in voiceovers and film production. Today he is one of the busiest and most sought-after producers in Scotland.
The album also features some fantastic guest musicians, including guitar ace Keith More (Joe Satriani, Asia), harmonica legend Fraser Speirs (Carol Kidd, Tam White, Paulo Nutini) and backing vocalist Annie Mccaig (Tears for Fears, Level 42). Perhaps the best-known name on the list is Rod Clements, founder member of Lindisfarne and writer of the hit ‘Meet Me on The Corner’
The album is very much in the ‘classic rock’ mould, drawing on the influences of artists such as Blue Oyster Cult, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Roy Harper and John Martyn.
A mix of styles – hard rock, blues, acoustic and electronic – combine with some persuasive tunes to create a great listening experience for any rock enthusiast.
Listen to this astounding work at:
www.reverbnation.com/imaginarycreatures
https://play.spotify.com/artist/4NzqLVVDV1tuxOjyfUBCnk
or purchase the album on CD or mp3 download:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ID7BLAK
www.amazon.co.uk/Butterflys-Dream-Imaginary-Creatures/dp/B00IMKJ69G
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-butterflys-dream/id825123785
Imaginary Creatures
on Facebook
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Leanne Dixon
Leanne is a 20 year old singer/guitar player living in Ballyporeen a small village near the Mitchelstown/ Fermoy area of Ireland and has been performing about 3 years in local bars and hotels.
Her influences include The Beautiful South, Adele, Paulo Nutini and many more..
On May 15th Leanne will be releasing an EP of original material written by Stew Dixon who also plays Bass and Cajon, piano is being played by Seamus Hennessey
The single ‘Sweetest Refrain’, taken from the EP has been played on numerous radio stations in Ireland, UK, Sydney and the USA
The launch of the EP will take place on Thursday 15th May in Cheers Bar, Fermoy at 9pm and we can expect to see quite a gathering of very talented musicians on the night.
Leanne has a music page on Facebook and it would be very much appreciated if you would go along, take a good look and give the page a ‘like’.
A review of the EP can be found on the 'Reviews' page of this site.
Leanne Dixon
on Facebook
