Monthly Archives: April 2010

It’s early Friday evening and from my window I can see people carting sacks of charcoal and crates of beer up the hill which means it’s a long weekend and the sun is out!

Our week of gigs has been a blast and it’s not over yet, though I think we’re going for a more chilled out feeling on Sunday night at the Hand in Hand and try out some new songs which should be a lot of fun.

Here’s a sneaky peek at one of the possible options for a poster that we’re deciding on at the moment.

That’s all from us at the moment, have a great bank holiday weekend and hopefully we’ll see you on Sunday night!

Till next time!

Expertly Designed Flyer by the Lovely Amy Hill!

With 4 gigs in one week coming up, I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to have my wisdom teeth taken out the week before. Now that I’ve had a few days to think about this whilst not being able to talk properly, I’m pretty sure I’d like them back.

But it would take more than a lack of teeth to stop Amy Harrison and The Secondhand Stringband.  No-one booking us would probably do it…

So, we’ve got a busy old week from the 26th of April, kicking it off by playing at the Brighton Folk Night at The Brunswick Pub in Hove.

The Brighton Folk Night is organised by the lovely Amy Hill. A charming and talented singer songwriter who took a wrong turn in Australia and found herself in Brighton. We like Amy. She’s easy to get on with, easy to listen to and just happens to have one of the best first names around…

On Wednesday 28th you’ll find us hanging around with our instruments at Mrs Fitzherberts. If you’ve never been before, this is a perfect excuse to check out this great little boozer on New Road. It doesn’t take a lot to fill it though so get there early if you prefer sitting to standing.

Thursday 29th we’ll be taking up some space in front of the bookshelves at the awesome Great Eastern on Trafalgar Street. This pub really does fill up quick (we may or may not say that about all our venues). With a famous selection of whiskies and bourbons, not to mention some of the friendliest bar staff in Brighton, it’s no surprise why we always find our way back to The Eastern.

We finish the week, and start the BANK HOLIDAY at our monthly residency over at The Hand In Hand on Upper St. James Street. As mentioned it’s the BANK HOLIDAY, and what better way to get ready for a Monday off work with an evening of songs about heartache and murder?. Seriously folks, I’m not kidding this time, this place really is small and fills up quickly but it has one of the best atmospheres for live music and some great ales. We’ll be having a special guest playing as well that evening so it’s a musical treat all round!

We really hope you can come down for 1,2,3 or, if you’re crazy enough, all 4 of these gigs! Have a great week ahead and hope to see you soon!

Hello there Secondhand Stringband fans.

The band mailing list is now live, which means you can pop your details in the form on the right hand side and join the inner circle, where all the cool kids hang out.

When you join, you will receive updates that will keep you at the cutting edge of Amy Harrison and The Secondhand Stringband News

• Never miss out again on top secret performances
• Keep up-to-date with offers on upcoming CDs, Posters, stickers, printed T-shirts and branded stationery*
• Read exclusive band stories and news too raucous for regular publishing on the website
• Remember band member birthdays as our families tend to forget

We will never spam you or pass your details on to anyone else, this is just a way of keeping in touch with all those lovely people who keep coming to our gigs – Thank you!

*Branded stationery may never actually happen, though it remains a dream of Amy’s.

It’s just that Tim has upped the Stringband game with his pop star experience and animated yet tasteful playing, and Dan has his flat pickin’ flair and one of Larry Gatlin’s old shirts… Some people are starting to think you and Malc are letting the side down.

And so it was that Malc and I were shipped off to Bluegrass Band Camp for a week, otherwise known as “Sore Fingers”. For those who might not be familiar with this, it’s a five day residential music course in the Cotswolds held over the Easter break each year.

Jamming with Greg and Paul from the New Essex Bluegrass Band, Janet Chris and more!

I was to take the singing course with the lovely Janet Beazley and Christ Stuart, and Malc would be getting some expert banjo tuition from his hero Alan Munde, one of the finest five string players around.

It was an intense week of music, singing, playing, drinking and camping. We even signed up for the “scratch band” performance, where you join other players and the bands each perform two songs on the Thursday night. It felt weird performing Wildwood Flower and Salty Dog without Tim and Dan but it was a brilliant experience and the guys we played with were great fun.

Unusually bright for a morning

Malc got his banjo signed by Alan Munde and bounced all the way back to the tent. Forget Disneyland, Malc had just spent the last week in “Munde-Land” and could be heard squealing all the way back to Brighton.

There was plenty of great advice and musical know how to take away, and our favourite was Alan’s response to someone asking if there was a place for a drummer in a Bluegrass band, if the drummer was really really good…

Well sure I guess… but they’d have to be a pretty good drummer to sound better than no drummer at all…

Malc with his banjo hero Alan Munde

We dusted off our sequined shirts, vogue white gloves and feather boas, and then promptly remembered that our 80s pop group backing band was just a pipe dream.

Instead, we put on our best Bluegrass and Country Music clothes (which bear a striking resemblance to what we normally wear…) and invited the lovely and talented photographer Esme, to capture us in our natural habitat…

Once at The Great Eastern Pub, we delighted the Saturday afternoon customers with our freakish posing and impromptu performing. The place was empty within minutes…

There are plenty of photos to choose from for flyers and posters now and if anyone knows any good printing services do let us know!

This was way before the "Parrots Eat Them all" Joke had us in stitches...