First things first – tonight we’ll be playing some bluegrass music at The Great Eastern on Trafalgar Street tonight.

It’s been a long time since we were there and we’re excited to be playing at where I think was our first ever Brighton pub gig.

In fact – here’s a very crooked photo from that first gig nearly 3 years ago:

Bluegrass music at the Great Eastern, Brighton

The line up has changed a little since then, but no by a lot, and it feels like Tim’s been with us longer than 2 years.You can also see how we had to balance the speakers on tables and chairs… You’ve never seen a more nervous customer than when you set up your bluegrass instruments and plonk a speaker right near them.

Fortunately tonight we come prepared with speaker stands.

In other news I am looking into packaging the album and getting copies printed. If anyone can recommend a good duplication and printing service, that would be awesome.

New Bluegrass tunes for you tonight

We’re debuting some new tunes tonight for you which we’re really excited about so keep your eyes ears out for…

• Long journey home
• That’s what you get for loving me
• Walking the dog

Can’t wait to see you there!

 Other British Bluegrass News

The Orwell Bluegrass Festival kicks off the British Bluegrass festival season and it’s one of the festivals I’d love to go to but haven’t been yet – it’s pencilled in the calendar for next year.

There’s a cracking line up including:

• New Essex Bluegrass Band (I love these guys!)
• Lynne Butler & White Star Line
• The Kent Carters
• Down County Boys
• A Band Like Alice

And a whole heap of other Bluegrass bands. The festival runs from Friday May 11th – Sunday May 13th and you can find out more here.

Till next time my little Bluegrass fan.

Amy.

Well this is it, I’ve set myself the challenge of updating the website once a week, and letting you know more regularly about our upcoming bluegrass gigs in Brighton and the like.

To find out about booking us as a bluegrass support act in Brighton and East Sussex, you can use the contact page or the details listed below.

So what’s going on in the world of secondhand strings?

2012: quiet year for festival gigs, more local folk clubs

We’re just starting to pick up more dates for the coming months after a quiet period from recording the album. Playing the Cornish Bluegrass Festival last year was our last big Bluegrass gig, and since then we’ve stayed closer to home. We’d love to play the British bluegrass festivals again, and we’re still waiting to hear back so will have to wait and see!

It’s been a real joy to reconnect with some favourite local venues and debut at some new ones as well!

Some upcoming gigs we’re looking forward to include:

The Willows Folk Club – Wednesday August 1st

At the beginning of this month we played at The Blue Coconut Club in Pulborough, home to the resident band Way Out West, and run by the legendary Jimmy Lee.

This is probably one of the coolest venues I’ve ever been to. It’s off the beaten track in the woods and has been purpose built for artists and musicians. It’s an infamous venue for those who have been frequenting it for many years, and it’s just beginning to gather a new crowd, meaning exciting times ahead.

It was at this gig that I finally met Chris Davis in person who runs the Willows folk club. Chris has bundles of energy and is so passionate about music I think I read somewhere that he’s in about 7 bands… I struggle to organise myself in one!

Chris has now booked us for the Willows Folk Club on the 1st of August 2012 and we’d love to see you down there. I’m really looking forward to this gig, last time they had Bluegrass shows they had around 100 people through the door so it should be a really fun night!

The Great Eastern Bluegrass gig – Thursday May 10th

That’s right – we’re back to our old stomping ground of The Great Eastern pub at the bottom of Trafalgar Street in Brighton.

We used to play here a lot in the early days and we were missing the place! I’m even more excited about playing here because we’re coming equipped with speaker stands so we no longer have to balance speakers on tables. It should give us a lot more room and help us raise the volume in there!

We'll be cranking up the bluegrass volume with these!

Album recorded – now naming and design!

Finally the full album version has been recorded (watch this space if you already own the 6 track version as you’ll get the full one at a reduced rate).

The album took a lot of weekends, tea and biscuits to make and we’re in the final stages of getting it designed and printed before we can start bringing them to gigs for you to check out.

We do have a name that we’re toying with, but it’s very hard to come up with something that hasn’t been done before or that doesn’t sound incredibly cheesy. If you have any suggestions for naming our bluegrass album, we’d be open to them!

To book us for a gig

We are now taking bookings from June 2012. for a bluegrass support act, you can contact me on 0787-553-7636 or info(@)secondhandstringband.com.

For weddings and private parties you can also fill out the contact form and let us know the dates and time of your event and I’ll get right back to you with availability.

I’m going to sign off for now, but I shall see you next week when I’ll be writing the next blog post!

Well, this is to let you know that our 6 track EP is now on sale (UK only for now I’m afraid!)  for just £5 (plus 50p postage and packaging).

This could be yours...

The tracks included are:

• John Hardy
• Honey You Don’t Know My Mind
• If It Hadn’t Been For Love
• You Don’t Miss Your Water
• Leavin’ Home
• Set Your Fields On Fire (that’s the popular one where we all sing different bits on the on/off beats!)

You can grab your copy by clicking on the buy now button below, paying securely with credit or debit cards or PayPal.

It just makes Secondhand Stringband Sense!

Yes please! I’d love my very own 6 track EP from the Secondhand Stringband for just £5.50.

I can’t wait to impress my family and friends and break the ice at any party with this Bluegrass delight:

Just a quick update (and a last minute one – slap my wrists) to let you know we will be playing at the London Unity this evening in Brighton for their Folk and Ale night.

We also recently received some lovely pictures from Amy and Simon, the lovely couple whose wedding reception we played not long back.

We scrub up quite nicely – although I look a little confused by my Mandolin, which isn’t unusual…

Tim, looking very smart...

Dan, looking over to his left...

Malc looking thrilled...

Me, looking lost and confused...

It was the first time we played this festival and we were made to feel very welcome and were extremely spoiled and looked after by the organisers. Big thanks go to Carolyn, Nigel, Moss and the rest of the Cornish team who made our stay so enjoyable.

Relaxing after the gig - the ties were quick to come off bless 'em

There were some nerves goung round n the Friday night as we had the opening slot for the festival. A last minute practice had us warmed up but there were still butterflies as we waited behind the stage getting ready to go on.

Purple was the night's theme

The set went well and I think we managed to enjoy it whilst we were playing, instead of being petrified from start to finish. I thought the guys looked incredibly handsome in their suits and I was incredibly proud to be playing along side of them.

The crowd were just the best you could have – we didn’t realise it at the time because of the lights, but we were told there was standing room only by the end, so a big thank you goes to those who came in and stood up to hear us play!

They even had a photoshoot for us to do the next day

The rest of the weekend was just as fun. There were some top bands (including my personal faves The New Essex Bluegrass Band and Heather Bristow) and some newish acts that were really impressive such as Kidnap Alice, and of course the incredibly popular Flatts and Sharps. Dan and Max were all eyes and ears watching Steve Kaufman play and my dad picked out Stompin Dave Allen as one of of his “shit hot” acts.

Heather Bristow and the New Essex Bluegrass Band

All in all, a fantastic weekend – we just hope they’ll have us back!

In a few weeks time after we return from playing the Cornish Bluegrass festival, we are playing a set as part of a plugged-in showcase at the O2 Academy in Islington.

We’re playing alongside acts including: Natalie McCool; who has been tipped for big things by Mark Radcliffe and Chris Martin from Coldplay, and indie-rock-pop-dance quartet Stealing Signs as well as a couple more acts to be confirmed.

We would love, love love, for our London fans to come out and support us for this one, and we have a limited amount of tickets available.

There's a spot on the dancefloor with your name on it...

We’ll be rocking a similar set that we played for the Water Tower Bucket Boys gig so expect it to be fast-paced and fun. And of course, we’ll be around all night to generally spoil and make a fuss and spend time with people who have come to see us.

Tickets are already selling, and at just £6.00 if you buy directly from us (or £6.50 if you buy online to cover PayPal fees) it’s an affordable treat for a Tuesday night out.

Details are:

Event: Jar Music Presents “Plugged-In Showcase”

 Bands Playing: Click on this link to find more details about the event

Venue: O2, Academy, Islington, 16 Parkfield Street, N1 Centre, Islington, London, N1, 0PS

Nearest Tube Station: Angel (Northern Line)

Parking: N1 Centre, Islington – http://www.n1islington.com/n1_islington/parking.html

Tickets are available from us here and will either be posted out to you before the event or left at the booking office for you to collect (I will be in touch to let you know which one):

Tickets: £6.50 ea

Watching the Bucket Boys on their sound check from the balcony area

The whole night was a real buzz. We had our own mini dressing room, some beer kindly provided by Martin and Ian from Drifter, the sound guy was so patient and enthusiastic at our requests (his standard response to our “is it possible to..” was “easily!” We liked him a lot).

Relaxing in the dressing room with our tins of Abbot Ale...

It was great to see so many people turning up early to see us and even through the dry ice (yes, you read that right) we could see friendly faces which really meant a lot and gave us our energy whilst we played. A couple of the Water Tower boys had kind words to say about our set and playing, and we beamed at that!

Say cheese....

Afterwards, the Bucket Boys came on and absolutely rocked the socks off the place with their signature high-energy performance. Exciting harmonies, breath-taking playing and solid Bluegrass tunes set the pace for the evening. The only downside was having to leave the venue early to make room for the 80s club night that followed…

Thanks again to everyone who came out and hope to see you soon!

Sad News

We received sad news last week that banjo maker and restorer Barry Murphy passed away unexpectedly. Barry was a well-loved and well respected figure in the local music circles. He had a rich, musical background and was an incredibly talented musician and passionate maker. He will be very much missed and our thoughts are with his wife Mary and his family at this time.

How many mics does it take to record Bluegrass?

Instead of being out playing, we’ve been inside recording. What started out as a 3 track demo has now swelled to a 10-12 track Bluegrass Opera… Well, not quite an opera, but we are having a lot of fun and struggling to strike off songs from the list of what we want to record.

We’ve been setting up in Dan’s flat (The Stepney Court Studios) and sometimes Tim’s, with all the equipment we can get our hands on and enough bacon rolls, tea and coffee to keep us going.

Taking no chances, toes must be behind the line at all times...

We’ve got a couple of gigs coming up but mostly our energy is going into recording at the moment. You might also see us busking in May in Brighton as we go on location to get some photos for the CD design. It feels like we’re coming alive for spring and I’ll aim to keep you posted more often!

To find out the latest news from us, check back here, or to make it even easier, sign up to our newsletter using the form on the right. I mail it out only when there’s news you need to know, so you don’t have to worry about getting inundated with our every move.

Dan relaxes between takes as Tim sinks the latest track in "the pocket."

Cornish Bluegrass Festival

Oh, and we just got confirmation that we’re playing at the Cornish Bluegrass festival in September, so if you’re going do get in touch and say hello – that’s going to be a great weekend!

Till next time,

Amy.

In January, the band were kind enough to play at my birthday gathering and it was a blast. It had been a while since we’d played with each other due to the Christmas break and it was great to be playing together again.

It was such a fun night, and people even ate the sandwiches, even though I warned them they had been made by my fair clumsy hand.

We were even lucky enough to have the super talented (and incredibly wonderful people to boot) Amy Hill and James Bandenburg play a short set on the night.

To top it all off, the very generous and easy-to-get-on-with-but-ultra-professional Sussex photographers Funmi and Adrian from FOPhotography were there to capture the magical moments.

Fun was had by all, and here are some snaps you might enjoy!

amy and James kick things off and set the party "vibe"

Dan. The man behind the beard.

Big Earl (now known as Big Pearl...)

The lovely Tim

Even my dad joined us for a solo on Wildwood Flower

A very happy me.

Action shot...

It was a magical night and I like to think fun was had by all. The venue (upstairs at Circus Circus) was perfect and the staff were an absolute dream!

Nervous? Us?

Howdy!

Well we returned from playing at the Didmarton Bluegrass festival last weekend and had a blast whilst we were there.

Cool as a cucumber

We played on the Ogri stage Friday afternoon to a lovely crowd who were tapping along and smiling. It was a bit strange for us having separate mics as we usually like to huddle round the one mic and find safety in each other’s company. Going from that to having separate mics does make you feel a little more exposed.

Tim never let his knocked bass bridge affect his performance. He rose above it.

But the crowd was absolutely fantastic – it’s such an amazing atmosphere at Didmarton and whilst we were definitely more jittery than when playing our fondly familiar venues, this was still a whole heap of fun.

I’ve put up some pics, and you can catch the videos of the festival here if you look for the “Didmarton 2010” series of vids.

There were some amazing acts on over the weekend including The Peter Rowan Band, and the stunning Scoville Units.

I also enjoyed the lovely Lynne Butler’s performance (on her own – how brave). Lynne hosts a radio show on UK country Radio and you should definitely check it out (not just because she plays us on there )

The New Essex Bluegrass Band who I’m personally very very fond of were there on top form. As always they gave a tight performance with spinetingling harmonies. One of my favourite bands at the moment is The Biggin Hillbillies and I absolutely love Heather Bristow with her beautiful original songs.  And there was our good friend Mo Jackson playing with her partner Colin and Lucy Ray as the Lil Kitties with great clawhammer banjo, mandolin, guitar and sweet

Malc's excited face

harmonies.  Definitely check them all out if you can!

Oh, and the weekend wasn’t without a little drama. Just before we were about to go on stage Tim noticed the bridge on his bass had been knocked considerably.

He consulted Malc for some expert repair advice and Malc duly whacked it till it moved (almost) back in place.

Then, on the Sunday, after discovering that there were no taxis on the Sunday, Malc and I had to hot foot it through trees and along the verge frantically trying to hitch-hike the 2.3 miles (thanks Google maps) to the train station.

I'm desperately trying to remember the next chord / words

We failed miserably at the hitch-hiking, (something to do with carrying a banjo and mandolin?)  but as we arrived on the platform to see the train pulling away we yanked on all the door handles until it stopped… How the conductor laughed! (he didn’t – he was very angry…)

Hope to see you soon!