MARK HARRISON: Mark Harrison’s highly individual, all-original music has been going down very well with audiences of all kinds, and it has taken him to some of the top venues and festivals in the UK, attracting acclaim wherever he goes. Mark has taken the style of the early blues and folk/blues innovators, and given it totally modern relevance. His songs all have something to say or a story to tell. With their memorable tunes, striking lyrics and strong rhythms, they make people think, smile and move. He is doing something genuinely fresh and different, tapping into the timeless quality of ‘old’ music to produce something brand new and totally relevant to the present day.
Mark’s live shows are well-known not only for the music but also for his introductions and explanations of the songs, and audiences frequently comment on how big a part these play in their enjoyment of the shows. Delivered in a manner often described as ‘wry’ and ‘dry’, these mark him out even more as a unique artist.
Mark is a thrilling, rhythmic, finger-picker and slide player, with a very distinctive style. He appears solo and with band, his band consisting of some of the UK’s top roots musicians. With them he has released four albums which have been unanimously acclaimed across a wide range of areas of the music world, receiving a very great deal of airplay (including BBC) and highly enthusiastic reviews in the UK, Europe and the US.
Recently Mark has appeared at top festivals such as Celtic Connections, where his headline concert was a sell-out, and at prestigious venues all over the UK. He also received two nominations in the British Blues Awards (Songwriter & Acoustic) in 2015. In 2015 he released the live album On The Chicken Sandwich Train and 2016 sees the release of his eagerly anticipated new studio album Turpentine. He is currently touring all over the UK.
‘really excellent … he takes very real things, normal things that happen in life, and he writes about them in a way that makes you think afresh about them’ (Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2)
‘one of the British Isles’ great blues singers and guitarists …. totally and absolutely original’ (Mike Harding)
‘wonderful rootsy blues ….. innovative’ (Jazz FM)
‘singular lyrics …an original take on song writing’ (Blues in Britain)
LAINE HINES
Widely regarded as the best and most original practitioner of authentic pre-war acoustic blues for miles around, Laine Hines is regularly described as ‘captivating’ and ‘spellbinding’. He has his own distinctive take on both classics and obscurities of the era, and his performances feature a unique vocal style reminiscent of the old field hollers of the Mississippi Delta and highly individual and effective guitar technique.
