Socrates Johnson, Jacob Fletcher, Walton Hesse, @ The Grapes June 20th

[Amsterdamned]

On Sunday June 20th, WagonWheel Presents... brings another quality packed triple bill of live acts to The Grapes. From Sheffield we have the bluesy folk/rock of Socrates Johnson, a welcome return North from Jacob Fletcher as he prepares for the release of his follow up to the acclaimed album 'All The Dead Roads To The Kingdom', and finally psychedelic country rock from Manchester's Walton Hesse. Doors open at 8pm and tickets priced at £3 are available from Wegottickets.com (http://www.wegottickets.com/event/83577) or entry is £4 on the door.

 

 

***SOCRATES JOHNSON***

 

Sheffield four piece Socrates Johnson, an acoustic bluesy rock n' roll band, were formed in 2007, originally under the name Troubadour, by Andy Davison and Matt Flowers. Recent new addition Ewan Asburn on drums/percussion, and Paul Ward on bass joined in the summer of 2008 complete the line up. In 2008 recording of songs that would make the debut album 'Providence and Fate' were completed. Since then they've been building their reputation as a quality live act.

 

http://www.myspace.com/socratesjohnsonband

 

 

***JACOB FLETCHER***

 

London based singer/songwriter Jacob Fletcher first came to our attention in 2007 when we saw him playing on the same bill as Neil McSweeney. Previous album 'All The Dead Roads To The Kingdom' was written and recorded whilst travelling through Eastern Europe, Russia and the USA. The record draws heavily on influences from all of those places, from the bleak sad beautiful world of 'Burn' to the edgy chaotic rhythmic pulse of 'Don't Go Down'. Featuring members of The Earlies and Ladytron, the album's recordings showcase Jacob's haunting voice and interest in variations of mood dynamics & instrumentation. New material is on the way, some of which you can hear at the following links:

 

http://www.jacobfletcher.co.uk

 

http://www.myspace.com/jacobfletcher

 

 

***WALTON HESSE***

 

Woe betide a man who can't dig Walton Hesse. This buncha degenerate country kickers are rolling around the mud with the pigs and moonshine and (when the acid has worn off) they just about manage to stand for long enough to make an awesome refried country fuzz! These kids have been to hell, escaped, only to git takin' down by Bason 'n' Brock down to the penitentiary with The Midnight Special! Along the way, they dug the sounds of Hank, Prince Billy, Zappa, some spotlight kid called Beefheart and a fistful of grimy garage 45s to make an unholy God-fearing racket... and if that ain't paradoxical enuff, they're from the North of England too. Just who makes up this band of brothas-and-a-sister? Well, these freaks have a guru man! It's the Maharishi meets the Industrial revolution! The Gentleman 'Toots' Garner fuzzes through the melodies of Nicola Crosby and Matt Grayson, while Daniel James Fleming beats out primal thumps jus' for kicks. In the middle of the mêlée is a man called Dominic who likes to throb some. He can't be trusted. You can see it in his eyes. Turn for a second and he'll stab you with a snapped bass-neck. Coming along for the ride is a descendant of royalty called Dorian who'll tinkle an ivory in a bar-room brawl 'nbetween glass chuckin' and checkin' for dregs. Guiding, with a wave of a skunk filled fist is White Panther Sam Heitzman who will press a button and make everything sound jus' fine. Listening to their sounds... man... you can be transported to the seediest bits of Nashville TN, then, in the blink of an eye, the Velvets are getting man-handled off the stage of some Plastic Drastic Monastic or summat... the fuzz is out over dreamy blissed out psychedelia and Andy Warhol is cryin' in the corner 'cuz some guys with beards have been shovin' the hippies around. There's something other wordly about this buncha ne'er-do-wells. Do they worship the devil? Has a pact been made? Who knows? I ain't brave enough to ask. You can ask 'em if you like.

 

http://www.myspace.com/waltonhesse

 

 

Facebook event page:

 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126960987332452

 

Last.fm event page:

 

http://www.last.fm/event/1557701

 

MySpace event page:

 

http://events.myspace.com/Event/4520524

 

 

[Amsterdamned]

This is on Sunday. Anybody going to The Boardwalk for Neil McSweeney's gig tomorrow will also be able to catch Jacob Fletcher doing a very brief set opening that night and get a taster for what to expect the night after.