The Becca and Louis Duet Series

28 July 2010

Becca Williams (lead singer of Becca & The Broken Biscuits) and Louis Barabbas (captain of The Bedlam Six) have begun a long-term project that will see them tackle some of music history’s classic duets.

The idea for the duet series was first floated on the Louis Barabbas facebook page and received an overwhelmingly positive response. A call for submissions was immediately issued and over the course of the day dozens of suggestions came flooding in with ideas for potential covers.

From this first batch Louis and Becca chose Summer Wine (by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra) to be the first in their series.

On 27th July they met up with Joel Roberts (Broken Biscuit bassist) at Fuel bar in Withington where Gus Fairbairn (Honeyfeet sax player) happened to be having a coffee. After a quick drink the four climbed the stairs up to the Debt Records press office where Debt co-founder Biff Roxby set up a small live rig to record the session.

Their version is faithful to the original. It is in the same key and tempo with similar orchestration. The only difference is that they have reversed the roles - Louis Barabbas appears as Nancy Sinatra and Becca Wlliams dons the tache to play Lee Hazlewood. In this new arrangement the song’s story of seduction becomes a more sinister animal. Louis’ delivery of Nancy’s choruses suggest that maybe the wine was spiked with something more than “strawberries, cherries and an angel’s kiss in spring…”

The song will be released as a free download exclusively through the Debt Records online shop on 4th August 2010 to mark the third anniversary of Lee Hazlewood’s death in 2007.

Here is footage of the four musicians laying down the track.

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Honeyfest

14 July 2010

This year the UK’s most talked about new jazz-folk outfit Honeyfeet has been picked to open the 2010 Manchester Jazz Festival this month.

Times haven’t been easy for Honeyfeet in recent months. Their recent Spanish tour, whilst inspiring ecstatic audience reaction, was peppered with catastrophe - including two broken instruments and a defunct tour bus.

The five-piece (“graced by the Midas touch… plagued by the Midas touch”) stayed positive, however, and stayed tight. They are now back on home turf, putting the final touches on their new record “Scumbags” and getting ready for a lot of high profile shows around the country. As well as the Manchester Jazz Festival on 24th July, they will be the main support for highly acclaimed US performer C.W. Stoneking at the Ruby Lounge (2nd August) and among the highlights of the Green Phoenix Festival in Newcastle and Shambala in Northamptonshire (on 20th and 27th August respectively).

Tickets for the Manchester Jazz Festival can be bought here

Tickets for the C.W. Stoneking show can be bought here

www.greenphoenixfestival.org.uk/
www.shambalafestival.org/
www.myspace.com/honeyfeetmusic

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Every Dog Has His Day

05 July 2010

THERE IS AN ANCIENT BELIEF THAT SIRIUS (THE DOG STAR) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HOT WEATHER. THIS JULY, HOWEVER, SEES THE ARRIVAL OF A DIFFERENT POOCH AS LOUIS BARABBAS’ TELL-TALE HOUND IS BROUGHT TO SLOBBERY LIFE…

“Dog Days” (diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest, most sultry days of Summer and were popularly believed to be an evil time “when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid” (according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813). Consequently the Romans sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of this period to appease the rage of Sirius.

Something similar happens almost nightly to Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six. There is one song that haunts the band more than any other - a song that tells the story of an ill-fated love triangle between a man, a woman and an eternally panting dog.

“This is the one the audiences always want,” remarks Louis, “it’s taken on a force all of its own, I feel like it’s reached the point where the song plays us, rather than the other way around… We’re not complaining - we love it - that’s why now, almost three years after it first emerged from its kennel, we are giving The Tell-Tale Hound its very own show.”

Sam Alder (co-founder of film company Plastic Zoo and new internet phenomenon Manchester Scenewipe) was approached to lead the project that would translate this twisted fairy tale into a visual feast. After working closely for many months with acclaimed animator Scott Lockhart the pair have done just that.

“It’s been a lot of fun but I see what Louis means… that dog really latches onto you - it burrows down into your brain like it’s sniffing out some long-buried bone. Scott and I got kind of obsessed with that dog… it got scary.”

This is not the first time Louis and Sam have collaborated. Sam recently provided illustrations for Barabbas’ collected lyrics (entitled “Love, Sighs, Regrets and Goat” - due out later this year through Irish publishing house The Tragically Flawed Press). The Hound video is the first in a series of events that build up to the book’s publication.

Louis says: “According to The Book Of Common Prayer the ‘Dog Daies’ begin on 6th July so that’s when we’ll be unleashing (if you’ll forgive the pun) the video for the first time.” The Old Farmer’s Almanac states that these are the days of the year when moisture is at its lowest. When better then to tell a tale set in “a dirty old town where it always rains”?

The video can be viewed on YouTube, metacafe, daily motion, vimeo, and myspace tv)

www.plasticzoo.co.uk
www.scottlockhart.co.uk
www.louisbarabbas.com

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