- 30
- 03
- 2018
- 07.00
- pm
- Ballroom
GREEN ROCK RIVER BAND With guests CLARE ELLEN
- £6 ADV
- Buy Tickets
Back in the early 2002 the founding members of the Green Rock River Band were on a mission, they wanted to prove that you didn’t need drum machines, auto tune and a microkorg to have a rocking time. Fuelled by the music that had been around them since childhood, old records of Big Bill Broonzy, Silver bands, Northern Colliery Bands, the Delta Blues and Hank Williams, they grabbed any instrument that was available to them. Many of them have stories of paper rounds, labouring on building sites, endless days of mixing cement and working as shop assistants all to be able to afford their first instrument. Once these guitars, fiddles and banjos were in their hands, hours were spent, skipping school, hiding away in rehearsal rooms, scribbling out songs and learning how to turn every live gig into a party.
Slowly the band grew, catching people’s imaginations with a unique blend of Americana, Bluegrass, English Music Hall and Folk. As their following expanded beyond their friends, soon people of all ages were attending their gigs, whether it was to dance to upbeat tunes or sit and appreciate the slow ballads. The band’s ranks swelled too, from a duo, to a trio, to a full band attracting more and more fantastic players from the Jazz, Blues and Rock world.
A real boost to the band came when they supported Emmy Award Winner Bob Cheevers from Nashville on his UK tour for two years in a row.
“The band has a very old fashioned feeling that really catches the senses” – Bob Cheevers.
This started a relationship with the American music scene that is still going strong. They have twice played with, and supported Bill Evans, author of Banjo for Dummies and Megan Lynch the six time USA Bluegrass Fiddle Champion.
“Bizarre but great, even if they were a three legged homeless dog,
I’d still take them home” – Megan Lynch, 6 time USA Bluegrass Champion.
Recently they have starred in, and composed the score for a new British comedy feature film, The Fitzroy, already voted IndieWire’s film project of the week, and the month, due for international release 2014.
They have sold thousands of their first two EP’s online and at gigs and have an album due for release in early 2014. Their sound is ever growing and maturing into an exciting, well crafted, explosive set; full of strings, brass and harmonies.
”Jeremy Sachs’ voice sounds like he needs to evacuate phlegm at the end of every phrase.! I picture him as a crazed marionette electrified with fire and brimstone, this sort of vocal is usually matched with its musical equivalent (see 16Horsepower) here though it is underscored with some gymnastic Bluegrass. The contrast between the two is a welcome change.” – Americana UK
“This band is a powder keg of bluegrass, country, old-time music, brought right up to date and very “now”. You don’t need to be a fan of any of those genres because this is simply impossible-to-resist infectious riotous fun all the way” – Holstermedia
“When they produce a song that starts to tickle the hairs on the back of my neck I know they’re onto something good…. This is the London band’s second EP and already they sound like they are going to be essential.” – Americana UK (‘Good Times’ EP review)