SKINNY LISTER - ALBUM DETAILS // TOUR DATES // VIDEO

Xtra Mile Recordings’ newest signings Skinny Lister can unveil details of their forthcoming second album and a UK headline tour for spring next year.

Down On Deptford Broadway - out on 20 April 2015 - is packed with smart songwriting; bringing together elements of folk with the attitude of punk and rock 'n' roll bursting with sing-a-long choruses and infectious raucous energy. Talking about the new album, frontman Max Thomas said, “We’re trying to push forward the sound we had on the first album (Forge & Flagon). We don’t want to be a static band, we want to move with whatever influences are going on around us all the time." The first single to feature from the album is 'Trouble on Oxford Street', to be released in January 2015.  Check out the new video here: 

You can pre-order Down On Deptford Broadway on all formats from Xtra Mile direct, physical formats from Banquet Records and Amazon CD and vinyl, and download via iTunes.

From day one, Skinny Lister set out to cause chaos and make friends, travelling to the four corners of the globe plying their unique rum-soaked blend of English folk and punk rock anarchy. From Japan's Fuji Rock Festival to the desert stage of California's prestigious Coachella, via the Avalon Stage at Glastonbury and many a festival across Europe and beyond, Skinny Lister are an experience never to be forgotten.

They’ve held gigs in Land Rovers. They’ve sung while wing-walking. They’ve toured in a narrow boat. They’ve stomped and jigged on restaurant tables, in hotel elevators and in record label car parks. And wherever they play their lusty shanties, punk folk roar-alongs and crazed whirls of love, fighting and hardcore drinking – you’ll find them out dancing with the crowd, passing around their flagon of rum or crowd-surfing to the bar to neck shots mid-song. Make no bones – Skinny Lister are the wildest party band you’ll ever get drunk with. And you will get drunk with them.

They’re on tour with Chuck Ragan in the UK and Europe throughout March before heading off on their own headline tour of the UK. Dates are below. Check out our gigs calendar for ticket links and Google calendar syncing!

UK TOUR 2015 

April
22 Birmingham @ The Rainbow
23 Glasgow       @ Nice N Sleazy
24 Edinburgh    @ Voodoo Rooms
25 Newcastle    @ Cluny 2
28 Manchester  @The Deaf Institute
29 Leeds           @ Brudenell Social Club
30 Sheffield      @ The Leadmill

May
01 Nottingham  @ Bodega
02 Cambridge   @ J2 at Cambridge Junction
05 Bristol          @ The Exchange
06 Cardiff          @ Clwb Ifor Bach
07 London         @ O2 Islington Academy
08 Norwich        @ Waterfront Studio
09 Leicester      @ O2 Academy 2

www.skinnylister.com / @skinnylister / www.facebook.com/skinnylister

NORTHCOTE UK AND EUROPEAN TOUR NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2014 // BILLY THE KID SUPPORTS UK DATES

Matt Goud's magnificant band Northcote returns to Europe with their biggest headline tour yet throughout November and December, starting in the UK before moving onto Germany and Switzerland.

This tour follows on from his hugely successful support run in Europe with Chuck Ragan and Billy the Kid back in June, where he won over crowds and amassed a fervent fanbase. In fact, as a support duo, they impressed enough - and built a camaraderie deep enough - that Billy will also be joining Matt on the UK leg of this tour too.

Look up your nearest gig and see some gospel, folk, country, and Americana-tinged songs in full bloom.

NOVEMBER
22 Bristol, UK @ Birdcage (w/Billy the Kid)
23 London, UK @ Brixton Windmill (w/Billy the Kid)
24 Manchester, UK @ Gullivers (w/Billy the Kid)
25 Leeds, UK @ Brudenell (w/Billy the Kid)
26 London, UK @ Our Black Heart (w/Billy the Kid)
27 Bochum, DE @ Matrix
28 Saarbrucken, DE @ Garage 
29 Erlangen, DE @ E-Werk
30 Dresden, DE @ Groove Station

DECEMBER
01 Berlin, DE @ Monarch
02 Munich, DE @ Milla
03 Stuttgart, DE @ Keller Klub
04 Zurich, SUI @ Bar Rossi
05 Bern, SUI @ Bier Hübeli (w/Broilers)
06 Freiberg, DE @ Zäpfle Club (w/Broilers)
07 Cologne, DE @ Blue Shell
08 Hamburg, DE @ Kleiner Donner
09 Muenster, DE @ Gleis 22
10 Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof (w/John K Samson)
11 Linz, AT @ Posthof (w/Broilers)
12 Gratz, AT @ Orpheum (w/Broilers)
13 Regensberg, DE @ Donau-Arena (w/Broilers)

www.northcotemusic.com / facebook.com/northcotemusic / @northcotemusic

ESMÉ PATTERSON SIGNS TO XTRA MILE RECORDINGS

'The Glow’ is the first track to be made available from a unique concept album by acclaimed US singer/songwriter and new signing to Xtra Mile Recordings, Esmé Patterson.  

Woman to Woman is her second solo album and is to be released through Xtra Mile Recordings worldwide (ex. North America) on 2 February 2015. You can preorder from our very own online shop, from Amazon or via iTunes.

The former member of Americana group Paper Bird, she has written 10 songs from the perspective of famous women immortalised in song on Woman to Woman, including singing from Dolly Parton protagonist Jolene’s point of view on the track ‘Never Chase A Man’; ‘What Do You Call A Woman’ is a response to Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’; and ‘Valentine’ is the voice of Elvis Costello’s 'Alison'.   

As Patterson explains "I was learning to play a Townes Van Zandt song called 'Loretta' ...and I started thinking about how many songs were just a woman's name, and how these women are frozen in time, and frozen as archetypes, frozen in black and white. And I thought they deserved to be coloured in."  She was invited to discuss the idea, before the record was made, at a TEDx conference in 2013.

Lead track ‘The Glow’ is a reply to the Beach Boys track ‘Caroline, No’ which appeared on the classic Pet Sounds album. The New York Times said: "Her voice is wiry and candid, backed by arrangements that roll along the folk-country borderline. Some songs proclaim self-determination and defiance; others, like 'The Glow' - imagining the Beach Boys' Caroline - hint at mystery and mortality.” Listen for yourselves.

The Glow is taken from 'Woman To Woman' released by Xtra Mile Recordings on 2nd February 2015. Pre-order: When Esme Patterson was learning to play Townes Van Zandt's song "Loretta," she says she started singing the words and got angry. "I started thinking about how one-sided and subjective a lot of 'love songs' are, and how a lot of women immortalized in songs might tell a different side of the story if anyone ever asked." Fueled by this epiphany, Patterson started writing songs for Woman to Woman, an album of response songs to Dolly Parton's "Jolene," Elvis Costello's "Alison," Van Zandt's "Loretta," the Beach Boys' "Caroline, No," The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," the Band's "Evangeline" and Leadbelly's "Irene."

Patterson also appears on several tracks on the new Shakey Graves album, and performed with him in late October on Conan O Brien's show in the US.  The song ‘Dearly Departed’ has been streamed nearly 3 million times to date and she has been supporting Graves on tour in the US.

Patterson’s songwriting is at the heart of the folk and roll explosion in Denver, Colorado and. since her emergence as a solo artist. this fierce and brilliant songwriter's altitude and velocity has only increased.

Woman To Woman tracklisting: 
(Corresponding popular songs each track responds to are listed in parentheses)
1. Valentine (Elvis Costello - 'Alison') 
2. Never Chase A Man (Dolly Parton - 'Jolene')
3. Oh Let’s Dance (The Kinks – ‘Lola’)
4. Tumbleweed (Townes Van Zandt - 'Loretta')
5. What Do You Call A Woman (Michael Jackson – ‘Billie Jean’)
6. The Glow (The Beach Boys - 'Caroline, No')
7. Louder Than the Sound (The Band - 'Evangeline')
8. Bluebird (The Beatles - 'Eleanor Rigby')
9. A Dream (Leadbelly - 'Goodnight Irene')
10. Wildflower (Bob Dylan – ‘To Ramona’)

BILLY THE KID NEW SINGLE OUT 15 DECEMBER 2014 // NEW VIDEO 'THE RIVERBANK' // 'HORSESHOES & HAND GRENADES' LIMITED VINYL PREORDER // WITH AGAINST ME! & NORTHCOTE NOVEMBER TOURS

Billy the Kid's new AA single 'The Riverbank'/'This Sure As Hell Ain't My Life' [featuring Frank Turner] has a brand new video (directed by Ben Morse), which you can watch right now below. Taken from album Horseshoes & Hand Grenades - out now on iTunes, via Amazon and Xtra Mile Recordings web shop - the AA single will be released on 15 December 2014.

Riverbank is the forthcoming single by Canadian songwriter Billy the Kid who recently released her fourth album, the Frank Turner produced - 'Horseshoes & Hand Grenades' through Xtra Mile Recordings.

In further Billy news, thanks to fan demand and overwhelmingly positive response to the Frank Turner-produced album, you can now preorder the limited pressing (300), white vinyl version of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades. The vinyl also comes with individually signed art prints and will be available from 10 November 2014.

Following a dream support slot with Billy Bragg on his recent fall/autumn US tour, Billy the Kid is also spending the whole of November with us in the UK, touring with Against Me! and Northcote. Make sure to catch her on some (or all!) of these dates. 

NOVEMBER

Supporting Against Me!

13 Bristol @ Bierkeller
14 Birmingham @ O2 Academy 2
15 Glasgow @ King Tuts
16 Leeds @ Beckett Students Union
17 Portsmouth @ Wedgewood Rooms
18 Manchester @ Academy 2
19 London @ Electric Ballroom

Supporting Northcote

21 Birmingham @ Alfie Birds
22 Bristol @ Birdcage
23 London @ Brixton Windmill
24 Manchester @ Gullivers
25 Leeds @ Brudenell
26 London @ Our Black Heart

FRANZ NICOLAY ANNOUNCES BRAND NEW ALBUM 'TO US, THE BEAUTIFUL!' OUT 19 JANUARY 2015 // STREAM NEW TRACK NOW

The wild and wonderful world of Franz Nicolay is once again in glorious ear-shot for those brave souls tempted to indulge. To Us, The Beautiful! is the anthemic follow-up to 2012's Do the Struggle and will be released by Xtra Mile Recordings on the 19th January 2015. You can preorder To Us, The Beautiful from Xtra Mile Recordings or digitally from iTunes. 

Sample the delights of ‘Marfa Lights’ which is available as an instant grat. 

Taken from the new album ‘To Us, The Beautiful’ from the wild and wonderful world of Franz Nicolay released 19th January 2015. preorder: http://smarturl.it/ToUsTheBeautiful-XMR http://smarturl.it/ToUsTheBeautiful-iT http://smarturl.it/ToUsTheBeautiful-GP http://smarturl.it/ToUsTheBeautiful-QB

Renowned for his unique delivery and absorption of widely diverse styles, Franz has shared stages and/or songwriting time with The Hold Steady, New York gypsy-punks Guignol, and Against Me!, as well as recording with the likes of Frank Turner, The Living End, and The Dresden Dolls. With a whole heap of solo records and full-band recordings behind him, his latest is something that won't be repeated: “If I make another record, it probably won't be anything like this.” He could have said that about any record in his career, naturally. It rings true enough here though.

Taking its title from a rather lucid Ukrainian toast – “To us the beautiful, and to those who disagree, may their eyes fall out” - the album has far more of the joyous celebration than the dark acid tongue to it. It's almost an atypical Franz record, as it stands right up against the catchiest guitar-pop records, in a way only Franz could muster.

In a mere 6 days of rehearsal and recording, with Andrew Seward of Against Me! on bass, Ara Babajian of Leftover Crack on drums, the NYC guitarist Yoni Gordon, and J. Robbins of the excellent Jawbox and Burning Airlines producing, To Us, The Beautiful! is bulging with hooks and elegant melodies. “Talk To Him In Shallow Water”, for example, has a beautiful banjo-picked melody line that's fluid and refined yet harks back to the more ramshackle gamut that Franz usually runs. However, this is an exception, as Franz has brought an addictive strain of chiming and carving rock-and-roll. Listen to “Bright White” and you'll feel yourself nodding in agreement.

Of course, Franz refuses to stick to one sound throughout and gallops, sidles and strides across his musical tastes as before – just with far more direct shots to the heart and soul than the esoteric form he usually takes. Whether the slow-burn wall of sound on 'Everything Is Going According To Plan', the almost doo-wop chorus of 'The Pilot Inside', or the reliable and satisfying chug, hue and cry of closer 'Porta Fenestella', the guitars are driving everything. They direct Franz's literary-inspired lyrics and free-spirit vocals down turbulent and exhilarating channels, all flowing to choruses that won't leave you for hours or days on end.

He claims a whole heap of inspirations that have left fingerprints on the record, a list that includes: the Waterboys, Leo Strauss, Ivor Cutler, Future Of The Left, a pet rat in Southampton, John Cooper Clarke, the Egyptian Book of the Dead and “other things (that) are in there too,” says Franz himself. Nevertheless, he promises that “you don't have to go looking for them; you can take what you wish from it, obviously. I'm pleased if you like it. If you don't, that's fine too. It's a big world.”

And with Franz in it, the world seems a whole lot wider than before.

www.franznicolay.com

TO KILL A KING ANNOUNCE UK TOUR MARCH 2015 // BRAND NEW EP OUT NOW

With their new EP Exit, Pursued By A Bear out this week - which you can purchase from Xtra Mile Recordings - and on the eve of their sold out London show this Wednesday, 22 October 2014 at The Courtyard Theatre, To Kill A King today announce a major UK tour for spring 2015. The tour in March will culminate in the band’s biggest ever headline show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

MARCH 2015
06 Nottingham @ Rescue Rooms
07 Glasgow @ Stereo 
08 Manchester @ The Deaf Institute
09 Leeds @ Brudenell
11   Bristol @ Thekla
12  Brighton @ The Haunt
13  Southampton @ Joiners
14  London @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Produced by Mark Crew (who produced Bastille’s Bad Blood) and the band’s keyboardist Ben Jackson, Exit, Pursued By A Bear is To Kill A King’s first new recording since 2012 and marks a new chapter in their career. On the EP, To Kill A King deliver a dynamic, expansive sound, with hyperactive drums and buzzing guitars. Singer Ralph Pelleymounter’s voice is the band’s trump card – an intoxicating baritone that can soar as well as soothe.

Watch the video to lead track Oh My Love here:

Like their Xtra Mile label mate Frank Turner, To Kill A King are never happier than when they are on the road. Since forming in 2009 the band haven’t stopped touring, gradually headlining bigger and bigger venues - their most recent tour culminated in a sold-out London date at Koko. Earlier this year TKAK embarked on their first headline European Tour, before heading to North America where they were main support to regular touring buddies Bastille. They also performed at SXSW and supported Frank Turner in Arizona. Back in the UK, they joined Neil Young & Crazy Horse and The National at Hyde Park in July.

To Kill A King are Ralph Pelleymounter (vocals/acoustic guitar), Grant McNeil (electric guitar), Ben Jackson (synth and keys), Josh Platman (bass), and Josh Taffel (drums). They are currently in the studio recording their second album, the follow-up to 2012’s Cannibals With Cutlery.

TO KILL A KING: website / twitter / facebook