That band from Dundee

What band?

You know the one… they’re getting amazing 5-star reviews everywhere they go like this one

“I have rarely, if ever, been as overwhelmed and enthralled by a live performance as I have been tonight” Joe Leightley, Glasgow Music

And they played this glorious set on Tenement TV the other week

Aye, I know the one you mean now… What about them??

They’re coming to Letham Nights!!

Yer kiddin me on!

No, it’s true! 21st April 2012, 8pm, Letham Village Hall, Fife on the A92 just 15 minutes from the Tay Bridge, 10 minutes from Cupar and 15 from Glenrothes… 

If you know what’s good for you, get booked in now!  Tickets are selling fast already

Sign up on the event page on Facebook or use the contact details on this page to book.

See you there!

You certainly will!  I wouldn’t miss it for the world!


Keep in touch with Letham Nights…

Keeping in touch with Letham Nights is dead easy:

Sign up for our regular updates using the tab above or click this link

Join us on Facebook

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contact us on mike@lethamnights.org

There you go!


Amy Rayner to support The Banana Sessions at Letham Nights

Emerging and very local artist, Amy Rayner, will support The Banana Sessions at Letham Nights #22 with songs from her new eponymous EP.  Rising star Amy from North East Fife, is a young singer-songwriter with a prodigious talent who cites as amongst her influences Sheryl Crow, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, The Pretty Reckless, Bright Eyes, Belle & Sebastian and the Eels.   For more info… http://www.amyrayner.co.uk/


Introducing the poster boy for Letham Nights

The Banana Sessions Poster

Hello to one and all!

Some of you I have already met and some others may recognise me from wee gigs I’ve done at Letham Nights already. I also featured with Herbert The Tortoise in the recent Prezi for The Observer 50 Radicals. I have since been invited to join the LN committee.

Following our first committee meeting proper last Saturday it has been decided that amongst my duties will be the spreading of the word south of the Forth. With this in mind I set out this afternoon with my stash of posters and a good swedge of blu-tac (other brands of sticky wad are available of course).

I’m really looking forward to seeing The Banana Sessions and Amy Raynor in a couple of weeks. I’ll also be on the lookout for fresh talent in Edinburgh with future LN bookings in mind so please get in touch if you’ve got the  licks, riffs and/or chops.

Make sure you check these guys out on 3rd March. It’s gonna be mega!

Mick


Lynne and the Letham Lullaboys take to the stage!!

Dear Letham Nights lovers,

Who knew?!  When we started up Letham Nights our aim was to provide a stage for local talent, but who knew this would happen….

Local residents of Letham and Monimail Parish, Lynne Harvie and Donald Dallas have been so inspired by Letham Nights that they have put together their own band along with friends Martin Kotlewski and John Arthur and will play their first gig as support to The Banana Sessions and Amy Rayner at Letham Nights #23 on Saturday 3rd March at Letham Village Hall.  Lynne has been a regular devotee of Letham Nights since its inception in 2008 missing only 2 of the previous 22 gigs.  But this time she decided to take things several steps further. Firstly, she wrote a song about Letham Nights – Letham Blues.  And as if that wasn’t enough, she began practising it secretly with local historian, teacher and guitarist, Donald Dallas.  Before they knew it, two other musician friends, Martin and John, came on board to form a 4-piece band – the Letham Lullaboys – and they approached the Letham Nights team about making their debut.

This was too good an opportunity to turn down! We set up Letham Nights to provide a stage for local talent and you can’t get much more local than Lynne and Donald!  We are delighted that Letham Nights has inspired them to make music.  We have had a sneak preview and people will not be disappointed!”

Lynne and the Letham Lullaboys will take to the Letham stage for their first live performance at Letham Nights #23 on 3rd March 2012 at 8pm. They will be followed by NE Fife singer songwriter Amy Rayner and then the magnificent The Banana Sessions.

Surely you are not going to miss this….?!!!

Use the details oppposite to book your ticket.

Michael 🙂


Letham Nights Goes Bananas!


The Banana Sessions Mixtape Album Tour is coming to Letham Nights

Saturday 3rd March 8pm – midnight

Tickets £8.50/£7

from lethamnights@btinternet.com

Prepare yourself for an explosive live performance!

www.thebananasessions.co.uk

The Banana Sessions are a Scottish five-piece, each with their own musical style and wild imagination. The band formed in 2007 and soon became known for their unique style of pop music with heavy folk and jazz influences. And in the four years that they’ve been together, they’ve played blazing live shows across the UK; recorded two EPs – the Yellow EP and the Green EP; and most recently, released their debut album, Mixtape.

The Yellow and Green EPs were both recorded live over a few days, in an attempt to catch the band’s energy at its best, but Mixtape sees The Banana Sessions explore a much more intricate and mature sound. The album features a selection of Scotland’s musical finest, including Martin Green & Aidan O’Rourke (Lau); Lindsey Black & Heather McLeod (The Bevvy Sisters) and Ross Ainslie (Treacherous Orchestra/Salsa Celtica); and was produced and engineered by Garry Boyle (The Depot), mastered by Stuart Hamilton (Castlesound Studios) and with concept production by Dave Hook (Stanley Odd).

The Banana Sessions are a live force to be reckoned with, and are now renowned for their explosive live performances both on stages and off. Their much talked about bout of guerilla gigs included appearances on various forms of public transport (buses, trains, subways, etc.) across the UK. And on a train from Glasgow to Edinburgh one night, their impromptu performance impressed a writer from The Skinny so much he gave them a four star review. After this, they were asked to perform at Glasgow’s Subway Festival, ventured further afield to Ireland and London, where they played an impromptu gig at Fruit Towers – home of Innocent Smoothies – and entertained the crowd every night at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival aboard a most unusual venue, The Pink Bus.

The band are now UK festival favourites; and have had their Wellington boots firmly wedged into the muddy fields of such staples as Wickerman, Insider, Knockengorroch and Kelburn Garden Party. More recently, they were delighted to be named one of the highlights of Beatherder 2009/10 and in 2011, rocked the socks off Glastonbury.

The Banana Sessions’ reputable shows have gained them recognition across the UK but they’ve also managed to make an impression worldwide with their famous ‘Prodigy Medley’ (view below), which has reached over 200,000 hits (and counting) on YouTube and was posted by The Prodigy themselves on their own website. February 2012 sees the band embark upon The Banana Sessions Mixtape Album Tour… so keep your eyes peeled for them at venue near you.

The Banana Sessions are:

Roberta Pia – Lead vocals, Calum Wood – Guitar/Backing Vocals, Tom Pickles (Flute, melodica & whistles), Calum McIntyre (Drums, percussion & backing vocals), Tom Donaldson (Tuba or Sousaphone)

And now here is that famous ‘Prodigy Medley’,

 



Letham Nights Comes of Age!

Saturday 19th November will be

Letham Nights #21…

Letham Nights has come of age!  And we have in store for you our first proper SUPERGROUP, the amazing Sandford City Rockers.

The Sandford City Rockers are no ordinary band but a coming together of some of Scotland’s finest musicians from some of our greatest rock and pop bands of the 80’s and 90’s.  They are:  Ken McCluskey and David McCluskey of The Bluebells and The McCluskey Brothers, Douglas MacIntyre of Love and Money (and CEO of Indy Label, Creeping Bent), Campbell Owens of Aztec Camera and The Leopards, Andy Alston of del Amitri and Mick Slaven of Deacon Blue, del Amitri and the Leopards.

Formed after a marathon 19 hour jam session in an illicit shebeen in the village of Sandford, Lanarkshire, The Sandford City Rockers initially came into being to raise money for charity. ‘We need to help the kids, man’ said founder member Douglas MacIntyre. The other members agreed, and the ones who couldn’t talk raised a thumb to show that they were down with this plan. The SCR were ready for action!

The band have now done several gigs to raise money for research into Downs Syndrome and proceeds from the event will go to Downs Syndrome International.

The band will be supported on the night by Doonwatter Bros.  Prepare to be rocked!

This is no ordinary gig so in keeping with the stature of the musicians, tickets will be £10/ £7.50 concessions.  To book see contact details opposite.


A brilliant thing we’ve got going here…

After a “summer” break we started to look towards the Letham Nights triple header that was to take place on the 13th August. We had been contacted by David Latto for a chance to play (check this link for a free download of a new recording!). He had attended a show last year and was impressed. Chloe Hall, a Letham Nights favourite, had intimated that she and Silas Palmer were to be touring the UK in the summer. Adriana Spina contacted us 18 months ago expressing her interest in the Letham Nights experience. Adriana was touring her new album “Never Coming home” this summer. So, it was easy then! All the players were on board, the will was there and the venue was waiting……Ah, but was it?

A little local difficulty…

Oops!  A minor detail had been left out – booking the hall!  Wouldn’t you know it was the same day as the Letham village Annual Flower Show – one of the biggest days in the year for the Hall and the local community.  Undaunted, and with the blessing of the Flower Show Committee, we decided to go ahead anyway realising it would be a monumental task to turn the hall round from a Flower and Produce Show so quickly to the quietly understated ambience that Letham Nights has become known for. On the day the team were on hand to help with the flower show tidy up and we were grateful to the flower show people who helped with the Letham Nights set up. Good work everybody! Geoff the sound man hot tailed it from Glen Elg where he was playing a gig in the afternoon.  With people beginning to queue outside, sound checks were completed by the skin of our teeth. We heaved a sigh of relief and the show got under way.

The David Latto Band (David and Gavin Brady) started their set with “Wait a Minute” and “Black Horse” before delivering a beautiful “3000 miles from Nashville” the story of the shy and retiring Shetlander Thomas Frazer who was recently inducted into the Nashville Hall of Fame, talked about in the same breath as Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. “15”, “Wooden Heart”, and “Alcohol and Pills” from the newly released EP “3000 From Nashville” along with “A song you will never hear” and “Byway man” were amongst the fantastic set that David and Gavin played. There was even an encore…for the support…fantastic…The whole audience had a sense that they had just listened to an incredible performance from the David Latto Band. The guitar arrangements and vocal harmonies were truly beautiful.  A strength of voice and assured confidence with the songs were what I picked up from this performance.

After a very short break Chloe and Silas graced the stage. Chloe introduced each song with warmth, joy, sadness and humour (not all at the same time). Chloe and Silas played from the newly released “Spring Hill” album “Love songs, dedications and requests”, “Tax Office Love Song”, “Worst House” and a song with a story everyone will recognise “Third Drawer Down”, throwing in “Dance with me”, “White Street” and “I’m Still Here” from the “Outside and “White Street” albums. The addition of the gentle harmonies and the stripped back fiddle playing Silas gave to the mix was a superb backdrop to Chloe’s beautiful songs. The songs have a resonance in truth, love, humour and vulnerability. During the set Chloe asked if any one had a request, obviously some audience members who had been enthralled last year expressed their wishes and “Shipwreck” was delivered. Chloe and Silas were enthusiastically called back to do an encore as well. One couple I spoke to had driven up from Berwick. They had seen The Chloe Hall Trio last year and were determined to see them again no matter what. I was sitting with Andrew Watson, guitar player with the Adrianna Spina Band who said to me “I wouldn’t mind it at all if I were to sit here all night listening to this calibre of music.” Adriana, with a twinkle in her eye said “Thanks for putting us on after Chloe and David….no pressure!!” Bass player Mark Fleming said, “This is a brilliant thing you’ve got going here, really unique with a fantastic atmosphere, I’ve never played a venue like this in years of gigging”.

A break allowed the audience, who had been captivated by the show so far, to top up their drinks, chat, meet new people and generally reflect on the show so far. There was a lovely buzz in the room. The Clap and Tipple Bar was pretty busy as usual.

Adriana and her band took to the stage and opened by acknowledging the quality of the preceding acts. Her show started off with a couple of songs from the “Never Coming Home” album, “The Hardest Thing” and “A Thousand Lives”. These songs were a different groove and when Adriana played “Two Steps” and “Fire in me” solo, she had the crowd completely with her. The band returned on stage and “Faces”, “Let You Fall”, “Jeannie” and “Aisha” were delivered with gusto. Adriana and the band did not disappoint us, the quality of the songs along with her very tight band showed through. Despite not having played with the band for over a year, the stand in drummer didn’t miss a beat (scuse the pun!). No wonder they got rave reviews from the Belladrum Festival and Celtic Connections. The set finished with the rocking “Way Down”: foot stomping was the order of the night and another encore demanded. Adriana invited David, Gavin, Chloe and Silas to join them on stage for a rousing and triumphant rendition of “The Weight” by the Band, ably supported by most of the audience.  A great end to a great night!

And of course, thank you to everyone who contributed to the impromptu raffle for the Alzheimers Society which raised £111!


Letham Nights 19 photos

Photos from Letham Nights #19.

08

featuring The David Latto Band, Chloe & Silas and the Adriana Spina Band